[5] Such trade depended, in part, on the handling, administration and settlement of bills of exchange - something Carr became intimately familiar with, and engaged in on his own account.
After the British forces loss at the Battle of Prestonpans and the occupation of Edinburgh by the Jacobites, the Duke of Cumberland's army moved north through Newcastle, one of the largest towns near the scene of action.
Ralph Carr availed himself of the business opportunities thus offered; records show that he forwarded to Scotland, at various times, no less than £30,000 in coin, and that he cashed a number of orders raised by Sir John Cope and others.
[6][7] Phillips specifies that so well did Carr carry out the supply of money to the Duke's army, that after the country had been restored to quietness, Campbell suggested to him the suitability of his forming a bank in Newcastle.
[8] Thus, acting upon the suggestion of Campbell, Carr entered into partnership with three other Newcastle men "of considerable wealth and position", Matthew Bell, John Cookson, and Joseph Airey, to carry on a business as "Bankers and Dealers in Exchange".