My granddad reminiscing about his first job as a bank junior, ‘Out with the bullion bag chained to my waist, back with it full of bottles of stout for the manager’.

I've just discovered my granddad Ernest John Tope’s post WW1 diary.

Here, as a window on the past, is his retirement speech, dated 11 February 1941 - at the height of the London blitz!

1897 as a junior at Barclays Bank, Forest Hill: ‘Out with the bullion bag chained to my waist, back with it full of bottles of stout for the manager’.

“This is quite overwhelming! Many a time I have attended such functions and always have felt intensely sorry for the victims.  Now it is my turn!  I am especially glad to see my old friend Mr Chesterfield here today. He was one of my first customers and represents, to my mind, the ideal relationship between manager and customer, that of perfect trust and friendship.

"I thank you Mr Rayner for your remarks about myself.  He said I had a sense of humour and I thank all those who have so generously contributed towards these very desirable gifts.

When I was asked what I would like I suggested these things. They are intimate and personal.  I did not wish for any ‘unpossessed possessions,’ something so precious it would have to be kept in a bank storeroom for safety’s sake. 

"It is conventional to say ‘I shall always remember you all when I look at these things’. Of course I shall, that is the beauty of them. Some men choose one thing some another. At one such event the retiring gent chose a grandfather clock that will remind him about his colleagues when he hears the minutes ticking away.  Another chose a roll top desk. To remind him of his years of servitude, I suppose. Presumably he intends to lead a sort of dream life.  Seated it at he will summon incredibly beautiful and efficient typists, purely imaginary of course, and dictate letters to himself or hate letters to head office. But these gifts will be really useful to me.  Travelling has always been one of my special joys.  I hope one day when this war is over I will visit many places I have always longed to see. This bag will last my time and is, as I said a personal thing and I thank you for it most sincerely.

"On behalf of my wife I also thank you for the most useful work box, again a personal thing. She certainly deserves it.  She has always seen to it that I have been washed, dressed and said summertime I always arrive at the office by 10:30 at the latest!

"People say to me now I’m retired, ‘what are you going to do?  I suppose you want a job now?’  No I don’t.  Not yet.  I shall not sink into senile sloth, but for 43 ½ years I have obeyed other people’s orders – more or less – and now I’m going to obey my own for a change – the wife’s of course, but that can’t be helped.  I am always down to lunch and sometimes do a little shopping.  That’s difficult these days and requires real patience.  Outsider greengrocers the other day I saw a crowd of women.  One asked the salesman if he had any lemons.  “I am the only lemon in the shop,” he said.  “And the only onion, too, I suppose,” she retorted!  Of course they might have offered me a seat on the board but presumably I wasn’t old enough!

"43 ½ years is a long time.  Banking life was very different when I joined the Forest Hill Branch in 1897.  As junior I was sent out from time to time with the bullion bag firmly chained around my waist and brought it back filled with bottles of stout for the manager!  Later on we used to wake him up to sign the letters and go home.  But I mustn’t make fun of him.  He was one of the best and kindest hearted of men I’ve ever known and I shall always think of him with gratitude and respect.  I could go on talking about the old days like this, but this is not the place or the time.

"Whenever I am asked to ‘say quotes a few words’ as it is called I always remember the day after something important that |I ought to have said and didn’t.  So that such an omission shall not occur this time I will only say the most important thing now and that is to express my real gratitude to all those who have worked with me for their loyalty and unfailing help at all times and in all circumstances.  I have been most fortunate and happy in my colleagues and humbly grateful. It is not the work that matters but the people with whom one works.  Work is made easy with a good and faithful staff.  I thank all my Chief Clerks for so ably covering up all my many lapses and to whose advice and suggestions I owe so much.

"I’m very sorry to leave you all.  I shall miss you but I shall not forget you – ever.  So once more I offer you one and all my very best wishes for a happy and successful future in the bank’s service.

11th of February, 1941.

And in a separate, undated, entry, “it all passed off delightfully.  Now I am really retired!?.