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On 1 November 1968 Martins Bank Limited became one of the Barclays
Group of Companies – a status maintained until close of Business on Friday 12
December 1969. The following Monday, 730 branches of the bank opened their
doors under the name of Barclays. As we find ourselves in another year tinged
with the sadness of the closure of
almost 20 former Martins Bank Branches,
we really appreciate the
support of our ever increasing band of loyal visitors and contributors. There are now fewer than 100 former
Branches of Martins Bank still open, and to mark their passing, our Branch
Watch feature now has a separate page featuring
details of THE LAST 100 BRANCHES. Our most recent news stories are shown below, and you can
catch up with some previous stories in-depth, by downloading our half-yearly
Newsletters (see above). Don’t forget to visit our sister site - Lewis’s Bank
Archive - which tells the story of Britain’s department store bank for the
nine years that it was a subsidiary of Martins Bank. Click HERE to visit the Lewis’s Bank
Archive web site (opens in a new window).
ECHOes of the past…
The Liverpool ECHO newspaper
is almost as old as one of Martins Bank’s  founding entities, the Bank
of Liverpool. Throughout the life of the modern day bank – 1928 to 1969 – the
ECHO was the preferred organ of communication for the Bank, as they spread
out across the country opening more and more new branches. It was a good way
of letting customers and shareholders know of its successes. At the time of
the celebrations marking 400 years since Martins Private Bank was founded in
London, the ECHO produced a lavish four page spread bringing congratulations
to the bank from many local and national companies who  were either customers of
Martins, or who had supplied equipment and services to them over the years.
Once again it is the Liverpool ECHO that we must thank for this spread over
the weekend of 24/25 November 2018 alerting former staff and customers to the
planned reunions next year which will mark fifty years since Martins and
Barclays were merged. The wording from the article is reproduced below with
the kind permission of the LIVERPOOL ECHO. Paddy Shennan, who wrote the
article is also asking for anyone who knows Brenda Carter, the cashier who
was first to demonstrate Martins Auto Cashier machine to contact him at paddyshennan@liverpooleecho.co.uk
 AS former
members of staff plan a reunion in Liverpool, here's a chance to see how the
famous Martins Bank looked in Water Street more than 60 years ago. We also
feature an ECHO cutting from 10 years later - October 31,1967 – which
revealed that Martins in Church Street had become the first bank in the north
of England to offer its customers instant money - courtesy of its new “auto
cash- ier" machine. And looking ahead, December 12, 2019 will mark the
50th anniversary of the merger of Martins and Barclays Banks. Martins was the
only major clearing bank to have its head office outside London, and was
based at 4 Water Street in Liverpool. The Grasshopper Pensioners’ Club (a
social organisation, supported by Barclays, for the benefit of those who
worked for Martins) is in the process of planning two or three events next
December - one in London, a second in its "spiritual home” of Liverpool
and a third elsewhere in the north of England, its “true heartland” subject
to demand. In a message to his former colleagues, secretary David Baldwin
said: “If you are reading this note and worked for Martins Bank, perhaps you
will recall anticipating working for a different bank on the following Monday
and were probably wondering what the future would hold for you. You may also
have wondered why on earth the (Barclays) Eagle had swooped on our beloved
Martins.
 “Almost 50 years
on and despite the passing of time I am certain that our memories of working
for Martins remain precious to us all and always will. We were all much
younger then and had careers to forge. With those pressures gone, perhaps we
will have time to meet again on the 50th anniversary of the final day of
Martins’ existence (Thursday December 12, 2019) to remember the end of an era
and reunite with former colleagues. “It might be viewed as the 'Last Supper’
but I certainly hope not, as I am certain that we all value friendships both
old and new which were forged by working for Martins, and as long as some of
us are still alive we will ensure that the name of Martins Bank will continue
to be remembered as ‘The bank that went to extremes to be helpful’’ Former
Martins employees can contact David Baldwin if they are interested in
attending, by emailing him at grasshoppers@btinternet.com – while more
information can be found at www.martinsbank.co.uk The photographs here, meanwhile,
show the horseshoe-shaped area in the Water Street bank, and David explains:
"There was a tie, known as The Horseshoe tie, which could only be owned
and worn by those members of staff who actually worked inside 'the horseshoe'
- the name given to the enclosed workspace behind the counter." And then
there is the photograph (below) and story headlined NOW - INSTANT MONEY!
