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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.
Cover Photo
The
photograph on the front page of our web site for February 2026 shows the
Bank’s Coat of Arms still proudly displayed above the former branch at 6
Bedford Street EXETER. This building was completed in 1951. Between 1942 and 1951, the business of
this branch was transacted from temporary premises at 6 Queen Street
following the total destruction of the original branch (5 Bedford Street)
in the Baedecker Air raids of the Second World War.
Treasure trove…
 Although
January 2026 seemed endless with various storms and World events, we are
now on the brink of the rest of the year flying by as it always does!
Recent finds have brought valuable information and items to the Archive –
we were delighted to be contacted by Jeremy O’Keeffe, whose father was
staff architect at Reed and Sons Paper Mills, Alyesford
Kent, at the time when the Bank opened a sub branch there for the use of
the staff of Reed, and those of their associated companies. An image of this little branch has long
been sought, and finally it has surfaced thanks to Jeremy’s father having
one in his personal papers. Another piece of the branch photographs jigsaw
has been filled, and we look forward to the next piece, whenever it chooses
to show itself!
Another amazing
find came in the form of a set of letters and papers which  was being
auctioned on eBay. Recognising the importance of these items to the
Archive, the Grasshopper Pensioners Club have kindly secured and donated
them to us, and as befits a find of its size, plenty of scanning and
recording of information is currently taking place! It concerns the Jopling
Family – Mr William Ewart Jopling was made Staff Manager of the Bank of
Liverpool and Martins in 1926, and there are several items relating to his
career, pension and even his will, that help to enrich the information
already held for him in our Staff Database. When he retired early on ground
of ill-health in 1941, the Bank awarded him a pension that is equivalent to
almost Ł90,000 in today’s money.
There is a
similar amount of documents relating to his son Austen Strang Jopling
(pictured, right), many of these relate to his promotion to the managership
of a number of branches, and one very special document shows that in the
Second World War, he undertook a number of “special duties” that granted
him access to public offices and departments that were off limits to the
general public. More on this
particular story as it is uncovered!
So with two really big finds in January, we look forward to the rest
of 2026 to see what else we, and our ever supportive and vigilant visitors
might find…
A question of re-numbering in Southport!
 We are
always amazed by the lengths our visitors go to, in order to help us tell
the story of the bank, and in particular of its branches and the staff who
worked in them. The bumper crop of “findings2
for January 2026 included detective work worthy of Sherlock Holmes himself,
from Jeremy Sleightholm who lives in Southport,
and was intrigued by a puzzle we had placed at the bottom of our page for
the main Southport Branch – 365 Lord Street. An image showing a branch of the Bank in
Lord Street appears on that page, and is shown here on the RIGHT, but did
not seem to fit in with the numbering of the street. In the absence of further research, we
marked this as one of the mysteries from the mists of time. Jeremy has delved into local records, and
found the following solution to our mystery: (please note that when referring
to “the mists”, Jeremy is talking about the puzzle we originally posed over
the street number of this branch)…
 I
live in Southport and I have walked past the former 11-09-80 Southport
branch many times, and yesterday I took this photo of the building. I have
read your website's history of this branch with great interest and I am
intrigued by "the mists (and the mysteries) of time...".
This
branch opened at what was then 185 Lord Street on Friday 25 January
1901. Its opening was mentioned in
the Southport Guardian on 26 Jan 1901, with:
(1)
a notice stating that "Bank of Liverpool Limited (Southport Branch),
No. 185, Lord Street ... is now open for business under the management of
Mr. Thomas. Fernihough, Hitherto Manager of the Birkdale Branch."
(2)
an item on page 6 that mentions its "elegant structure", with its
"polished Swedish granite" and its "Doric style of
architecture".
(3)
a longer article on page 11. This includes a description of the interior.
Notices
in the same paper on 19 and 23 January 1901 announced the upcoming
opening. However, they incorrectly
stated that this was at number 187. The "mists" photo for
11-09-80 shows SB Craven trading in part of Manchester Buildings between
the bank branch and Nevill Street.
Manchester Buildings were built by 1869 and comprised two shops with
Manchester Chambers above them.
Various
street directories and newspaper advertisements show that:
These
shops were originally numbers 173 and 175, but were renumbered 187 and 191
respectively by 1894.
