D384 Banking 

Introduction

 First Bank on the Island would appear to be the Isle of Man Bank founded in 1802 by M.H. & G. Quayle, J. Taubman, and J. Kelly, with offices at Bridge House, Castletown, the large town house of the Quayles of Crogga,which is said to have been built for its accommodation. The start of this bank is well described in a letter ¹ from John Taubman to M H Quayle + John Kelly:

Liverpool 19 Jan 1802
Messrs Kelly & M. H. Quayle
Dear Sir's
I had the please of receiving
your joint letter and one enclosed from Cap^tn Q. this morning
and have written to express my concurrence in the
connection which he proposes with the Banking House
in Bond Street. It occurs to me, that we have omitted
taking the necessary precautions (even amongst friends)
of having articles of partnership drawn up & signed,
before the opening of the Bank; but as such a step should
be taken & my health my detain me on this side of
the water after the Cap^tns return to the Island, I will
offer the remarks of one but little experienced in
business.

As the Fencibles may be reduced
on very short notice & our notes are to be substituted
for those that have been issued by Mr M Quayle, it
may be proper to ascertain the number of notes of
his now in currency, & to fix the terms on which
we are to substitute our paper in the place of them;
I suppose your plan is to take his security for what:
:ever we may be called upon to advance for him together
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together with legal interest; this must be a great facility
to Mr Q. as well to our undertaking; for it will prevent
his being under the necessity of raising the amount of his
notes now outstanding and will give a more immediate
circulation to our own paper .

From the small capital
with which we shall begin, & the cautious manner in wch
we are agreed to act, no great individual adavntage can
arise; but I look forward to much good to the public:
for by this means we shall get rid of that great circulation
of notes from every quarter of England, wch I cannot
but view with considerable distrust & Apprehension &
we may keep the Gold more on the Island than has
hitherto been the case; we shall create confidence in the
Island, & at a future day may consult on the propriety
of enlaging our Capital, & extending the business -
But I must beg to be understood, that nothing must be
done without the consent of each individual Partner,
which is indeed agreeable to our first conversation on
the subject - It is proper that an allowance shd be
agreed upon for the trouble of keeping Books, issuing
Notes &c,&c and tho' Mr M Q offer'd his services & attention
to the business, yet it is but right he shd accept of what must
otherwise have been paid by way of Salary, to another person -
I have nothing further to add, than that I remain with
great esteem, Dear Sirs
Your's very sincerely
John Taubman

PS
I have shown this letter to my friend Counsr Christian
who is now here, and he approves entirely of the
Contents
Shall be glad to hear from you, direct for me to the
care of Leece & Drinkwater

The Capt referred to is presumably Mark Hildesley Quayle's elder brother George(1751-1835) - Mark Hildesley Quayle(1770-1804) was to die at a young age in 1804 (his only son Mark Hildesley was born 1804 and rose to very high esteem in the Island)

West and Kelly in their exceedingly well illustrated book on Manx Paper Money make brief reference to an earlier Isle of Man Bank established c.1787 but very little is known about this or John Taubman's partner Mr Kennedy. The earlier notes by "Mr M Quayle" were it seems circulated internally amongst the Royal Manx Fencibles from c1797 of which Lieut Mark Quayle was paymaster; the banking house of George Quayle & Co was active from 1802-1817 tho the partners changed over this period.

Notes were also produced by Bridson & Horrox and Edward + James Moore(Linen Manufacturers) tho in both cases it is not clear that they were ever issued - the next significant financial institution was Mount Gawne Bank which appears to develop out of Edward Gawne's brewing + money lending business based initially at Mount Gawne and later at Kentraugh.

Online Pages:

 P.G. Ralfe History of Manx Banking (included in Sixty Years of Banking) Douglas 1925

C Clay Currency of the Isle of Man, Manx See, Vol. 17.

Offline References:

Pam West and Alan Kelly Isle of Man Paper Money Sutton 2014 ISBN 978-0-9543457-4-7

References

1: Manx Museum Bridge House Papers MS 04120/3 John Taubman to Messrs Kelly + M H Quayle