PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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MIDLAND BANK The history of the Midland Bank goes back to 1836, when Mr Charles Geach, an official at the Bank of England's branch in Birmingham, formed the Birmingham and Midland Bank. By 1890 it had 45 branches and the following year moved it's head office to London. There was a branch at 14 Bedford Street in Plymouth as early as 1910, when it was known as the London, City and Midland Bank. The first branch in Devonport, at 99 Fore Street, appeared in the early 1920s. The company became the Midland Bank Ltd in 1923. By 1939 the branches were at 15 Bedford Street, 99 Fore Street, Devonport, 68 Union Street, Stonehouse, and 65 Mutley Plain. There was also a sub-branch at Tavistock Road, Crownhill, which was open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 10am until 12 Noon. After the Second World War, a new branch was opened at 97 Cornwall Street on March 16th 1959, in premises designed by Messrs Louis de Scissons, Peacock, Hodges, Robertson and Fraser. This was closed around 1992. The Midland Bank was taken over in 1992 by the HongKong-Shanghai Banking Corporation, thus becoming just a set of meaningless initials - HSBC.
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