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  Martins Bank Archive is one of a number of collections to
have been asked to share information with LIVES OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR, which is run under the auspices of the Imperial War
Museum. The aims of this project are simple, but far reaching – slowly but
surely they are piecing together the lives of those who fought for their
country in the First World War. These
are lives, some of which were lived long and full, others cut short by the
dreadful theatre of war and the futile loss of so many young men with hopes
dreams and talents that went to waste. For our small part in this mammoth
collection of information, we are providing details of some members of
Martins Staff who served in the Great War, and came back to civilian life to
resume their jobs with the Bank. This
is thanks to the forward thinking of Martins Bank Magazine who celebrated the
careers of hundreds of the Bank’s employees by printing retirement tributes
and photographs. When
added to the timeline information on the Lives of the First World War site,
these tributes provide valuable information about the character, colleagues
friends and relatives of Staff Members, and in many cases this information
will be seen for the first time by their descendants researching their family
tree, or looking into the part their loved one played in serving their
country.
 “The war to end war” is still one of the worst losses
of life through conflict that our World has known, with individual family
tragedies running into millions. As we
remember the sacrifices made by those who fought for our Country in World War
I, we are indebted to Lynette Mann, for allowing us to display what is both a
rare relic of Martin’s Private Bank, and a sad and poignant reminder of the
horrors of the War. The first of the
two letters below is written in 1917, a year before the merger of Martin’s
Private Bank and the Bank of Liverpool.
The recipient is Lynette’s husband’s grandfather, and the letter
expresses the condolence of the Manager and Staff at 68 Lombard Street on the
death in action of his son, who has been previously highly commended. We are also indebted to Barclays who have
sent us a letter written by the Bank of Liverpool, in 1916, which is
addressed to a member of Staff - A K
Milliken - on active service. The
letter expresses the Bank’s hopes for the safe return of Mr Milliken…
Lynette is a keen genealogist,
and it is great to see that this precious family heirloom has been so well
kept. The letter heading contains the
familiar telegraphic address of 68 Lombard Street “CICALA London”, and is the
only example we have so far seen of a letter from the bank in mauve ink. It
is also interesting to see one of the last deptictions of the Grasshopper
logo before it joins forces with the Liver Bird. The closing phrase in both letters - Yours
very truly - will be familiar to
Barclays customers, as it is actually used by them in most correspondence as
late as the mid 1980s, in preference to the more usual “Yours
sincerely/faithfully”.
 M
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