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  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
 A happy New Year
to you all, as we reach 2025, and the EIGHTIETH Anniversary
of the end of the Second World War. 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 want to
bring you stories from the war, some in particular from 1945, which show
that people who worked in Banks, just as in a whole raft of other
professions were affected by upheaval and change. Look out for these stories, which will
apear along with relevant images on our Facebook® Page throughout 2025.
NEW! Branches from A to Z
We have now
relaunched our BRANCHES A TO Z page, to enhance
your experience whilst browsing our portfolio of just over 1000
buildings! The new menus include,
wherever possible, images of branch 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…
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 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
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Martins Bank (Finance)
Limited
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Branch Closures – 2024/5
 The High Street Banks are continuing
to deplete their High Street presence at an alarming rate. Several
affecting Martins Bank Branches have already taken place in 2023, and you can keep fully up to date with
developments, and see the full list of Martins Branch closures since April
2007 by visiting our BRANCH
WATCH pages. The remaining branches have
continued to dwindle, and the few that are left can be viewed – along with
a brief history and the option to visit the branch page for each one – by
visiting our special feature page THE REMAINING BRANCHES. 09/02/2024 – Barclays Wealth took the
decision to CLOSE their branch at Castletown Isle of Man, but this closure
was not recorded on the Barclays web site. 15/03/2024 – Following the RELOCATION in March of South Shields King
Street Branch from No 1 to Nos 64/66 King Street, another Martins
Branch was lost. Our “Branches Still Open” till stamp takes into account
these additional closures, and sadly this brings the number of original
Martins Branches still open into single figures for the first time..
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Martins Bank and Trade
Unions
 UPDATED! From humble beginnings in
1940, Martins Bank Staff Association went into competition with the
National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE), before eventually becoming a
trade union. In a new feature, we look at the origins of Martins Bank
Staff Association, its absorption into Barclays Staff Association and its
eventual journey into being part of UNISON, one of the UK’s largest trade union
organisations in the twenty-first century. We also profile the career of Mr W E Gale,
who achieved the role of General Secretary of the Staff Association at
Martins, and continued the role with Barclays following the merger of the
two banks in 1969. You can visit
our new page by clicking on the leaflet.
We would also like to hear from Martins Bank Staff who remember
the staff association, and about whether they joined, or became members
of its “rival” NUBE. Whilst we
have a number of Staff Association related items in the Archive, there is
currently only one exhibit from NUBE – a book of discount shopping
vouchers, given as an incentive to its members. Please do get in touch with your trade
union memories at the usual address – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com. We have updated Martins
Bank and the Trade Unions to include the story of how the Staff
Association emerges towards the end of the Second World War as a
negotiator of terms and conditions for the employees of the Bank. You can
also read about how the Easter Bank Holiday of 1944 was ruined for many
staff by of all things, the introduction of the Pay as You Earn (PAYE)
Income Tax system!
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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.
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.
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Images © Martins Bank Archive Collections – D T
Phelan
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