BARCLAYS BANK LIMITED. The history of Barclays Bank as a British limited company dates from 1896, although the institutions now embodied in it were established at much earlier dates. The banking firms which took the lead in forming the limited company were Barclay, Bevan, Tritton, Ransom, Bouverie & Co., of London and Brighton (whose business was in existence prior to 1694), Gurney & Co. of Norwich (dating back to about 1650), and Jonathan Backhouse & Co. of Darling ton (dating back to 1774)• An agreement was entered into between these three firms for the formation of a joint stock company, while supplementary agreements were arranged with other firms, the combination, comprising 20 banks in all, being registered as Barclay & Company, Limited, with the head office at S4, Lombard street, London, upon which site the business of Barclay, Bevan, Tritton & Co. and its predecessors had been conducted since 1728. The first published balance sheet (1896) showed a paid-up capital of £2,000,000, a reserve of II,000,00c and deposits of Further amalgamations quickly followed, mainly owing to the desire to extend the Bank's operations to practically all areas in England and Wales and to the need for keeping in line with the large scale amalgamations among industrial units, which, partly as a result of the World War, have been constantly taking place. No fewer than 42 banking firms and companies have been, since 1896, merged in Barclays Bank, Limited, to which title the name of the undertaking was altered in 1917. The firms thus eventually combined included the names of many famous British bankers, notably those of Barclay, Bevan, Gurney and Backhouse.
The first reference to the name of Barclay in connection with the Bank occurs in 1736, when Joseph Freame, son of John Freame—a goldsmith and the founder of the London business— took into partnership his brother-in-law, James Barclay and the family has been connected with the business ever since. The Barclays are descended from Robert Barclay of Ury, Scotland. The Bevan family are of Welsh origin. Timothy Bevan married the daughter of David Barclay, son of Robert Barclay of Ury, and became the father of Silvanus Bevan, who joined the Bank in 1767. The Gurney family came to England with William the Conquerer. It is recorded that Francis Gurney acted as banker in the reign of James I., and in 1775, John and Henry Gurney, descendants of Francis Gurney, established the Norwich Bank as a separate business, while a later partner—Richard Gurney— became associated by marriage with the Barclays of Lombard street. The Backhouses were linen and worsted manufacturers, who were doing a bunking business in conjunction with their regular trade, before they started the Bank as a separate and independent institution in 17 74 On the incorporation of Barclays Bank in 1896, Mr. Frederick Craufurd Goodenough was appointed secretary of the company, and became general manager in 1903 ; in 1917 he succeeded Mr. F. A. Bevan as chairman. At the end of 1927, the total deposits of Barclays Bank and its affiliations amounted to over f 400,000,000.