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Following the closure of
Birkenhead Hamilton Square and Claughton Village branches in July 2013, the
only Martins branch still open in Birkenhead is Higher Tranmere.
Opened by the Bank of
Liverpool in 1911, the Branch enjoys a corner aspect – a typical choice for
the Bank of Liverpool who see the value of having the entrance to their
premises in two streets at once!
There are many retirement features in our Online Archive, paying
tribute to the men and women who have made their mark in Martins, and who are
now ready to wind down - usually after a career that spans forty years
or more.
Not all of the tributes
and write-ups in Martins Bank Magazine are as long as this one, which sees
Tom Thomas hanging up his bank tie for last time at the end of November
1955. It seems that Mr Thomas is
highly regarded and loved by his staff, colleagues and friends, many of whom
gathered at a hotel in Birkenhead to wish him all the best for the future…
The official record of the service of
Tom Thomas gives no clue at all to the character and personality of the man who by his ceaseless and
untiring efforts on behalf of his colleagues
won their regard and affection in fullest measure.
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In Service: 1911 until Friday 29
September 2017
Monochrome Branch Images © Barclays Ref:
0033-0060
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 The customers of the branches at which
he served looked upon him as a friend in the real sense of the word and his
kindly and sympathetic personality bound his close associates and colleagues
to him with ties of the closest loyalty. And so, when we gathered at the end
of November at the Prenton Hotel to wish him well at the close of his
business career it was no ordinary conventional gathering of colleagues but
a reunion of those kindred spirits of the Liverpool District around whose
names anecdote and legend have been built up during a lifetime of
association. Dan Thomas. George Harrison. Dick Eastwood. Frank Grant. Frank
Bold and fifty others besides travelled from far and near to rekindle the
fires of friendship. Mr. Corless presided and
paid his own personal tribute to Tom, whom he described as a ' big' man, and
he then called upon Mr. R. H. Price, Staff Manager, to make the presentation
of a cheque on behalf of the subscribers. (The gift was subsequently used for
the purchase of a portable typewriter). Mr.
Price, referring to the fact that they had been at school together, said that
he owed some of his love of Shakespeare to Mr. Thomas whose performances in
school plays had made a deep impression on him. He had always regarded Mr.
Thomas as one of the intellectuals and, as such, he was entering upon his
retirement better equipped than many to enjoy it to the full. Mr. Thomas then
replied. There are some who have the ability to speak, but have nothing to
say; others who have the intellectual capacity but no gift of
self-expression. Mr. Thomas's friends were treated to a display of gems from
his fine mind only matched by his gift of oratory in a speech which delighted
everybody.
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A gift of flowers was presented to Mrs.
Thomas by Mrs. Corless and an illuminated address was signed by everybody,
after which tea was served. Mr. Thomas
entered the Bank in 1912. served in the Middle East during the First World
War and was appointed Manager at Higher Tranmere in 1946. His service included
periods at Smithdown, Mossley Hill, West Derby, Central, H.O. Produce Loan.
West Kirby and Heswall.
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The contemporary bank
branch photographs of Robert Montgomery feature in many of our “then and
now” features, and here we catch Higher Tranmere still open in 2010…
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Image © Barclays Ref:
0033-0060
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Image © Martins Bank
Archive Collections – Robert Montgomery
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