Regarding the revolutionary move by Martins Bank in Church Street, the ECHO
reported – on October 31, 1967 - that "day or night, all the customers
need to do to get Ł10 is feed a plastic card in an automatic machine outside
the bank, record a special code on a push button panel and out pops the money
in a sealed packet." A sealed packet? Luxury! The story added that bank
officials were confident it was thief-proof, while the cost of the machine
was Ł1,600 plus Ł500 needed to fund its installation. The photograph featured
Miss Brenda Carter, a senior cashier at the bank – if Brenda or anybody who
knows her is reading this, please get in touch with
paddyshennan@liverpooleecho.co.uk
ANOTHER first for Martins Bank!
Considering that in terms of size,
Martins was always regarded as being in the “little six” of Britain’s eleven
1960s clearing banks, it brought about an astonishing number of FIRSTS, the
effects of which can still be felt today. From being first to introduce
bi-lingual cheque for Welsh speaking customers, to choosing and adopting
first the methods for the compuerisation of cheques which having lasted fifty
years are only just about to be superceded by a new system in 2018. You can read about Martins Bank’s Firsts on
our special feature page, but here is another one showing an early commitment
to the provision of facilities for disabled staff. Martins Bank becomes the first
bank to adapt its telephone answering equipment for use by a blind
telephonist, when its rebuilt branch at 20 Fawcett Street Sunderland re-opens
on 22 February 1965. Martins Bank Magazine publishes the following
short piece in its “News from the Districts” section…
 PABX
at Sunderland.
Sunderland branch occupied their modernised
premises on February 22nd and in the new office is a PABX No 1
Telephone Installation, specially adapted for use by a blind operator, Mr J.
Carr. The Blind Persons Resettlement Officer of the local Ministry of Labour
office says that so far as he is aware this is the first installation in this
country to be so adapted. Mr Carr, who received two half-days' instruction in
the new equipment, is fully confident that he can manage it.
Banking in post-war Liverpool
 Following the destruction of
large areas of the City of Liverpool during World War 2, a number of housing
estates were built to accommodate those who were displaced. In the new towns
of Kirkby and Croxteth, there was plenty of housing, new schools and even new
churches, but amazingly very few shops. In 1957 Martins Bank already had a
sub-branch on Kirkby’s industrial estate, but no service close enough to be
able to serve those living in the new housing
estates. A permanent branch was planned for Kirkby, but this could not be
realised until 1961. In the meantime
the Bank’s fleet of mobile branch caravans stepped in, and on 16 September
1957 they rolled up first in Southdene, Kirkby, and later that day at Moss
Way Croxteth to provide a full banking service to the local people. Two areas of ground were reserved and signs
like the one pictured here were erected, to inform customers of when the
caravans would be in attendance. You
can read more about this special service on our Kirkby
and Croxteth Mobile Branch page, which includes a restored version of the
local newspaper advertising taken out by the bank, and the Memories of Sir
Brian Pearse, who worked on the service when it began. Banking on housing estates had also been
tried out around the same time in Plymouth, and this led to the establishment
of a sub-branch at Ernesettle.
500 Golden Eggs?
 When Martins and Barclays
were merged, the richest pickings for Barclays, apart from a large number of
well appointed Branches, almost 100 of which are still in business today, was
the acquisition of Martins Bank’s Trust Company and its amazing Unicorn Bonds
and Unit Trusts. The Bank told its staff that investing in Unicorn was “like
putting 500 eggs in one basket”! We have recently added to our Martins
Unicorn feature page, several advertisements from 1967, where the benefits of
the Unicorn schemes are explained to customers. This was an extremely
successful campaign, as it was able to provide details of the stunning
performance of these Unit Trusts in their first ten years of life. Investors
whose income was reinivested collected almost THREE TIMES their initial
investment. You can read about
Martins Unicorn, and its base at Unicorn House, Romford Road, and see the
original advertisements by clicking HERE.
Take three girls…
 We were thrilled to obtain a copy of this fabulous photograph from our
good friends at Barclays Group Archives. It shows three members of the staff
at Martins Bank’s Liverpool Computer Centre, Derby House, performing various
tasks with the mighty Ferranti Pegasus II computer, still in service after
nearly ten years of processing the accounts of the Bank’s Liverpool
customers. The wonderful Pegasus has nothing
that we might recognise from today’s computers, but it certainly does have an
air of 1950s sci-fi about it! The
nearest to a screen is the pair of oscilloscopes. The long and winding paper
tape on the left is used both for programming and input. The only thing that
looks familiar is the printer on the right.
