Barclays Bank
The Colonial Bank was established in 1836 in a building on Newgate Street. In 1925, the Colonial Bank was merged with the Anglo-Egyptian Bank and the National Bank of South Africa and reincorporated into Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas). The Barclays brand maintained a strong presence on the island until a strategic restructuring in 2002, when Barclays PLC merged its Caribbean retail and commercial operations with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) to establish FirstCaribbean International Bank.
The first bank in Antigua was the Colonial Bank, established in 1836, the predecessor to Barclays Bank. The building subsequently became the home of Ferdinand (“Ferdie”) Shoul and his family. This photo is from 1905.
The current building has changed little over the years. This photo is from about 1910. A corner of the Museum can be seen on the right. The building had a lawn with benches around it.
The next photo shows the building in the late 1950s. D.C.O. stands for Dominion, Colonial and Overseas, the name given when the bank was reincorporated in 1925.
The bank was for many years the most important bank in Antigua, a cornerstone of both the island's commercial operations and its local currency circulation. In fact, during the early to mid-20th century, Barclays D.C.O. issued its own Antiguan-specific banknotes. Barclays was also one of the first major regional banks to implement modern hiring practices and engage clerical staff without regard to race.