In 2025 The Cumberland will celebrate its 175th birthday, welcoming our communities to celebrate along with us. While the future is exciting, it’s equally important that we remember our beginnings and never lose track of the commitments and purpose that make us who we are.
Through its existence, The Cumberland has experienced two World Wars, humanity reaching for the stars, the invention of television, internet, and mobile phones. Models of banking and of home ownership have come and gone, but throughout it all, our proud, determined building society has stood the test of time.
In The Beginning
In 1850, The Cumberland started life as The Cumberland Co-operative Land and Benefit Building Society, from which the word ‘Land’ was soon removed for legal reasons.
Aware of the hardships affecting the population at the time, the initial prospectus of the society set out the intention that rather than members committing to payments that they couldn’t afford, instead “…that the payments shall not be either fixed or periodical. Each member will be at liberty to pay in weekly, or in those weeks which may suit his convenience, such sum (from threpence upwards) as his circumstances will admit.”[1]
One of the guiding principles of the new Society was to divert some of the (thought-to-be) £26million* that the working classes in the UK were spending each year on alcohol, into house purchases. The Society believed from the outset that savings habits could be formed by putting a little away regularly: “Some might think they could ill spare 6d (sixpence) a week, but let them rest assured that once begin the contribution and they would find means of carrying it on.”[2]
It was also quoted in the initial prospectus that: “The Society will be open to all persons resident within the district of Cumberland, and its members will not be restricted to age, sex or {political} party.” [3] A predecessor of a building society which now prides itself on modern diversity and inclusion practices.
After the First Year
The first Annual Report (April 1851) stated the three aims of the Society as being:
- To afford a cheap and safe investment for persons who merely wished to obtain a good interest for their money
- To furnish a loan to build or buy a house, the loan to be repaid by instalments which otherwise would be paid as rent
- To supply at wholesale prices allotments of freehold land adapted to confer a vote for the county – such allotment to be paid for by small weekly subscriptions
Effectively these were predecessors of today’s mortgage and savings products.
By the end of its first year in operation the Cumberland’s assets were £2,929.*
174 years later, in 2024, that figure would stand at £3.2billion** – an incomprehensible amount in those early days and a testament to how much the society would grow from such humble origins.
Following many prosperous years came a period of depression from 1877 which created the first serious concerns for the Society. Homes that had been built using generous loans from the Society with the aim of letting out, remained vacant. Working agents were appointed for the first time to keep the properties in a good state of repair, and to collect any rents that were due. Most of the properties were eventually sold and the Society recovered its advances.
In 1878 the City of Glasgow Bank failed and combined with other significant bank closures, the building society and banking industry came under scrutiny. The Society’s Annual Report for year ending March 31st 1879, shows that it too received significantly higher withdrawals that year, but that all of these were met in full and that actually, money received in investments was considerably higher than the level of withdrawals.
The War Years
When war broke out in August 1914, the Directors of the Society were anxious about how it might affect them. The August Bank Holiday of that year was extended to four days by the Government to allow banks to prepare themselves for what might follow. Fortunately for The Cumberland, after some early days where withdrawals were high, the Society found that levels fell back to normal and the records show that the Society didn’t need to take advantage of the extra bank holidays, opening to its members on the Tuesday that August as normal.*
It was perhaps the ten years post war that the Society found toughest. The local authority in Carlisle had built more houses than many similar sized districts. With the Society still mainly restricting its mortgage operation to within the city, its options for expanding its business within Carlisle were limited.
As a result, a decision was made to direct their efforts into supporting local builders and particularly those who were building subsidy houses. An agreement was reached that allowed them to lend up to 90% mortgages (as opposed to their previous 80% limit) with the local authority guaranteeing the excess.
“Of the 385 subsidy houses [built by the local authority], 271 were with assistance from the Society, and of these 110 came under the guarantee scheme.”[4]
The second World War of 1939 saw the public react in a similar way to the previous war and so anxiety from the Directors was less. Damage to properties was more of a concern due to bombing raids but the War Damage Contributions Scheme helped ease the burden on building societies.
Thankfully no major damage was reported in Carlisle or the surrounding district to concern the Society and no claims were made to the Society for properties within Cumberland. A small number of properties related to the Society were damaged in Barrow-in-Furness and in London, but these cases were all resolved and recompensed by the War Damage Commission.
The First 100 Years
After a century in operation, The Cumberland remained at the heart of the communities in which it operated. It had survived the struggles of war and maintained the principles from which it began.
“Throughout the Century [1850-1950], from small beginnings, the Cumberland Society has in our own locality enabled the individual in thousands of cases to acquire his own home, and have that spirit of independence in which he can say ‘it has certainly been worth while.’” Archibald Creighton, President and Chairman, Cumberland Co-operative Benefit and Building Society.(1950)[6]
The Age Of The High Street
From modest beginnings, the Cumberland had to embrace a new way of banking in the second half of the twentieth century. Mergers began to take place amongst the larger banks and the late 1960s saw the first ever ATM in the UK. Computing systems, bank cards and an increased demand for consumer services all meant that the society would have to adapt and grow if it wanted to survive.
The Cumberland’s first branch opened in Preston in 1973 and the opening was quickly followed by others. The society had a presence across the region within ten years as branches at places as far flung as Windermere, Egremont, Haltwhistle, Kendal, Lockerbie, Whitehaven and Wigton all opened for the first time.
Preston cluster manager James Cookson states: “Preston is the oldest of the Cumberland’s branches outside of Carlisle, so having over fifty years of being there for our people, our customers, is a really big milestone, particularly in a changing landscape for financial institutions.”
The turn of another century would see rapid advances in technology, a worldwide pandemic and a population able to access their accounts from portable devices. Banking would continue to change and so would the Cumberland, but through its values it would continue to pay homage to its humble beginnings.
[1] Through Two Half Centuries: A History of the Cumberland Co-operative Benefit Building Society, page 8
[2] Through Two Half Centuries, page 10
[3] Through Two Half Centuries, page 8
[4] Through Two Half Centuries, page 44
[5] Through Two Half Centuries, page 44
[6] Through Two Half Centuries, page 5
* Information taken from: Through Two Half Centuries
**Cumberland Building Society Annual Report 2023/24