I was recently ask by
I scoured the internet and my own archive folders for evidence about the Berry Bank. The most conclusive evidence is in Thomas Cook’s guide of 1905 where they refer to “Mr E Berry – The English Agency and Bank”. Peter Bicknell, the first ardent and authoritative Bicknell researcher into Clarence and Bordighera, wrote in 1988 “It was in 1881 that … Edward Elhanan Berry came to Bordighera as manager of a bank.” Several other sources such as Wikipedia and Clarence’s biography MARVELS by Valerie Lester relay the information that Edward ran the Berry Bank.
An authoritative article by Bordighera historian Gisella Merello in 2020 gives the answer:
“Berry aveva vissuto in un ambiente familiare con una forte tradizione bancaria: il padre aveva avuto esperienza come direttore di un importante istituto di credito canadese e lo zio materno gestiva l’istituto bancario di famiglia a Leicester. Berry intraprese carriera analoga, iniziando la sua attività lavorativa a Bordighera come direttore della filiale della Banca Fratelli Asquasciati di Sanremo, la English Bank.” Translation: “Berry had lived in a family environment with a strong banking tradition: his father had experience as the director of a major Canadian credit institution and his maternal uncle managed the family banking institution in Leicester. Berry embarked on a similar career, starting his work in Bordighera as director of the branch of the Banca Fratelli Asquasciati of Sanremo, the English Bank.” https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/edward_berry_gisella_merello_giugno_2020.pdf
Further research at the Torino College of Architecture in 2024 gives further details of Berry’s business. “The success of the [bank and travel agency] service is confirmed by the fact that the same entrepreneur [Berry] later opened the Pitt & Scott Agency, expanding his area of expertise to transoceanic transport. The functions performed within this complex further expanded over time, eventually housing an English pharmacy, an insurance agency for theft and loss of luggage, and a villa purchase and rental agency, for those wishing to stay in the city without resorting to a hotel. Berry & Co., after divesting itself from the Sanremo bank of the Asquasciati Brothers, moved to a building between Via Vittorio Emanuele II and what is now Corso Italia. From this point on, it also began dealing with agencies that were not exclusively British, such as the German steamship company North German Lloyd. The building would later be called British Stores & Agency.”
The poster from Bordighera et la Liguria occidentale, F.F. Hamilton 1883, shown on the right is conclusive in the same sense. Edward Berry ran The English Agency, Thomas Cook, house, land, wine and general commission agent, luggage store or forwarded, and The English Bank – Asquasciati Frères (brothers in French not in Italian). This image in an 1883 book also clarifies the doubt about Berry’s arrival in Bordighera… it was 1881 not 1891.
The image of the Casa Balestra at the top of this article reads, when zoomed in and enhanced, “The English Bank – Asquasciati Frères of San Remo, Bordighera Branch”.
We can conclude that Edward Berry did run the English Bank in Bordighera.
Sources identified by Marcus Bicknell, 8th December 2025…
1905 Cook’s American Traveller’s Gazette, Volume 55
Publisher T. Cook., 1905 Google Books
https://books.google.com › books › about › Cook_s_Am…
Bordighera Mr E Berry The English Agency and Bank. 2. PRACTICAL HINTS FOR TRAVELLERS IN THE NEAR EAST. 3. THOS COOKSON. Note All offices of the Southern Pacific …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Elhanan_Berry
“In 1891, aged 30, he decided to move to Bordighera where his maternal uncle Clarence Bicknell lived and he founded the “Bank Berry”, located on the corner of the current Corso Italia and via Vittorio Emanuele. The bank prospered, but Berry decided to become an agent for the travel agency “Thomas Cook’s”. In 1892 Edward created a service agency for the British residents, which took care of buying and selling homes, lease, freight or luggage, etc.”
«Il paradiso degli inglesi»: Bordighera 1855-1915. Politecnico di Torino Collegio di Architettura Corso di Laurea Magistrale in ARCHITETTURA PER IL PATRIMONIO A.A 2023/2024 Febbraio-Marzo 2024
RELATRICE: prof.ssa Annalisa DAMERI, CORRELATRICE: arch. Alice POZZATI , CANDIDATA: Benedetta FISSOLO
Chapter: La Banca e Agenzia Berry & Co. 4.1 La banca e agenzia Berry &Co.
