From Tottenham Quakers "In 1798 Priscilla Wakefield founded the first "frugality bank" in England. This she founded at Ship Inn Yard in Tottenham. It was intended to help people on lower incomes to save money. There were facilities for women and children to save what they could from their income and soon it became a safe and profitable place of saving for labourers and servants. Members paid, according to age, a sum of money each month to entitle them to a pension after age 60 and money if they were sick. Children were encouraged to save a penny a month towards clothing and apprenticeships. The immense success of this enterprise meant that similar "savings banks" spread throughout the country. They were eventually nationalised in 1865 when the Post Office Savings Bank was established. Penny savings banks continued in schools until 1919, when they were absorbed into the Post Office Savings Bank."
This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Penny Savings Bank
Commemorated ati
Priscilla Wakefield
Our colleague Alan Patient took a photo of this plaque in 2008 and tells us i...
Other Subjects
Tom Thornton
Newspaper proprietor and campaigner. Born in Norwood. He became owner and editor of the Beckenham Journal, and used his influence in helping to establish the Croydon Road Recreation Ground. His pre...
William Alfred Westropp Foyle
Founded Foyles Bookshop in 1903. Born Shoreditch, the 7th child of a 7th child of a 7th child. William and brother Gilbert opened their first bookshop in Islington, moved to Peckham and then Ceci...
Fortune of War pub
The Golden Boy was originally attached to the front of this public-house and remains to mark the site. From 'The Italian Boy' by Sarah Wise we learnt that this pub was originally called The Naked ...
Beresford Square
A market square in Woolwich. It was formed in the early 19th century and named after General William Beresford, Master-General of the Ordnance and Governor of the Royal Military Academy. Our pictur...
W. F. D. Smith, Lord Hambleden
On his father's death in 1891 he became head of the family firm of W.H. Smith and Son and also took over as MP for the Strand Division, until 1910. Chairman of King's College Hospital. Became 2nd V...
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Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at its third session on 10 December 1948. Eleanor Roosevelt chaired the committee that drafted it and our image shows her holding the Spanish...
William Shipley
WC2, Henrietta Street, 25
This plaque commemorates the tercentenary of Shipley's birth and the site of RSA's first meeting place. Interesting that this is a Westmi...
Frieze of Parnassus - Grinling Gibbons
SW7, Kensington Road
The monument, commissioned by Queen Victoria and designed by George Gilbert Scott, was built 1864-72, and the statue of Albert was instal...