Hunters and Company, bankers, Ayr (1773-1843)
Founding members
Hunters and Company £1 note, 1829
Hunters & Company of Ayr was established in 1773 with a capital of £10,000. The most prominent partner was James Hunter. He had worked as cashier for the Ayr Banking Company (John MacAdam & Co) from 1763 until its amalgamation with Douglas, Heron & Company (the Ayr Bank) in 1771. The latter had failed spectacularly in 1772, and it was partly to fill the void left by this failure that Hunters & Company was established.
The other partners in Hunters & Company were Robert Hunter of Thurston (James's brother), William Hunter of Brownhill and William Wood (James's son-in-law).
There was also a fifth, secret, partner – also called James Hunter – who was associated with the Edinburgh private bank, Sir William Forbes, James Hunter & Company. He later withdrew from the partnership when his involvement became public, believing it would be disadvantageous to his other business interests – a reflection of the continuing negative impact of the Ayr Bank failure on all banks associated with the town.
In August 1776, the main original partner, James Hunter, died and was replaced in by James Ballantine, a friend of Robert Burns.
Later history
In 1821, the bank took over the business of the Kilmarnock Banking Company. The managing partner from this time until 1841, was William Cowan, who also served as the Provost of Ayr in 1816, 1820 and 1824.
A new contract of partnership was formed in 1841, with the number of partners increased to ten. They included Charles D. Gairdner, William Niven of Kirkbride, Andrew Hunter of Bonnytoun, W. Campbell of Netherplace, Alexander Hunter, WS, Hugh Cowan (nephew of William), Cuthbert Cowan (son of William), Alexander Paterson and Patrick Charles from Surrey.
By this time however the company was struggling against the competition of the large joint-stock banks, and in 1843 the business was acquired by the Union Bank of Scotland.
Further information
• 'The history of the Union Bank of Scotland' by Robert Rait (John Smith & Son, 1930), chapter 8.
• Some archival material relating to Hunters & Company of Ayr is held by HBOS Group Archives.
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