Before we close this notice of original Savings Banks, we would refer to their establishment in Ireland. The first Savings Bank in the sister country of which record is made was one established at Stillorgan in 1815, and was called the “Parochial Bank.” The Rev. John Reade, the parish minister of that place, was not only the founder of this bank, but also of the second venture of the kind; for, on removing to Clondalkin, he would seem to have taken his benevolent disposition with him, and to have repeated the process among the poor of his new charge. A peculiar arrangement existed in these early Irish banks, of which no trace is found elsewhere. The deposits of each subscriber were kept separately, and open to the inspection of the owner when he brought any fresh deposit, on which occasion he might count his money if he chose. So soon as the deposits of any person had reached 1l. the money was invested in Stock, and produced interest, but not till then. Both banks eventually formed the nuclei for ordinary Savings Banks after the act relating to Irish banks was passed in 1817. The Belfast Savings Bank, opened in 1810, was the first formed after the ordinary model, and has always been very successful.
[11] Mr. Scratchley's Practical Treatise on Savings Banks, 1st edit. p. 36.
[12] See the Reports of the Society for Bettering the Condition and Increasing the Comforts of the Poor, vol. iii. which contains a full account of this earliest Savings Bank.
[13] “To facilitate the saving of small sums of money and to encourage young labourers to economise their earnings with a view to provision for marriage, it would be extremely useful to have county banks, where the smallest sums might be received, and a fair interest granted for them. At present, the few labourers who have a little money are often greatly at a loss to know what to do with it; and under such circumstances we cannot be surprised that it should sometimes be ill-employed and last but for a short time.”—Malthus. Essay on Population, 1803.
[14] Hansard, vol. viii. p. 887.
[15] The most important clauses of this Bill we have given in the Appendix (A). Besides its intrinsic importance, it is very interesting, as viewed in the light of subsequent measures. The similarity of Mr. Whitbread's proposals to the measures which nearly half a century afterwards have been carried out, cannot fail to strike the reader.
[16] An Explanation of the Principles and Proceedings of the Provident Institution at Bath. By John Haygarth, M.D., F.R.S., one of the Managers, London, 1816.
[17] Observations on Banks for Savings. By the Right Hon. George Rose. London, 1816.
[18] Memoir of Dr Duncan. By his Son, the Rev. G. J. C. Duncan. Edinburgh, 1848.
[19] Quarterly Review. October, 1816.