HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times-Advocate, 1947-10-30, Page 3THE TIMES-ADVOCATE, EXETER, ONTARIO, THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 30th, 1947
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Bank of Montreal, Canada’s
First-Established Bank, Gave
Colonists Their First Real
Money—Founded Canadian
Branch Banking System in 1817
a Bank of Montreal shareholder tor
the extraordinary span of 60 years.
“ “When I began farming in On
tario,” Mr. Croil’s recollections be
gin, “we had neither mowing nor
reaping noi* threshing machines,
and the women had no sewing ma
chines. The postage on a letter from
Ontario to Halifax was two shillings
threepence. There was no money in
circulation in those days. Every
thing was done by barter.”
Mr. Croil wrote those words re
ferring to Canadian conditions at
a time a good deal later in the
nineteenth century than 1817. It
can be imagined how difficult life
in that even more primitive
and Portuguese money,
Canada’s First Money
At the very outset, the young
bank issued its own bills in small
denominations and, later, copper
tokens. This money, indeed, was
the first real Canadian currency.
The innovation did much to stabil
ize and speed up commerce and
industry, which had hitherto been
subject
change
use.
This
bank's
Canadian
tion amounted to nothing less than
ending the chaos in which business
was transacted and organizing the
first domestic financial system of
Canada.
So well did the bank succeed that
this system has since evolved with
out ever losing its stability, no mat
ter how critical the times or haw
rapid the country's growth. Thus,
through more than a century and
a quarter, the Canadian economy
has survived two major wars and
several minor ones, as well as peri
odic depressions and civil unrest.
It has expanded many times since
its rare combination of
growth and steadiness,
of the nation'-'s economic
derives from another
which the -bank introduced
This was the branch-
Spreading' Branches
As the years passed,
spread its branches all
ada. During the early
opened branches at Hytown,
Ottawa, at St.
St. Catherines,
ton and London,
In the opening of the West which
the B of M facilitated by placing
its resources behind Canada’s first
transcontinental railway, the Cana
dian Pacific, its branches went hand
in hand with the pioneers and were
established at key points from
coast to coast at an early date.
the
over
1840
The bank contributed vitally to
bank wany phases of home-front activ-
Can- *n ^dth world wars. In peace ah
’s,
ity in both world wars. In peace as
well as war, the strength, swift
progress and high standard of Jiv
ing of the young country can be
attributed in a unique degree to
the policies of its oldest hank. And
the B of M has grown with the
country.
The bank began with a capital of
$250,000 and a staff of seven, At
the present time its capital and re
serves amount to $78,000,000. Its
resources are close to the two-
billion mark, and its staff numbers
—-Please Turn to Page Six
it
now
Thomas, Belleville,
Brookville, Hamil-
to the varying rates of ex-
of the several currencies in
was but one aspect of the
major contribution to the
economy. That contribu-
be
Canada, as well as in
iW’K^
;-+:
THEIR FAITH IN CANADAPROVED
oldest banking institu-
130 years old next Mon-
in
the Bank of Montreal, al-
real’s
whose
of a
served
to 1827.
and another at King-
today, the bank has
more offices in On-
1817 and. has won world recogni
tion tor
dynamic
Much
strength
principle
in Canada,
banking system. Within a fortnight
of the opening of the first office
in Montreal, an agency was started
in Quebec City. In the following
yeai1 the B of M opened a branch
at York — the Queen City’s first
bank — an another at the garrison
town of Kingston.
Wlien the Montreal Bank, as it
was then known, first opened its
doors, the population of Canada was
just about half a million. Trade
was carried on principally by barter,
and to a lesser extent by the use of
American, British, French, Spanish
CANADA’S FIRST BANK MANA
GER—Taken from an old silhou-
hette. the reproduction above is of
Robert Griffin, the Bank of Mont-
first cashier. Mr. Griffin,
position was similar to that
present-day bank manager,
with the B of M from 1817
Ontario’s
tion will
day.
