On the 12 ^th April 1834 Messrs Smith Ellison & Co who had been established at Lincoln since 1775 opened an agency in Caistor and they appointed John Thompson as their agent. He also acted as agent for the NorwichUnion Insurance Co and the Hailstorm and Cattle Insurance Co. during his time at Caistor.

The present bank premises, then known as "The Joiners Arms" were purchased by the Hon. Alexander H. Leslie-Melville of Branston Hall, Lincoln for £600 from W Popple and Robert Haddelsey the Executors of Jackson Odling the former owner in August 1837. Leslie-Melville had previously become a member of the Lincoln Bank Partnership in 1833 and was later to become managing partner at Lincoln until his death in 1881.

It was not until 1846 that Smith Ellison & Co were represented in Grimsby when they opened a sub-branch to Caistor and John Thompson used to travel there on horseback every Friday. The Grimsby sub-branch continued to be run from Caistor until 1892 when the Riby Square branch was first opened. The bag used to carry the cash on these weekly trips is still held at the Caistor branch together with a percussion cap revolver to scare off would be highwaymen.

In 1850 Thomas Kirkby, a member of a well established Caistor family, had taken over as Agent from John Thompson. The Bank opened on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Kirkby, like Thompson before him, had other interests including an agency for Midland Counties Insurance and Scottish Equitable Insurance. By 1861 Kirkby had become designated as Manager as a result of a successful and expanding business. He retired in 1878 and died at Bournemouth in 1893 but was buried in Caistor churchyard. He was succeeded by William Tritton who came originally as Kirkby's assistant. Tritton had Whitegate House built for his own occupation but he died aged 46 in 1890.

Percy Taylor succeeded William Tritton as Manager until 1900 when William Henry Taylor took over, the branch still being open only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

1902 saw the first step of the Caistor Branch through a series of amalgamatons to its present status as a branch of the National Westminster Bank. The Union Bank of London (established in 1839) with branches in and around London, amalgamated with the Smiths Banks (of which the Lincoln Bank and its branches was one of seven) to form the Union of London and Smith's Bank. A Smith Ellison cheque book overprinted with the new title can still be seen at the Caistor Branch.

Meanwhile the Caistor Branch came under the control of Walter Holden in 1909 and he was also the Manager of Market Rasen Branch. He drove over from Rasen in his pony and trap on Wednesdays and Saturdays and it was a standing instruction that a good fire should be waiting for him on cold and wet days. In 1918 the Union of London and Smith's Bank amalgamated with the National Provincial Bank of England to form, predictably, the National Provincial and Union Bank of England. In 1919 the new Bank opened the Caistor Branch daily and although the Market Rasen Manager had overall responsibility for it, an accountant was put in day-to-day charge.

The first accountant was C Temple from 1919 until he was succeeded in the 1930's by Newton Parkyn. I C Wright saw the Branch through the forties until H V Rutherford took over in 1950. He stayed two years before being transferred to Yorkshire in 1952 when G D (Cherry) Roberts was appointed. Caistor sub-branch regained its full branch status in 1956 with 'Cherry' Roberts as Manager until his retirement in 1969. Ken Potts replaced him and the next year saw th National Provincial Bank (as it had become in 1924 after further acquisitions and which had also swallowed up the District Bank in 1962) merge with the Westminster Bank in 1970 to form the NATIONAL WESTMINSTER BANK.

In 1971 the branch went through its first refurbishment, during this period the bank moved upstairs to the offices of S C Dickinson. Within the changes one of the most welcome was a new heating system to replace the coal and coke fires (!), and then in the late 1970's Caistor National Westminster Bank went 'On Line' and had its very first computers installed.

Up to 1987 the branch still printed its own cheque books on demand until they became printed and centrally dispatched.

Various managers have passed through the doors of the branch over many years, including:-

1980 David Bennett - Branch Manager
1981 David Barrow - 1st Sub-Manager (Details updated thanks to Mr Barrow)
1987 Mike Twohig - 2nd Sub-Manager
1990 Roger Yates - 3rd Sub-Manager
1993 Carole Gorbutt - 4th Sub-Manager

In August 1995 Caistor branch was 'linked' with Barton-Upon-Humber and Brigg branches, losing its own Sort Code 52-10-41, now using 51-81-34 on all of the cheque books issued. In 1997 the title of National Westminster Bank was amended on all branches and bank literature to 'NatWest' Bank, the title everybody generally used.

In 1995 Susan Baker joined the branch from Brigg as Manager, followed by Sarah Hall (Whittleton) in 1997 until Colin Waddington joined as the present Manager in August 1999.