Brief History of Sussex Banks - Page1

 

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The large banks, that (if we are lucky), adorn our high streets started life in somewhat different circumstances than we see them today. After many amalgamations, take-overs, sell-offs and closures, the banking fraternity has settled down to the way we know now. This shall not be the end of it however, and the future of the financial instututions is a matter for historians who are perhaps, not even born yet.

 

When the birth of the banking system was in it's infancy, there were no guidelines to go by, no laws to ascertain the rights and wrongs of this budding proffession, and no safety net to protect a person from the unsureties of the day.

Local banking grew out of the readiness and ability of some prosperous and enterprising tradesman to oblige himself and his customers by holding their spare cash tor them, by providing them with notes of credit equivalent to money, and by lending money to them, when they needed an advance of it, on the security of land or premises which were well known to the lender.

 

There was a prosperous grocer in a Sussex town who thus grew into a banker by making an entrance through the wall of his shop into a counting-house which, in course of time, became a local bank!

 

Trustee Savings Banks

 

An account of the old local banks of Sussex may well begin with the mention of the old Trustee Saving's Banks which laid the foundation of the machinery for the promotion of thrift, which is such a great bulwark to our nation's life. Originating on the Continent in 1765 these institutions soon passed over to our own country; and the first in England was founded at Wendover in Buckinghamshire in 1799 by its vicar, the Rev. Joseph Smith, a member of that family of bankers who, beginning with Abel smith of Nottingham, culminated in the then well known bank of Smith. Payne and Smith, of Lombard-street, then amalgamated into the National Provincial Bank.

 

These Trustee Savings Banks spread rapidly in England; and, in due course, some were established in Sussex. Only two of these survived into the 1900's, one at Brighton (30 New-road) and the other at Rye (Bank Chambers, High street).

 

The rest of the original institutions - one established at Chichester in 1812 and closed in 1868, at Hastings in 1845 and closed in 1880, at Uckfield in 1813 and closed in 1889, at Cuckfleld in 1836 and closed in 1864, at Petworth in 1818 and closed in 1893, at Worthing in 1817 and closed in 1885 - gradually made way for the Post Office Savings Banks of the Government, established in 1863, through no fault of their own, but owing to the greater confidence which the undertaking of the Government would naturally command and the greater facilities which the Government was able to offer.

 

One of these old banks, which may be taken as a sample of the rest, was established at East Grinstead in 1819 and soon became an important institution with deposits amounting to £20,000 (Hill's History of East Grinstead, p. 262). It was closed, after a prosperous career, in 1896 with a large surplus to its credit: and it may suggest a profitable employment to the members of old East Grinstead families to read in the late Mr Hills's History of East Grinstead that when the Trustee Savings Bank of that town was wound up there were several accounts, some running into hundreds of pounds, for which no claimant was found.

 

The Old Lewes Bank

Commonly Known as Molyneux, Whitfeld & Molyneux.

 

One of the oldest and certainly the best known in East Sussex of the Sussex Banks which, in 1896, merged themselves in Barclays was that of Molyneux, Whitfeld & Co., at Lewes, known to the older generation of Sussex folk as the " Old Bank " at Lewes.

 

It was founded in 1789 at Lewes by a few local men who had prospered as wool-staplers in the time when the Sussex Downs and marsh-lands maintained a great many more sheep than is now the case and when, therefore, the trade in wool was relatively more prosperous. Prominent among the men who founded the bank were the names of Molineux and Whitfeld; and throughout the subsequent history of the bank until its amalgamation these names persisted as those of the gentlemen who conducted the business of the bank and were well-known persons in the life of the county.

 

Mr George Whitfeld of Hamsey House, near Lewes, Justice of the Peace for Sussex, a shrewd man of business, of handsome appearance, genial and courteous in manner - the father of sons as well-known in the county as Mr Frank Whitfeld, a fine cricketer: Mr Herbert Whitfeld, captain of the Eton XI in 1877, a member of the famous Cambridge XI of 1878, and captain of the Sussex XI, in 1882-3-4; Mr Stanley Whitfeld, a famous golfer with the Ashdown Forest Club; and the Rev. Arthur Whitfeld, Rector of Englefield, near Reading, all proficient in outdoor games - had passed away a short time before the amalgamation which was carried through by his son Frank.

 

The Old Bank at Lewes, before its amalgamation. had established branches at Tunbridge Wells in 1822, at Eastbourne in 1854, at Battle in 1857, at Uckfield in 1870 (before this date the business of the Bank was carried on by Mr Avis in his shop), at East Grinstead in 1887 (previously Mr Rudge in the office of Messrs. Turner, Rudge and Co., in the High-street, auctioneers, valuers and estate agents, had acted for the Bank) at Newhaven in 1890, at Brighton in 1893, at Hailsham in 1894 (previously a clerk from the Bank attended on market days. fortnightly, using a room in the offices belonging to Mr Lade), at Seaford in 1895, and at Heathfield in 1896.

 

The Worthing Bank

Commonly known as Henty, Henty & Hopkins .

 

This Bank was founded in 1808, Margesson of Offington. George Henty of Ferring, Thomas Henty who lived at Tarring, and - Hopkins being the first partners. It was carried on until it was sold to the Capital and Counties Bank in 1896, at which time it had branches at Horsham, Crawley, Steyning, Storrington, Arundel and Littlehampton. A £2 Note of the Bank, issued in 1809, was in the possession of Colonel Henty, of Oaklands Park, Chichester, who also had a £1 note which was issued in 1816.

