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MARTINS BANK MAGAZINE

WELCOME to Martins Bank Archive, and to MARTINS BANK MAGAZINE - our news feature in honour of the Bank’s staff publication, which from 1946 to 1969 brought news of changing times, new Branches and services and even new technologies to those working in branches and departments in England Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. From Drive-In Branches to computers and the Cash Dispenser, it seems that Martins Bank has it all, yet on 1 November 1968, it becomes just one more of the Barclays Group of Companies. This status is maintained only until close of Business on Friday 12 December 1969, as from the following Monday, 730 branches of the bank will open their doors under the name of Barclays. 

A significant Anniversary is almost upon us…

As April 2025 arrives, there is only a month to go before the eightieth Anniversary of the end of the Second World War.  As the 8 th of May approaches, we will be adding more war stories to our FACEBOOK® page.  Thanks to a long departed member of staff of Martins Bank’s Branch at Walsall, we have an almost complete set of Head Office Circulars covering early 1940 to late 1945.  This section of the Archive is a valuable mirror of British Social History, as among the various instructions to “batten down the hatches”, bombings of some branches, mothballing of others, the introduction of Women Bank Managers, and an ever increasing list of countries NOT to be dealt with financially, we see the effects of the increased demands of the Kennet Committee, deciding who should be released from previously reserved occupations, to be sent to war.  We also see how the Bank tried its utmost to look after its staff, how special grants and bonuses were paid to help keep them fed and clothed, and towards the end of the war, there is the everyday “housekeeping” of removing black-out blinds, re-opening branches, and getting business back to normal once more. For 2025, we are going to look at these Head Office Circulars once again, and with the help of our good friends at the British Newspaper Archive, we will continue to bring you stories from the war, which illustrate how people who worked for the Bank were affected by upheaval and change. 

Branches opened in 1965…

In the swinging 1960s, banks in all parts of the United Kingdom opened new branches like there was no tomorrow!  It seems a strange concept indeed to us in the twenty-first century to think of any bank opening a new branch, but sixty years ago, we were not quite at the stage where computers would begin to take over in the way that they eventually did, leaving thousands of bank branches closed, and the use of cash for everyday transactions significantly diminished.  The following Branches were opened in 1965, so why not visit them and marvel, as that most fantastic of all bank services – the branch – comes to town in so many places!

11-30-00

Ashford Kent

04/11/1965

 

11-81-80

Liverpool University (Temp)

1965

11-91-80

Bristol Victoria Street

07/10/1965

 

11-03-40

London Gloucester Road

28/10/1965

11-85-30

Chilton

1965

 

11-00-70

Newcastle Killingworth Norgas

1965

11-78-80

Durham University

30/09/1965

 

11-95-81

Newcastle Walker Boys Club

1965

11-68-30

Ellesmere Port Whitby Road

1965

 

11-09-30

Newport Commercial Road

1965

11-32-80

Felling Morley Terrace

21/06/1965

 

11-84-60

Poole

10/03/1965

11-02-40

Gloucester Hucclecote

12/07/1965

 

11-94-60

Preston Moor Park

1965

11-38-40

Hazel Grove

28/06/1965

 

11-34-70

Rainford

1965

11-17-70

Kew Bridge House

30/10/1965

 

11-02-90

Washington

5/07/1965

11-11-50

Keynsham

22/04/1965

 

11-29-60

Willaston

16/07/1965

11-27-50

Lancaster Auction Mart

01/06/1965

 

11-77-90

York University

Oct-65

… and sadly, a branch closing in 2025…

When Cockermouth closes on 4 April 2025, the number of original Martins Bank Branches left open will reduce to just SEVEN. A sobering thought indeed. Our BRANCH CLOSURES feature has now been extended, so that you can look right back to the 1969 Merger of Barclays with Martins, and follow the closures of branches year by year – the first section covers 1969 to 2008, and the second section shows the branches that have been closed whilst we have been online – that is from 2009 right up to date.

 

Branches from A to Z

We have now relaunched our BRANCHES A TO Z page, to enhance the experience of browsing our portfolio of just over 1000 buildings in use between 1928 and 1969 as Branches of Martins Bank.  The new menus include, wherever possible, images of buildings, to guide you as you search out branch pages that take your fancy.

More relevance has been placed on the origins of some branches which came from among the many constituent Banks that at one time or other were merged, taken over, or amalgamated into what became the modern day Martins Bank. 