Oldest
Ontario,
though organized in Quebec, had
two branches in this province with
in eight months of its foundation—•
one at York
ston — and,
substantially
tario than in any other province of
the Dominion.
It was in 1817 that the first reg
ular stage-coach run began- between
Kingston and York. That same his-
toiie year saw the founding of
Canada’s first permanent hank —-
the B of M, as millions of Cana
dians now call it. The date was
November 3, and thus next Mon
day will mark the bank’s 130th an
niversary.
In all the
B. of M has
every single
pressive proof of how closely and
continuously the bank’s work has
been woven into the vast progress
of the country since colonial
Pioneer Bays
A good account of early
has come down from James
a British settler who later became
intervening years, the
opened for business on
banking day—an im-
days.
times
Croil,
IS . * • ''ML
GEORGE SPINNEY, C.M.G.,
president of the Bank of Montreal
for the past five years of the bank’s
130-year history. A member of the
staff since 190 6, he joined the bank
as a junior at his native town of
Yarmouth, N.S.
Mr. Spinney served at a number
of posts in the bank before his ap
pointment as assistant to the
general manager in 19 22. In 19 28,
he was appointed an assistant
general manager and eight years
later he became general manager.
During the war, Mr. Spinney was
chairman of the First Victory Loan
Campaign and for two years he was
chairman pf the National War
Finance Committee.
An exhausted Europe — torn by de
cades of war—was breathing more
easily . . . two years before, the
Napoleonic Wars had at last ended at Waterloo. In the
New World, the three-year-old Treaty of Ghent had
ended an attempted invasion from the south ... and the
peoples of North America began a friendship that is the
admiration of the world today.
1817 ... Sturdy colonists of British North America— half
a million of them—were scattered over as many square
miles. To the west and north lay another two million
square miles, unsettled and untouched. Merchants and
traders did their business by barter and
with a hodge-podge of foreign currencies,
whose changing values spelled
Trade development languished.
Local Bank of Montreal Has
Long, Interesting History
In less than two years, the local
office of the B. of M which was
Exeter’s first bank, will celebrate
another anniversary — the 75 th of
its establishment here. Opened in
1S74 as a branch of the Molsons
chaos.
has served as
of the Depart-
Affairs since
He is also a
Club, Chamber
to give a complete
to business and
alike.
since he succeeded
1944, James
Exeter from
in charge of
JAMES L. HJJNDRY
Bank, this office has played an im
portant part in" the growth and de
velopment of Exeter.
Originally situated in a three-
storey building on the corner of
Main and Huron streets, the bank
later moved to its present Main
street office, opposite the inter
section at John street. The branch
is fully equipped
banking service
private interests
Local manager
William J. Floyd in
L. Hendry came to
Lucan, where he was
the bank’s office for five years. An
ardent fisherman, Mr. Hendry is,
as were his predecessors, keenly in
terested in community activities.
A veteran of the First World
War, one of his chief interests is
the rehabilitation of the local re
turned men and he
local representative
ment of Veteran’s
coming to Exeter.,
member of the Lions
of Commerce and Vice-President of
the local branch of the Canadian
Legion.
During the past two years the
local office has been remodelled and
is now fitted with the most modern
banking equipment.
CANADA’S FIRST BANK BUILDING—Taken from an old hand-colored
engraving, this winter scene is a view of St. James Street, Montreal, as
it appeared in 1830, thirteen years after the Bank of Montreal’s found
ing. The building on the right was the first head office of the bank,
which served as headquarters for the B of M from 1819 to 1848. This
was the first building especially constructed for banking purposes in
Canada. Today a post office stands on this site, while adjacent to it,
facing historic Place d’Armes, is situated the bank’s present head office
building, completed and occupied in 1848.
| ONTARIO and the
BofM Have
1 Grown Up Together
Business by barter, travel by
stagecoach . . . such was the
order of the day when the
Bank of Montreal began
business in Upper Canada.
