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A Wartime
Acquisition…
However much the city of dreaming spires may have merited its
name when first it was thus christened, the east-west, north-south main roads
which quarter it, crossing each other at right angles at Carfax, have created
a traffic hubbub which would do no discredit to the West End of London. Dream one certainly dare not do in the
centre of Oxford and one's first impression of noise and bustle does not fit
preconceived notions of the city of learning. |
In Service: July 1942
until 17 May 1985
Image © Barclays Ref 0030-2201-02
Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections
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Images © Barclays Ref 0030/2201
He is an appreciative listener to
religious music and on occasion sits in the organ loft with his friend the
organist of Christ Church, for the joy of watching as well as listening. Of
course, our site at Carfax, the very hub of the wheel, is one of the finest
sites we have anywhere and the office is itself about the finest office of
its size we have been in. It was originally built for Glyn's and was their
only branch outside London, the University connection being a prime reason
for this departure from tradition. We acquired it from them in 1938 and Mr.
Moorhouse lives over the Bank. The
office is spacious and the oak panelling is sumptuous. We saw some interesting photographs of the excavations
which preceded the erection of the present building and were very much
intrigued by the old passages into which the excavations broke, passages
similar to those under Christ Church, a short distance away. It is said that
these passages ran underground, connecting several of the colleges in days
gone by. Mr. Moorhouse is well-known to most of us up north, having served in
the Craven district, which he entered in 1920 and in Inspection Department,
Head Office, and as Pro Manager at Southport before going South in 1942.
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1950: The Oxford Staff – at this time Martins Bank
Magazine does not provide a list of their names…. |
The transfer of the branch from the
Midland to the London district has introduced him to our Southern colleagues
while Oxford itself ensures visitors from all over the service, so he is
probably one of our best-known men. Mr. C. H.
Goodband, who has only recently been appointed Pro Manager, has performed all
his previous service in the London district. We are all of us familiar with
the man who doesn't know what he wants but is fed up with what he has got,
and it is refreshing to meet a man who knew he wanted to get to Oxford and
did not hesitate to let his wishes be known and, now that he has got there
has determined that he is going to enjoy his work. He has thrown himself into
the work of the branch with enthusiasm and energy and the very happy spirit prevailing
in the office is undoubtedly due in no small measure to his infectious gaiety
and sense of fun, as well as to the efficient way in which Mr. Moorhouse
manages the branch. On the occasion of the
Royal Show recently held at Oxford the two of them were singled out by the
B.B.C. commentator on the grounds that they appeared to be typical townsmen
and were invited to broadcast their impressions of the Show. |
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Despite their disclosure of the fact
that they are both sons of
farmers the official insisted and their broadcast was duly made. We were sorry not to meet Tom Blossom on the day of our
visit, as he was on holiday. We had the pleasure of meeting him on our last
visit two years ago, however. D. D.
Staunton, who has been at Oxford since 1948, was formerly at Church Street
branch.
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Image © Barclays Ref 0030-2201 |
He met his future wife there and we sponsored
her (nee Doreen Pepper) when first she entered the service. They have
recently bought an attractive bungalow with an acre of ground at Radley. On being introduced to D. J. Hill we were most surprised
to hear a Canadian accent, the explanation being three years spent there
during the war under the Empire Air Training Scheme. His knowledge of Canada
extends from coast to coast and his subsequent service with Transport Command
out as far as India certainly gave him a broad outlook. E. D. G. Eva is a new boy who has only recently entered
the Bank, straight from military service, and Oxford is his first branch.
Miss C. E. M. Walters has been with us for two
years. Miss M. I. Scott will have left the service by the time these lines
appear, which accounts for the other girl in the photograph, Miss D. P.
Squires, whom we have not met. The
strongroom and storage accommodation is perfect and the spotless condition of
every corner of the premises, even the furnace room, reflects great credit on
the caretaker, Mr. E. W. Abbey, who also acts as porter. After visiting the branch we had a very pleasant lunch
with Mr. and Mrs. Moorhouse, returning afterwards to complete the job. It did
not take us five minutes to discover why Mr. Moorhouse has been able to
devote himself so whole-heartedly to the establishment of our business in
Oxford. The answer is simply that he and Mrs. Moorhouse are both of the same
mind and Mrs. Moorhouse is, when not engaged in her primary job of looking
after Mr. Moorhouse, as deeply engrossed in public work as he is. In the evening they took us for a drive round the city
and out to Woodstock for supper. |
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The sight of Blenheim in the evening
light made us resolve that we could not go back without a close look at the
magnificent seat of the Duke of Marlborough, given to him by a grateful
sovereign for his services to the nation.
So two mornings later we called for Mrs. Moorhouse and both paid our
first visit to this house in which Winston Churchill was born. The almost
priceless paintings and tapestries, the magnificent rooms, the wonderful
collections of pottery, objets
d'art, furniture and historic relics, and the eight hundred acres of
parkland and gardens all combine to present a most memorable picture of days
gone by and a pageant of English history from the time of Queen Anne, maybe
equalled but certainly not surpassed anywhere else in the country. |
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Even more than the magnificence of the
structure and the overpowering personality of the first Duke of Marlborough
we shall cherish the memory of an unpretentious bedroom on the ground floor,
a brass bedstead, a baby's garment and three thick locks of reddish-brown
hair, intimate, personal relics of the mightiest Englishman of our time. We
have always been interested in the stately homes of England and more so than
ever at the present time as they form the subject of our 1951 series of
pictorial advertisements, the preparation of which has occupied our attention
for quite a long time. |
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The managership of Oxford branch is a wonderful appointment,
with opportunities of a cultural and social nature which are not open to the
managers of many branches and the impression we took away with us was of a
happy and contented staff, fully appreciative of the many advantages open to
them by reason of their service there.
Twenty
years as Manager…
Mr W S Moorhouse has a long
career in the Bank, which begins at Skipton Branch in 1920. He is appointed Manager at Oxford when the
Bank takes over the business of Glyn and Company at Carfax, and he remains at
the helm for the next twenty years, holding civic office in the City of
Oxford, and becoming well known and well liked. When he hangs up his Bank tie for the last time
in 1962, he is about to move to a new house for his retirement, and as usual
on these occasions, Martins Bank Magazine is on hand to describe his last day
in the Bank. Note what might be seen
today as slightly sexist language, when they refer to a young lady
“gracefully” handing a bouquet to Mr Moorhouse’s wife, almost as if being
“graceful” is her only function!
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Surviving
under Barclays until 1985, Oxford Carfax retains its good looks as evidenced
by the colour image below from 1983. That there is still a bank operating in
such a large building today might be seen as encouraging in the economic
climate of the Twenty-First Century… |
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Image © Barclays Ref 0030-2201
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