Rolls of Honour
Barclays Bank
In 1950, Barclays established a committee with representatives from all sections of the staff to decide what form a memorial to those lost in the two world wars should take. It was agreed that staff would help to fund the final memorial by subscription, and that it would take the form of two volumes. Staff contributions for the books of remembrance reached £900, and the Bank contributed nearly as much again.
The books were completed in 1959 – they were leather-bound, and the pages were parchment; the binding done by Sydney M Cockerell, and the pages engrossed, decorated and gilded by Dorothy Hutton. In addition to listing the names of the fallen, the World War One volume contained illustrations of the head offices and coats of arms of Barclays, the London & Provincial Bank, and the London & South Western Bank (the three banks had merged at the end of 1918). The World War Two volume contained illustrations of the Barclays Local Head Offices.
The names of those who died in World War One were listed in alphabetical order, split into three sections – Barclays Bank, the London & Provincial Bank, and the London & South Western Bank. The award of a Military Cross, an Albert Medal, or a Distinguished Service Order was noted against individual names.
The names of those who died in World War Two were organised by Local Head Office. Within each region, the names were arranged alphabetically, along with each person’s place of work, rank, regiment and date of death. The roll includes civilians. The award of a Distinguished Flying Cross, a Croix de Guerre, a Military Cross, a Distinguished Service Medal, a Territorial Decoration, a Reserve Decoration, or a Distinguished Flying Medal was noted against individual names.
The volumes are now located at Barclays head office at 1 Churchill Place.
Martins Bank
In 1931, Martins Bank compiled a combined roll of honour and service roll, for staff who had died, and all those who had served, during World War One. This included all the banks which had merged into Martins up to that point: the Bank of Liverpool, Cocks, Biddulph & Co, the Palatine Bank, the Halifax Commercial Banking Co, the Cattle Trade Bank, the Equitable Bank, and the Lancashire & Yorkshire Bank. Following World War Two, the names of the fallen from that conflict were added.
The leather-bound volume contained parchment pages. The staff were listed in three separate sections, each organised alphabetically by surname, with the name of their regiment. First to be listed were those who died during World War One, then those who served during World War One, and finally those who died during World War Two. All of the lists include the person’s regiment. The award of a Military Cross, a Distinguished Conduct Medal, a military OBE, a Military Medal, a Distinguished Service Order, a Mentioned in Dispatches, a Croix de Guerre, an Italian Special Medal, a military MBE, a Territorial Decoration, an Italian Medal, an Order of St George (Russian), an Order of St Stanislaus III, a Queen’s South Africa Medal, a Companion of the Order of St Michael & St George, a Croce di Guerra, a Legion d’Honneur or a Belgian Croix de Guerre was noted against individual names.
Two copies of the roll were made – one is held at Group Archives, and the other is still at the former Martins Bank Head Office in Water Street, Liverpool.
Martins roll of honour WW1 1585-0001.pdf