In Ruthwell the first savings bank in the world was founded by the Rev. Henry Duncan in 1810.
At the March meeting of the Stewartry U3A Mhairi Hastings of the Ruthwell Museum gave a talk about the Rev Henry Duncan who was not only founder of the savings bank movement but was also a geologist, antiquarian and publisher.
It was while he was minister at Ruthwell that he founded the first savings bank which took initial small deposits from the ordinary working folk who could not open bank accounts with the other banks. The funds which they deposited were taken to be placed on account at the British Linen Bank in Dumfries where a slightly higher rate of interest was available than was paid to the small savers in the bank. Mhairi showed a photograph of the Ruthwell Parish Bank money box in which the money was kept and which for security required three keys held by different people to open it. Depositors came from some distance away but soon savings banks were opened in other parts of Scotland following the example of Ruthwell.
The Reverend Duncan was also responsible for the restoration of the Ruthwell Cross, sister of the Bewcastle Cross, and he was the first to find early footprints in sandstone and which can now be seen in the Dumfries museum. In 1809 he established the Dumfries and Galloway Courier where he was editor for seven years and later in 1843 he founded the Dumfries and Galloway Standard. 1843 was the year of the Disruption in the Church of Scotland at which time the Reverend Duncan decided to leave the Kirk and become one of the founders of the Free Church even though he had earlier been Moderator of the Church of Scotland.
The next meeting of the StewartryU3A will be held on Tuesday 26 April at 2.00pm in the Parish Church, Castle Douglas when David Steele will give a talk and show photographs of Old Gatehouse taken by William McMurray.