We are sure you will enjoy your journey around Martins Bank’s Branches.  Please note that the Branches by District sections have now been removed from the web site. You will however, still be able to visit individual District Offices and their departments.

Important News about the Martins Bank Staff Database

 

We would like to draw your attention to the completion of the first major phase of the Martins Bank Staff Database.  The career details of more than 25,000 member of the Staff of martins Bank Limited, have been put together from the information published by Martins Bank in its magazine and other publications, and this has been in the public domain for at least fifty-five years. It is vital that surviving members of Martins Bank’s staff have the opportunity to see the career details held for them, and to understand about how and why the database exists as a social history resource that seeks to preserve the name of Martins Bank for the interest of future generations.

Please CLICK HERE or on the image of the NEWS RELEASE pictured (left) to obtain this information, and if, once you have read it, you would like to receive your career details, please do get in touch with the archive by email at the following address: martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com.    If you are the relative of a deceased member of the staff and would like to obtain details of their career – perhaps as part of family tree research, please contact Martins Bank Archive at the same address. 

Banking on trust…

Formed from the existing trustee and investment business of Martins Bank, which dated back to 1908 when the Bank of Liverpool first opened a trustee department, Martins Bank Trust Company Limited brought together a number of servies which had been key earners for the bank in the various parts of the country where there was either a Trustee Office, an Income Tax Department, or both.

 

By the late 1960s, notwithstanding the search for another bank with with to merge, Martins Bank aquired a number of smaller specialist companies as subsidiaries, each of which specialised in financial services, that would enable the Bank to spread its interests, provide a more comprehensive offering to the customer AND that would profit the Bank, by retaining those customers might have gone elsewhere for these services. 

 

Thanks to the Denis Maxwell Collection, our Archive now has insight into these companies, as well as the merger processes that began as early as 1961 and continued on and off until the merger with Barclays.  When you visit our TRUSTEE AND INVESTMENT SERVICES feature page, you will now find more detailed information than we have previously offered for the following:

 

·         Dillon Walker & Co

·         Griffin Assurance

·         Martins Unicorn

·         Martins Bank (Finance) Limited

 

 

I bought the Bank (continued)…

We are always delighted to hear from friend of the Archive David Phelan, who featured on this site a few years ago when he purchased the former Martins Bank Branch at Grange-over-Sands following its permanent closure on 1 May 2019. He has turned it not only into a beautiful and comfortable home, but has also collected appropriate banking memorabilia with which to furnish and decorate it. 

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David is of course very interested in the history of the building, and always on the lookout for period pictures. This lovely image (right) of the branch in its days as the Bank of Liverpool Ltd, is one of those acquisitions, and we are always grateful for David’s input to our own Archive. Many people down the years have wondered if Grange-over-Sands branch was originally some kind of chapel or even a church, but no, it was built this way as a bank.

Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections – D T Phelan

Keeping a permanent record

1960s Image © Barclays Ref 0030-1693

2000s Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

– ROBERT MONTGOMERY

An unexpected result of the closure of former Martins Bank Branches in recent years, has been the sight of the Bank’s original signage still etched – sometimes faintly, others clear as day – in the stonework above the door or window of a branch.  Friend of Martins Bank Archive, Robert Montgomery, has since 2009 been on a mission to photograph former branches of the big banks, that have fallen on their sword in the name of progress.  In the process he has accumulated many images of former Martins Branches. We look forward to being able to add these to our Branch Network pages over the coming months, but as a taster, we are showing here a side-by-side comparison of LIVERPOOL WOOLTON Branch.  On the left you see the branch in the 1960s, and on the right, looking almost as if time has stood still for sixty years, you can see how the branch looked a couple of days after it was closed in June of this year.

Liverpool Childwall Five Ways – Closed 02/10/2015

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

 - GARY OWENS

Liverpool Booker Avenue – Closed 19/02/2016

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

 - GARY OWENS

South Shields Harton – Closed 10/05/2019

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

 - ROBIN LAWSON

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!!!

STAINLAND

Image © Barclays

SITTINGBOURNE

Image created by Martins Bank

Archive and © Barclays

BURTON UPON TRENT

Image © Barclays

WALLASEY

Image © Barclays

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 more than two hundred 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.

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Best Regards, Jonathan.

Westmorland, Monday 31ST March 2025

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.

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