Number
187 was adjacent to where the bank was built. When this branch opened number 187 was a
jewellers (Steel & Co). By 1904 it was occupied by a pharmaceutical
chemist (Mr John B Foggitt), who was here until at least 1914.
The
Manchester Chambers were offices and studios for multiple individuals and
businesses and for a time part was used as a second floor shop for the
Southport Phonograph Company. These
chambers were accessed by steps between numbers 187 and 191. They gained their own property number
(189) when the shops were first renumbered.
They were still in use in 1920.
191
was adjacent to 1 Nevill Street, where SB Craven was trading by 1881. The company expanded into 175 (later 191)
Lord Street by 1886. This hosier and hatter business was still trading from
these two properties in 1914. Most of the buildings on the seaward side of
Lord Street were renumbered in 1906.
This renumbering was announced by Southport Corporation in January
that year, with the new numbers required to be displayed from 1 May. However, there was opposition to the
change and two months later many buildings still did not have their new
numbers displayed. This was reported
in newspapers at the time, including the Haslington Gazette on 30 June and
the Lancashire Evening Post on 18 July.
With
this renumbering:
187
became numbers 367 and 369
189
became 371
191
was renumbered as 373 and 375.
 I
have attached a photo I have taken of the section of the 1908 directory
that shows this new numbering. I
have also attached a photo of a 1900 advertisement for SB Craven, before
the 1906 renumbering.
Manchester
Buildings were demolished in (or by) 1925, when construction started on a
branch of the National & Provincial Bank. That branch opened in 1927 and it is
still standing, though no longer a bank.
The
"mists" photo shows that when it was taken:
A
five (or more) part verandah was attached to the shops between the bank and
Nevill Street
The
SB Craven branding was on the three verandah parts for number 191, which
was renumbered as 373 and 375 in 1906.
The
other two verandah parts were either unbranded or with very modest
branding. These two parts were for
number 187, which became numbers 367 and 369 in 1906.
The
number 187 was displayed prominently on the wall above the centre of these
last two verandah parts and there was a large horizontal block immediately
below the number.
I
have seen two similar photographs (one of which is on page 8 of
"Southport Through Time" by Jack Smith). In both these photographs: Foggitt
branding appears on top of the two leftmost verandah parts. This branding
is slightly smaller than the SB Craven branding to the right. The prominent 187 is not present and nor
is the horizontal block that was below it. Thus, those photographs appear
to have been taken after the 1906 renumbering. This suggests that perhaps
the "mists" photo on your website was actually taken before the
1906 renumbering, possibly before Mr Foggitt began trading here.
I
hope that this helps shed some light on the matter, Jeremy Sleightholm (by email)
Life after Martins…
Sometimes,
there IS life after banking. The
Martins Staff database is full of examples of men and women who went on to
bigger, and sometimes better things after leaving the service of the Bank. Often, members of the various operatic
and dramatic societies come to the fore.
Sometimes, a manager retires and then spends almost as long as their
career doing good in the local community.
Fame and fortune beckons also beckons for some of our staff. Last month we brought you the story of
Dorothy “Dotty” Wayne, and this month she is joined by a few more of the
people for whom life came AFTER Martins Bank…
G COLIN
CROMPTON
 Our good
friends at Talking Pictures TV currently have available to watch, a few
episodes of "The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club" - a Granada
Television variety show which ran for a few years in the mid-1970s.
The show featured Colin Crompton as the curmudgeonly chairman, who would
sit ringing a very loud bell interrupting the acts and the audience with
witty one-liners. Colin broke into the entertainment world after an earlier
career with Martins Bank. He started at Manchester City office in 1946, and
he left Martins in 1954, having worked at Hightown, Besses o' th' Barn, Old
Trafford, and Miles Platting branches. Colin took to the part of the
Chairman of Wheeltappers' social committee with relish, and although fifty
years later the show is inappropriate in so many ways for today's
audiences, his humour was at least dry and witty, a refreshing change from
the misogyny and racism of many comedians of that time. His brother Neil,
known for his own variety of humour, also worked for the Bank, but made it
to a lower managerial role, staying on through the merger of Martins and
Barclays in 1969.
