Bank of New Brunswick

The Bank of New Brunswick was established on March 25, 1820 in the pre-Confederation Province of New Brunswick, Canada as the first Canadian bank to operate under a charter. Headquartered in a new building on Prince William Street in Saint John, it was founded by some of the colony's most prominent businessmen. At the time, Saint John was the largest city in the Maritime Provinces, exceeding in population both Halifax, Nova Scotia, and for a time during the 19th century, even Toronto, Ontario.

John Robinson was elected the first President of the Bank of New Brunswick and served until 1824 when he was succeeded by Charles Simonds.

The acquisition of the City Bank of Saint John in 1839 and the Summerside Bank of P.E.I. in 1901, expanded the Bank's network. (Following the City Bank acquisition, City Bank president Thomas Leavitt became president of the Bank of New Brunswick.) [ [http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?&id_nbr=3492&interval=25&&PHPSESSID=bookjdavsrj2v9i1mmtbs5mts6 Thomas Leavitt, Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, canada.gc.ca] ] But by the early part of the 20th century it became apparent that the Bank of New Brunswick lacked the capital needed to remain competitive, and its shareholders accepted an offer to merge with the Bank of Nova Scotia on February 15, 1913.

Around thirty-thousand dollars in notes are currently in circulation.Fact|date=February 2008 These notes can be reimbursed by the Bank of Canada.

Robberies

The New Brunswicker once reported:

:"Bold Bank Robbery. - On Sunday, June 28 [1857] , the Bank of New Brunswick was robbed of a large amount of gold and five-pound notes. The amount is not stated, but we presume from $15,000 to $20,000 in gold and a still larger amount of bank bills. It was one of the boldest and ablest planned robberies we have heard of for many a day. The village of Fredericton has about 5,000 people. The robbers got into the basement of the building, dug through the masonry and got access to the lock, an old-fashioned one, bolted to the door by screws. They cut off the heads of the screw bolts and left the lock hanging in its place, and forced the door. They selected their gold and bills and left the silver on the floor of the bank room, apparently intending to return for it. No one connected with the bank visited it from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning, so that they had ample time for arrangements. The persons of the robbers are pretty clearly ascertained."

References

* [http://collections.ic.gc.ca/chip/english/business/banks.htm#nb Canadian Banking]
* [http://new-brunswick.net/new-brunswick/facts.html New Brunswick.net: Just the Facts]
* [http://www.cam.org/~anfc/nb.htm Découvrez le Nouveau-Brunswick]
* [http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/Arrivals/Canada1857a.htm Canadian News and British American Intelligencer 1857]
* [http://www.scotiabank.com/cda/content/0,1608,CID10919_LIDen,00.html Scotiabank history]