Hilda Millicent Harding (10 September 1915 – 9 May 1998) was appointed by

Barclays Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

Bank as Britain’s first female bank manager. She was the great-aunt of British children’s author Robin Bennett.

Career

Progression

Harding joined the High Wycombe branch of

Bank as a shorthand typist, on 18 June 1934. She earned £50 per annum.''Daily Sketch'', 17 May 1958 In 1939 she transferred to

Henley-on-Thames Henley-on-Thames ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, England, northeast of Reading, west of Maidenhead, southeast of Oxford and west of London (by road), near the tripoint of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Buc ...

branch as a ledger clerk; in 1941 she was appointed secretary to the local Directors at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

. After the Second World War, in 1947, she was one of the first women to attend the Barclays training school at Chester House,

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

, and a year after that she transferred to Barclays Head Office as secretary to a senior executive. In 1950 she attended the administrative staff college at Henley on Thames (now

Henley Business School Henley Business School is a business school which now forms part of the University of Reading. It was formed by merging the previously independent Henley Management College (formerly the Administrative Staff College) with the existing business ...

). Finally, on 15 May 1958, she was announced as Barclays' first female bank manager, at the planned new Hanover Square branch in London.Career information courtesy of Barclays Group Archives

Hanover Square branch

The new branch opened in December 1958, with a staff of six including two women deputies.

Retirement

Harding retired on 10 September 1970. She lived at

Shiplake Shiplake consists of three settlements: Shiplake, Shiplake Cross and Lower Shiplake. Together these villages form a civil parish situated beside the River Thames south of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England. The river forms the parish bounda ...

, near

, and ran a market garden until her death in 1998.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harding, Hilda 1915 births 1998 deaths People from Shiplake