Westpac Cessnock held a breakfast on Friday morning to celebrate the bank’s 200th birthday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Current and former staff gathered with local community members and business people to honour the milestone of Australia’s oldest bank.
Westpac Cessnock bank manager Julia Allen also presented a book to Cessnock mayor Bob Pynsent, which details the 200-year history of the bank.
The book will be displayed at Cessnock Library.
While the bank has been in Australia since 1817, the Cessnock branch opened more than 100 years later.
The business was then known as the Bank of New South Wales, before it was changed to Westpac in 1982.
The first Cessnock branch opened on the ground floor of Tinklers Hotel, now known as Hotel Cessnock, on October 9, 1923.
Two rooms were leased from from Tooth & Co Ltd. at a cost of three pounds per week.
The branch moved several times before finding its current home in Cessnock City Centre in 2000.
In honour of the 200th birthday celebrations, the branch is offering a $500 grant to a local community group.
Not-for-profit organisations are invited to submit an application for the grant, which outlines how the $500 will benefit them.
Submissions can be emailed to cessnockbranch@westpac.com.au or dropped into the branch.
The closing date for grant applications is Sunday, April 30.
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
