The Birmingham Banking Company was a bank that operated in Birmingham, West Midlands from 1829 to 1889, and as The Metropolitan and Birmingham Bank from 1889 to 1892, the Metropolitan, Birmingham and South Wales Bank from 1892 to 1893, and the Metropolitan Bank (of England and Wales) from 1893 to 1914, when it was acquired by the Midland Bank.
This joint-stock bank was established on 30 September 1829 in Birmingham. [1] It was based upon the business of the Birmingham private bankers Gibbins & Lovell, established in 1825 by Joseph Gibbins and Edward Bourne Lovell, and initially traded from their premises in New Street. [2] The bank built itself a headquarters in Birmingham at the junction of Waterloo Street and Bennetts Hill which was constructed in 1830 to the designs of the architects Thomas Rickman and Henry Hutchinson. [3] They moved into this new building in 1831. It was altered in 1868 by Yeoville Thomason; [4] and an extension in Bennetts Hill by Harris & Martin was added in 1881–4. [5]
The firm grew rapidly and by the mid-1830s it was one of Birmingham's strongest banks.
During the financial crisis of 1866 the bank suffered severe liquidity problems and failed on 14 July 1866 with liabilities of £1.8m (equivalent to £210,630,000in 2023) [6] against a capital of £280,000 (equivalent to £32,760,000in 2023). [6] It was the largest bank to fail during the banking crisis of the mid-1860s. [7] It was restructured and reopened in August 1866.
It amalgamated with the Royal Exchange Bank (formerly the Metropolitan Bank) in 1889 to form The Metropolitan and Birmingham Bank. [8] This amalgamation enabled the Birmingham company to facilitate its London business as the Royal Exchange Bank had a seat in the clearing house, and until this time the Birmingham bank had paid fees of several thousand pounds a year for cashing their cheques in the London Bankers' Clearing House. The nominal capital of the bank increased at this time from £3.5m to £5.0m [9] (equivalent to £698 million in 2023). [6]
On the acquisition of the South Wales Union in 1892 it was renamed the Metropolitan, Birmingham and South Wales Bank and on the acquisition of the National Bank of Wales in 1893 it changed its name again to the Metropolitan Bank (of England and Wales).
The Metropolitan Bank (of England and Wales) was acquired by the Midland Bank in 1914. [10] The branch on Bennetts Hill closed in 2002 and the building was converted for use as a wine bar.
Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007.
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply Leamington, is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Priors, it grew into a spa town in the 18th century following the popularisation of its water which was reputed to have medicinal qualities. In the 19th century, the town experienced one of the most rapid expansions in England. It is named after the River Leam, which flows through the town.
Birmingham Snow Hill, also known as Snow Hill station, is a railway station in Birmingham City Centre. It is one of the three main city-centre stations in Birmingham, along with Birmingham New Street and Birmingham Moor Street.
The West Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of International Territorial Level for statistical purposes. It covers the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. The region consists of the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. The region has seven cities; Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Lichfield, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton and Worcester.
Leamington Spa railway station serves the town of Leamington Spa, in Warwickshire, England. It is situated on Old Warwick Road towards the southern edge of the town centre. It is a major stop on the Chiltern Main Line between London and Birmingham, and is the southern terminus of a branch line to Coventry.
Coventry railway station is the main railway station serving the city of Coventry, West Midlands, England. The station is on the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line (WCML); it is also located at the centre of a junction where the lines to Nuneaton and to Leamington converge. It is situated on the southern edge of the city-centre, just outside the Coventry ring road, about 250 yards to the south of junction 6.
The Birmingham & District Premier Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the United Kingdom, formed in 1888. It was the first ECB Premier League, being designated such in 1998, and is one of the strongest of the ECB Premier Leagues.
The Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster line is a railway line which runs from Birmingham Snow Hill to Worcester via Stourbridge and Kidderminster in the West Midlands, England. It is one of the Snow Hill Lines, with trains operated by West Midlands Trains and Chiltern Railways using a variety of rolling stock including Class 172 and Class 168 diesel units. It is a future aspiration of Network Rail to electrify the entire line, as well as the Chiltern Main Line to London Marylebone.
Warwickshire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Warwickshire in England. It is the second smallest territorial police force in England and Wales after the City of London Police, with only 823 regular officers as of September 2017. The resident population of the force area is 554,002.
Stourbridge Junction is one of two railway stations serving the town of Stourbridge, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line and is the junction for the Stourbridge Town Branch Line, said to be the shortest operational branch line in Europe. The other station serving Stourbridge is Stourbridge Town at the end of the branch line.
Warwick railway station serves the market town of Warwick in Warwickshire, England. The station is served by Chiltern Railways, and also less frequently by West Midlands Trains. It is located around half a mile north of the town centre.
Dorridge railway station serves the large village of Dorridge in the West Midlands of England. The station is served by Chiltern Railways, who manage the station, and also by West Midlands Trains. It is situated 10+1⁄2 miles (16.9 km) south of Birmingham Snow Hill.
Solihull railway station serves the market town of Solihull in the West Midlands of England. The station is served by West Midlands Trains and Chiltern Railways. CrossCountry serve the station occasionally to replace stops at Coventry and Birmingham International during engineering work. Solihull used to have a regular Virgin CrossCountry service to Manchester Piccadilly, Blackpool North and Portsmouth Harbour until 2004, when all services through the station were made to run non-stop between Birmingham and Leamington Spa.
Droitwich Spa railway station serves the town of Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England. It is located just to the south-west of Droitwich Spa Junction of the Worcester to Leamington Spa Line and the Worcester to Birmingham New Street line. The station is managed by West Midlands Trains, who also operate all trains serving it.
Rowley Regis railway station serves the town of Blackheath and the Rowley Regis area of Sandwell, in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway, who provide the majority of train services; there are also occasional services provided by Chiltern Railways.
The Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway (OW&WR) was a railway company in England. It built a line from Wolvercot Junction near Oxford to Worcester, Stourbridge, Dudley and Wolverhampton, as well as some branches.
Mulliners Limited of Birmingham was a British coachbuilding business in Bordesley Green, with factories in Bordesley Green and Cherrywood Roads. It made standard bodies for specialist car manufacturers. In the 19th century there were family ties with founders Mulliners of Northampton and the businesses of other Mulliner brothers and cousins but it became a quite separate business belonging to Herbert Mulliner.
Stratford-upon-Avon Parkway is a railway station located on the northern outskirts of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. It is on the North Warwickshire Line, adjacent to the A46.
The Stourbridge and Kidderminster Bank was a bank that operated in England from 1834 until 1880 when it was taken over by the Birmingham Banking Company.
Sir James Sawyer was a British physician and cancer researcher famous in his day as a public educator in health matters, an early proponent of "daily habits".
