10 Facts About the Old Lady of Threadneedle 🧵 🪡 Street

She's been around a very long time, and she's still looking great 😊. She's over 300 years old and has no Botox. Who is the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street? It's the Bank of England. Why is the BoE (Bank of England) called the Old lady?

History of Old Lady of Threadneedle Street

The then Prime Minister William Pitt The Younger in 1783 was trying to woo the Bank of England for its gold reserves, especially its gold coins. A cartoon publication by James Gillray in 1793 depicted the Prime Minister trying to woo an old lady dressed in money and sitting on a Bank of England's chest. 

The name has stuck ever since. In the cartoon, the Old lady's dress was made out of newly printed £1 and £2, and the chest she's sitting on is the BoE reserves. The Prime Minister was also known to continuously borrow money from the BoE to fund wars against France, hence the loan document on the floor in the picture. 

The Real Old Lady 

There is a sad story about a real old lady Sarah Whitehead, whose brother worked at the BoE. He was a disgruntled employee of the Bank and executed for forgery in 1811. Sarah was so upset by the news that it impacted her mentally, and she turned up every day at the Bank for 25 years asking for her brother.

1. Established in 1694: The Bank of England was founded to act as the government’s banker and to manage the nation’s finances, making it the second oldest central banks in the world.

2. Central Bank of the UK: It serves as the UK’s central bank, responsible for monetary policy, issuing banknotes, and maintaining financial stability.

3. Monetary Policy Committee (MPC): The MPC, formed in 1997, sets the UK’s interest rates and implements monetary policy to control inflation, targeting a 2% inflation rate.

4. Banknote Issuance: The Bank of England is the sole issuer of banknotes in England and Wales, producing notes featuring historical figures like Queen Elizabeth II and, more recently, King Charles III.

5. Gold Reserves: It holds one of the world’s largest gold reserves, storing around 400,000 gold bars in its vaults for the UK and other countries. The Bank holds 3% of all gold mined in human history. 

6. Nationalised in 1946: The Bank was privately owned until 1946 when it was nationalised by the Labour government, bringing it under public control.

7. Financial Stability Role: It regulates banks and financial institutions to ensure the stability of the UK’s financial system, especially post-2008 financial crisis.

8. Lender of Last Resort: The Bank acts as a lender of last resort, providing emergency funding to banks facing liquidity issues to prevent systemic collapse.

9. Located in Threadneedle Street: Its headquarters, often called the “Old Lady of Threadneedle Street,” has been in the City of London since 1734.

10. Governor Leadership: The Bank is led by a Governor, currently Andrew Bailey (as of 2025), appointed for an eight-year term to oversee its operations and policies.

Museum 

I enjoyed visiting the museum before Covid and learnt a lot about the work of BoE and the history of the banknote. The BoE has produced notes since the late 1600s. The original notes are on display, and the collection is vast, with over 40,000 items spanning more than 1500 years. 

You can also see the early machines used to print and produce notes. The museum is currently closed and will reopen in Spring 2022. It's free, but tickets will be needed to be booked in advance. You can also handle a gold bar at the museum, but security is very tight, and cameras are everywhere. More information can be found here https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/museum

There'a A Lot of Gold Underneath

The basement is heaving with the gold stuff. The custodian of over 400,000 bars of gold worth over £200 billion making it the second-largest gold keeper after the New York Federal Reserve. Nine vaults are housing the gold bars. Can you visit the vault? No, understandably, it's off-limits to the public. Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III are amongst the very few people who have seen the vaults.

Does the Bank own all the gold? No, it only holds two bars, and you can try picking up one in the museum. The U.K. government owns 310 tonnes of gold. Who owns the rest? The banks and thirty governments of the rest of the world. 

Parting Comments

As you can see from above the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street has a long history dating back centuries.

In 2006, over £53 million in banknotes belonging to the Bank was stolen from a depot in Tonbridge, Kent. Ouch.

In 1968 the Bank produced Giants banknotes with a face value of £1 million. They are in a similar style to today's notes. They will NEVER leave the Bank. I wouldn't mind one of the Giants. 

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