 

Twice the Bank suffered robbery; in 1826 money which was being sent to London by the Worthing and London coach was stolen and in 1840 the Horsham branch was robbed. With regard to the former theft a letter, dated September, 23, 1826, was sent by post to Mr James Henty and read as follows:-

 

" SIR, - the Party that Robbed the Coach of your Parcel is Richard Collard and the two Brothers Names Nightingales and Wm. Wellch and Richard Childs and Collard is the man that Sit with the coachman and if they are taken the Coachman will now him and the other Partys as well and you are sure to gett your money Off them if they are taken but you must Keep their Names as Private as Possible or Else they will gett out of Reach and be sure to keep there Names Private and ask Ellis if he dont now them but not show him this letter. I remain, a Friend."

 

Some correspondence is also in existence relating to the Horsham robbery. It is not clear whether the thieves were traced but certain clues were discovered, as the following letters show:-

 

" Horton Place, near Epsom. Feb. 13, 1840.

" GENTLEMEN, - Perhaps you may have already received the enclosed inforination, but should you not it may be expedient to make some enquiry. It will no doubt occur to you that the road by Dorking, Reigate, Godstone, Riverhead and Maidstone would be the most direct from Horsham to Dover, on the supposition that the amount abstracted is such as to render it desirable to take it out of the Country.

 

Permit me to observe that if this Horse was ridden by anyone connected with the Robbery, the rider must have obtained some other mode of conveyance in the neighbourhood when he left the dead horse and leaving a Bridle and Saddle would be leading evidence as to any person who might be seen with it. I have thought it right to trouble you with this and as I shall be at Bletchingley to-morrow I beg you will, if you think it will assist you, write to me at the Post Office there.

JOHN TROTTER."

 

The enclosure reads:-

" On Saturday last Mr Peters of Godstone was at Mr Chandler's at Epsom and the conversation turning upon the Robbery of the Bank at Horsham. Mr Peters said that a Horse was found dead in the farm yard of the Marsham Farm. between Bletchingley and Godstone. The Horse was supposed to be turned into the yard about 1o'clock, or between that and two on Saturday morning'. The Horse was evidently ridden very hard; the saddle and bridle taken away. The Horse was apparently a valuable one. Mr Chandler gave me this information this morning. "

 

The next day the following letter was written to Mr Edwin Henty by Mr Henry Padwick, lawyer:- "Feb. 14, 1840, Crawley, 11 ock. p.m.

" My dear Edwin, " I write this in great haste on my way home. We have been to Bletchingley and from there to Godstone and have been enabled to trace out the particulars of that which E. Upperton has previously informed you. We found the dead horse, or rather the skin of the dead horse, in the yard of a Mr Castledine, near Bletchingley, and we also discovered by going on to Godstone that the horse in question was stolen at Warnham with two others, and we have traced and satisfied ourselves that the dead horse is the one described in the Handbill sent to Godstone from Warnham.

 

Mr Hunt and myself have sifted the whole matter thoroughly, and the result of this additional enquiry still leads us to the conclusion that the robbers are much more at home. God grant that we may discover the scoundrels."

Yours very truly, " HY. PADWICK."

 

E. Upperton of Thakeham, to whom reference is made in the foregoing letter, was with G. Oiliver of Kingston for many years a partner in the Bank with Edwin Henty, but after these two gentlemen retired the business seems to have been carried on by members of the Henty family only until it was disposed of to the Capital and Counties Bank in 1896.

 

The Brighthelmston Bank

Commonly known as Wigney & Co.

 

This bank is an illustration of the way in which local banks evolved themselves;- as might be said. almost naturally - out of the prosperity and enterprise of a local tradesman. William Wigney. who founded it in 1814, came to Brighton from the North of England and set up in North Street as a draper: and by 1825 - the time when local banks in Sussex, none of them with capital really adequate to the business or conducted on any scientific principle, went down before the panic and the runs of that day - Wigney had sufficiently established himself to withstand any pressure that was brought to bear upon his Bank.

 

The family of Wigney prospered in every way and became magnates in the society of Brighton. One son of the founder, George, became a brewer and started what was known as the Kemp Town Brewery, and besides two other sons there was another - a man of dash and enterprise - Isaac Newton Wigney, who was returned to Parliament by Brighton as its M.P., became a J.P. of the county, married a beautiful woman of good family and was leader of Brighton society.

 

Once he was out-voted at the poll by a section of the electors who felt envy and opposition to a man whose humble origin was well known to them and who had affected the tone and habits of an upper class; but in 1841 he was again returned to Parliament as the Member for Brighton and seemed to have reached the zenith of power and social distinction. Meanwhile, the shrewd old father, William Wigney, died. His property had to be divided among his family and his will showed that he had not, in fact, the wealth that he was commonly supposed to have had.

 

Gradually, both from want of money and by means of the gay life that he was leading at his London house, Isaac Newton Wigney lost the confidence of his customers with the result that on March 4th, 1842, the fatal notice was posted on the doors of the Bank in East Street:-

 

" Messrs. Wigney & Co.,deeply regret the painful necessity of suspending their payments."

 

The tale of his remaining years is told in pathetic fashion by Charles Fleet in his interesting 'Glimpses of our Ancestors in Sussex' (2nd Series : Lewes : 1883). How thankful we Sussex men and women of today may be that any money still left to us can now be entrusted to Banks with huge reserves of capital and conducted on lines of scientific finance.

 

 

 

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