Joseph Pease

Plaque at 18 High Street, HU1 1NG.Grid E2

Joseph Pease was born in Amsterdam, Holland into a family of merchants. In 1708, his father sent him to London to establish a family business, but instead, Joseph established this in Hull’s High Street. His interests included whaling, oil crushing, shipping and paint manufacturing, and he built warehouses (now converted to apartments) and an oil crushing mill at the corner of Lowgate and Salthouse Lane. In 1754, Joseph established the first bank in Yorkshire, at his home at 18 High Street. He died in 1788, but his family and partners continued to run the bank until 1902, when it became part of Barclays Bank.