stock industry banking fate acquired by barclays bank successor barclays bank limited founded 1831 defunct 1969 headquarters 4 water street liverpool 2 subsidiaries lewis s bank limited website barclays group archives martins bank martins bank was a london private bank trading for much of its time under the name of the grasshopper that could trace its origins back to the london goldsmiths . martins agreed to its acquisition by the bank of liverpool in 1918 . the bank of liverpool wanted martins to give it a london presence and a seat on the london clearing house ; the martins name was retained in the title of the enlarged bank which was known as the bank of liverpool and martin s limited . the title was shortened to martins bank limited without an apostrophe in 1928 at the insistence of the directors of the lancashire and yorkshire bank when it was bought by the bank of liverpool and martins . the head office and managerial control remained firmly in liverpool cementing martins place as the only british national bank to have its head office outside london 1 contents 1 history 2 martins bank archive 3 liverpool head office 4 in popular culture 5 references 6 external links history edit the sign under which the bank traded was that of a grasshopper . the history of martins bank is intertwined with the grasshopper the sign under which the bank traded and was known in its early years . tradition has it that thomas gresham founded the bank in 1563 . 2 although he is believed to be the first to use the sign of the grasshopper in lombard street but does not appear to have had any connection with the martins . chandler states that there are differences of opinion as to when the grasshopper became a bank and john martin did not purchase the freehold of the grasshopper until 1741 . 1 the martin family were among the early london goldsmiths . in 1558 richard martin was elected a liveryman of the goldsmiths company and later a master of the mint and lord mayor of the city of london . successive generations of martins ran the bank that was popularly referred to as the grasshopper but the partnership went through various incarnations including martins stone and blackwell and martin stone and foote in the eighteenth century ; and martin and company in 1844 . 1 the london private bankers typically confined themselves to their one office although martins did have the occasional branch where individual partners lived . it meant that compared to the joint stock banks martins growth was limited . following the panic that followed the collapse of barings bank in 1890 martins finally decided to become a limited company 1891 . this prompted a more expansionist approach but the bank thought only of amalgamations with other private banks . there was an unsuccessful approach to cocks biddulph with which there were family links but the realisation that expansion to the provinces was now essential led to the bank agreeing in 1914 to its acquisition by the bank of liverpool . the martins name had valuable prestige and a seat on the london clearing house ; when the delayed merger was consummated after the first world war the family name was retained in the title bank of liverpool and martins . 1 in 1918 the bank was acquired by the bank of liverpool which had been founded in 1831 in liverpool england and the name of the merged bank became the bank of liverpool and martins limited . however the name was shortened to martins bank limited in 1928 . the change of name was at the insistence of the directors of the lancashire and yorkshire bank whose former hq at 43 spring gardens manchester became martins manchester district office . by 1928 the bank had expanded to some 560 branches and had a logo featuring a grasshopper which was the crest of sir thomas gresham and a liver bird the logo of the bank of liverpool . the combined coat of arms was duly registered by the college of heralds . the heraldic description of the coat of arms is as follows or a liver bird or cormorant sable holding in the beak a branch of laver or seaweed vert on a chief of the third a grasshopper of the first . directors of the london office of martins bank included the queen mother s younger brother the hon. sir david bowes lyon and colonel robert buxton dso ma oxon imperial camel corps friend of t.e. lawrence between 1958 and 1967 martins bank owned and operated lewis s bank which had branches in each of the lewis s department stores not to be confused with john lewis and also in selfridges in london . lewis s bank was sold to lloyds bank in 1967 and lasted until at least the 1980s . the last lewis s department store in liverpool closed in may 2010 . a new headquarters building for martins bank limited was designed by the architect herbert james rowse in the classical revival style and opened in 1932 at 4 water street liverpool replacing the previous headquarters at 7 water street . 