La banca, situata in Via Vittorio Emanuele II, era gestita da Edward Berry, figlio di un banchiere e nipote di Clarence Bicknell8. Inizialmente, l’attività si svolgeva in Casa Balestra Figura 2), un edificio di dimensioni contenute dalla conformazione regolare, sviluppato su due piani. Il fabbricato era posto ad una quota superiore rispetto al livello stradale, come si evince dalla presenza dei cinque scalini di accesso. La suddivisione era fortemente simmetrica sia in verticale sia in orizzontale. Osservando dal basso verso l’alto, si nota una suddivisione tra il piano terra e il piano superiore, accentuata dalla presenza di una cornice di interpiano. Tre sono le linee orizzontali che Segnano l’edificio: la prima, rappresentata dalle scale stesse, che non sono centrate rispetto all’accesso, ma corrono lungo tutta la facciata; la seconda scansione è data dalla cornice di interpiano, che si sviluppa su tutti e quattro i lati dell’edificio; infine, la terza si trova in prossimità del tetto, dove compaiono delle modanature che circondano tutto il fabbricato. Ai lati dell’edificio, sulla
copertura, spiccano due elementi decorativi verticali, che si ripetono in modo speculare a destra e a sinistra del corpo di fabbrica. Quanto alla suddivisione verticale, si noti la tripartizione, ripetuta sia al piano terra, sia a quello soprastante. Al piano inferiore, in posizione centrata, è situato l’accesso, che avveniva tramite un portone ligneo decorato da intarsi; ai lati, sono presenti due vetrine di dimensioni inferiori, decorate da scritte pubblicitarie. Al livello superiore, la tripartizione si manifesta tramite la presenza di finestre più piccole, sia in altezza, sia in larghezza. Al centro vi è una sola apertura, mentre ai lati una coppia di finestre sormontate da decori. Al di sotto delle finestre, corre un motivo lineare che, a differenza delle suddivisioni orizzontali di cui si è parlato in precedenza, si limita alla sola facciata principale. I lati esterni delle finestre sono idealmente prolungati tramite un decoro verticale sino alla cornice di interpiano. Ne risulta un edificio austero, semplice ma d’impatto, in linea con la sua funzione9. L’attività offriva servizi piuttosto completi: la clientela poteva convertire la propria liquidità nella valuta locale, servendosi del “cambio valute”, versare o ritirare assegni, ma anche portare a termine pratiche di compra-vendita. Qui, inoltre, aveva sede anche una succursale della Thomas Cook & Sons, una delle prime agenzie di viaggio sorte in Inghilterra e inaugurate a Leicester10. Con quest’ultima impresa, Berry collegava all’attività bancaria un altro servizio utile alla clientela: nell’edificio era possible acquistare biglietti ferroviari, contrattare il trasporto ferroviario di merci di vario tipo, ricevere informazioni in merito al deposito di bagagli o all’importazione di prodotti esteri11 (Figura 3). Il successo del servizio è confermato dal fatto che, successivamente, il medesimo imprenditore inaugurò la Pitt & Scott Agency 12, allargando la propria area di competenza ai trasporti transoceanici. Le funzioni svolte all’interno di tale complesso crebbero ulteriormente col tempo, arrivando ad ospitare una farmacia inglese, un’agenzia assicurativa per furti e smarrimento bagagli e un’agenzia per l’acquisto e affitto di ville13, per chi desiderasse soggiornare in città14 senza ricorrere ad un albergo. La Berry & Co., dopo essersi svincolata dalla banca sanremese dei Fratelli Asquasciati, si spostò in un edificio tra Via Vittorio Emanuele II e l’attuale Corso Italia. Da questo momento in avanti iniziò a trattare anche con agenzie non esclusivamente britanniche, come la compagnia di piroscafi tedesca North German Lloyd15. L’edificio prenderà il nome di British Stores & Agency.
