First Published in 2005. The provincial stock exchanges have long been an area of considerable neglect in the study of the history of finance and investment. They have always been dwarfed by the London Stock Exchange, but at least from 1836 onwards it was not the only market in the country. Those who have traced the development of the English capital market have been careful to point to the importance of provincial capital in railway promotion, yet while the role of provincial capital was emphasized, the praises of the 'vehicle' which helped to mobilize such funds went unsaid. It is difficult to see how provincial investors would have been prepared to commit so much of their capital resources for such purposes without some assurance of being able to liquidate their holdings fairly speedily, since for most of them London was at some distance. This book is an attempt to fill a gap—to trace the origins of the provincial investment 'vehicle' and its progress to the present day.
PROVINCIAL STOCK: W. A. THOMAS:
Contents
page
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction xi
PART ONE ENGLAND AND WALES
{ensp}1 The Origins of the Provincial Stock Exchanges Liverpool and Manchester 3
{ensp}2 The Railway Share Market in the Provinces 28
{ensp}3 The Formation of the Remaining Stock Exchanges 50
{ensp}4 The Organization of the Provincial Stock Exchanges in the Nineteenth Century 72
{ensp}5 Some Domestic Matters 95
{ensp}6 Industrial Shares in the Provinces to 1914 114
{ensp}7 The Oldham Stock Exchange and the "Limiteds" 145
{ensp}8 Gilt Edged, Local Authority, and Foreign Stocks 169
{ensp}9 The Formation of the Council of Associated Stock Exchanges, 1890–1914 193
10 The Council of Associated Stock Exchanges, 1914–1960 211
11 Organization of the Provincial Stock Exchanges, 1914–1960 228
12 The Industrial Share Market in the Provinces since 1918 245
13 Federation and Regionalization 266
PART TWO SCOTLAND
14 The Scottish Stock Exchanges 283 Postscript 325
Appendix: Stock Exchange Records 327
Index 329
Biography
W.A. Thomas Departments of Economics and Commerce, University of Liverpool