3 martins bank building liverpool . the bank was bought by barclays bank in 1969 when all of its 700 branches became branches of barclays . around 30 branches closed immediately and 10 were downgraded to sub branches . some such as the sub branch at eaton norwich norfolk were brand new and handed over to barclays on the day appointed by act of parliament for the merger of the two banks 15 december 1969 . the martins grasshopper logo was retained for part of the combined business until the early 1980s with martins branch and a small grasshopper appearing first on both statements and cheque books later cheques only see the martins bank archive project link below . martins numbered among its customers a football pools company a major airline and a world renowned shipping line . when these customers wanted to borrow large sums martins was known to have borrowed from other banks on a number of occasions to fulfil these requests . even so many who worked for the bank believed that martins could have survived on its own as at the time of takeover it was expanding its uk banking operation and continuing a run of firsts which included first in the north of england with a cash machine in 1967 at 84 church street liverpool first with mobile branches to provide banking to remote areas first with a drive through bank in leicester in 1959 and epsom in 1966 first and only english bank to have a head office outside london first to recognise and embrace the swinging 60 s in its advertising first to experiment with and then use a computer to operate current account business first with a branch on the centre court at wimbledon women were contractually obliged to leave the bank upon marriage and as late as 1965 men were not allowed to get married until their salary reached a prescribed level . many of martins forms and some procedures were retained or later adopted by barclays as being more advanced than their own . martins bank archive edit martins bank archive has been collecting images and items relating to martins bank since 1989 . since 2009 the collection has been accessible online with interested parties emailing requests for or donations of information or images via the archive website . since 2011 martins bank archive has carried the newsletter of the grasshopper pensioners club a group of former martins staff whose activities are funded partly through subscription and partly by barclays . the site is run is association with but independently of barclays who provide several thousand images of the bank s branches as they were between the 1930s and 1969 . at 24 june 2013 the archive website comprises 1116 pages of information and images relating to more than 900 known branches and former branches of martins bank . the archive has pieced together a staff database of more than 100 000 entries from existing paper records and can provide limited information to family tree researchers . career details are available dating back to the late 1800s for some staff but in the main the records cover the period 1946 to 1969 . the database also covers new entrants staff transfers and promotions marriages retirements and deaths . martins bank archive is also home to a separate archive for lewis s bank covering the period 1958 to 1967 . a staff database for this period is also maintained . the coat of arms device of the grasshopper and liver bird shown at the top of this page was digitized by martins bank archive and is used under various permissions from barclays plc. 4 liverpool head office edit the liverpool head office of martins bank is a grade ii listed building designed by herbert rowse and opened in 1932 . it has been described as rowse s masterpiece ... and among the very best interwar classical buildings in the country . 5 during the second world war the bulk of england s gold was moved to the bank s vault the complete operation overseen by the bank s then chief inspector donald devonport lynch fcib 1893 1982 . this was dramatised in the film the bullion boys . 6 in popular culture edit the 1971 film version of dad s army featured the fictional walmington on sea branch of martins bank actually the crown pub in chalfont st giles . 7 8 mr mainwaring s bank was always meant to be martins but in the early episodes of the tv series the bbc felt a different name would avoid confusion . in an episode of the second series mr mainwaring can actually be heard telling private walker that as the manager of martins bank he wants nothing to do with black market activities . martins bank worked in association with the kiddicraft toy company and metcalfe models to provide toys with the bank s logo on them . these included miniature cheque and paying in books and cardboard construction kits for model railway enthusiasts . in 1968 whilst already part of the barclays group of companies martins issued what became a commemorative grasshopper money box in clear yellow plastic . this was given to children who opened savings accounts along with a gilt brooch . 9 references edit notes a b c d chandler george 1964 . four centuries of banking . i. the banks that built martins martins bank 68 lombard street . retrieved 9 january 2013 . barclays bank liverpool building 5011 . retrieved 23 september 2013 . martins bank . retrieved 24 june 2013 . sharples joseph 2004 . pevsner architectural guides liverpool . p. 168 . synopses . chalfont st giles on film . the chalfont st giles village website . retrieved august 14 2012 . chalfont st giles . the crown pub & dining room . retrieved august 14 2012 . childrens savings . bibliography chandler george 1964 . the grasshopper and the liver bird . four centuries of banking . i. b. t. batsford . oclc 258613190 . chandler george 1968 . the northern constituent banks . four centuries of banking . ii . b. t. batsford . oclc 246218394 . biddulph martin john 1892 . the grasshopper in lombard street . oclc 2675 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to martins bank building . barclays group archives martin s bank ltd barclays group archives martins bank museum of liverpool life martins bank martins bank archive flickr interior youtube video future development of martins building 4 water street liverpool v t e barclays division and subsidiaries barclays africa barclays canada barclaycard barclays investment bank barclays wealth historical components and acquisitions backhouse s bank barclays private equity