![]() ![]() ![]() On 30 September 1889 the Aberdeen Free Press reported: However, it was also dark and a little secluded. King’s Court is just off the High Street and conveniently located for the public. On purpose-built offices were opened at 137 High Street. After that, in the late 1850s, it occupied part of the buildings of the Commercial bank, then of the National Bank, and in the 1880s it moved to the premises in King’s Arms Court belonging to Russel and Aitken. ![]() The first premises used were those of Charles Jeffrey the sheriff clerk and the first day of business was. Irving then took over the chair in his own right for a further seventeen years. He served for fifteen years with Rev Lewis Hay Irving as his depute. The first chairman was James Russel junior, writer. Over the years the long list of trustees reads like a who’s who of Falkirk. As the bank was not conducted for private profit, its sole concern was to offer to the public the best service and the most convenient and remunerative method of saving compatible with sound administration and the greatest possible degree of security. Its aim was to improve the facilities for thrift, and to increase the recognition of the importance of wise spending and wise saving, of self-help and independence. The National Security Savings Bank of Falkirk was established in 1845 by public-spirited men who recognised the importance of individual thrift to the well-being of the community. It was very secure and yielded an interest of between 3% and 5%. Essentially this meant that all of the money received by trustee savings banks, other than that needed to deal with everyday transactions, was held by the Bank of England to the credit of the National Debt Commissioners. To encourage the trust of the public in such banks the 1817 Savings Bank Act was extended to Scotland in 1835, requiring banks to invest in government bonds and to be regulated by the Bank of England. The funds were under the control of voluntary managers or trustees – hence the name. It is well known that the first Trustee Savings Bank was established by Rev Henry Duncan at Ruthwell in Dumfriesshire in 1810 to improve the lot of his poorest parishioners. ![]()
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