Wilkins/Wilkens Researchers

Adam S. Wilkins

• 1750-1900
• Herts UK
• General research into Messrs Wilkins & Co, Brecon Old Bank 

Contact: adamwilkins1@aol.com

Messrs. Wilkins & Co. (1778 – 1890).

Messrs. Wilkins and Co., known as Brecon Old Bank, was a major influence in the economic development of South Wales in the 19^th century.  It was an important financial institution, initially wholly owned by the Wilkins family, that not only provided finance for a wide range of major business ventures but also extended banking services to the area.  It was for many years regarded as being the most important banking partnership in South Wales.

History of the Bank.

The bank of Messrs Wilkins and Co was established at Brecon in 1778 by four partners who included Walter Wilkins (1741-1828) of Maes-llwch, Radnorshire and Jeffreys Wilkins of the Priory, Brecon. They were the sons of John Wilkins I (1713-1784), the Deputy Clerk of the Crown for Brecknock Circuit of the Great Sessions. The other two partners are believed to have been Walter Jeffreys, a cousin of Walter and Jeffreys Wilkins and William Williams who was known as 'Merchant Williams'. Each of the partners supplied a quarter of the original capital of £4,000.

In 1759 Walter had travelled to India where he amassed a considerable fortune.  He subsequently returned to Wales during or before 1778 and lived at Maes-llwch which became the family home for generations.  It is undoubtedly this money that he obtained in India that allowed him to participate in the formation of the bank and provide further investments in later years.

It is assumed that it is Walter Wilkins who is referred to by Charles Wilkins in a statement relating to Wilkins Bank.  He states that the bank was ‘established in 1778 by Mr Wilkins, and, as the gentleman was amongst the first rank in the country, and stood high in the confidence of the Bank of England, its success was not for a moment doubtful’.

Other wealthy members of the family may have also invested in the bank.  These included Walter and Jeffreys’ father John Wilkins І who possibly also financed the iron partnerships that his son John II and Thomas Wilkins controlled.

It would appear that the chief promoter and driving force of the bank was Walter Wilkins who, from 1796 until his death, was the Whig (Liberal) Member of Parliament for Radnorshire.  He served under many Prime Ministers including William Pitt the Younger who held office between 1783–1801 and 1804–06.  It is believed that he had a somewhat stormy relationship with Pitt who referred to him as the ‘little man in the snuffy brown coat’.  To seek some sort of retribution Pitt caused a substantial amount of Government funds to accumulate in Wilkins Bank and then without notice withdraw it suddenly.  This caused the bank an immediate serious financial problem as Pitt had intended.  They extricated themselves from this temporary embarrassment with a £50,000 loan being provided by the iron-master Richard Crawshay of Cyfarthfa whose promissory notes were circulated by Wilkins & Co.

Read more about Walter Wilkins' Dispute with William Pitt

There were family connections with banking prior to the formation of Wilkins & Co.  John Wilkins I married Sibyl Jeffreys of Llywel, Breckonshire, whose family were related to a certain Edward Jeffreys.  It is known that a Edward Jeffreys was alive in the late 16^thC but it may also have been his grandson (also Edward) who was the brother of Sibyl.  In 1811 Sibyl Wilkins and her two sisters inherited the estate of her nephew Walter Jeffreys who was a partner in Wilkins’ Bank until his death.  The Jeffreys family had been connected with banking since at least the mid-1700’s, her father’s cousin, Walter Jeffreys, was described as a ‘banker’ in 1746 and the brother of Edward Jeffreys (Sir Jeffrey Jeffreys of the Priory, Brecon) was an alderman of the City of London and married the daughter of Nicholas Sawes who was a descendent of the partners of the bank of Dawes, Devaynes & Co of Pall Mall, London.

Banknotes issued by Wilkins’ Bank indicate that it was a partnership that consisted of ‘Wilkins, Jeffreys, Wilkins and Williams’.  Of the existing banknotes one of 1782 is signed by Jeffreys Wilkins and notes of 1788 and 1792 are both signed by Walter Jeffreys.  The surviving drafts of the partnership deeds of the bank are held by the National Library of Wales.  The earliest (and undated) document includes the name of John Parry Wilkins who had stated that he ‘became connected with the country banking in 1796’  A document also refers to Walter Wilkins (1741 – 1828) who was the grandfather of the Walter Wilkins who entered into the partnership in 1832.  Jeffreys Wilkins, Walter Wilkins II, John Parry Wilkins (son of Jeffreys Wilkins) and his ‘late brother Richard Wilkins’ are referred to as having ‘for several years carried on in co-partnership the business of Bankers in the Town of Brecon’.  Later, before August 1826, the partnership consisted of Walter Wilkins (the elder), Walter Wilkins (the younger) and John Parry Wilkins.  A synopsis of the partners can be found in Fig 1.

As has been already stated the original bank was located at Brecon and it always remained the main bank in the group.  However such was its success that by 1840 additional branches or associated partnerships had been formed at Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest and Llanelly.

It is difficult to determine all of those individuals whom, at one time or another, were partners in Wilkins’ Bank.  The following list was produced by R O Roberts in 1961.

                Note:   Both John Parry Wilkins and John Jeffreys Wilkins changed their surnames to deWinton in 1839.  Other members of the family also changed surnames at about the same time.

Fig 1   Changes in the partners of Wilkins Bank (1778 to 1890)  

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