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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Banking

Banking.

The Union Bank Of Australia, Limited , has its Southland branch in Tay Street, Invercargill. The Bank's handsome and commodious premises are in the Grecian style of architecture with Corinthian and Tuscan pillars, and were erected in 1879 at a cost of over £5000. They contain ample accommodation for conducting the business, with private quarters for the resident manager. The banking chamber is 30 feet by 30 feet, lofty, well ventilated and well lighted; the floor is tiled and the office fittings are of cedar, presenting a handsome and substantial appearance.

Mr. F. W. Bicknell , Manager of the Union Bank at Invercargill, was born at Kilmore, Victoria, in 1862. He joined the bank at Oamaru in 1877, was accountant at Napier in 1887, assisting and relieving officer in Wellington in 1892, in charge of the Oamaru branch in 1893, and was appointed manager at Invercargill in 1894. Mr. Bicknell was married, in 1900, to a daughter of the late Mr. J. T. Thomson, of “Lennel,” Invercargill.

The Bank Of New Zealand , at Invercargill, occupies a prominent site at the corner of Tay and Clyde Streets. It is a stone building of one two, and three stories in height, and the banking chamber and manager's room are on the ground floor facing Tay Street. The staff consists of the manager, accountant, and twelve others. The nearest branch of the Bank is at the Bluff, and there are other branches in Southland at Gore, Mataura, Winton, Riverton, and Wyndham, respectively, which are all independent branches.

National Bank Of New Zealand, Ltd. The Invercargill branch of this important bank was established on the 1st of July, 1873, when the business and premises of the Bank of Otago were taken over under the management of the late Mr. John Dalgleish. The latter resigned in 1874; Mr. E. Gillies, his successor, died in the following year, and Mr. H. R. Glegg was appointed to fill the vacancy. Six years later Mr. W. R. Robertson was installed; he remained in charge until April, 1888, when Mr. Frank Woodward was transferred from Riverton, and managed the Invercargill branch until his death in the year 1900, when Mr. W. R. R. Churton became manager. The bank has branches at Riverton, Gore, and Waikaia, and agencies at Thornbury, Otautau, and Orepuki, in Southland.

Mr. William Robert Richard Churton was appointed manager of the National Bank of New Zealand at Invercargill at the end of 1900. He was born in 1858, in Auckland, where he was educated, and joined the National Bank in 1874. After holding many positions in various parts of the colony, Mr. Churton received his present appointment.

Mr. Frank Woodward , formerly Manager of the National Bank of New Zealand at Invercargill, entered the service of that institution as accountant early in 1874, on the Thames Goldfields. He was transferred to Coromandel as manager in the same year, to the Riverton branch in 1879, and to Invercargill in April, 1888. Mr. Woodward was born in December, 1839, in Warwickshire, England, and educated at Coventry, where he also had eight and a half years' commercial training; and arrived in Auckland in 1862 in the ship “Hanover,” which also brought an instalment of the Albertland settlers. Martial law was proclaimed a few months afterwards, and Mr. Woodward served in the 2nd Waikato Regiment and Commissariat Staff Corps during the campaign of 1863–6, and received the New Zealand war medal. After the war he settled in Waikato until early in 1869, when he removed to Auckland, subsequently he went to the Thames Gold-fields, and there joined the staff of the National Bank. Mr. Woodward became a member of the Order of Oddfellows, M.U., in 1866, and passed through all lodge offices. He was initiated into Freemasonry in 1873 in the “Lodge of Light,” I C., Thames, was a Mark Master in the same lodge, and S.M. of Lodge Aparima, Riverton. Mr. Woodward married, in 1868, Miss B. E. Higginson, eldest daughter of the late Mr. John Higginson, of Te Rore, Waikato, and had five sons and two daughters. He died in the year 1900.

The Invercargill Savings Rank was founded in 1864 under the Savings Bank Act of 1858, and its amendments. His Excellency the Governor is president, (ex-officio), and Dr. Grigor, vice-president. The trustees in 1903 were: Messrs R. Tapper, J. Stock, P. L. Gilkison, F. W. Wade, and H. Wilson, and Mr. Radford Brodrick, manager. The offices of the Bank are in Esk Street, Invercargill, and at the end of 1902 the assets were £30,000, and the liabilities, £28,000. At that date £19,300 was lent on mortgage, and £10,700 of the capital reserved in cash. The rate of 3 1/2 per cent per annum is allowed to depositors.

Mr. Radford Brodrick , Manager of the Invercargill Savings Bank, was born in 1859, in Herts, England, and arrived in New Zealand with his father, the late Captain Thomas Brodrick, in the early sixties. He was educated in the colony, and was brought up in connection with the firm of Thomas Brodrick and Co., Insurance page 834 and Estate Agents, of which he has been a partner since 1883. As a Freemason Mr. Brodrick is attached to Lodge St. John. He is also a member of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce.