A project began earlier this year to add descriptive content to documents held at Northumberland Archives relating to the Lord Crewe Charity; this has been made possible by a grant the charity itself made to the Northumberland Archives Charitable Trust.
In 1857 the Northumberland and Durham District Bank failed. The first the trustees of the Charity would have heard about the event would have been the three items received in the post by Mr. Thomas Tuer, agent of Bamburgh Castle, on 27th November (NRO 00452/D/6/2/8/60-62). Two letters were returning cheques that the recipients were unable to bank. Mr. Jno. Kearton explained “I was duly in receipt of your cheque last night I am sorry I have to return it back, no doubt you will have heard before this [reaches] you the stoppage of the bank on Wednesday last”.
A printed circular of the same date from the Acting Director of Northumberland and Durham District Bank, Newcastle upon Tyne reads, “I have to state that you may, with the utmost confidence, rest assured that every deposit and credit balance with the Bank will be fully paid”.
The impact on the Trustees and whether they were shareholders in the failed bank is not known; the listing project is still ongoing and related correspondence may be uncovered. Documents held elsewhere within Northumberland Archives gives an indication of the impact amongst other families in the County.
The papers of the Carr-Ellison family of Hedgeley, near Powburn, reveal correspondence on the matter (ZCE/C/6/14; ZCE/C/6/17). On 28th November 1857, at 11pm, John Sparks of Crewkerne wrote to Elizabeth Carr of Whitworth Parsonage, Ferryhill, discussing the situation states that, “The sum that this failure seems destined to produce appears quite frightfully extensive”. This letter is forwarded to Ralph Carr of Hedgeley a few days later by Bessie Carr, the covering letter conveys that she is thankful that the situation is not worse, and they must bear the loss; a debt of £68 can not be paid ‘at present’ but she hopes to be able to do so soon.
On 2nd December, Ralph Carr receives a later advising that Mrs. Carr holds 130 shares in the ‘unfortunate District Bank’. The sender, Peregrine George Ellison of Newcastle upon Tyne, explains that, “Every existing Shareholder is responsible to the Creditors of the Bank to the extent of his or her property of every description [whatsoever] the number of shares held by such shareholder may be but as between the Shareholders themselves each cannot be required to contribute more than to the amount of his or her shares…A call of £5 per share is requested to be paid”. The words ‘of every description’ are underlined in the original letter, as if to emphasise the expected liability to be incurred.
The papers of the Sanderson family of Eshott (NRO 04930/B12-B15) include copies of the Compulsory Order for winding up the Northumberland and District Banking Company and appointments of the official liquidators in April-May 1858; suggesting that the family were either creditors or shareholders.
Finally, amongst the papers of E.W.S. Portnell & Sons, Solicitors, of Hexham (NRO 00467/39), are documents relating to the bankruptcy trust of Joseph Tingate a grocer and draper of Hexham. A printed circular of 12th September 1868 refers to the pay out of the ‘seventh dividend’ of 2-pence in the £1, payable to Creditors only on production of the letter and an admission letter previously sent to Creditors. The admission letter is also amongst these papers. Whether the bankruptcy was because of the bank failure is unknown, but it does demonstrate that creditors were still receiving small sums towards their loss more than ten years after the initial bank failure.
