Just thought I show this , not often collected but very nice to see it none the less.
THE STANDARD BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA LTD PROMISSORY NOTE 1908
The bank now known as Standard Bank was formed in 1862 as a South African subsidiary of the British overseas bank Standard Bank, under the name The Standard Bank of South Africa.
VIGNETTE AT LEFT WITH SEATED BRITANNIA HOLDING ROYAL STANDARD WITH EMBOSSED HEAD OF KING EDWARD V11 TOP CENTER
In 1905 the famous Diamond "The Cullinan Diamond" 3,032 carats , Was exhibited at the Johannesburg branch of Standard Bank
In June 1857 a group of businessmen attempted to establish the Standard Bank of Port Elizabeth. Nothing came of the venture, presumably because investors were wary of two existing banks in Port Elizabeth. Still the dream persisted and John Paterson, the man behind the idea, sailed to England to encourage British investors to support the scheme. Paterson's efforts were successful and in April 1860 a prospectus for The Standard Bank of British South Africa was published in London.
Two years after the appearance of its prospectus, The Standard Bank of British South Africa, Limited was established. On 13 October 1862 the Memorandum of Association was signed and on 15 October the bank was incorporated and registered as a limited liability company. Its capital was fixed at £1 000 000 in 10 000 shares of £100 each. The shares were eagerly taken up by capitalists in England who were aware of the value of Cape investments.
Soon after opening it merged with several other banks including the Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth, the Colesberg Bank, the British Kaffrarian Bank and the Fauresmith Bank.
A feature which distinguished the Imperial banks such as Standard Bank from the local private banks was the establishment of a branch network. Where possible, Standard Bank tried to absorb existing banks, bringing into its fold in the first 15 years:
Commercial Bank of Port Elizabeth (est 1853) in 1863
Colesberg Bank (est 1861) in 1863
British Kaffrarian Bank (est 1857) in 1863
Fauresmith Bank (est 1863) in 1863
Beaufort West Bank (est 1854) in 1864
Fort Beaufort and Victoria Bank (est 1860) in 1873
Albert Bank, Burghersdorp (est 1861) in 1874
Swellendam Bank (est 1852) in 1877
London and South African Bank (est 1860) in 1877
Caledon Agricultural Bank (est 1861) in 1878
Malmesbury Agricultural and Commercial Bank (est 1862) in 1878
It was prominent in financing and development of the diamond fields of Kimberley in 1867. The word "British" was dropped from the title in 1883. When gold was discovered on the Witwatersrand, the bank expanded northwards and on 11 October 1886 the bank started doing business in a tent at Ferreira's Camp (later to be called Johannesburg), thus becoming the first bank to open a branch on the Witwatersrand gold fields. On 1 November 1901 a second branch was opened in Eloff Street of Johannesburg.
Banking supplies such as ledger books, printed forms, safes, and the like, were not locally available and had to be shipped from England. In the absence of a central bank, all South African banks issued their own bank notes, the forms of which had to be signed by the manager and accountant of issuing branches before becoming legal tender.
“British” Dropped from Bank’s Name Reports of gold discoveries in the eastern Transvaal, which formed part of the independent Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek or Transvaal Republic, started to attract attention in the 1870s.
Standard Bank’s desire to extend its field of activities there was thwarted by its own memorandum of association, which limited its sphere of operations to areas under British jurisdiction.
Immediately after the Transvaal was annexed by Britain in April 1877, the bank opened branches in Potchefstroom, Pretoria, Lydenburg and Heidelberg. The return of independence to the Transvaal in 1881 left the bank with two options: to withdraw from the Transvaal or to alter its memorandum of association. The only rival bank in the Transvaal, the Cape Commercial Bank, was tottering and although Standard Bank’s Transvaal business was small and unprofitable, it believed the territory had potential. The Pretoria branch was therefore kept open and steps were taken to legalise the bank’s continued presence in the Transvaal.
On 19 July 1881 the Royal Assent was given to altering the bank’s memorandum to enable it to operate in areas outside British jurisdiction. As the bank was no longer exclusively a “British” bank, the word British was dropped from its title at a shareholders’ meeting on 16 February 1883.
The bank was henceforth known as The Standard Bank of South Africa, Limited. The western Cape’s superior communication facilities with the interior and overseas and the valuable government account induced Standard Bank to move its colonial head office from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town on 31 December 1885.
The new, majestic Standard Bank building in Adderley Street served as an ideal home for the bank’s headquarters for the next 68 years.
Widespread depression and droughts throughout Africa during the 1920s and 1930s, followed by the Second World War (1939 – 1945) enabled the Standard Bank to consolidate its position in Africa, but hampered expansion. The bank’s policy of “nursing” customers through the depressions paid off and helped Gold scale weights Windhoek Branch 1915 enhance its reputation and populariy
Until 1962 the British bank was formally known as the Standard Bank of South Africa, although by then its operations spread across Africa. When the South African operations were formed into a subsidiary in 1962, the parent changed its name to Standard Bank Limited, and the South African subsidiary took its parent's previous name.
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