Hilda Millicent Harding (September
10, 1915 – December 26, 1998) was the first
woman Bank Manager in 1958. She was the great-aunt of British children’s author Robin Bennett.
Queer Places:
Barclays Bank, 21 Hanover Square, London W1S 1JW, UK
Overton, Northfield Avenue, Lower Shiplake, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 3PB
St. Peter and St. Paul Churchyard
Shiplake, South Oxfordshire District, Oxfordshire, England
Hilda Millicent Harding (September
10, 1915 – December 26, 1998) was the first
woman Bank Manager in 1958. She was the great-aunt of British children’s author Robin Bennett.
Harding joined the High Wycombe branch of Barclays Bank as a shorthand typist, on 18 June 1934. She earned £50 per annum.[1][2] In 1939 she transferred to Henley-on-Thames branch as a ledger clerk; in 1941 she was appointed secretary to the local Directors at Reading. After the Second World War, in 1947, she was one of the first women to attend the Barclays training school at Chester House, Wimbledon, 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). Finally, on 15 May 1958, she was announced as Barclays' first female bank manager, at the planned new Hanover Square branch in London.[3][4][5]
The new branch opened in December 1958, with a staff of six including two women deputies.
Harding retired on 10 September 1970. She lived at Shiplake, near Henley-on-Thames, and ran a market garden until her death in 1998.
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