The Bigger Picture: Dividend Day at the Bank of England

Visit our free display which sheds light on a painting from the Museum’s collection

About this event

Painted in 1859 by George Elgar Hicks, ‘Dividend Day at the Bank of England’ shows people from all walks of life inside one of the Bank’s public offices. When it was privately owned, The Bank’s stockholders could visit and collect profits on their investments (called dividends) on one of the Bank’s quarterly ‘Dividend Days’.

But who were these people? Where did they live, and what sorts of jobs did they have? This display explores these questions using records from the Bank of England’s Archive.

This page was last updated 21 January 2025