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Williams Deacons Bank Ltd was founded in Manchester in 1836 as the Manchester & Salford Bank. In 1881 it became Williams Deacon & Manchester & Salford Bank Ltd with a head office in London. In 1901 the name was shortened to Williams Deacons Bank Ltd. In 1930 it was bought by the Royal Bank of Scotland but continued to trade separately with its own Manchester based head office and board of directors. In 1969 The Royal Bank of Scotland was restructured and Williams Deacons became a direct subsidiary of a new holding company, National & Commercial Banking Group. The following year the holding company's subsidiaries in England and Wales - Williams Deacons Bank, Glyn, Mills & Co and the English and Welsh branches of The National Bank - merged to form Williams & Glyn's Bank. In 1970 it was operating 288 branches. For a fuller account see Link

In 1985 The Royal Bank of Scotland Group's two major subsidiary holdings, Williams & Glyn's Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland, were fully merged as The Royal Bank of Scotland plc. Link