Person Record

Metadata

Name

Menzies, R. W.

Othernames

Bert Menzies, "Skipper Menzies"
Robert W. Menzies

Born

1891

Birthplace

Owen Sound, Grey County

Places of residence

Owen Sound, Grey County
Detroit
Toronto
Chatsworth, Grey County
Returned to Owen Sound in 1941

Father

George Menzies

Mother

Laura McIntyre

Nationality

Canadian

Notes

Mr. and Mrs. Menzies became very interested in preserving historical items in the 1950s, and worked together to help collect items that eventually became part of the collection of the County of Grey-Owen Sound Museum, and which are now at the Grey Roots Museum & Archives.

Jean Menzies acted as a curator for the museum in its beginning years.

Bert and Jean lived in Toronto and Chatsworth during their early married life, but returned to reside in Owen Sound after George Menzies passed away in 1941. Bert had also worked in Owen Sound with his father in the firm George Menzies & Son, as an insurance man. His first job, however, had been as a bank teller.

March 9, 1967
"Old Banking Days"

I, Robert W. (Bert) Menzies, nicknamed "Skipper", because of my interest in canoeing and boating generally, was born in Owen Sound. I entered the employ of The Bank of Hamilton, July 2, 1908, at a salary of $100 for the first year, $200 for the second year, and $300 for the third year. A Mr. Hobson was Manager. His widow still lives in Owen Sound. Other managers were Ewing Buchan and Freddie Robinson…The Bank was located in the Speers building, which they eventually purchased and my father was the Real Estate agent who made the deal with them…During some of the period I was with the Bank, I lived over the Bank where there were living quarters for the guard, a small two-roomed apartment reached by stairs through the Bank premises. There was a square hole in the floor over the vault, which was covered by day with a square of plate glass. This was removed at night and the guard took from the bank a revolver, which, of course, he was supposed to use if there was any evidence of prowlers. None occurred however. Sometimes I would forget to take the revolver up at night and the manager would be quite annoyed so I eventually purchased a revolver of my own, a Johnson .22. The teller's cage was always locked and the teller carried the key whether in the cage or out of it. There were no noon hours or coffee breaks for the teller. You sent across to an ice cream parlour and got hot chocolate and cookies, or a sundae and [had it] brought back to the bank…When I became teller, I was the youngest teller in Owen Sound and have been known to have a first-shot monthly balance, the columns of course being all added up, without the aid of adding machines. I was sent to Winnipeg, after about four year's employment, to help catch up on their general ledger balancing. "

Bert's father was George Menzies of Owen Sound who started in Real Estate and Insurance in 1899, a business later known as George Menzies & Son, sold Oct. 1, 1966. There is an old image of R. W. (Bert) Menzies seated at a desk at his father's office (c. 1914) in the Grey County Archives.

Bert moved to Detroit and sold Pierce-Arrow automobiles for a while, until the company closed.

Bert married another Owen Sounder, Rosina Jean Eidt (Eydt), usually known as "Jean", on _________, 193_.

Bert's mother, Laura Menzies (nee McIntyre) was born in the Briar Hill district of Sydenham Township (north of Annan). She died at Owen Sound on June 11, 1953, in her 80th year. He and Jean were left with a lot of family heirlooms after her decease, and that helped them get involved with the development of an Owen Sound museum.

Jean died in 1979, and Bert died in 1982. They are buried at Greenwood Cemetery at Owen Sound.

Occupation

Museum Supporter
Bank Teller
Automobile Salesman
Insurance Agent / Businessman
George Menzies & Son Insurance Agency
Masonic Lodge
Odd Fellows member

Publications

Armitage, Andrew, OWEN SOUND: THE DAY THE GOVERNOR GENERAL CAME TO TOWN AND OTHER TALES, 1979, "Old Banks Gone, Memories Remain, p. 79-81 (includes an image of R. W. Menzies)

Relationships

Grandparents: John and Eliza McIntyre
Grandparents: Robert and Elizabeth Menzies
Brother: Harry George Menzies
Brother: Lorne Menzies
Sister: Laura Menzies (d. as a child)