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  In 1967, Lewis’s Bank is
sold to Lloyds Bank after only nine years as a subsidiary of Martins. Thankfully for us, those nine years are
fairly well documented by Martins Bank in its staff magazine. The Black Horse device soon becomes part of
the redesigned Lewis’s Cheques, and we are very grateful to John Purser of the
British Banking History Society, for this image of a very rare Lewis’s cheque
from his collection. There were further changes to Lewis’s Bank, and we asked
our friends at Lloyds Banking Group Archive to tell us what happened after
Martins sold the bank on…
 {“Lewis’s Bank was bought from Martins
by Lloyds Bank in 1967, and continued to be known as Lewis’s Bank Ltd until 25 Nov 1980 when it became “an
in-store division of Lloyds Bank”.
During that time two more branches of Lewis’s opened. Lloyds Group Archives makes reference to
the Weston Favell branch opening in 1977 and records show this branch appears
to have closed before 1985. In the
case of the Glasgow branch, a letter dated 1991 informs Lloyds of a name
change from Lewis’s to Debenhams Glasgow.
The earliest listing of Lewis’s Bank under Lloyds ownership in the
records of Lloyds Group Archive dates from 1985”.}
The branches
are listed here, along with their Lloyds and former Martins sorting code
numbers.
|
MARTINS SORT
CODE
|
LEWIS’S
BRANCH TITLE
|
LLOYDS SORT CODE
|
MARTINS SORT
CODE
|
LEWIS’S
BRANCH TITLE
|
LLOYDS SORT CODE
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
88-05-00
|
Glasgow
|
30-19-82
|
11-88-90
|
Hanley
|
30-19-89
|
|
n/a
|
Oxford
(Selfridges)
|
30-19-83
|
11-90-90
|
Leicester
|
30-19-90
|
|
n/a
|
Weston
Favell
|
30-19-84
|
11-91-90
|
Leeds
|
30-19-91
|
|
11-83-90
|
Birmingham
|
30-19-86
|
11-93-90
|
Liverpool
|
30-19-92
|
|
11-82-90
|
Blackpool
|
30-19-87
|
11-95-90
|
London
(Selfridges)
|
30-19-93
|
|
11-84-90
|
Bristol
John Lewis
|
30-19-88
|
11-97-00
|
Manchester
|
30-19-94
|
 We do wonder what might have happened, had Lewis’s
Bank still been part of Martins Bank at the time of the merger with Barclays
– perhaps it would have been just as curious to see the Barclays logo in the
corner of a department store as it was to see that of Lloyds.
Sadly the march of technology such as cash machines and internet
banking, not to mention the long slow death of the British High Street has
put paid to all that. The original
Lewis’s Department Stores are now too, simply a part of history, one of those
quirks of British Life that possibly outstayed their usefulness for just long
enough to be loved, and then missed, and finally forgotten. We have the internet to thank for the
wonderful opportunities it gives us, both to re-kindle these memories and to
share them with new generations.
From the early 1960s the idea that the British currency would be
decimalised was proposed, amended and then set in stone for “D-Day” – 15
February 1971. In this lovely image
from late 1970, we see shoppers at a branch of Lewis’s Bank queueing up to
change their Shillings and Pence into the new decimal coinage.
We still don’t know the origin of this picture, which for now we will
assume to have been taken at the Selfridges Branch of Lewis’s in London. If you can help, please do contact us at
the usual address – martinsbankarchive@btinternet.com. You can read
more about our country’s conversion to decimal currency, including how
Martins is involved in working out which system will be best for Britain, by
visiting our sister site www.martinsbank.co.uk and searching for Decimalisation.
 M
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