Back to: Our proud history

Governor Lachlan Macquarie arrived in Sydney at the end of 1809, to become the fifth governor of the British Colony of New South Wales. In hindsight the colony's survival was amazing. Those who arrived with the First Fleet in 1788, had only two years provisions with them and no knowledge of farming in Australian conditions, and they nearly starved to death.

Added to these problems of everyday survival was the lack of a stable monetary system. Rum, promissory notes, British Treasury bills, foreign coins and barter substituted for cash; and confusion, corruption and graft had become the order of the day.

To end this confusion, in February 1817 Governor Macquarie signed a charter of incorporation establishing the 'Bank of New South Wales' and Australia's very first financial institution was born. Our first President and Chairman of the Board was Macquarie's Secretary, John Thomas Campbell, and the list of the first Directors and shareholders included names that are synonymous with early colonial history, such as D'Arcy Wentworth and William Redfern.

Governor Lachlan Macquarie

Our First Premises
The first employee to be engaged by the Bank of New South Wales was Joseph Hyde Potts, who, as a 'porter and servant' was placed on wages of a weekly ration from the King's stores and an annual salary of 25 pounds.

The Bank opened its doors for business on 8 April 1817 (although a deposit had been made three days earlier) in premises it leased in Macquarie Place, Sydney, from Mary Reibey an ex-convict turned business-woman.