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 Martins Bank’s presence in
Brighton begins at 163 North Street,
in a shared section of the Royal Insurance Building, which nowadays is
one of Brighton’s Grade II listed buildings.
Part of that listed status is the Liver Bird Weather Vane, which is
added to the building when Martins Bank opens there for business
on 21 April 1936.
The
Bank continues to transact business
here for the next twenty-one years, but by the mid 1950s, larger premises are
needed, and the bank is minded to move not only to large premises, but also
to a building that is significantly closer to the town centre.
The new
Branch is located in new “The Lanes” shopping area, at No 26 NORTH STREET, and from 1957 the Bank
is there, first as Martins then Barclays, for twenty-six years. We are
indebted to friend of the Archive and former Martins Colleague Dave Baldwin,
for taking his camera to various parts of the country for us, to provide us
with “then and now” images of our Branches.
In the
case of 163 North Street, where no original shots of Martins are available,
it is really helpful to have at least a modern-day view of the building. This picture was taken in January 2014, and
further down the page, you can see a close up of the Liver Bird Weather
Vane.
In his
booklet “Martins Bank Branch in Sussex”, (1983) former Martins and Barclays
colleague Alan Hill, pictured below, looks at the once thriving business of
the Bank along the South Coast of England, and tells us too, a little of how
the story of Martins Bank in Brighton began…
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In Service:
21 April 1936 until 5 March 1957
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections - Dave Baldwin
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 {Brighton was the first
Branch to be opened on the South Coast with Thomas Beecham opening the
office on 21st April 1936 at 163 North Street, Brighton, in part of the
Royal Insurance building next to the Chapel Royal. The site can still be identified by its
Liver Bird weather vane and is now occupied by the Leeds Permanent Building
Society. Mr Beecham remained Manager
until 1947 when he retired. Then a
Mr Sandiford from Liverpool moved in, but only spent a very short time at
the Branch when a domestic tragedy caused him to return to the north. In the spring of 1949 Mr S E Pearman
returned to the South Coast, moving down from Croydon Branch (having
previously opened Bexhill-on-Sea Branch in 1939)}.
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Image
© Barclays 1936
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Mr Beecham looks after Brighton until he is forced
to retire through ill-health on 24 June 1947. This is after thirty-seven
years’ service, something that today would be seen as a remarkable amount
of ime to spend working for the same company – the definition of “a job for
life”. Martins Bank Magazine is as
usual, on hand at the retirement celebrations…
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  On
June 24th, members of the staff of Hove and Bexhill branches joined those
at Brighton to say farewell to Mr. T. H. Beecham, who was retiring for
health reasons after 37 years' service. The
presentation of a cheque was made by Mr. A. L. Lucock, Manager of Hove
branch, on behalf of the subscribers ; and an autograph album containing
their signatures was also presented.
Mr. Beecham entered the service in 1910 at
Sidcup, going to Bexley Heath later the same year. He served in the Great
War from 1914 to 1918, going to Crayford on demobilisation. He was
transferred to Welling in 1921. He was appointed Manager at Bexley Heath in
1929 and of Brighton branch in 1936. Mr.
Beecham is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers and Vice-President of the
Brighton local branch. He is also Hon. Treasurer of the Brighton and Hove
branch of the United Nations Association, and is a member of the Committee
of the Chamber of Commerce and Trade, and of the Western Brighton Traders'
Association.
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Getting
the bird?
Could it be that this is
actually meant to be the Liver Bird, still acting as an iconic ambassador
of Martins Bank, sitting proudly atop the weather vane at 163 North
Street? Marvellous as it would be to
have this proud symbol of the Bank and of the City of Liverpool on show so
far South, we are not completely convinced. It makes you wonder what debate
there might have been when this sculpture was first planned. Trying to incorporate the full coat of arms of Martins
Bank, with the Grasshopper above the Liver Bird would probably have looked
confusing and ungainly. Many weather
vanes are of course known as weather “cocks” because of their use of a
cockerel sculpture, so perhaps that common example might just seal the
debate once and for all…
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