Royal British Bank

The Royal British Bank was a British joint-stock bank, established under a Royal Charter in 1849, that collapsed in 1856, causing a scandal.

In 1858 the eight directors — not including the bank's founder, John MacGregor, Member of Parliament for Glasgow, who had left the bank in 1854 and died in 1857 — were put on trial in February 1858 for conspiracy to defraud the bank's customers at the Court of Queen's Bench before the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Campbell. On the first day of the trial the Prince of Wales attended and sat on the bench next to the Lord Chief Justice. The jury found each of the defendants guilty of the charges and they were given sentences ranging from a nominal fine of one shilling to imprisonment for up to one year. By July 1858, however, only one of the convicted, the former manager of the bank and arguably the least influential person among the convicted, yet remained in prison.

See also

• Royal British Bank v Turquand

References

• Annual Register 1858. Longmans Green and Co. 1859. pp. 330–339. Retrieved 2008-03-02. 
• Antonio, Robert J. (2003). Marx and Modernity. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-631-22550-8. Retrieved 2008-08-29. 
• The Times, Monday, Mar 01, 1858; pg. 9; Issue 22929; col B

• The Times, Monday, Jul 05, 1858; pg. 5; Issue 22890; col F