11-68-80 Liverpool Tue Brook

The rapid expansion of the Bank of Liverpool in latter part of the Nineteenth Century brings us many of the Liverpool suburban branches we know today in Martins. The speed of growth is in fact so great as to necessitate the creation of an Inspector of Branches by the Bank of Liverpool – one of the earliest examples of the visiting inspectors still dreaded by hard-working bank clerks everywhere! Just how well a visit from the inspectors went down in the 1890s is probably something we’ll never know… In 1893 a branch is opened at 415 West Derby Road, Tue Brook. The Branch is later moved to the premises shown above, 611 West Derby Road. Under Martins Bank Tue Brook is a standalone branch with no sub branches, and opens for the full banking week.

In Service: October 1893 until 15 May 1998 (but see also detailed history at foot of page)

Image ca. 1937 © Barclays Ref 0030-1687

This includes Saturday mornings until the reforms implemented by Barclays and others after the merger in 1969, when practically every bank extends its Monday to Friday opening by one hour each day, and abolishes Saturday opening. In the Martins tradition of being first, Barclays is at the front of the queue to re-open on Saturdays in the 1980s, (followed in the course of the next two decades by most other banks)! In 1942 Miss N E Owen joins the staff at Tue Brook, and shows such promise that within six years she is promoted to a junior post in Staff Department, Head Office. Oddly enough Mr R H Price, Staff Manager in 1948 also joined the bank at Tue Brook – coincidence or “keeping it in the family”? Who knows… The following is a short adaptation from an article about the work of Staff department, published by Martins Bank Magazine in 1948…

1948 04 MBM.jpg Miss N E Owen MBM-Wi48P32 {It is just a truism to say that we are all concerned with Staff Department from the moment of our application for admission into the service until the day when our record card is taken out of the pensioners’ file and placed among the archives in a little room outside the department. But though our concern is great, our knowledge of what takes place to ensure the smooth handling of the various matters which affect the administration of a large staff, is usually slight…} {In Mr R H Price*, the Staff Manager, we are fortunate in having a man of wide understanding and sympathy whose genial personality had made him friends all over the service. He must know and remember as many people as possible, but he is ably assisted by a number of staff…} {The newest recruit to the Department is Miss Nora Owen, who joined the bank in 1942 and has served at Tue Brook and on head Office Relief, before joining the staff of the department in September. She was educated at Calder High School…}

	Our visit to Tue Brook is rounded off with a look at the Branch under Barclays, just a few years into the merger. This lovely colour image is from the mid 1970s, when all appears to be going along well and the the building has been cleaned!

Images © Barclays Ref 0030-1687

MARTINS BANK LIMITED

WESTMINSTER BANK LIMITED



*Mr H J Ashcroft* *On the staff* *1904 to 1906*	*Mr A D Thomas* *On the Staff* *1905 to 1906*	*Mr R H Price* *Joined the Bank Here* *1914 to 1916*	*Mr J H Woodfine* *Joined the Bank Here* *1918*	*Mr D G Telfer* *Joined the Bank Here* *1941 to 1942*	*Miss N E Owen* *Joined the Bank Here* *1942*



*Mr A D Barlow* *On the Staff* *1951 to 1956*	*Mr H A G Birchall* *Manager* *1954 to 1961*	*Mr L D Tunna* *Manager* *1961 to 1966*	*Mr S J Crisp* *Manager* *1966 onwards*	*Mr R S Thomas* *Pro Manager* *1966 to 1968*	*Mr J Bickerstaff* *Pro Manager* *1968 onwards*