11-899 York Coney Street

The Bank of Liverpool and Martins signs the contract for new premises at 44 Coney Street York, in August 1924, and their first full Branch in that most historic city is opened in January 1927 as part of the Bank’s short-lived Halifax District. From the amalgamation of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Bank with the Bank of Liverpool and Martins in 1928 comes a Sub Branch at York Cattle Market. Coney Street is outgrown by its own business, and in 1958 the Branch is relocated to Davy Hall. Martins Bank’s final connection with York is the University Sub Branch, which opens in 1965 in a mobile caravan, before switching to purpose built premises. Coney Street Branch can be seen in the background of the Staff group picture below, from which we have taken a close up (above), and in our “then and now” feature, we have added a contemporary view – for which we are most grateful Edward Waterson – to show how little has changed in more than NINETY years!

In Service: 1 January 1927 until 1958

Image © YORK PRESS – under Fair use policy, every effort has been made

to contact the copyright holder.

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Extracts from the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Annual Report 1927 © Barclays

1949 York Coney Street Staff MBM-Wi49P30.jpg 1949 04 MBM.jpg On a beautiful autumn day, 27th September to be exact, we set out upon our travels once more, calling at selected Branches in connection with this, the second instalment of our new ' Branches' feature. And so we went first of all to York, there to renew our acquaintance with Mr. J. A. McGregor whom we last saw at the annual meetingof Martins Bank Golfing Society. He is quite a notability in local golf circles, though we had to drag the information out of him. He acted as one of the umpires at the Ryder Cup Competition this year and is a County Golfer who has played for Yorkshire. In the past he has taken part in the British Golf Championship at Hoylake and when we say that his handicap is scratch readers will understand Mr. Conacher's satisfaction, not to say jubilation, on the only occasion on which he has so far proved the victor when they have played together! We have been in a good many Branches of the Bank but we can say quite sincerely that none has given us the pure aesthetic delight which our Branch in Coney Street gave us.

The office may be tiny and the working space somewhat inadequate but the beautiful half-timbered exterior, the ancient windows and the time-worn beams of the interior, with which such modern repairs and alterations as have become necessary have been so tastefully blended combine to give the visitor (and there are many, including not a few American sightseers) a feeling of complete satisfaction. It must have been a source of great joy to the City Fathers when, in the course of preparing the building for use by the Bank, the exterior plaster was stripped from the half-timbering which was thus exposed to take its rightful place among the treasured antiquities of the ancient city.

There is a strong local flavour about the staff. Mr. McGregor himself is a York man, educated at Archbishop Halgate's Grammar School. He entered the Bank at York in 1927 and after various periods of service at Hull, Manningham, Sunbridge Road and in Branch Department, Head Office, returned to his native city as Manager in 1946. From 1941 to 1945 he served with H M Forces from which he was invalided out. He has a young staff, three of whom have only been at the Branch a short time and he has the distinction of being the only married man. We paid a surprise visit to his home, hoping to see his wife, but we were unlucky, though the visit was rewarded by the next best thing—a few minutes spent with his youngest daughter, a very charming little lady aged four.

F. S. Pitts was educated at Bradford Grammar School and entered the service at the Equitable Branch, Bradford, in 1939, going to Tyrrel Street the following year. From 1941-1946 he was away with H.M. Forces, returning to Bradford on demobilisation. He was transferred to York only a couple of weeks before our visit. E. S. Tapper came North from the London district when his people moved North. After education at the Modern School, Streatham, he entered the Bank at 68, Lombard Street in 1937, served in H.M. Forces from 1940 to 1946 and then had a spell in Leeds. 1947 saw him at London Foreign Branch, 1948 at Edgware Road and earlier this year he was at Bradford, going to York in June. Mr. Trott entered the Bank in 1943 at Scarborough, after education at Scarborough Boys' High School. From 1944 until 1948 he served with H.M. Forces, being appointed to York last year.

Unique among our staff is surely 68-years-old F. Bryan, who works at our Cattle Market Branch, which is sub to York office, on Thursdays. He was engaged part-time in 1943, after retiring from the railway, because of his special knowledge of this class of business and of the personalities engaged therein. We are assured that when the time comes for him to leave us his place will be most difficult to fill. The only girl on the staff is Miss E. M. Snowball who has been with us since 1941. Although we rejoice with her in her time of happiness we are sorry to say that the plans of a certain fortunate young gentleman are likely to number her days with us.

YORK MICKLEGATE – Part of the “Roman Towns” Advertisement Campaign, drawn by Geoffrey Wedgwood © Martins Bank 1949

They must have breathed a sigh of relief when we left the Branch for a quick tour of some of the sights of York, for there is no room for passengers in this office, but they were very nice about the setback to the day's work which such a visit involves. The quick look at the Minster, the Shambles, the Archbishop's Palace, the wonderful museum, the castle and walls, and the Micklegate, used as the illustration for “Eboracum”, in our current “Roman Towns” series of advertisements, rounded off a very happy day in this beautiful old city.

It is a shame that the only picture that shows the whole Branch building at Coney Street during Martins Bank’s time there is this faded scan from Martins Bank Magazine. In 2014 friend of the archive Edward Waterson took great care to capture for us a shot of the building as it is today from the same angle. Today 44 Coney Street might be a mobile phone shop, but at least it carries on the tradition of “communication” that was established their by the Bank!

Coney Street in 1949…

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections

… and in 2014

Image © Martins Bank Archive Collections - Edward Waterson



*Mr P B Walton* *Manager* *1927 to 1936*	*Mr R G Kippax* *On the Staff* *1939 to 1940*	*Miss E M Snowball* *On the Staff* *1941 to 1950*	*Mr Frederick Bryan* *York Cattle Market Sub* *1943 to 1955*	*Mr J A McGregor* *Manager* *1946 to 1954*	*Mr F S Pitts* *On the Staff* *1949 to 1952*



*Mr B Sills* *Manager* *1954 to 1958*