Appendix C - Banking

Around 1785 Joseph Wilkes, a Measham cotton manufacturer, and Thomas and William Pycroft, two important property owners from Overseal, established a bank.  Wilkes was already a partner in the notable banking firm of Messrs Peel, Wilkes, Dickenson and Goodall, of Tamworth and London, and was also concerned with banks at Ashby and Measham.

These country banks were all closely associated with one another, and their bills were payable through the London House.

They provided a valuable service to industrialists by discounting bills and by granting short term loans.  After Wilkes' death in 1805, the banks at Measham and Derby passed under the control of Fisher, Simmonds and Mammatt, while that at Burton remained largely in the hands of the Peels, and was generally referred to as Burton, Peel, Webb and Co..

A second bank was established around 1790 by John Walker Wilson of Burton, brewer and merchant, and Daniel Dalrymple, a local attorney.  After Walker's death in 1799, Joseph Clay, another Burton brewer and Dalrymple's brother-in-law, became a partner in the business, which later passed entirely into the hands of the Clay family.

These two early Burton banks amalgamated in 1839 to form the Burton, Uttoxeter and Ashbourne Union Bank.

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