There is a small mystery here – neither we nor Barclays know the names
of the girls in the photo. Perhaps one of them is YOU, or perhaps you know
who one or more of them are. If you can help, please do get in touch at the
usual address gutinfo@btinternet.com.
You can see more of Pegasus and learn about how Martins adapted it to handle
the daily work of forty branches by visiting our NEW
TECHNOLOGY feature. There, you will
find pages for LIVERPOOL
COMPUTER CENTRE and for the PEGASUS II COMPUTER.
Three Centuries of Banking?
 The closure at the end of
November and in the first week of December 2018, of Milnthorpe, (left) and
Coniston, (right) Branches, marks two important records of service – each
Branch has been open for all of one century, and part of two more. Milnthorpe
opened in 1883, and coniston in 1884. Both were original offices of Messrs
Wakefield Crewdson’s Kendal Bank, when Milnthorpe was in Westmorland and
Coniston in Lancashire. Once again the axe has been brought down on a number
of former Martins Branches, as customers tell their Bank they prefer not to
use face to face services any more. You can keep up to date with Branch
closures on our MARTINS
BRANCH WATCH PAGE. So far this year SEVENTEEN branch closures have been announced – ten have
already gone, with Moston, Rothbury, Wooler, Eaton (Norwich), Moor Park
(Preston), Milnthorpe and Coniston closing soon. As ever we extend our
heartfelt thanks to everyone who has served customers at these Branches, from
Martins’ days and before, right up to the present day. Branches are being added to the list at a
fair old rate now, and we will try to announce closures to our visitors just
as soon as we are aware they are going to happen.
News for family tree researchers…
 At Martins Bank Archive, we have been working
for more than a decade on our Martins Staff Database, which we believe to be
the only digitised archive of the staff who worked for the bank. With around
half a million entries, it is now a comprehensive record for the period
1946-1969, and the number of earlier records dating back to the late 1800s is
now also substantial. The vast
majority of the Staff members included are sadly no longer with us, and for
those who are we have made special mention on our DATA PROTECTION page, in line with new
rules which came into force on 25 May 2018. All of the information held has
already been in the public domain for a minimum of 50 years. Nearly all of it
was published and distributed in paper form to Martins Bank’s Staff in
“Martins Bank Magazine”. Our database brings together for the first time,
information which allows us to produce career details for those researching
their family tree, or those who want to remember their career with the Bank.
Information falls into several categories – New Entrant, Transferred, Appointed,
Married, Retired, Died. We are now in the process of adding further
previously published details including public service along with any titles
thus conferred, and details of training courses undertaken and Banking or
other relevant examinations taken and passed.
If you would like to know what details we have for you or a relative
who once worked for the Bank, then please do get in touch with us at the
usual address gutinfo@btinternet.com.
 …and an appeal:
We are always looking
for head and shoulders photographs of staff as they were when they worked for
the Bank. Martins tended to publish mainly photographs of the MALE staff, and
we would like to redress the balance by being able to add images of female
staff members to the staff galleries which are shown at the bottom of nearly
all of our Branch Pages here within our Online Archive. Also - if you are the relative of a member
of staff who is no longer with us, and you would like to send us a photo to
be placed on each relevant Branch or Departmental page of our web site, then
please do get in touch with us at the usual address gutinfo@btinternet.com. It was the Staff that made Martins Bank so
special and fondly remembered, and the more faces we can add, the stronger
the collective memory will become.
Pictured
here is Sally Edge, Cambridge Branch, 1967.
 The “cut and thrust” of competition…
Our Autumn/Winter
Newsletter has been produced a month
or so earlier than usual, to allow for a special Spring/Summer edition, which will
be issued in JANUARY. This is because it will focus on a story
that sees TWO major developments in
British banking forced into existence
through the cut and thrust of competition. In January 1959, Martins Bank is
just a few weeks from opening Britain’s first Drive-In Bank at Leicester. The
story has already aroused a good deal of interest in the national press, when
on 5 January, Martins’ rival the Westminster Bank not only beats Martins to
it, they also open Britain’s first drive in bank on Martins Bank’s home soil of Liverpool! Recollections from the time talk of
“incandescent” Martins Directors swearing to “get even” with the competition
by staging another, similarly lavish project. Martins’ revenge on its rival
is truly still having repercussions in today’s banking World. Watch out for a
special feature from the Archive on the web site, and the special edition of
our newsletter available 1 Jan 2019!
