The Bank of England 1914-21 (Unpublished War History)

John Osborne was working in the Chief Cashier’s Office and as part-time personal secretary to Governor Montagu Norman when he was asked to write a history of the Bank’s activities during the Great War.

The period covered was from June 1914 to August 1921 ‘the date of the official end of the war’, when the United States signed a Peace Treaty with Germany.

Finished in 1926, the work was never published. Three ‘fair‘ typescript copies of this four volume history were bound and given to The Governor, Deputy Governor and Comptroller. Three copies of lower quality ‘flimsies’ were bound less lavishly and given to the Chief Cashier, Chief Accountant and Secretary. The Bank’s Archive now holds three of the bound sets.

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This page was last updated 31 January 2023