In the early 1690s the Scottish projector William Paterson fronted several syndicates interested in establishing a public bank in England, in imitation of similar successful ventures in Italy and the Netherlands. After a few failed attempts, he and his merchant backers eventually proved successful. In early May 1694 parliament passed a statute appointing a new tax on ship tonnage expected to raise £140,000 per year. £100,000 of this was earmarked to pay interest (at 8% per annum) on a new £1.2 million loan to the government. The loan would go to cover about ¼ of that year’s expenditures upon the Nine Years War (1689-97) with France. It was to be raised by subscriptions from private citizens, with a ceiling of £20,000 per contributor. Subscriptions, or what effectively became shares in the new Bank, could be...
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Citation: Kleer, Richard. "Bank of England founded". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 October 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=96, accessed 06 December 2025.]
