| The letter reads as follows.
To: Messrs Perkins, Bacon & Petch, London
From: Jas. A Anderson, Manager, Union Bank of Scotland, Glasgow.
Dated: 21st August 1845.
Gentlemen,
In the absence of Mr Watson I have to reply to your letter of the 18th instant, that we shall be obliged to you for a design for a one pound note of this Bank.
Mr Watson has already sent you a specimen of our present note, & mentioned that we desired to retain the general style so far at least as relates to our double Head Office in Edinburgh & Glasgow and the titles of the several old Banks now merged in this Company.
The present note has for emblems of the two cities, the equestrian statues of King Charles 2nd in the Parliament Square of Edinburgh where our office is situated, and that of William 3rd - at the Cross of Glasgow, but more appropriate devices may occur to you. What I would particularly suggest to you however is to aim more at perfect distinctness than at ornamental engravings except in so far as fine work increases the difficulty of imitation. It may be necessary to notice to you that the Scotch mode of counting notes is somewhat different from the English, and requires therefore a modification of the arrangement.
The bundle of notes is grasped at the lower side in the left hand and they are turned over (between) with the forefinger & thumb of the right - the part therefore which catches the eye of the teller, and where therefore the value of the notes ought to appear in the strongest & plainest characters, is the left upper corner. In this the present note is defective.
I am gentlemen,
Yours respectfully,
Jas A Anderson,
Manager.
James Andrew Anderson The son of a Greenock merchant, Anderson traded as a manufacturer before managing the Glasgow Union Banking Company. He had trained in the counting-house of Mr. Dugald Bannatyne, and for fifteen years had traded successfully as a manufacturer.
At the time he was selected for the office of Manager of the Glasgow Union Banking Company, as the bank was then named, he had acquired a high reputation for intelligence and integrity.
His main achievement was the absorption of private banks into the Union Bank of Scotland. Beginning in 1836 with the Thistle Bank of Glasgow there followed Sir William Forbes, J. Hunter & Co., (1838), the Paisley Union Banking Company, (1838), the Glasgow and Ship Bank, (1843), Hunters & Co., of Ayr, (1843), and the Aberdeen Banking Company (1849). These mergers required delicate negotiations, for which Anderson was well suited. (Subsequent to his retirement the Perth Bank was added (1857)).
He was often consulted on monetary matters by Sir Robert Peel, and in 1841 gave evidence to a Commons Select Committee. He was chairman of the Unchartered Banks of Scotland, 1844-45, and a member of Glasgow Town Council. He also served as a magistrate, as president of Anderson's University (founded by his uncle, Professor John Anderson), and as secretary to the Chamber of Commerce.
He died at Carlung, Ayrshire, on 10 May 1863.
The Glasgow Union Banking Company was founded in 1830 and continued to operate under this title until 1843 when the operating name was changed to the Union Bank of Scotland.
In the letter Anderson writies of the limitations of the notes then in use by the Bank and mentions
"double Head Office in Edinburgh & Glasgow" and "several old Banks now merged in this Company."
The following illustration is the note then in use and from this can be seen "emblems of the two cities, the equestrian statues of King Charles 2nd in the Parliament Square of Edinburgh where our office is situated, and that of William 3rd - at the Cross of Glasgow" and the names of Sir William Forbes, J Hunter & Co., Paisley Union Banking Company, Glasgow Union Banking Company and Glasgow Thistle Banking Company all within the border.
Anderson suggests that, in respect of the illustrations that "more appropriate devices may occur to you." although, as can perhaps be seen from the following illustration of the Perkins Bacon note produced, it would appear that no more appropriate devices occured to the printer.
The name of the various banks remain, as does the equine image, although clearly the advice regarding the placement of the value has been taken into consideration.
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