of the governor, Sir John Houblon. They were descended
from James Houblon, a Flemish refugee who had escaped from the persecution
of Alva. All the directors were men of high mercantile standing. The
business of the bank was first carried on in the Mercers' chapel. It
continued there till the 28th of September, when they moved to Grocers'
Hall. They were tenants of the Grocers' Hall till 1732. The first stone of
the building now occupied by the bank was laid on the 1st of August 1732.
The bank has remained on the same site ever since. The structure occupied
the space previously covered by the house and gardens of Sir John Houblon,
the first governor, which had been bought for the purpose. Between 1764 and
1788 the wings were erected. In 1780 the directors, alarmed at the
dangerous facilities which the adjacent church of St Christopher le Stocks
might give to a mob, obtained parliamentary powers and acquired the fabric,
on the site of which much of the present building stands. The structure was
developed to its present form about the commencement of the 19th century.

The bank commenced business with fifty-four assistants, the salaries of
whom amounted to L4350. The total number employed in 1847 was upwards of
nine hundred and their salaries exceeded L210,000. Mr Thomson Hankey stated
that in 1867 upwards of one thousand persons were employed, and the
salaries and wages amounted to nearly L260,000, besides pensions to
superannuated clerks of about L20,000 more. The number of persons of all
classes employed in 1906 (head office and eleven branches) was about 1400.

Originally established to advance the government a loan of L1,200,000, the
management of the British national debt has been confided to the Bank of
England from the date of its foundation, and it has remained the banker of
the government ever since. The interest on the stock in which the debt is
inscribed has always been paid by the bank, originally half-yearly, now
quarterly, and the registration of all transfers of the stock itself is
carried on by the bank, which assumes the responsibility of the correctness
of these transfers. The dignity which the position of banker to the
government gives; the monopoly granted to it of being the only joint-stock
bank allowed to exist in England and Wales till 1826, while the liability
of its shareholders was limited to the amount of their holdings, an
advantage which alone of English banks it possessed till 1862; the
privi