Sparkbrook Passbook
An early example of a Passbook with transactions from 1920 to 1942.
Sparkbrook branch was
one of the BMB's initial offices, opened on September 1st 1919.
The branch's 4,667th account was opened by a Miss R C Ragg on February
14th 1920,
possibly in view of her intending marriage to a Mr Derry.
Marriage may have meant a change of address, resulting in
the account
being transferred to the nearby Sparkhill branch on March 13th 1942.
The passbook's design allows for the initials
of two officers for cash transactions:
"C" = Cashier; "L" = Ledger Clerk
but this system (in accordance with the Bank's Rule 17 that
stated that "Two or more
officers of the Bank shall be parties to every transaction of the depositor, so as to form a
double check on
every such transaction") was abandoned in 1925 - the rule then being
interpreted that the Bank's ledger posting and checking system
complied with the rule.
The passbook's first transaction of a £5 deposit is initialled by "AF" (Mrs Annie Facey)
and "HC" (Harold
Carver). Mr Carver, who became the Bank's second General Manager
in 1946, described the early days of Sparkbrook branch inMemory-027.
Front covers of early passbooks were individually printed with the name of the branch - an expensive option
that was
abandoned in due course. The front cover also has the depositor's account number shown,
another practice that was dropped for later
cover designs.
The title of the Bank printed on the front cover includes the word 'THE' - a format not used on later passbooks.
TheHours of Business stamped on the passbook's outer back cover applied from September 1st 1923.
The Hours of Business shown on a label
in the passbook's inner front cover applied from July 31st 1931.