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| 1830 Bank of Scotland "Gas in Falkirk" |  |
Whilst this is a short and simple letter the message from head Office is clear.
The letter reads as follows.
To: Messrs A & A Ramsay, Bank of Scotland, Falkirk.
From: Archibald Bennet, Secretary, Bank of Scotland, Edinburgh.
Dated: 7th January 1830.
Sir,
In answer to your letter of 6th Curr’t, proposing that the Bank’s Office and the Shops under it should be lighted with Gas – I have to acquaint you that the Directors are not satisfied that it would be safe to use Gas while there is no person sleeping in the Bank’s Office, and are therefore not inclined to allow it to be taken in.
I am
Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
Archibald Bennet, Secretary.
 Messrs A & A Ramsay is reported as being the “Agents of the Bank of Scotland, Falkirk". I am aware that Bank of Scotland opened its first branch in Falkirk in 1825 and whilst I have nothing to prove the fact I suspect that the Bank established the office as a direct consequence of the closure of the Falkirk Banking Company in the same year. I am further influenced in this belief in the knowledge that Andrew Ramsay was the Cashier of the Falkirk Banking Company and I believe that he is one of the Partners within the agency.
Archibald Bennet was the Secretary of Bank of Scotland from 1824 to 1868. He was a witness in the defence of James Landale in the case against him following his killing of George Morgan of Bank of Scotland in Kircaldy. As someone with such a long career in banking I can find very little by way of references to him although, as one might expect from a Secretary with a 40 year career, his letters are plentiful.
 It is curious to note the reference to “the Bank’s Office and the Shops under” although this was by no means unusual at the period as a “Ground Floor” or “High Street” presence was not considered essential.
The reference to “no person sleeping in the Bank’s Office” as it know it was not unusual for the Glasgow banks to have a guard or employee sleep over in the office for security purposes although I have no knowledge of when this practice ended. The fact that it is mentioned hears suggest that it is by no means an unusual practice.
Gas was introduced to Falkirk by the Falkirk Gas Works Company, a joint stock company, formed by local business men and tradesmen in 1829 for the purpose of lighting High Street, Robert's Wynd and Kirk Wynd. The first “lighting” occurred on 18 January 1830.
It is strange to think in this day and age that the Bank would have such concerns are regards the safety of Gas although it was a relatively new product. I suppose that if one of the Bank’s branches of today wrote to Head Office recommending that they install nuclear energy as a power source then the answer might be very similar!
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