How did money from slavery help develop Greater Manchester?

Manchester & Salford Bank, Mosley Street, Manchester

Wealth and the rise of banking

The wealth of Manchester, much of it derived directly as well as indirectly through slavery, is reflected in the number of banks in the city. Merchants who made money from the transatlantic slave trade invested directly in banks whilst other income derived from the trade was also deposited in local banks.

From 1708 the Bank of England had obtained an act which prevented more than six people from joining together to operate as bankers. In 1826 this law was withdrawn outside London and there was a rapid increase in the number of banks in the provinces.
 

Manchester and Salford Bank

The Bank of Manchester, established in 1829, was the first in the city . The Manchester and Salford Bank was founded in 1836 and it had branches throughout Manchester and Lancashire. Its head office was on the corner of Mosley Street and Marble Street, designed by Richard Tattersall (1803-1844). It had large Corinthian columns and a temple front in an almost Roman style. It is currently number 10 Mosley Street and is Grade II listed.

In 1861 work started on a new headquarters on the corner of York Street and the bank moved from Tattersall's building to one designed by Edward Walters in August 1862. Walters' building was his last great work and the last extravagant Italian palazzo style building in the city. It is clad in yellow-grey York stone with tall elegant windows lighting the banking hall inside. This building is currently a Grade II listed building at 38-42 Mosley Street.