ORIGINAL MEMBERS.
The original -members of the Clearing House were, of course, all private bankers, as joint stock banking com- panies were then unknown. In 1834 the London and Westminster Bank was established, and in the few follow- ing years other joint stock banks sprang up. The private bankers, however, strongly resented the growth of their Powerful rivals and for many years refused them ad- mittance to the Clearing House. The joint stock banks became so strong that in 1854 the ban was withdrawn. In that year the number of banks with seats in the Clearing House was thirty-one but, owing to amalgamations and other reasons, this number became reduced to the present Humber of ten, consisting of the five big London Banks— Barclays, Lloyds, Midland, National Provincial and Westminster—the private banking companies of Glyn Mills and Co. and Coutts and Co., and Martin's Bank, Williams Deacon's and the National Bank. The few remaining independent country banks have London banks as their clearing agents and so arrange for their cheques to be cleared.
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