The directors of the Midland Bank would seem just now
to be in reminiscent mood, for, contemporaneously
(Continued on page 144).
with the holding of the annual meeting, one of the rooms of the bank was devoted to a most interesting exhibition of records and: documents in the hares possession, all of them constituting most interesting landmarks in the progress of banking during the past century. Indeed, in his speech last Wednesday, Mr. McKenna reminded the shareholders that under the name of the Birmingham and Midland their banking institution was born in 1836—nearly one hundred years ago—of the enterprise of a clerk in the Bank of England. Charles Geach, a Cornishman, was transferred from London to Birmingham when the Bank of England opened a branch in that town in 1827. He seems to have gained the general confidence of business men both in Birmingham and London, and when he left the Bank of England the new bank, of which he became the first manager and later the managing director, was, said Mr. McKenna; from the outset in good repute. I must refer readers of this article to the full report of Mr. McKenna's speech in which he dealt with the fascinatingly interesting story of the progress of the Midland Bank and the great part played in, that progress by the late Sir Edward Holden, for I want to touch on just one or two of the points of history made by Mr. McKenna with regard to the general banking and currency arrangements of the country.
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