History goes up in smoke…
 The news that Liverpool’s iconic Littlewoods Pools building was
largely destroyed by fire on 2 September 2018 is sad indeed. At one time the Littlewoods organisation
was one of the biggest of Martins Bank’s Corporate Customers, and “doing the
football pools” was a national institution that we thought would never end.
Littlewoods’ Art Deco building was featured on all Littlewoods Pools’ winning
cheques, and it can be seen here in this example from the Archive. The current owners of the building still
hope to turn the site, which has been derelict for a number of years, into a
film and TV production base, and we wish them every success in this venture
which should return the building to its 1930s magnificence, AND give it purpose in this new Century.
To the sick man of Europe…
 We love a good mystery,
and the recent acquisition by the Archive of a letter written by Martins
Bank’s Leeds District General Manager’s office on the eve of World War II
offers for a change, a mystery of a distinctly quirky nature. We can identify
the sender, and some of those named within the letter, but it is the sheer
humour with which it was all put together, along with the way in which the
recipient is treated by his colleagues, that makes this a unique experience
for us. Just for once we don’t have to
rely on the set pieces of Martins Bank Magazine assuring us that all is
perfect, and to be able to glimpse – just for a moment – beyond the veil of
British Stiff upper-lippidness into the real FAMILY workings of Martins
Bank is a rare thing indeed. The letter has been in the possession of Jackie
Philp for more than 40 years, and for much of that time, she tells us, it
languished at the back of the glove compartment of a car bought by her
husband. They were living in Exmouth at the time. Written in June 1939, the letter is a
“plea” to a member of staff to make a quick recovery and return to work. It is clear that this particular employee
is well liked, and that this communication is the equivalent of one of those
“get well soon” cards which in the modern day workplace would have been seen
and signed by everyone
before being sent…
,
Greetings to the Sick Man of Europe,
When I arrived at the Office yesterday morning
consternation reigned, cosmos was superseded by chaos as I informed my
colleagues of the direful news that, instead of proceeding in orderly
formation to “that” Branch we must, perforce, remain at our posts owing to
your untimely indisposition.
Having informed the Bank of England of this
epoch making disturbance, we settled down and endeavoured to busy ourselves
with our routine duties. This, however, was exceedingly difficult - for ever
and anon Coates' massive frame was shaken with sobs. Sills was continually
blowing his nose in a marked manner, whilst I wept silently, in a corner. The
feminine element of our Staff was also shaken to the core - all three members
were to be seen at intervals madly gyrating round the room in rapidly
decreasing circles, meanwhile emitting shrill cries and pouring upon their
unworthy heads sprinklings of ashes.
In order to beguile away your long hours of
suffering Maximilian has taken up his brush and upon the enclosed canvas
perpetrated one of his customary atrocities. It is not necessary for me to
paint the lily, but in passing I would mention, for the sake of clarity, that
your left foot is swollen owing to an affliction of gout, the other
protuberance, which is easily discernible, is due no doubt to something other
than gout.
It now only remains for me to counsel you to
be of good cheer, for is it not said that a man’s years shall be three score
and ten, and I have no doubt that you will be spared until this time, even
though it is probable that you will live in fearful agony. We have not yet
heard any definite diagnosis of your malady. Various guesses have been
hazarded, ranging wildly from leprosy to laryngitis, from whooping cough to
whoopee (!) and other suggestions which I fear I dare not mention though they
may be somewhat nearer the point. And now, as time presses, lunch calls and
my stenographer faints by the wayside, I will leave you, reminding you that
it has been said that an army marches upon its stomach so I trust that during
your convalescence you will not neglect that important organ and will ply it
with viands and victuals as is your wont.
Yours, lest my gorge rises,
E G MORRELL
We have sent a copy of
the letter to the Barclays/Martins Leeds Pensioners group, in the hope that
someone might just have heard tell of this letter having been sent, and we will
also feature it on our Facebook® page and in the next download of our
newsletter, in the Autumn. If you can identify the Sick Man of Europe, please
do get in touch with us at the usual address – gutinfo@btinternet.com.
