‘Poor, Vicious and Unmarried’: Penal Reform and the First Savings Bank in New South Wales

Abstract

In 1817 Justice Barron Field presented a proposal to Governor Lachlan Macquarie for an innovative financial institution in New South Wales – a savings bank. This new entity, only seven years old in Britain, accepted deposits from individuals which were well below minimum amounts required by commercial lending banks. Established in 1819, the New South Wales Savings Bank was founded for the benefit of both settlers and convicts to inspire what Field referred to as ‘habits of frugality and economy of the lower orders’. Within the national history of Australia, Field’s new bank could be perceived as specific to a fledgling colony with convict inhabitants. Viewed in terms of the circulation of ideas between the colonies and Britain, however, the institution reflected progress imported from the mother country. The original Australian savings bank was not, however, a direct translation of the British institution. The frequently-referenced ‘peculiar circumstances’ of the colony precluded replication. This article examines the trajectory of the new institution, from its inception to its role as the mandatory depository for all convict funds, and considers how the new institution was envisaged, and received, by governors, bankers, and a ‘captive’ customer base.