| Code | DS/UK/28 |
| Corporate Name | Bank of England Hull Branch |
| Dates | 1829 - 1939 |
| Activity | The possibility of opening a branch of the Bank of England at Hull was first discussed in May 1827, prompting opposition from 'various residents' who sent letters of protest to the Bank in October of that year, despite the Mayor of Hull requesting a branch the previous month. The branch finally opened on 2 January 1829 in premises in Salthouse Lane, purchased from the Trustees of the Mechanics' Institute. The Agent was George Schonswar and Benjamin Stocks was Sub-Agent. Thirteen years later, in 1842, Head Office suggested trying to exchange premises with 'The Library' in Whitefriargate, but the Library did not look on this scheme favourably and so it was not until 1850 that the possibility of moving was seriously progressed. By this time, the existing branch premises were thought to be 'disreputable' and so the Agent was advised to inform the Bank of the need to obtain more suitable premises. As a result, the Bank purchased the former workhouse building in Whitefriargate for £4,800 from the Poor Law Authorities, after the workhouse had been moved away from the centre of the town. The old workhouse building was pulled down and on its site new, purpose-built bank premises were erected, designed by Philip Hardwick, Architect to the Bank from 1855. The old premises in Salthouse Lane were sold by auction in 1859 and became a Sailors' Home.
The branch moved to Whitefriar Gate in 1856 where it remained until its closure in 1939. A distinctive feature of the Branch was that its Treasury was on the ground floor, as digging deeply into the soil in the centre of the town resulted in flooding. Cellars, even in Whitefriargate, were liable to flooding and the Agent in 1913 wrote that he had seen live fish taken from his cellars (Old Lady magazine, 1939). By 1937, when the Bank carried out a series of visits to examine all its branches, the physical state and inconvenience of the building at Hull made it necessary to completely rebuild the premises on a new site. The Committee reporting on the branches advised that the retention of the branch should be carefully considered, as 'it would appear doubtful whether the Branch fulfils any functions which could not be done equally well by the Leeds Branch apart from the work in connection with the Public Accounts and the Hull Corporation' (Elizabeth Hennessy, p259). In late 1937 the Bank appointed a Special Committee to consider the future of the branch at Hull. It was decided in April 1938 that there was 'no justification for maintaining the expensive organisation in Hull, or for incurring the considerable expenditure necessary if the Branch were to be modernised or rebuilt'. The branch closed on 28 February 1939, despite representations to the Deputy Governor from Hull Corporation, which feared that the prestige of the city would suffer, and that closure of the branch 'might emphasise the drift of industry to the south' (Hennessy, p265).
The premises were sold in March 1939 to Clarence Farm Stables. |
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