Tom Ward The Collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank

The collapse of the City of Glasgow Bank in 1878 was one of the most severe tests ever of the British banking system – and arguably, was passed remarkably well with the miscreants punished, lessons learned, and the system strengthened.

Yet today, it is hardly known. This is a terrible arrogance on our part – had we responded to the financial crisis of 2008 with the same skill and expedition, we’d be in much better shape today.

Following a long and successful career at Scottish and Newcastle plc Thomas Ward wrote a dissertation on the collapse for his master’s degree in intellectual history at the University of Edinburgh. He now works as an independent company director in both business and charities and teaches on postgraduate programmes.