Catalogue description HALIFAX BUILDING SOCIETY

This schedule has been prepared on the basis of treating the records of the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society and the Halifax Building Society as in every way originating from the same society. Series of records have accordingly been listed as a continuing run, without a break in 1928, although it will be noted that no documents or files with a post 1928 starting date have been deposited as part of this collection.

Records of the Halifax Equitable Benefit Building Society have consequently been listed separately and may be found at the end of the schedule

SEALING REGISTERS 1936-1977 HXB/1-28

EARLY INFLUENCES 1848-1864 HXB/29- 33

FORMATION OF THE SOCIETY 1851-1871 HXB/34- 36

UNSTRUCTURED EARLY RECORDS 1848-[c.1876] HXB/37- 48

MINUTES, RELATED RECORDS, SEALING ETC 1855-1966 HXB/49-140

REPORTS AND ACCOUNTS 1855-1929 HXB/141-163

BORROWERS 1853-1946 HXB/164-180

INVESTORS, MEMBERS 1871-1960 HXB/181-198

ADMINISTRATIVE - GENERAL 1855-1950 HXB/199-230

STAFF 1877-1961 HXB/231-241

HEAD OFFICE RECORDS RE BRANCHES 1899-1927 HXB/242-247

BRANCH RECORDS [1862]-1927 HXB/248-266

INVESTMENT RECORDS 1772-1952 HXB/267-273

BUILDING SOCIETIES ASSOCIATION 1896-1898 HXB/274-276

SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1927 HXB/277

PRINTED HISTORIES 1921-1927 HXB/278-280

GOVERNMENT CIRCULARS, ACTS, ETC 1894-[1924] HXB/281-283

PRINTED RE BUILDING SOCIETIES 1835-1918 HXB/284-286

MISCELLANEOUS 1797-1946 HXB/287-292

HALIFAX EQUITABLE BUILDING SOCIETY 1876-1959 HXB/293-320

RECORDS FROM OTHER BUILDING SOCIETIES, ASSURANCE COMPANIES ETC 1841-1935 HXB/321-352

Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society

Halifax Equitable Benefit Building Society

Halifax Building Society

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS:

HXB/5-28 - CLOSED FOR 60 YEARS FROM LAST DATE OF DOCUMENT.

HXB/63, 100-101, 122-140, 142, 148, 151-158, 162-163, 166-168, 173-174, 176-179, 185, 187-189, 191-192, 195, 198, 208, 220-228, 238-240, 242-243, 260, 262-265, 267-268, 270-271, 277, 279-280, 283, 290, 300, 302-306, 308-311, 313-314, 316, 327 - CLOSED FOR 80 YEARS FROM LAST DATE OF DOCUMENT

Dates of accession: 27 Nov 1991,23 Sep 1992

• Financial institutions

The first official meeting of the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Company was held at the Old Cock Inn, Halifax, on 23 December 1852, though by the time the Society was actually formed early the next year, the words "and investment" had been dropped from the title. Mr J D Taylor was appointed Secretary, a position he was to hold until September 1902. The original rules of the Society were certified on 3 February 1853. Later in the same month the first advertisement appeared in the Halifax Guardian. In 1854, the Society's Head Office was established at 25 Waterhouse St, but moved in January 1861 to Central Buildings, Crossley St, whilst 1862 was to see the opening of a branch office in Huddersfield. In 1873, the Society moved again, this time to purpose-built premises in Princess St. In 1875, it was incorporated under the Building Societies Act, 1874. The 1870s were prosperous years for the Society. Between 1875 and 1881 the assets doubled to over 1 million pounds, and by 1885 the Society had the largest reserves of all the Yorkshire societies. Unfortunately, during most of the 1880s and much of the early 1890s, economic conditions prevailing in the country as a whole were unfavourable to further growth and the Society suffered a period of stagnation.

Following the death of J D Taylor in 1902, Enoch Hill was appointed as the Society's Second Secretary. He became Managing Director in 1917 and President in 1928, in which year he was also knighted. Unusually then the day to day management of the Society was in effect controlled by just two men for over 85 years. The period following Hill's appointment as Secretary was marked by considerable growth, including by 1908 the largest income and advances of any society, and by 1913 the largest assets. In 1921, Head Office moved to Commercial St, to be extended in 1927. In 1924, the first London Office opened, and from then on the work of the Society increasingly ceased to be mainly connected with the north of England, and in particular the West Riding. By 1927, assets, which had stood at £4, 429, 067 in 1917, then amounted to £27, 663, 946, with operations extending to every part of the UK and depositors in every English-speaking country in the world.

By comparison the Halifax Equitable Benefit Building Society was much smaller, but nevertheless it was still one of the "big five" in the Building Society world. It began in 1871 and from 1918 it expanded very rapidly. In less than 10 years, its assets grew from £1, 439, 294 to £13, 003, 524. The decision to amalgamate the Permanent and the Equitable in 1928 resulted in the Halifax Building Society, 5 times larger than its nearest rivals, with assets in excess of £40 million. These exceeded £100 million for the first time in 1935. On Hill's retirement in 1938, Mr D W Smith and Mr F E Warbeck Howell were appointed Joint General Managers. The latter became sole General Manager in 1943. On his retirement in 1949, Mr F Bentley was the new General Manager until he retired in 1956, at the time of the Halifax's brief withdrawal from the Building Societies Association.

The computer building came into operation in 1967 and the new Head Office was opened in Halifax in September 1973, with its automated "Conser-a-trieve" filing system for deeds. By 1967, assets were over £1000 million and by 1973 £3000 million.

Following the merger of Halifax and Bank of Scotland on 10th September 2001, the new HBOS had 22 million customers and a relationship with two out of every five households in the UK. With assets of over £400 billion, it is the UK's largest mortgage and savings provider as well as being a major player in the provision of new current accounts and credit cards in the UK. With around 3 million private shareholders, HBOS has the largest private shareholder register in the UK. Profit before Tax for the year ending 31st December 2003 was £3.8 billion

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