[citation needed] He was the son of Edmund Backhouse, Member of Parliament for Darlington, and his wife, Juliet (born Fox).
Lady Backhouse was for some years a member of the Darlington Board of Guardians, and took a lively interest in the Liberal Unionist cause.
[5] By the time of the bank's centenary in 1874, it had ten branches in the Darlington and Teesside area including Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Northallerton.
[6] Jonathan had died in 1826 and was succeeded by his five sons; the bank stayed under family ownership for the remainder of its independent existence.
As these negotiations became protracted, Jonathan Backhouse joined with Barclay & Co, of London and Gurney & Co. of Norwich to enter into a preliminary agreement to combine.