ABSTRACT
History: This co-partnery was established in 1767 with a paid-up capital of about £21,500, mostly provided by landowners and merchants; it was the tenth provincial banking company to be formed in Scotland and the second in Aberdeen. Its establishment was partly a response to the prob lem of the proliferation of small bank notes of doubtful value in circulation in Scotland during the 1760s. The bank struggled to survive during its first eighteen months, a result of aggressive competition from the Glasgow-based Thistle Bank and the British Linen Co; it was not until 1771 that a substantial profit was made. By 1769 eight agencies had been formed in the counties of Aberdeen, Banff and Kincardine. Between 1778 and 1806 the bank was so successful that paid-up capital was raised to £80,000 through transfer of retained profits. The bank appeared to continue to operate successfully, but there were underlying problems; by 1828 very large sums had been advanced to businesses in which the directors of the bank were interested and it was only on the appointment of a new cashier in 1839 that these were identified as bad debts. This resulted in a reconstruction in 1842-43, but by 1849 paid-up capital had been reduced to £7,000 as a result of the failure of the firms to which the large advances had been made. Some retiring partners attempted to bring lawsuits against the directors, which do not seem to have been resolved. The business was acquired by the Union Bank of Scotland (est. 1830) in 1849.
