Bicentenary of a Durham bank

Backhouse, of course, was a Darlington business which, in 1896, amalgamated with 20 other Quakerish banks across the country to form Barclays – and Barclays still trade in Durham from Backhouse’s bank.

Darlington linen trader James Backhouse formed a bank in 1774 to lubricate the deals he was doing. In those days, banks were dependent upon depositors having the utmost confidence in them.

People handed over their valuables to the bank for safe-keeping, and in return received a banknote showing what they had deposited - a five pound note showed they had five pounds of gold in the bank.

Rather than return to the bank each time they wanted to buy something, people instead began exchanging banknotes. But notes were only acceptable as long as the local community believed the bank had the gold to support them – if confidence fell, people rushed to the bank demanding their gold back before it disappeared.

In July 1815, the public spooked, starting runs on provincial banks. In Durham, the principal bank was Messrs Mowbray, Hollingsworth and Co – it was known as the “Durham bank”, and it had branches in Darlington and Thirsk. On Thursday, July 20, with its vaults rumoured to be empty, it stopped making payments to its worried customers.

This increased the panic. In Darlington, investors began a run on Backhouse’s bank. When it shut up shop on Saturday, July 22, its reserves were perilously low.

But on the Sunday, farmer Thomas Ord of Archdeacon Newton rode around his friends and neighbours and persuaded them to sign a notice saying they had the utmost confidence in the bank. He turned his petitions into posters which he plastered all over the town centre just before opening time on the Monday morning.

The reassurance stemmed the tide. Backhouse survived.

But, without a public show of support, Messrs Mowbray, Hollingsworth and Co went under, owing £20,000.

The collapse of the Durham rival presented a golden opportunity to the Darlington bank. It moved into Mowbray’s impressive but empty bank building on Darlington’s High Row – where Barclays is today – and then, on September 16, it opened a branch in Durham City, to fill the void left by Mowbray.

Sunderland was in a similarly bankless situation – so Backhouse opened a branch there, too.

Across the North-East, Backhouse thrived, and its banks became the symbol of prosperity in many towns. Its architect, GG Hoskins, built imposing but distinctive Gothic branches for it: Sunderland (1868), Bishop Auckland (1870), Middlesbrough (1872), Thirsk (1877) and Barnard Castle (1878).

But Backhouse’s headquarters on Darlington’s High Row was designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1864. When he started work, he was largely unknown, but he became the greatest Gothic architect of his day, and is best known for building Manchester Town Hall and the Natural History Museum in London, as well as Darlington’s iconic town clock.

Up in Durham, Backhouse bought the City Tavern in the Market Place, and in 1887 paid Waterhouse – then at the peak of his national acclaim – to design a bank for the site. While it isn’t one of his best buildings, it certainly graces the square.

In 1924, when Barclays’ name was over the door, the bank was extended into the neighbouring Bowes Arms Hotel, and did a fair job of replicating Waterhouse’s design.

Barclays’ name is still over the door of the Grade II listed building, exactly 200 years after Backhouse first opened for banking in the city.

MYSTERY ACE: Who is this Second World War airman who won the Distinguished Flying Cross?

DURHAM historian Michael Richardson recently acquired this photograph of a Second World War RAF officer from a charity shop in Haswell. He is wearing two ribbons, the one on the left being a Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded for an act of bravery. In all probability, he is a County Durham man – does anyone recognise him, or give us any clues? Please contact Michael – gilesgatearchive@aol.com – or Memories (details at the top of the page).

DURHAM Cathedral is to launch a guide to the war memorials within its walls. The new trail takes visitors around memorials to those who died in the Peninsular War of the 1800s, the Crimean War of the 1850s, the Sudan campaign of the 1880s and the Boer Wars of the 1890s – the Durham Light Infantry featuring large in its thoughts. There are also memorials to the dead of the two world wars, including a wooden cross that is a relic of the Battle of the Somme of 1916 in which the DLI suffered so dreadfully.

But the trail begins at the Neville Screen. Originally, there were 107 statues in the stone screen but these were smashed off during the Reformation. Even so, the screen is regarded as a Gothic masterpiece, and it was presented to the cathedral by John Neville to commemorate the English victory over the Scots at the Battle of Neville’s Cross of 1346 – it is, therefore, one of the earliest war memorials.

The guide costs £1, and will soon be available from the information desk.

IN Memories 195 this time last year, we told of the Old Durham Gardens, where musical entertainments have been held since at least 1745, which was open as part of the National Heritage Open Days.

It is a walled pleasuregarden, and it is a magical place. Although there are lots of places vying for your attention this weekend, the Old Durham Gardens are open today from 10am to 4pm and tomorrow, between 1pm and 5pm, there is a free concert featuring a wide range of music and dancing, thus continuing a 275-year tradition.

It is best to walk to the gardens from Maiden Castle, where there are parking facilities in the university’s Graham Sports Centre). Full details at olddurhamgardens.co.uk