The origins of District Bank, essentially a northern bank, go back to the establishment of the Manchester & Liverpool District Banking Company in 1829 in Manchester and with an office in Stockport. Very soon, branches in Oldham, Liverpool and Hanley in the Potteries area, were opened in 1830.

A pre-condition of opening a branch was that sufficient shareholders were available in a town, and once a branch opened a local board of directors was appointed, and would be responsible for overseeing the management of their particular branch. As with many similar banks of the time, the Manchester & Liverpool District Banking Co issued its own notes, but this practice was stopped in 1834, and the banks concentrated on deposits, loans and the discounting of bills of exchange. Substantial bad debts built up but apart from suspending the payment of dividends, the bank survived.

The purchase of the Nantwich and South Cheshire Bank followed in 1844 and the private bankers of Loyd, Entwistle & Co, who were tea merchants in Manchester as well as bankers, were acquired in 1863. Their business can be traced back to 1771.

Further purchases followed, and the number of branches grew from 17 in 1833 to 54 by the late 1880s. The Tunstall Branch opened in 1898/9.

 A London office was opened in 1885 when the bank was represented not only in Lancashire and Cheshire but also in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire.