In 1861 the young Aucklander Thomas Russell went into law partnership with Frederick Whitaker. The pair founded the Bank of New Zealand. The bank and its mortgage lender, the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency, supported their investments, especially in confiscated Māori land, but the bank’s loose lending policies created difficulties in the long term. In 1894 it was in even worse trouble, and had to be rescued by the state. Whitaker was ruined and his son died by suicide over losses from land speculation following the 1886 crash. Russell just managed to avoid bankruptcy and narrowly escaped prosecution for fraud.

This is the Auckland Bank of New Zealand building in 2009.