Within eight months of its
founding in November,
1817, the B of M—Canada’s
first-established bank —
opened agencies in the garri
son town of Kingston and
the trading settlement of
York. Typical settlers of the
time, the thousand citizens
of York lived by farming,
lumbering, and trading with
the Indians.
Since that far-off day,
Ontario has become the most
populous and highly indus
trialized Canadian province
. . . and the B of M has built
up its largest representation
here, Soon, the new 16-storey
B of M building -will be
numbered among Toronto’s
many beautiful edifices ...
typical of the progress On
tario and the Bank of Mont
real have made together.
INTO this scene chrne nine men of
vision . . . nine English and Scottish
merchants who realized that, without a
solid financial foundation, the colonies
could never reach nationhood. Together,
they determined a course of action. With
their own money and the backing of
209 other pioneering citizens, these nine
men founded the Bank of Montreal,
which opened its doors for business on
November 3rd, 1817. Never once since
then has the Bank failed to open on
business day.
AT the very outset, the Bank issued its
own bills and coins. Here was
Canada’s first real money. The currency
won immediate acceptance ... goods
moved more quickly... and the stability the
nine men hoped for came rapidly. The
people proudly welcomed this Canadian
currency— and, as its circulation spread,
so did the reputation of the new bank.
Within a year of its founding it became
the Government’s banker, and its currency
officially replaced the British money used
by the Government up to that time.
JUST two weeks after the Bank started,
Canada’s first branch bank was
founded ... the B of M’s Quebec agency
opened—and, thus, the Canadian branch
banking system began. The following
year saw agencies opened at Kingston
and York, now Toronto, and branches
spread as the years went on. Hailed
throughout the world for its strength
and flexibility, this system of branch
banking—begun 130 years ago—has
proved ideal for a country vast in area
and small in population.
BUT all was not easy. There were
hard, trying days ahead—each de
cade had its ups and downs. From 1836
to 1840, Canada experienced a succes
sion of bad harvests, political convul
sions, commercial changes and failures.
Rebellion had depreciated the value of
property find seriously hindered the im-"
provement and further settlement of the
country. The Bank of Montreal survived
only by the most careful use of its re
sources and the confident loyalty of its
depositors.
RECOVERY was rapid during the
. middle years of the century. Then
came 1867 ... and a nation was born.
But a trans-continental railway was a
condition of Confederation, and now the
Canadian Pacific had to be pushed
through. To speed the construction, the
enterprise was placed in private hands.
The work went fast, and the last spike
was drixen five years earlier than ex
pected. With faith characteristic of its
nine founders, the B of M had backed
to the limit this great national project.
century opened with
a new flood of prosperity
which lasted for more than a decade.
Two more trans-continental railway
systems ... a great influx of new settlers
... abundant crops . ,. thousands of new
industries —and then ... World War I!
Through the trying times which followed
.. . the inflated days of the 2O’s and the
depressed days of the 30’s—through a
second World War in our time . . .
Canadians worked and fought, and
Canada became a world power*
— Peace ... new plans ... rtew hopes ... rehabilitation. Life in
Canada still takes work, courage and, above all, vision...
the kind of vision which spurred nine men to pioneer the
nation’s economy 130 years ago. From a corporal’s guard in
io J./, LUC SliUL ML U.LV U Vi A’* w J----
thousand strong ... working closely with Canadians and their industries in hundreds
of communities from coast to coast,. . supplying the lifeblood of credit to an
expanding nation .., seeking always—through sound counsel and friendly service—to
give practical help to the million and a half customers who put their trust in the Bank*
1817, the staff of the BofM has grown to an army eight
ft IdClt of Tomorrow«.« » ^Just as history foreshadows the future, so the record
of Canada and of her first-established bank working together gives promise of bright to
morrows for the nation. “The twentieth century belongs to Canada*’... and for that future
we pledge ourselves anew to work constructively with Canadians in every walk of life.
Bank of Montreat
Canadds Birst-established Bank
B, C. Gardner, Vice President and General ManagerGeorge W. Spinney, C.M.G., President