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Bourke
49 Oxley Street | 
1860-1879
1865
1900
1915
1959
1963
2009
| 1864 a Bathurst Manager wrote in a letter to Head Office "....Bourke is capable of contributing to the first bank which will take up the ground, larger profits perhaps than any other place to the westward of Bathurst..."
1865 Board quoting above letter resolved that a branch should "without delay be established at Bourke permanently." (CA 1965 July Pg 22)
1865 Mr Capper from Orange branch was appointed acting manager
1865 May 28 he reported to HO that he was "within 200 miles of Bourke and travelling at the rate of 30 miles per day."
1865 June 9 Branch opened (34th Report);
1865 picture is reproduced from "Select Documents of the Nineteenth Century, Vol. 1" edited by Harry W. Nunn.
1860-1879 Photo nla.pic-an24474274.
1884 CBCofS branch building erected
1885 Bourke branch received instructions in Chinese to, on the 30th, Renew principal for one year with interest added thereto.
Three horizontal strokes means 3 and characters after that in the last line means zero which means on the 30th and I think the 3rd last line says principal with interest added for one year. Notes by John Beer
1893 January Listed in 89th Report;
1900c. Photo of branch built in 1884 from NLA 24535982. I came across this photo of the old Bourke Branch - sadly it was demolished some years ago. The story was that the building had a cellar underneath it and one of the Managers of the era went away for a week-end and left a hose running that saturated the grounds & filled the cellar with water. The reactive Bourke black soil then caused the building to crack rather badly. My ex-Maitland Boss, Alan Storer was Manager there prior to Maitland and lived in this building. He told us that one hot summer night he was sleeping on the upstairs verandah when the local Police & Fireman's Ball was on in the Hall opposite. Some of the local lads called out to invite him to join them for a drink but he refused then the firemen raised one of their ladders onto the verandah and one of them picked him up in a "fireman's lift" and carted him down the ladder. Don't hear too many tales like that these days, eh ? John Munro.
1915c. Photo by Arthur Laycock from NLA an24535603 sourced by Geoff Chapman.
1934 Listed in Century of Banking.Names On Strongroom Door Include:
Undated Thorburn SJ, Woolcott CH, Jackson GG, Gibson Thomas, Flashman ACR, Halloran WB, Gileson T, Jackson GD.
1900 Carruthers EA, Southey HE
1903 Welring E, 1907 O’Neill R
1908 Murray W, Murray J
1909 Wass SV, 1911 Job GC
1914 Howell WK
1915 Bentzen VR, Wynn EW. Douglass E, Haxby W
1917 Donnan HC, Burgess D
1918 Bulmer J
1919 Dart GR, Thorne RL Hunter G,
1920 Pearson LT
1922 Williams JG, Pirie NH 1922-1925 Scully CI
1923 Oliver CA, Walker RH
1924 Dawson RJ, Harmer TR, Collins J,
1925 Worden EB
1927 Howard RW Gettens CT,
1928 Tibbits ED, Lindsay W
1929 Wilmot TM, 1930 Hobbs A
1931 Edwards AG, Podmore K
1932 Paull AC
1933 Spargo HB, Gordon EH
1934 Mawson A, Watt GG
1935 Baker LC, Single WJ
1937 Cowled WG, Crane APR, Margerison F
1938 Walker-Smith C
1939 Cooper K
1940 Trennery RE, Gordon C
1942 Glover NJ, Carman G
1944 Middleton CC,WentworthJB
1946 Driscoll JB, Williams RG
1947 McKenzie IS, Parr VW, Pratten Una,
1948 McRae DG,
1950 Balcomb R
1951 Clarke AR,
1952 Wilson AD
1953 Bartlett LH, Tarrant GR, Chapman AG, Bird RA
1954 Kilpatrick W, Farrand L
1959 photo by Bill Morelli.
1963 photo by Kevin Greenaway.
2009 photo from Google sourced by Geoff Chapman who says "slightly remodelled from days as a CBC branch". | Bowral
256 Bong Bong Street | 
1882
1884-1960
 
1965 on
1975
c1985
2009
| Opened 1877 (59th Report);
"Our Bowral Branch was opened in 1877 and was the first Bank established in the town. At first business was conducted in leased premises at the corner of Merrigang and Bendooley Streets and ,later, next door to Duprez's shop in Bong Bong Street. The corner block of the present site was purchased in 1879 for £750, and the adjoining block, upon part of which the Post Office now stands, was purchased in 1881 for One Hundred & Eighty Five Pounds. The 1960 Unimproved Capital Value of the land was £18,450." From Current Accounts 1960.1882 This photo of Bowral Branch under construction is reproduced from Current Accounts, July, 1961.  On 3rd March 1884, the Bank commenced to operate from its own premises in the building which was demolished early last year (1959). For the 76 years it stood upon the site this fine old building was a landmark at the northern end of Bong Bong Street and many old residents of Bowral still regret that it has had to make way for a modern structure. From Current Accounts 1960. 1893 January Listed in 89th Report;
