Industry | Banking |
---|---|
Founded | 1866 |
Defunct | 1982 |
Fate | Merged with Bank of New South Wales |
Successor | Westpac |
Headquarters | Melbourne, Victoria , Australia |
Area served | Australia and New Zealand |
Key people | Lowe Kong Meng Louis Ah Mouy |
Products | Consumer Banking |
The Commercial Bank of Australia Limited (CBA) was an Australian and New Zealand retail bank which operated from 1866 until being amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales, that was established in 1817, to form the Westpac Banking Corporation in 1982. [1] [2]
The first prospectus of the Commercial Bank of Australia was published on 16 March 1866. The initial capital was £500,000 in fifty thousand shares at £10 each. The first chairman of the bank's board of directors was Gideon S. Lang. [3] In addition to Gideon Lang, the first directors were John Mackenzie, Thomas Mitchell and L. J. Sherrard. [4] A provisional committee was made up of the four directors plus Mars Buckley, W. A. Broadribb, Thomas Cherry, James Copeland, Lowe Kong Meng, Matthew McCaw, Louis Ah Mouy, Sir Francis Murphy, Adam Stacpoole, Sylvester O'Sullivan, T. J. Thomas, David E. Wilkie and Benjamin Williams. Murphy, Wilkie and Williams were members of the Victorian Legislative Council. [3]
The first general manager of the bank was George Valentine. He was succeeded early in 1870 by Henry Gyles Turner. [4]
Lake and Reynolds write that Lowe Kong Meng and Louis Ah Mouy were "founding director(s) and major shareholder(s) of the Commercial Bank of Australia." [5] As banks could issue their own paper currency at the time, the bank printed Chinese text on their pound note to encourage Chinese custom. [6] [7]
It was headquartered for its entire existence at what is now 327-343 Collins Street, Melbourne. The Commercial Bank of Australia Building, was rebuilt in 1891–93, at which time a dramatic banking chamber was added, and redeveloped again in 1939, when the Collins Street facade was rebuilt. The building was substantially demolished as part of the construction of the 333 Collins Street tower in 1990; however, the facade, banking chamber and entrance vestibule were preserved, the latter two now being heritage-listed. [8] [9]
It acquired the Australian and European Bank in 1879 and the National Bank of Tasmania in 1918. It commenced operations in New Zealand in 1912. [1]
It amalgamated with the Bank of New South Wales to form Westpac in 1982. [1]
The Bank of New South Wales (BNSW), also known commonly as The Wales, was the first bank in Australia, being established in Sydney in 1817 and situated on Broadway. During the 19th century, the bank opened branches throughout Australia and New Zealand, expanding into Oceania in the 20th century. It merged with many other financial institutions, finally merging with the Commercial Bank of Australia in 1982 and being renamed to the Westpac Banking Corporation on 4 May that year under the Bank of New South Wales Act 1982.
Collins Street is a major street in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in the first survey of Melbourne, the original 1837 Hoddle Grid, and soon became the most desired address in the city. Collins Street was named after Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania David Collins who led a group of settlers in establishing a short-lived settlement at Sorrento in 1803.
Australian non-residential architectural styles are a set of Australian architectural styles that apply to buildings used for purposes other than residence and have been around only since the first colonial government buildings of early European settlement of Australia in 1788.
The Bank of Melbourne is a financial institution operating in Victoria, Australia. A subsidiary of Westpac, it commenced operations on 25 July 2011.
The Colonial Bank of Australasia was a bank operating primarily in the Australian colony and then state of Victoria from 1856 to 1918.
Berry Museum is a heritage-listed former council chambers and bank building and now museum at 135 Queen Street, Berry, City of Shoalhaven, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by William Wilkinson Wardell and built from 1884 to 1885 by W. Stoddart. It is also known as the E.S.&A. Bank or the ANZ Bank. The property is owned by Shoalhaven City Council. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 1 September 2006.
Westpac Banking Corporation, known simply as Westpac, is an Australian multinational banking and financial services company headquartered at Westpac Place in Sydney, New South Wales.
