Penny banks in Glasgow, 18501914

Abstract

When William Callender of Royal Bank of Scotland's Glasgow office died in May 1868, there was found, folded in the pocket of his greatcoat, a handwritten list of those 'penny banks' that he had played a significant role helping to create.2 It begins with Barony Penny Bank, opened on 15 May 1852, and concludes with Working Men's Provident Bank in Partick, that commenced on 18 March 1865. Over the intervening period, Callender had been involved in the promotion of 23 others, including some located far from Glasgow, such as at Broughty Ferry, Dundee; Padiham, Yorkshire; and Greenwich, Kent. That Callender contributed so much to the 'penny bank' movement and appeared to value these institutions so highly that he carried this note about with him at all times supports the Glasgow Herald's 1860 description of his relationship to 'penny banks' as one of 'the first who made the principle a living fact'.3 It also reveals something of the commitment of bank officers working in other institutions to the 'penny bank' cause. This was very much part of the middle-class and philanthropic attitude that sustained 'penny banks' and saw them develop as one of the most remarkable social phenomena of the nineteenth century. This article will discuss the philanthropic approach of these institutions and relate them to ongoing work on the role of saving in the working-class economy. It will then describe their success in Glasgow during the second half of the nineteenth century, and conclude by examining case studies of two very different banks in some depth. The paper will conclude by suggesting some avenues for future research. I Scholarly work on the working-class economy in Britain during industrialisation has focused on a variety of areas: the standard of living debate, the nature of

Savings bank depositors in a crisis: Glasgow 1847 and 1857

“…Payne's conclusion left little room for ambiguity: ‘the Glasgow savings bank did attract and retain the support of the manual worker’ (Payne 1967, p. 165). One of the ways in which this was done was the encouragement of penny banks, where the poorest savers could deposit as little as a penny a week (Ross 2002). The first penny banks were opened in the city in 1850.…”

Banking from Leeds, not London: regional strategy and structure at the Yorkshire Bank, 1859–1952

“…Recent academic literature on savings banks, and especially penny savings banks, has tended to focus more on Scotland and Ireland rather than England or the UK overall (Maixé-Altés 2009;Ó Gráda 2003;Ross 2002). The one major contribution to the field is now decades old (Horne 1947), while the history of a major state institution, the Post Office Savings Bank, is still to be written.…”

“…Many nineteenth century industrial paternalists would have heartily agreed with this philosophy, a point firmly substantiated by the work of Ross (2001;2002) on Scottish savings banks. Indeed, industrial paternalism was an extremely common motivation for establishing such businesses with the specific emphasis on teaching lessons of thrift and saving to the disadvantaged people both in their employ and more generally.…”

“…Indeed, industrial paternalism was an extremely common motivation for establishing such businesses with the specific emphasis on teaching lessons of thrift and saving to the disadvantaged people both in their employ and more generally. Ross (2001;2002) has illustrated that Scottish philanthropists in Glasgow and elsewhere formed penny banks in the poorest parts of the city and attempted to persuade the residents of the importance of saving, including and especially children who were perceived to be ripe for such valuable lessons, a strategy the Yorkshire Penny Bank would utilise towards the end of the century. Religious enthusiasm to assist the lower classes combined with a more secular industrial paternalism to result in organisations like penny banks, with which workers could provide for their own needs without the embarrassment of taking charity directly.…”

Savings banks and working-class saving during the Swedish industrialisation

“…Another was that workers may not have had enough left over to save. A third reason may have been that savings banks did not fit some workers' requirements for saving and that other small-saver institutions were more suitable (Johnson 1985; Ross 2002; Ó Gráda 2003; Boyer 2009; McLaughlin 2013; Bäcklund and Lilja 2014). This article concentrates on the third reason.…”