West Bromwich Building Society

The meeting to propose a building society for West Bromwich was held on 23 April 1849 at the Paradise Street Methodist Meeting rooms. It is believed that the West Bromwich Permanent Building Society formally opened for business later that year. There were 20 men at that first meeting, all steeped in Methodism, and comprised local tradesmen and skilled craftsmen -retailers, a boat builder, boot maker, blacksmith, glass cutter. One of these was appointed the first Secretary, James Sharp, a grocer. A couple of years later, hardly any of the original names were mentioned again and the trustees were drawn more from the middle class. The only figure of note in those early years was Reuben Farley, a prominent industrialist and later the first Mayor of West Bromwich. He was not one of the original 20 but he signed the earliest remaining accounts (1851) and from 1858 to his retirement in 1897 signed the accounts as president.^[2]

The aims of the Society were no different to those of other early societies. Intentions to enable the working man to be his own landlord and "enjoy the privilege of exercising the franchise" were expressed in the 1852 annual report. The extension of the franchise was a common theme of the early building societies and reflected the aims of the Freehold Land Societies. Lending was only for houses and not for building developers or commercial property.