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Breaking the Glass
Ceiling…x Whilst there does seem to have
been to be a certain futility attached to women “getting on” in the bank,
success IS achievable for the hard-working girl. We can’t stress enough that in Martins’
time, women accepting their lot is not the same as some kind of open
oppression. The opportunities are
there, and all the evidence points to Martins Bank recognising and growing
the careers of those women who take those opportunities. The major sacrifice when compared to
today’s world is the stark choice between career OR family. Not usually both. Take this example from
Martins Bank Magazine’s visit to IPSWICH
in 1950: |
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Going places? Miss M L Perks in her typing and cashiering days at Ipswich |
“The only girl at the Branch is miss M.L.
Perks who entered the service in July 1940 at Ipswich, thus having completed
nearly ten years at the Branch. She has passed all her Bankers’
examinations and acts as typist and cashier”… Times are different, and perhaps
Martins Bank Magazine thinks Miss Perks is at first happy with her lot, but
to have studied so hard for the Institute of Bankers’ Examinations (considered to be the “crown jewels” of male banking upward mobility)
to end up typing and cashiering for ten years, may not seem that
rewarding. |
Getting there! Margaret as a Trust Controller for
Martins Trust Company – |
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In this case Miss Perks thinks
so too, and her hard work and studies pay off when she bucks the trend by
becoming the first appointed woman in Martins Bank’s Trust Company. There,
she is given a “Pro Manager” signing authority. We must of course bear in
mind that in these times women are contractually obliged to leave the bank
upon marriage, and that therefore investment in someone who could suddenly
leave and have a baby is seen as inappropriate. Miss Perks however breaks clean through the
“glass ceiling” becomes a Trust controller at the Martins Bank Trust Company
offices in London’s West End and goes on to play a major role in both Martins
and Barclays. It was therefore, with great sadness that we learned of the
death - just before Christmas 2012 - of Margaret Perks. Then something extraordinary happened,
which allowed us to learn much more about the life of this gifted woman… |
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That’s the way to do it!
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Hilda Harding becomes Barclays’ First woman bank manager Image © Daily Sketch and successors, May 1958 |
Eileen Muckle and Margaret Perks
appointed trust controllers by Martins Bank Image © Daily Sketch and successors, July 1967 |
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The only known image of Martins Bank
Ipswich Buttermarket, this steel frame is erected in 1956. Image © East Anglian Daily Times and
successors. |
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A succession of stories from the former newspaper The Daily Sketch – which
chimes exactly with Margaret’s Conservative Views spills the beans on royalty
at home and abroad, and tell stories of brave animals who have managed to
help their owners – a horse helps out in a snow drift, a dog is awarded a
medal for bravery, and so on. Many of
the clippings relate to Margaret’s friends and relatives, and we have chosen
not to use them here. Poignantly, the
book stops with several blank pages to go, but with still a small collection
of clippings waiting to be stuck in.
Margaret is another example of a member of Martins’ Staff who does not
only go to extremes to be helpful, but is also driven with the purpose to
succeed, and to take inspiration from those who have already made it. |
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