British Provincial, Devon, Axminster, The Dorsetshire Bank, Five Pounds, 5 December 1889, X 3490, for Robert Williams, Robert Williams Junior, Reginald Thornton, Cam Sykes, Reginald Douglas Thornton and Herbert Scott Williams, signed by C. Sykes (Outing 705; cf. Grant 1041C). Two inked numbers at top left and pinholes, otherwise about good very fine, rare £500-600

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Collection of British and Irish Banknotes formed by the Late Edward Barnby.

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Engraved by C. Skipper & East. Of the partners in the bank, Robert Williams (1811-90), MP for Dorchester 1835-41, lived at Bridehead House, Dorchester, as did his son, Robert Williams Jr, later Sir Robert Williams, 1st Bt, of Bridehead (1848-1943), who was the bank’s treasurer and served as the Conservative MP for West Dorset from 1895 to 1922. Reginald Thornton (†August 1895, aged 73), served in the Bengal Civil Service but was invalided home prior to the Indian Mutiny in 1857 and lived at Birkin House, Dorchester; Cam Sykes was a magistrate at Weymouth; Reginald Douglas Thornton lived at Shirley House, Dorchester; and Herbert Scott Williams (1860-1942), who played cricket for Middlesex CC, lived at Stinford. The bank became part of the Wiltshire & Dorsetshire Banking Co Ltd in 1897