The former Bank of Australasia Headquarters is an historic bank headquarters in Renaissance Revival style located on the corner of Queen Street and Collins Street, the traditional heart of Melbourne's financial precinct, with 19th Century banks on three corners.
Louis Ah Mouy was a Chinese–Australian community leader and businessman.
The Head Office building of The Bank of New South Wales was designed by prolific Melbourne architect Joseph Reed and constructed at 368–374 Collins St, Melbourne, in 1856–1857. Reed was awarded first prize, worth £75, in the Bank of New South Wales’ competition to design their new Melbourne headquarters on a vacant block of land facing the prominent Criterion Hotel. Reed's design was chosen for its extensive use of ornamentation on the relatively small scale building. The façade of the Bank of New South Wales building is prized as a leading example of mid nineteenth century Renaissance Revival architecture in Melbourne. Structural shortcomings and the desire for expansion led to the building's demolition in 1932. Reed's original National Trust heritage-listed façade was preserved and gifted to the University of Melbourne, where it can still be seen on the western face of the Melbourne School of Design, opposite Union Lawn.
The Bank of New South Wales Building is a heritage-listed former bank building located at 33 Queen Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Hall & Devereux and built from 1928 to 1930 by F J Corbett & Sons. It is also known as Westpac Bank Building. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.
Westpac Bank Building is a heritage-listed bank building at 337–343 Flinders Street, Townsville CBD, City of Townsville, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Hall and Cook and built in 1935 by Stuart Brothers (Sydney). It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 13 May 2004.
The former Westpac Building, also known as the Challenge Bank Building and the Western Australian Bank Building, is a heritage listed building located at 22 High Street on the corner with Mouat Street in the Fremantle West End Heritage area. It was one of many commercial buildings constructed in Fremantle during the gold boom period in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
341 George Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed bank building located at 341 George Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1927 to 1932 and housed the headquarters of the Bank of New South Wales, and later Westpac. It is also known as Westpac Bank building and Bank of NSW building. Westpac sold the building in 2002, but continues to lease the lower floors for use as banking chambers. The upper floors are leased by other tenants.
343 George Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed former bank building and now nine-storey retail and commercial premises. It is located at 343 George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1921 to 1925, and until 2008 housed banking premises of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney (CBC) and later National Australia Bank. The building is also known as CBC Bank, NAB Bank and Barrack House. The property is now owned by the New South Wales Government-owned superannuation fund. The ground floor is leased as retail premises, while the upper storeys are used as commercial office space.
354 George Street, Sydney is a heritage-listed retail and office building and former bank building located at 354 George Street, in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed in various stages by Edward Raht, A. K. Henderson, Joseland & Gilling and Kevin Winterbottom and Assoc. and built in various stages from 1902 to 1937 by Loveridge & Hudson and Kell & Rigby. It is also known as ANZ Bank (former); ANZ Bank; United Permanent Building; 2 Martin Place; Paspaley Pearls; 354-360 George Street; and Bank of Australasia. The property is owned by Paspaley Pearls Properties P/L. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The London Chartered Bank of Australia was an English-run Australian bank which operated from 1852 to 1921.
Lowe Kong Meng was a Chinese-Australian businessman. Born into a trading family in Penang, Kong Meng learned English and French at an early age and worked as an importing merchant around the Indian Ocean. In 1853 he moved to Melbourne where he started a business importing goods for Chinese miners during the Victorian gold rush. After 1860, as the Chinese population in Melbourne peaked, he diversified into other lines of business, including investing in the Commercial Bank of Australia. Kong Meng was a prominent and well-regarded member of Melbourne's elite, and for a time was one of the city's wealthiest men. He was a leading defender of Chinese Australians at a time when their status was politically controversial and they were subjected to targeted taxation, discrimination and violence.
Cheok Hong Cheong, also known as Zhang Zhuoxiong, was a Chinese-born Australian missionary, political activist, writer, and businessman. Originally a Presbyterian elder, he became the superintendent of the Anglican mission in Melbourne. A staunch campaigner against anti-Chinese sentiment in Australia, he co-authored a booklet titled The Chinese Question in Australia (1879) with Lowe Kong Meng and Louis Ah Mouy. He was also opposed to the British opium trade.