Translation…
“The bank, located on Via Vittorio Emanuele II, was managed by Edward Berry, son of a banker and grandson of Clarence Bicknell. Initially, the business was conducted in Casa Balestra (Figure 2), a small, two-story building with a regular shape. The building was located above street level, as evidenced by the presence of five access steps. The division was highly symmetrical both vertically and horizontally. Looking from bottom to top, a division between the ground floor and the upper floor is evident, accentuated by the presence of a cornice between the floors. Three horizontal lines mark the building: the first, represented by the stairs themselves, which are not centered on the entrance, but run along the entire façade; the second is provided by the cornice between the floors, which extends along all four sides of the building; finally, the third is located near the roof, where moldings appear that surround the entire building. On the sides of the building, on the roof, two vertical decorative elements stand out, mirrored on the right and left of the main body. Regarding the vertical subdivision, note the tripartite division, repeated on both the ground and upper floors. On the lower floor, in a centered position, is the entrance, which was accessed through a wooden door decorated with inlays; on the sides are two smaller windows, decorated with advertising signs. On the upper level, the tripartite division is expressed through the presence of windows that are smaller in both height and width. In the center is a single opening, while on the sides are a pair of windows surmounted by decorations. Below the windows, a linear motif runs which, unlike the horizontal subdivisions discussed previously, is limited to the main façade only. The outer sides of the windows are ideally extended by a vertical decoration up to the interstory cornice. The result is an austere, simple yet striking building, in keeping with its function. The business offered a comprehensive range of services: customers could convert their cash into the local currency using the currency exchange, deposit or withdraw checks, and also complete purchase and sale transactions. A branch of Thomas Cook & Sons, one of the first travel agencies in England, opened in Leicester, was also located here. With this latter venture, Berry combined banking with another useful service for customers: in the building, customers could purchase train tickets, arrange rail transport for various types of goods, and receive information regarding luggage storage or the import of foreign products. 11 (Figure 3). The success of the service is confirmed by the fact that the same entrepreneur later opened the Pitt & Scott Agency, expanding his area of expertise to transoceanic transport. The functions performed within this complex further expanded over time, eventually housing an English pharmacy, an insurance agency for theft and loss of luggage, and a villa purchase and rental agency, for those wishing to stay in the city without resorting to a hotel. Berry & Co., after divesting itself from the Sanremo bank of the Asquasciati Brothers, moved to a building between Via Vittorio Emanuele II and what is now Corso Italia. From this point on, it also began dealing with agencies that were not exclusively British, such as the German steamship company North German Lloyd. The building would later be called British Stores & Agency.”
https://webthesis.biblio.polito.it/30222/1/tesi.pdf
1988 https://clarencebicknell.com/biography/
This article was originally a talk given by Clarence Bicknell’s great-nephew, Peter Bicknell, in the Museo Bicknell in Bordighera, Italy, on 23 September 1988.
“It was in 1881 that the son of Clarence’s sister Ada, Edward Elhanan Berry, came to Bordighera as manager of a bank, as Thomas Cooke’s agent, and later as British vice-consul.”
https://clarencebicknell.com/wp-content/uploads/margaret_and_edward_berry_mb_1_june_2013.pdf
p.7 Edward’s paternal grandmother
“In 1810 Rev Charles Berry married Ann Paget whose brother Thomas Paget (1778-1862) ran the family bank in Leicester. The grandson would have been aware of this gene when he started the Berry Bank in Bordighera in 1881 or soon after. Paget led the radical reformers who took control of the traditionally Tory town for several decades following the 1835 Municipal Corporations Act.”
MARVELS by Valerie Lester p.105
“Of all the six children, it was Edward Elhanan Berry who played the most important role
in Clarence’s life. In 1891, when he was 30, he left London and moved to Bordighera for health
reasons. Soon after arriving in Bordighera, he set up and ran an agency for Thomas Cook, with
whom he had prior connections. He also set up a bank, named after himself, and an agency
which found housing for British visitors and took care of their freight. He was a problem solver
for the English colony and quickly became the man to consult on any aspect of Bordighera life.
His advertisements in the Journal de Bordighera made the following claims: ‘Houses and flats to
let – Villas and building sites for sale – Luggage forwarded to all Countries, and insured against
loss by theft, etc. Excellent storage accommodation – Pianos on sale and hire – Wines and spirits
specially selected for invalids, also India and China teas kept in stock – Houses and furniture
insured against theft.’”
1891 appears to be a typo for 1881….MB 2025
MARVELS by Valerie Lester p.141
“Nora and Linda Bicknell, daughters of Clarence’s brother Percy, began showing up at the Villa
Rosa on a regular basis. Nora evidently thought highly of Bordighera, and made her home and
her living there for several years, working as a clerk in Edward Berry’s bank, and she had her own
business as a photographer and maker of greeting cards and calendars, often donating the profits
from her sales to charity. She and Clarence later travelled together.”