A Liverpool Corporation ten pound bank note of 1793
Liverpool has been an important centre for banking for hundreds of years. A display in the Making a Living gallery at the former Museum of Liverpool Life explored this fiscal past.
Liverpool grew extremely wealthy in the 18th and 19th centuries. The city became a major centre of banking. People with money wanted a safe place to keep it and merchants wanted to borrow to finance the long sea voyages.
The source of much of Liverpool's wealth at that time was the slave trade. The growth of banking was closely connected with this trade. Most of the first bankers were merchants themselves and owned slave ships. One example is Arthur Heywood. He established his banking firm in 1773, which grew out of his merchant business. He owned several slave ships.
Arthur Heywood, Liverpool banker and slave ship owner
Early banks were often unstable and crashes were quite frequent. In 1793, for example, there was a severe financial crisis. It was so bad that the Corporation of Liverpool gained special permission from Parliament to print its own banknotes. This enabled local businesses to continue.
As time went on, however, banks became more reliable and accessible. They developed from small, family-run affairs to large businesses with many shareholders and customers. At the end of the Victorian period, banks were opening branches and forming regional networks. Bankers often dressed splendidly to show off their wealth. This showed that their business was successful.
Queen Victoria herself visited Liverpool in 1851. As she looked upon the crowd in Exchange Flags, the business and banking area of the city, she said:
"I have never before seen so large a number of well dressed gentlemen".