Bank of Queensland (1863–1866)

The Bank of Queensland was a bank in Queensland, Australia. Established in London[1] it opened for business in Brisbane on 13 August 1863 in the renovated premises of the former Joint Stock Bank.[2] There had been just four (trading) banks established in Queensland by late 1862 but all from other Australian colonies, branches of New South Wales Bank, Union Bank of Australia, Australian Joint Stock Bank and the Bank of Australasia.[3]

Branches of the Bank of Queensland were shortly opened at Ipswich, Dalby and Rockhampton[4] as well as at Toowoomba and elsewhere.

In the midst of the July 1866 collapse of the major London discount house Overend, Gurney and Company the London board of the Bank of Queensland took the opportunity to announce that a major portion of their bank's capital had been lost by poorly chosen advances made on securities of sheep and cattle stations,[note 1] sawmills and even newspaper proprietors.[5] The bank suspended payments a week later.[6]

In the following days it became known that the immediate reason for the suspension of payments was the Queensland's Government's failure to honour its cheques[7] and that happened because the Agra and Masterman's Bank had failed, following Overend, Gurney. The panic in London also brought an Australian run on the Bank of Queensland and at the end of 1866 the shareholders agreed to voluntarily wind the bank up.[8]