Commercial Bank of Scotland
Attribution: unknown or not recorded
Commercial bank of Scotland
The Commercial Bank of Scotland (Royal Bank of Scotland) had been operating for several years at the Market Stance as was the Caledonian Bank (Bank of Scotland) and had its own premises at Bank Cottage, however the Commercial was a sub office of the Beauly Branch and only opened on market days.
There was a newspaper announcement in 1901, stating they had secured a site in the Tarradale Hotel buildings and further evidence to show that they employed regular staff there.
By 1913, a Hector MacKenzie, Coul of Fairburn was appointed to the Royal bank of Canada and had served his apprenticeship with the Commercial Bank at Muir of Ord before moving to the Dingwall branch in 1911.
Attribution: not recorded or unknown
Mr John Fraser
In 1914, John Fraser was appointed as an agent at the Branch in Muir of Ord, having been the accountant there since 1906 and served his apprenticeship at the Beauly Branch, starting in 1899. He originated from Kiltarlity and was the youngest son of William Fraser of Garrick in the area. John was well respected in the parish of Killearnan where he served as clerk to the School Board and the Parish Council. John was treasurer of the Men’s Club and head warden of the A.R.P. in 1938 and retired from the bank in 1951
By the valuation roll of 1930 the bank had moved permanently into the former Post Office Building.
When John Fraser retired in 1951, his position at the bank was filled by Mr George William Munro from the Lochboisdale branch. George was native to Alness and had served his apprenticeship at the Dingwall branch before moving to Stromness as an accountant for the bank. Whilst at Stromness he married Margaret C. Sinclair in 1939 and was promoted to Bank manager at Lochboisdale in 1946. He was an athlete and had won many prizes at many Highland Gatherings. George died suddenly in 1955
N.B. G.W. Munro not to be confused with H.G. Munro of the Caledonian Bank.
Mr Finlay Matheson
Another staff member at the bank was a Finlay Matheson who was promoted by the bank to a post in Kyle in 1939. That same year, he married Jess Henderson of the sweet shop on Seaforth Road which had burnt down three years previously. Finlay had been with the Muir of Ord branch for fifteen years and during that time he had been more than willing to assist with any cause required in the village. He was also a pioneer member of the Tarradale Badminton Club and a longstanding member of the village Men’s Club. Finlay continued working for the Commercial Bank at Kyle until he retired in 1960. The bank became the Royal bank of Scotland in 1959.
He married Miss Jess Henderson of the sweetie shop.
Just four years later, in 1959, the Commercial Bank of Scotland and the National bank of Scotland merged to form the National Commercial bank of Scotland.
The bank had 476 branches in Scotland and 7 in England.
Over the next ten years it pioneered several new innovations including a ‘ladies branch’, staffed by and for women.
They joined forces with Schroder Ltd in 1964 and changed their name once more to the National Commercial and Schroder’s Ltd, acquiring 36 English and Welsh branches of the National bank of London by 1966.
In 1969, amid constraints on bank lending, devaluation of sterling and hire purchase controls, National Commercial Bank of Scotland merged with the Royal Bank of Scotland.
Mr William A. Barclay
William A. Barclay was one of the next managers, although there may have been one between him and George Munro.
William had started his career in the Commercial bank at Turriff in 1928 and newspaper reports suggest he was at Muir of Ord in 1964, with nothing to indicate any earlier.
He retired from the Muir of Ord branch in 1971.
Mr Frank Stephen
The next manager we know of was Frank Stephen who had moved from Insch around 1982. Frank and his wife Wendy were always very busy within the local community and remain in the village today (2024).
By 2014 the transactions at the bank had dropped significantly with only 27 customers using the branch regularly on a weekly basis.
The decision was made to close the branch in February 2015.
The building was sold and converted into holiday accommodation in 2019, taking advantage of the tourist route, “The North Coast 500”. It is now known as ‘Muir Bank’ in memory of its history.
