122 BANKS. 



tlieir circulation, and they were withdrawn. Another attempt was made to 

 acquire the advantages of note-issue, in 1844 It was unsuccessful. In 

 the meantime a Bill had been promoted in Parliament to dissolve the Com- 

 pany, but it was rejected. 



The Provincial Bank of Ireland was the third Joint Stock Bank to com- 

 mence business in 1825. Its origination was at a meeting of English capi- 

 talists held in London, June 11, 1824, when the capital was fixed at 

 ;£"2,ooo,ooo, in ;^ioo shares, ^^25 on each to be paid up. The then state of 

 the law, which was constructed to require residence in Ireland on the part 

 of every partner in an Irish Joint Stock Bank, prevented progress, after the 

 capital had been more than subscribed ; and it was not till the Amending 

 Act of 1825 was passed that additional steps could be taken. In that year, 

 September i, the first branch was opened in Cork. Branches in Limerick, 

 Clonmel, and Derry, immediately followed. In 1826, others were opened 

 in Sligo, Wexford, Belfast (March i), Waterford and Galway; in 1827, in 

 Armagh, Athlone, Coleraine and Kilkenny; in 1828, in Ballina and Tralee ; 

 then, no branches were opened till 1831 ; after which, most years saw one 

 or more additions to the number. The head office was in London, for a 

 Dublin office was as yet precluded by the Bank of Ireland's parliamentary 

 privilege of a fifty mile preserve, measured from the metropolis. But this 

 was rather an advantage than otherwise. London was a greater metro- 

 polis ; it was the grand metropolis of the money market ; rich in experienced 

 financiers — which could not be said of Ireland — from whom to form a 

 highly capable directorate ; while the men so chosen were certain to be un- 

 trammelled by local partialities and prejudices, so often detrimental to general 

 interests in similar large undertakings. Local Directors, however, with 

 restricted powers, were at first appointed at each branch. From its incep- 

 tion, the Provincial Bank gave the assurance of becoming a formidable 

 rival to College-green, not only from the wealth and importance of the 

 chief shareholders, but from the exceptional business talent that was at the 

 head of aff"airs ; the original board, sixteen in number, being all men of 

 capacity, included such names as Matthias Attwood, M.P., a partner in the 

 banking house of Spooner, Attwood and Co. ; Moses (afterwards Sir Moses) 

 Montefiore, and Thomas Spring-Rice, M.P., subsequently Lord Monteagle 

 and Chancellor of the Exchequer. The appearance of the Prospectus with 

 the announcement of the towns in which branches were intended to be 

 established, stimulated the Bank of Ireland to make a new departure, and 

 to go out into the country — a course not hitherto attempted. It at once 

 broke ground in Cork, and, immediately afterwards, in Waterford, Clonmel, 

 Derry, Belfast, and Westport. Such were the earliest fruits of competition. 



In February and March, 1826, the Provincial Bank experienced the first 

 " run." It took place in Cork, and was brought about by the closing of two 

 local banks. The Bank of Ireland, though also established there at the 

 time, was not affected by the consequent demand for gold, as it was, as yet, 

 not liable to pay in specie anywhere outside Dublin. In 1 827 the Provincial 

 Bank made a considerable stride. It that year it became the Depository for 

 the Excise Stamps, and Post Office receipts for places bayond the Bank of 

 Ireland's Dublin district, and its notes were put on a par with that Bank's, 

 a Treasury Order authorising Collectors of Revenue to accept them in pay- 

 ment. 



In 1828, 1830, and 1831 there were "runs," in the South more especially. 



