P.O. Savings Bank
Archive class POST 75 holds the records of the Post Office Savings Bank (POSB), which opened for business on 16 September 1861. A copy of the Act of Parliament that established the Bank is within POST 75/1.
The Bank was set up to encourage ordinary people to save money safe in the knowledge that it was secured by the government. It also provided the government with a financial asset. The Bank did not just offer savings accounts. Over time it introduced a range of other services including government stocks and bonds in 1880, war savings in 1916 and premium savings bonds in 1956.
In 1969, the Bank ceased to be part of the Post Office. Instead it became a separate government department and was known as National Savings. However, the Bank's link with the postal services continued as post offices continued to handle deposits and withdrawals over the counter.
The small quantity of records that we hold about banking with the Post Office range in date from 1828 until 1975 (the records dated after 1969 are ones the Bank did not take with it when it became a government department). They include acts and regulations, reports, publicity and publications, forms and notices. Other records of the POSB are held by The National Archives in Kew.
Examples from our Collection
Here are some examples of records relating to the Post Office Savings Bank in our collection:
Excerpt from a copy of a letter, 30 November 1860
Letter telling Lord Stanley how a government savings bank might work in practice.
Post Office Savings Bank deposit book, 1869
Early example of a deposit book. This one was issued at Loughton to Rebecca Mary Brewitt.
War Savings Certificate book, c. 1916
Early War Savings Certificate book, introduced to help finance World War I.
Savings leaflet printed in English and Polish, c. 1942
Leaflet issued to Polish military service personnel in the UK during the Second World War.
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