BANKING System and records

[christine liava'a]

Haing misread the title of another thread, I fell to wondering, since most if not all soldiers arranged to have part of their pay sent to nok,are there financial records held somewhere, either at the receving end if it was a bank, or at the military end in the pay section, which would list every soldier and the name & address of nok?

PS would the receiving end have been a bank account, or was the money sent as a money order or similar? How many people had bank accounts in Britain in WW1?

[Neil Burns]

Hi Christine,

Canadian service records include all pay records including if money was sent to next of kin and how much. I don't believe I've ever seen these records for any other troops though.

Take care,

Neil

[Chris Henschke]

In Australia, all AIF paybooks and pay files are archived (seperate from service records) by the National Archives. The file sometimes includes seperate details of wills involving NOK. Up until last year they were still kept at regional offices (Adelaide, at least) but are now centralised in Canberra.

In the 1930's, when they were still kept by the Department of Defence, advertisements were placed in newspapers, letting returned men know they could apply to get their old paybooks back as a keepsake. From the pay records I have searched ( about 300 ) I'd say about 5% applied for their old 'books.

I believe it is a much overlooked resource. Probably because not many people know about it.

[paul guthrie]

I have read about 25 Canadian records, the best, always get pay & medical. I do not remember seeing a pay record where the man did not have some pay sent home.

[Will O'Brien]

Christine.....................Being an employee of a bank & working at one it's main administration services, I am fairly confident that no UK based bank would have records pertaining to WWI soldiers still in existence...........Banking in general is a perpetual paperwork generating monster & there would simply not be physically the space to store it. Given this once a customer is deceased, the appropriate action has been taken by the bank & the financial affairs have been sorted, records are simply junked. Unless the records had 'significant historical value' I can't imagine them being kept..............Also I am unsure how many soldiers would have actually used a bank or had a bank account............Not too many certainly from the ranks would be my guess.

On the money theme I have a letter/form from the War office addressed to my Great Grandmother in respect to monies owed to my Great Uncle who died of wounds in 1916. The letter/form is dated 18th September 1919 (only took them three and a half years to pay up ) & states

'Madam, I am directed to acquaint you that the Command Paymaster, Eastern Command, Science Museum, Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 has been authorised to issue you the sum of Eight Pounds Ten Shillings being the amount that is due on the settlement of the accounts of the late No11055 Private William Henry Kenney 6th Bn Royal Scots Fusiliers. Should no communication on this subject be received from the Paymaster within the next few days, application for payment should be made to him by letter. The above amount is issued to you as sole legate in accordance with the deceased's will'

[nshighlander]

Some of the CDN records KIA I have state that a Money Order would be sent to the NOK.You get a copy of the MO with the amount on it and the name of the NOK.

Cheers

Dave