RENÉE FORDER
 It seems that
being a first-class secretary, and an extremely good actress paid dividends
for her, as her life after Martins shows. Renée resigned from Martins Bank
Southall Branch upon marriage in 1955, but was soon attracted back to the
world of work – and how! Her love of
the stage goes right back to the second world war. Her original name was
Irene Winifred Starbuck, and she was educated at Hackney Central School. In
the 1940s she was a member of the concert group “The Joey Boys”, and she
worked on a production of “The Vagabond King”. In 1948 she sang soprano at
the Staff Dinner of Martins Bank’s London Foreign Branch, and went on to
appear in a total seven of the Cicala Players’ productions. Renée is
pictured here in here favourite role as the troubled nun Sister Bonaventure
in the Cicala Players’ 1953 dramatic offering of the same name at London’s
Fortune Theatre. In 1958 she became
Secretary to the Vice-president of Crocker Anglo Bank in San Francisco,
moving to the Los Angeles Office in 1960.
She returned to the United Kingdom in 1961, taking a secretarial
role at the National Provincial Bank in London’s Regent Street. Within two years she became Secretary to
the Vice-president of Bank of America (London), and by 1967 she was the
Personal Secretary to the Deputy Chairman Lazard Brothers & Co in
London. Not content with a life
spent very much at the top of secretarial work, she continued with her love
of amateur opera and drama. A former member of the Ruislip Operatic
Society, she was a founder member and later Secretary of the Harrow Light
Opera Company.
BERT
BROWNBILL
 It seems the
call of the footlights and later the TV cameras can be intoxicating, and
lead – in the case of Bert Brownbill – to a very long career in the world
of entertainment. Bill joined the
staff of Liverpool Heywoods Branch in 1916.
He appeared in Martins Bank Society of the Arts’ production of
“Merrie England” in 1946, left the Bank the same year, and never looked
back. In 1951 he achieved top billing in a West End Show and played the
part of Ginkle in White Horse Inn.
In 1955 he was on television in an episode of Dixon of Dock Green,
and from that point onwards the TV appearances just kept on coming:
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1956
“Keep It Clean”
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1962
“Z Cars”
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1964
“Crossroads: Kings Oak”
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1965
“The Newcomers”
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1969
“Happy Ever After”
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1959
“No Hiding Place”
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1963
“That's My Boy”
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1964
“Boyd Q.C.”
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1967
“Honey Lane”
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1969
“Detective”
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1959
“Blackpool Show Parade”
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1963
“The Sentimental Agent”
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1965
“The Troubleshooters”
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1969
“On the Rocks”
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1970
“Bachelor Father”
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Bert died at Gorleston on Sea near Great
Yarmouth, Norfolk in 1982, at the age of 81 years.
DOROTHY
WAYNE
From the end of the second World War, until the early 2000s, it was
quite normal for someone to set out on a career path that  led them all the way to retirement. For many of us even in the 1980s and
90s, movement from one job to another was seen as detrimental to your CV,
whereas the twenty-first century is all about gaining experience wherever
and whenever you can. The Martins
Bank Staff Database reveals a number of staff, for whom British branch
banking just wasn’t what they wanted.
Many went to banks and financial institutions abroad, others changed
direction completely, many of these following their beliefs in roles within
the church. A few used their talents
to break into the worlds of writing, performing or writing music, even
careers in entertainment on radion and television. Meet Dorothy (“Dotty”) Wayne (pictured,
right), who left Harrogate Grammar School in 1954 to beome a typist at
Martins Bank in Harrogate. Within
three years, her talents for singing, whistling, guitar playing, and as a
comedian got her noticed, and she began an astonishingly full career in the
world on entertainment. Spotted by
impressario Greatrex Newman, Dorothy joined his “fol-di-rols” performing
group, and toured the resorts of Britain, as well as performing at the
famous Windmill Theatre in London. By the 1960s, she had appeared as a
regular guest on The David Nixon Show on ITV, from ABC Weekend TV’s
Didsbury Studios in Manchester, home of Opportunity Knocks. She went on to tour the world, working on
Cunard Cruise Ships as an entertainter. There are then countless
appearances on Radio and Television, including as host of a weekly record
request spot on the BBC Light Programme. In addition she was regularly asked
to perform in or host variety specials on BBC TV or Radio. In 1974 she played a character in an
episode of “Are you Being Served”. Undoubtedly a canny person, Dotty was
her own agent, able to pick and choose from what seemed like a never ending
flood of bookings.
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
·
Martins Bank (Finance)
Limited
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