The Bank of New Brunswick received its charter in 1820 and was the first
bank in the Maritime colonies. As such, it can also lay claim to being the
first chartered bank in Canada. This influential New Brunswick financial
company amalgamated with the Bank of Nova Scotia, a larger and more stable
banking institution, in 1913.
The Bank of New Brunswick was headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick,
then the largest city in the Maritimes exceeding in population both
Halifax, Nova Scotia, and for a time during the 19th century, even
Toronto, Ontario. The Bank of New Brunswick was the anchor tenant of a
group of financial institutions with offices along a stretch of Prince
William Street in Saint John, making this area claim to be the "Wall
Street of British North America".
Around thirty-thousand dollars in notes are currently in circulation.
These notes can be reimbursed by the Bank of Canada.
Robberies
The New Brunswicker once reported:
Bold Bank Robbery. - On Sunday, June 28 [1857], the Bank of New Brunswick
was robbed of a large amount of gold and five-pound notes. The amount is
not stated, but we presume from $15,000 to $20,000 in gold and a still
larger amount of bank bills. It was one of the boldest and ablest planned
robberies we have heard of for many a day. The village of Fredericton has
about 5,000 people. The robbers got into the basement of the building, dug
through the masonry and got access to the lock, an old-fashioned one,
bolted to the door by screws.
They cut off the heads of the screw bolts and left the lock hanging in its
place, and forced the door. They selected their gold and bills and left
the silver on the floor of the bank room, apparently intending to return
for it. No one connected with the bank visited it from Saturday afternoon
to Monday morning, so that they had ample time for arrangements. The
persons of the robbers are pretty clearly ascertained.
The Bank of New Brunswick was headquartered in Saint John, New Brunswick,
then the largest city in the Maritimes exceeding in population both
Halifax, Nova Scotia, and for a time during the 19th century, even
Toronto, Ontario. The Bank of New Brunswick was the anchor tenant of a
group of financial institutions with offices along a stretch of Prince
William Street in Saint John, making this area claim to be the "Wall
Street of British North America".
Robberies
They cut off the heads of the screw bolts and left the lock hanging in its
place, and forced the door. They selected their gold and bills and left
the silver on the floor of the bank room, apparently intending to return
for it. No one connected with the bank visited it from Saturday afternoon
to Monday morning, so that they had ample time for arrangements. The
persons of the robbers are pretty clearly ascertained.