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
Marks and Spencer
Retail group specialising in clothing and food, founded by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. There are currently over 700 branches in the U.K. and more than 300 spread over thirty other countries.
West India Docks
A series of three docks on the Isle of Dogs. Their construction was largely the responsibility of Robert Milligan, who had managed his family's Jamaica sugar plantations. He became outraged at loss...
Henry Clarke
Businessman and politician. He was a coal importer and commission merchant in Gracechurch Street. When the first London County Council elections were held in 1889, he became one of four councillors...