1934 Listed in Century of Banking.
From discussions with the locals during the 1960's, I understood the old building was designated under the National Trust. They advised that the Bank had a bulldozer move in under the cover of darkness and level the old building to the ground - Ron Armstrong.
Graeme Stevenson supplied a newspaper clipping regarding the old branch which contained this photo, captioned "The handsome Bank building stood on Bong Bong Street for 76 years". 1960 An extract from Current Accounts:
Large windows on the northern side are a feature of the new building and the lighting, both natural and flourescent, is excellent. The fittings in Katourm, a Pacific Island timber, are attractive and the furnishings are all in the modern style." Click here for full article. 1965 branch was rebuilt to the design of current NAB as featured in Geoffrey Banham's book
1975 photo by Peter Hocken who says "just look at the cars to get the mid-seventies feel of the scene." 1982 Address from Canberra Times ad June 8
c1985 Photo by Ron Armstrong of the CBC Bowral branch which replaced the original on the same site and constructed some time prior to 1969 (in NAB livery).
2009 March photos of branch and plaque by John Ness. The only difference is the new nab logo.
2011 Lex Webb provided an article detailing the history of the original branch, shown above from 1884-1960. | Bowraville
88 High Street | 
1894 circular
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1958
1997
2006
2007
 | Opened 1885 (75th Report);
1893 January Listed in 89th Report;
1894 closed 15th March (1893 91st Report) and business transferred to Fernmount (Circular No. 45);
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Opened 1905 (114th Report);
1934 Listed in Century of Banking.
c1958 slide taken by Harold Wood: First of many branches. I relieved there for 9 weeks. The teller was a bit of a nut case so they had to remove the old 38.
1987 after July, NAB closed the branch, apparently to meet their target for number of branches to be closed in that period. JB
"The Bank" at 88 High Street has been Heritage Listed.1997 January 28 "Phoenix at the Bank" photo by Ian Holston
2006 photo by Geoff Chapman.
2007 August photos of bank and strongroom door by David Jobson's brother Wal.
Here's a printed image of the Bank's history taken at the building by my bro Wal. It's recorded on a flyer in the building, however it's a bit hard to read so I have typed it out for you (the things we do!):
"THE HISTORY OF "THE BANK"
The branch of The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was first opened in 1885 in rented premises in High Street Bowraville. In 1884 the branch was moved to the present block of ground in a wooden cottage. This cottage subsequently burned down, with the strongroom the only remaining part of the building. On opening the strongroom, the books and records were all intact.
This strongroom still exists in the front room of the gallery today and is used as a craft pottery display room. In the strongroom a hole has been drilled through the walls near the metal door. Our employees, people with intellectual disabilities requested this in case the door closed, trapping someone inside the airtight room. The branch was once again removed to another rented property, until the purchase of High Street block of land and completion of the new building.
In 1937 the property was purchased from Mr Raymond for the sum of 1,030 pounds and the buiulding was built at a cost of 3,939 pounds. The upstairs area, accessible by the cedar staircase, was the bank manager's residence with fireplaces and large open verandah. The stables and garage behind the bank were demolished in 1952, with the garage rebuilt next to the bank. The main bank building was not refurbished until the 1960's when the septic system was installed. At this time the kitchen was remodelled and repainting was completed.
This building was occupied from 1939 until 1988 and was the oldest bank branch in the Nambucca Valley. The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney was taken over by The National Bank of Australasia. the branch closed when the Council Chambers moved from Bowraville to Macksville in 1988. In 1988 the Challenge Funding purchased "The Bank" and the rear block of ground by negotiation for $140,000 when it did not reach its reserve price at auction. Mr Terry Park however designed the three studios, known as "Yurts" located behind the bank building. Building started in 1990 with a Government grant of $___? This was to become the Arts and Crafts working area.
In 1994 a Heritage grant was given by the Department of Planning for upgrading and repairing the bank building in keeping with the era. Today the Nambucca Valley ? Limited directed by a board of local prominent citizens run the bank and its buildings for the supported employees and the community for the Nambucca Shire as a cafe/gallery, Art courses and Arts Studio. |
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