Fox, Fowler, and Company was a British

private bank Private banks are banks owned by either the individual or a general Partner (business rank), partner(s) with limited partner(s). Private banks are not incorporation (business), incorporated. In any such case, creditors can look to both the "enti ...

, based in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ; Archaism, archaically Somersetshire , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in South West England which borders Gloucestershire and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east and Devon to the so ...

. The company was founded in 1787 as a supplementary business to the main activities of the Fox family, sheep-herding and wool-making.

Banknote issue

Like many other commercial banks of the time, Fox, Fowler, and Company was legally entitled to issue its own banknotes. However, when the

Bank Charter Act The Bank Charter Act 1844 (7 & 8 Vict. c. 32), sometimes referred to as the Peel Banking Act of 1844, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, passed under the government of Robert Peel, which restricted the powers of British banks ...

was passed in 1844, no new banks could issue notes in England and Wales, and the number of note-issuing institutions fell gradually with financial sector consolidation. Fox, Fowler, and Company was the last commercial note-issuing bank in England and Wales, until it was bought out by Lloyds Bank in 1921.

Peter Mathias Peter Mathias, (10 January 1928 – 1 March 2016) was a British economic historian and the former Chichele Professor of Economic History at the University of Oxford. His research focused on the history of industry, business, and technology, ...

, ''The First Industrial Nation'', Routledge, pp. 326, Under the terms of the 1844 act, the bank lost the legal right to issue banknotes upon its merger with Lloyds, and the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...

became the sole note-issuing bank in England and Wales. Some commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland retain the right to issue bank notes, but only the

may now issue sterling bank notes in England and Wales. Fox, Fowler Bank of Wellington £5 Note

This original £5 note is on display at

Tone Dale House Tone Dale House (or Tonedale House) is a Grade II listed country house built in 1801 or 1807 by Thomas Fox in Wellington, Somerset, England. Wellington lies west of Taunton in the vale of Taunton Deane, from the Devon border. Tone Dale House, ...

, which Thomas Fox built in 1801.

References

External links

The British Museum: A 1921 Fox, Fowler, and Company £5 note
{{Lloyds Banking Group Defunct banks of the United Kingdom Former banknote issuers of the United Kingdom Banks established in 1787 Companies based in Somerset History of Somerset Banks disestablished in 1921 1787 establishments in England Wellington, Somerset 1921 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1921

Banknote issue

See also

References

External links