The original constitution of the Bank of England was defined by its first Charter granted in 1694 (this was varied by a supplementary Charter of 1896) and the Bank's own By-Laws, which could be amended only by a vote of a General Court, or meeting, of the Proprietors (registered holders of Bank Stock). As well as by the Charters and By-Laws the powers of the Bank were later widened by a number of Acts of Parliament, relating particularly to the Public Debt and the issue of bank notes. The By-Laws provided for a Governor, a Deputy Governor and a Court of twenty-four Directors, all of whom were subject to annual election by the votes of the qualified Proprietors at a General Court held in the spring of each year. Two years as Deputy Governor were normally followed by two as Governor, although these terms of office, which were also regulated by By-Law, were occasionally exceeded. The Court was wholly amateur and recruited almost exclusively from the ranks of the merchant bankers of the City of London.

The three chief officers of the Bank appointed by the first Court were the Secretary and Sollicitor, the First Accomptant and the First Cashier, an arrangement that was to remain virtually undisturbed for nearly 250 years (although the first Secretary and Sollicitor was the only one to hold that title and was succeeded by a Secretary).