Our trip today was to the Ruthwell Savings Bank Museum. We were welcomed by Mhairi and Kay who were going to show us around the museum, and Ruthwell Church.
The Savings bank was started by the Rev. Henry Duncan in 1810 and is still part of TSB today. The building was bought by the TSB for £1 when it was put up for sale in the 1950's, and finally opened as a museum in the 1970's.
Henry was the son of a minister, trained in commercial banking. However in those days investors had to have a deposit of £10 to open an account in a bank and Henry realised many people would have no chance of that. His poor handwriting and reprimands about it from his employers finally led to Henry rethinking his career.
Mhairi told us that he became a Minister of the Church of Scotland and was invited to take on the small, poor and neglected parish of Ruthwell, but he was determined to set up a way of saving for the people of his parish
who were mainly farm labourers.He was so successful that people travelled from far and wide to invest in his bank. The bank was open to men, women and children and an account could be started with only sixpence. Savers were given a pass book with their own unique number and the money they invested with Henry was in turn invested with a regular bank. The interest Henry received on his investors' money was then shared with his investors.
Henry was also a prolific writer and was instrumental in setting up the D&G Courier and Standard newspapers. As Editor he could use the paper to pass on his views and ideas. The principles Henry used within his Savings Bank became the norm for accounts all over the country - and world - and many banks follow his rules to this day.
He became the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, although he also became a leading light in the Disruption of the Kirk and eventually left the established church for the Free Church.
Henry was also interested in geology and drawing. He presented the first scientific paper on fossil footprints to the Royal Society and sketched many local scenes.
After delicious coffee and scones, enjoyed in the garden of the museum, Kay showed us some of the huge collection of money safes and boxes the museum has amassed.
Henry was also responsible for saving the famous Ruthwell Cross which had broken into pieces after being cast down by the Church of Scotland during the Reformation. He spent 25 years putting the pieces back together and filling in the pieces that were missing. He had to design the cross arm himself as he never found the original, and made a scale model of the cross with beeswax to fashion his idea. This copy of the cross now sits in the museum.
After a very interesting time at the museum we then moved on to Ruthwell Church to see the cross Henry saved. A beautiful little church surrounded by hundreds of graves and huge, engraved stones. Henry is buried here but there is no record of which grave is Henry's.
Inside the recently renovated church we saw the wonderful cross. It is so tall they had to dig a deep well to fit the 18 feet tall cross into the church.It is elaborately carved with inscriptions, birds, animals and scenes showing Christ and other religious figures.
Many thanks must go to Mhairi and Kay for being such knowledgeable guides to the Museum and the Church. What a wonderful job they do to keep Henry Duncan's story alive.
