Birmingham
City Council held a meeting in November of that year.
to exist until November 17th 1919.
This Committee had been
Councillor Hallas, having
been elected a Member of Parliament, resigned from the Council, but was in due course elected to the Bank Committee as a non-Council
member, and in July 1919, the committee was enlarged by the addition of the following members:
At the Council meeting held on
November 10th 1919, the following individuals were elected to be the Bank's Committee for the first year of operation, 1919/1920:
Councillor
C T Appleby (Chairman)
Alderman J Beard
Neville Chamberlain, MP (as a non-Council member)
Councillor J Fryer
Councillor R R Gelling
Eldred Hallas, MP (as a non-Council member)
Councillor C Keatley
Alderman W E Lovsey, JP
Councillor Mrs C E Mitchell
Councillor N Tiptaft
Councillor G Ward
Alderman T O Williams
(The membership of subsequent
Committees is
shown separately in tabular format.)
Thus, Neville Chamberlain, the principal instigator of the establishment of a municipal
savings bank in Birmingham, continued his membership of the Committee of the Birmingham Corporation Savings Bank through to the
Birmingham Municipal Bank. This position ceased when Mr Chamberlain was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, and consequenly, he
felt it desirable that he should resign his membership. Accordingly, he wrote to the City's Town Clerk in a letter dated September
25th 1923:
Dear Town Clerk,
As you are aware, I have been a member of the Committee of the Municipal Bank ever since its
foundation, the committee having been good enough to co-opt me when I ceased to be a member of the Council.
Owing to the increasing
number of my parliamentary engagements, I have for some time been unable to attend meetings of the committee. Some months ago I suggested
to the Chairman that I ought to hand in my resignation. At his request, however, I agreed to postpone any action at least until November.
My
appointment as Chancellor of the Exchequer now raises the question afresh. In my present capacity, it may very well fall to me to
make decisions which materially affect the operations of the Bank; and it is clear to me that I could not remain a member without
grave impropriety. I desire, therefore, that my resignation should take place at once, and I accordingly ask you to receive it and
to place it before the committee at the earliest possible moment.
In thus severing my official connection with the administration
of the Bank, I should like to convey to my colleagues my deep admiration for the manner in which the affairs of the Bank have been
directed since its foundation. It has now established itself solidly as one of the most valuable institutions in the town; and it
has set an example which may have a far-reaching influence upon the lives of future generations in other great centres of industry
as well as our own.
I leave the committee with a happy confidence in the security of the Bank; and of the even greater possibilities
for usefulness that lie before it.
Believe me, dear Town Clerk,
Yours very truly,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN.
Mr Chamberlain's resignation
was accepted by the Committee passing the following resolution:
RESOLVED: That this committee learn with much regret of the resignation
of their colleague, the Rt Hon Neville Chamberlain, MP; they record their sincere appreciation of the valuable service he has unselfishly
rendered in connection with the formation and management of the Municipal Bank, and realise that his appointment to the high office
of Chancellor of the Exchequer necessitates the severance.
However, during the short period of Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour Government
(January 22nd to November 3rd 1924), the Committee took steps to co-opt Mr Chamberlain as a non-Council member of the Committee. This
new period of membership was to be short-lived, as following the appointment of Mr Chamberlain to another office in the Conservative
Government of Stanley Baldwin (Minister of Health), he again submitted a letter (dated November 14th 1924) of resignation:
Dear
Councillor Appleby,
Now that I have again accepted office in His Majesty's Government, I feel I ought not to retain my membership
of the Bank Committee, as although my connection is not as close as when I was Chancellor of the Exchequer, it is nevertheless possible
that questions affecting the Bank might arise for Cabinet decision.
I therefore ask you to be good enough to accept my resignation,
but I need hardly say that I shall at all times retain my interest in the Bank, and my desire to be of service whenever possible.
Yours
sincerely,
NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN.
The Bank year 1924/1925 was the last one in which Neville Chamberlain served on the Management
Committee. He continued to be involved in politics at a national level, culminating in him becoming the country's Prime Minister in
1937. However, his relationship with the Bank did not cease, as the following list of the branch openings etc that he was involved
will show. He also
corresponded with the Bank's General Manager, J P Hilton.
Following Mr Chamberlain's appointment
as Chancellor of the Exchequer in
1923,
a banquet was held in his honour.
A report of this dinner was filed in the
(Right)
Neville
Chamberlain leaving Sparkbrook
after the opening of the Bank's first
permanent branch: July 25th 1921