Savings bank depositors in a crisis: Glasgow 1847 and 1857

Ross, Duncan M.

doi:10.1017/s0968565013000103

Cited by 30 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Studies of savers and saving habits in the nineteenth century are often based on savings bank records (Alter et al 1994; Lilja 2004; Maltby 2011; Perriton 2012; Ross 2013; Perriton and Maltby 2015). These sources are very valuable for analyses of how different groups utilised their savings bank accounts, but give no information about other saving methods.…”

Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There was great variation, however, and precautionary saving was in fact more prevalent among workers in general, for example, in the savings bank of Glasgow (Payne 1967). Moreover, accounts in that bank were used for recurrent payment obligations such as rent (Ross 2013). Furthermore, studies have indicated that married women in England ‘were active economic agents in their own right’ (Perriton 2012, p. 12) by the middle of the nineteenth century and used savings bank accounts as a precaution (Maltby 2011; Perriton 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Savings banks and working-class saving during the Swedish industrialisation

Lilja

Bäcklund

2016

Financial History Review

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This article deals with savings banks and the extent to which they encouraged workers to save. A study of probate inventories from three Swedish towns shows that just 20–30 per cent of workers had assets in savings banks during the second half of the nineteenth century. Saving patterns differed greatly among groups of workers. Savings banks were most important for unskilled, unmarried women, but married workers were more likely to invest in, for example, real estate (1870s) and insurance (1900s). Family considerations greatly affected saving decisions, which detracted from the appeal of savings banks. Their emphasis on individual saving was more suitable for those who needed a flexible alternative to use for different saving needs. This flexibility also made it easier for savings banks to meet growing competition and can explain why they continued to attract workers in the twentieth century. Although savings banks never dominated the workers' saving arena, they probably promoted unmarried workers' awareness of the advantages of saving. Consequently, since all married workers had previously been unmarried, savings banks most likely contributed to fostering saving habits among the working class.

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Section: IIImentioning

confidence: 99%

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Savings banks and working-class saving during the Swedish industrialisation

Lilja

Bäcklund

2016

Financial History Review

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“…ÓGráda (2009) andRoss (2013) study savers' behaviors during panics in nineteenth-century Ireland and Scotland.…”

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Were Small–Town New Yorkers Life–Cycle Savers?

Bodenhorn¹

2021

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Theories of household saving, including the life cycle hypothesis, posit that households add or draw down wealth to equalize the value of consumption over time. This article examines the extent to which late-nineteenth-century, small-town Americans accumulated financial assets consistent with the life cycle hypothesis. Using individual account records from a small-town savings banks, I find that savers accumulated an average of one year's income at age sixty. Decumulation was slower than expected after age sixty. The evidence is inconsistent with a strong bequest motive, so the slow drawing down of wealth in old age may have been due to uncertain mortality risk or wealth-based attrition from the sample. I find differences in the life cycle accumulations between men and women, the native-and foreign-born, and low-skill and high-skill workers.

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“…But New Zealand's barter economy made its application impractical. However, Governor Grey was also aware that UK savings banks were required to invest for the reduction of the national debt (Ross, 2013). Perhaps, the Governor thought, the establishment of savings banks in New Zealand would go a little way to improving his finances, as well as meeting the banking needs of the lower classes.…”

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confidence: 99%

The establishment of savings banks in colonial New Zealand 1840-1907

Cardow

Wilson

2016

JMH

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Purpose This paper aims to highlight the reasons for the establishment of savings banks in New Zealand, with a primary thesis being that savings banks in New Zealand were intended to operate in a similar way to those in the UK. That is, to provide banking services to the working classes and supply revenue to a cash-strapped government. Savings banks were reasonably successful in meeting the needs of their depositors but provided little revenue to the government. This gives rise to a secondary thesis that, when the Government was presented with the opportunity to establish the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB), they did so with revenue in mind. Design/methodology/approach Contemporaneous scholarly discussion along with newspaper, primary sourced bank and government archives builds an interpretation of why savings banks were established in New Zealand. This interpretation is presented in the form of a narrative, which tells the story of the rise of private savings banks in New Zealand and their eventual stagnation when the POSB was introduced. Findings Savings banks in New Zealand were initiated by Governor Grey primarily to provide an alternative source of development funding. New Zealand savings banks, initially modelled on UK and New South Wales variants, also appear to have been designed to meet the needs of the working classes, with deposits limited to £50 a year and a maximum balance set of £100 in total. However, as the requirement to invest in Government debt was removed from their founding legislation, they mainly provided mortgages to their local communities. To some extent, this situation was remedied in 1867 when the POSB was established, as it was required to invest as directed by the Government. Originality/value The narrative highlights the importance of savings banks and the POSB to both the people and government of New Zealand. This research adds to the discussion surrounding the purpose of savings banks and details the contributions made by both savings banks and the POSB in colonial New Zealand. As previous publications were in the main commissioned by various savings banks, this work provides an independent academic analysis of the first savings banks in colonial New Zealand in the period from the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 until New Zealand became a dominion in 1907.

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Savings bank depositors in a crisis: Glasgow 1847 and 1857

Cited by 30 publications

References 22 publications

Savings banks and working-class saving during the Swedish industrialisation

Savings banks and working-class saving during the Swedish industrialisation

Were Small–Town New Yorkers Life–Cycle Savers?

The establishment of savings banks in colonial New Zealand 1840-1907

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