1864 - 1887

Guysborough, Nova Scotia branch was part of the waterfront and close to its customers as it did a thriving business financing maritime trade. Shown here in 1890, the branch, with a staff of three, is typical of the smaller branches opened throughout the Atlantic Provinces at the end of the 19th century.

Martin Dickie was a young man in 1877 when his father, John Dickie, set him to work as a banker in the agency of the Merchants' Bank of Halifax he had set up in a corner of his Truro, Nova Scotia store. Young Martin excelled at banking and when the bank established a full branch in Truro, he was appointed its first agent and manager - a position he held until 1926.