The PLAY’s the thing!
A number of pages have
recently been added to the NORTH EASTERN PLAYERS section of our “Song and
Dance” feature. Most pages for the other
four of the Bank’s Amateur operatic and Dramatic Societies have also been
revamped, and we are working hard to add the details of as many of the
productions staged by Bank staff as we can.
Three performances by the North Eastern Players have been added,
coinciding with the recent acquisition by the Archive of original
programmes. They are: 1947 – Rebecca,
by Daphne du Maurier, 1949 – Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring, and
1950 – The Shop at Sly Corner by Edward Percy. The existing page for two earlier
productions has now been split into two updated pages – 1937 – Ten Till Three
by H Vincent, and 1939 – the Late Christopher Bean by Emlyn Williams. This is
because further information about these productions has been provided to us
by the British Newspaper Archive. A further new page for the North Eastern
Players has been added in respect of their 1952 Production – Little Lambs Eat
Ivy, by Noel Langley. You can access the new and the updated pages below:
50 Years On…
  December 2019 sees the
fiftieth anniversary of the day that more than 700 branches of the Bank that
had closed for the weekend as Martins Bank Limited, opened up again on the
Monday as Barclays. The Grasshopper Pensioners Club wants to mark this day,
and is currently looking for ideas from former Martins Staff Members. Please
click HERE
or on the Eagle and Grasshopper poster (left) to open a copy of a letter
issued by Club Secretary Dave Baldwin to ALL Barclays Pensioner Clubs so that
Martins members can make suggestions.
Your memories of merger day will also be important in the coming
months. Here on the Archive Web Site
we will be marking the anniversary by summarising the huge pile of pink
merger circulars that were issued, to match the days on which they were
issued to branches. Fifty years on, when we now have more technology at our
fingertips than we know what to do with, your memories of this major merger
are important documents of social history.
Therefore. WHATEVER you were doing, from answering the phone
with the wrong bank name to coping with merging daily processes, in branch or
department, or at Martins’ computer centre, we would love to hear from you.
Buyer Beware….
We have left the following article here once again for reference, to
help explain the position regarding the theft of copyrighted images for the
purposes of re-sale. There is a common misconception that if you
can Google an image, then it is “in the public domain” and you can do what
you want with it. Even some staff at eBay® believed this until they were
recently put right – if you take or
copy someone else’s work or property without their permission or
acknowledgement, and sell it on to
make even a penny out of it, this is breach of copyright, and the real
owner can take legal recourse to stop further theft and misuse of their
property. There are currently on eBay® a number of listings
of photographs for sale, showing scenes from the past and old buildings
including these four (and many more) Branches of Martins Bank. These images originated on our web
site. As you can see, under our
agreement with the owner, we prominently display copyright. These images have
been copied and printed onto cheap photographic paper. The seller even has
the gall to add their own watermark to the displayed images to prevent others
from stealing them!!!
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STAINLAND
Image ©
Barclays
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SITTINGBOURNE
Image
created by Martins Bank Archive and © Barclays
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BURTON
UPON TRENT
Image ©
Barclays
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WALLASEY
Image ©
Barclays
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As well as being
against copyright law, these items are worthless, having little more than
sentimental value – you will often find that collections and archives will
make images available free of charge for private use, but you MUST check with
them first. You should always check the seller’s right to copy the image –
reputable sites such as eBay® do now allow you to report copyright
infringement. For ANY item of memorabilia, the best thing to do is shop
around and compare prices – in the case of Martins Bank there are often up to
twenty different items for sale on eBay® alone on any given day. For printed
material which looks as if it has been copied, or actually claims to be a
copy, ALWAYS question the seller about copyright.
Best Regards, Jonathan.
Westmorland, Tuesday 4TH December 2018
WHILST MARTINS BANK
ARCHIVE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH THE DAY TO DAY TRADING ACTIVITIES OF THE
BARCLAYS GROUP OF
COMPANIES, WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTINUED GENEROUS GUIDANCE, ADVICE
AND SUPPORT OF BARCLAYS
GROUP ARCHIVES IN THE BUILDING AND SHAPING OF THIS ONLINE SOCIAL HISTORY.
 R
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