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The Banks home on Maitland Avenue. The car belonged to Charles Banks.1917
314 Maitland Avenue, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Fredrick Marlow Banks was born and raised in Peterborough. He was born in 1916. Marlow was born at home at 314 Maitland Avenue, as were both his siblings. He was named Frederick after an uncle who died. Marlow was his middle name, after Dr. Frederick Marlow. He once wrote the doctor, who replied with a photo of himself and his wife. He had an older sister Helen (4 years older) and brother Carl (3 years older) who couldn't say Fred or Freddy, and therefore he was called Marlow.3
Marlow's mother Rachael Banks in the yard of the family home.1929
314 Maitland Avenue, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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His maternal grandfather, William Logan, was born on land between Peterborough and Lakefield. William's parents came from Scotland. William Logan had relatives in Emily Township, west of Peterborough. He often visited with them and went canoeing at Chemong Lake. There he met an Irish girl, Catherine Coughlan and married her in St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. This was a big deal because she was Roman Catholic.William had 4 kids with Catherine. She died young and left him with four small children, desperate to find a new wife. He met Margaret Sheehan at Emily and married her at St. Andrew's Church. They had 6 kids, though one died as a baby; Marlow's mother, Rachel, was the youngest of these 6.
Marlow's grandfather was a blacksmith and carriage maker who started his own business in Peterborough. The family lived on Brock Street (house just east of Aylmer on the north side, is now a hair salon). Marlow's mother was born in this house. William Logan died in 1910.
Marlow's mother and her sisters, "the Logan sisters" often went to carnivals at the Brock St. Arena. They always won first prize skating. They took first prize so often in fact that a man wrote a letter of complaint to the paper that Logans always won. Marlow's mother became a milliner.
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Marlow Banks' father, Charles, sitting on 'the first motorcycle in Canada' at his bicycle shop.1 January 1901
Galt, Ontario, Canada
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Marlow's father, Charles Banks, came to Peterborough from Galt in 1907. His step-brother, Bill McCallum, had a restaurant on George Street. His father came to Peterborough to buy a sporting goods business. He stayed at the Empress Hotel and found out the next day that it was already sold.7
Banks Bicycle Shop.1 July 1935
George Street, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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So he opened his own store on George Street under the town clock. It was located second from the corner of George and Charlotte Streets. beside McCallum's restaurant. It was a small store that sold everything sporting. According to Marlow his father "saw the future in things". For example he read about a soft drink cooling machine in the Sunday Post and wrote to Chicago Company. They told him he could have the agency for all of Canada, however, he just wanted to sell a few (3 or 4 around Ontario).9
The Banks family15 June 1941
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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The Maitland Avenue house burned down in 1930 when Marlow was 14 years old. The family then moved to a rented apartment on Rubidge and Charlotte Streets. Money was scarce when Marlow was growing up, but they never went on relief. He worked at his dad's store in the summers during high school.Marlow's grandmother lived with his family when he was growing up. She was an Irish woman whose songs he still remembers. When his Grandma died she left money for clothes for the kids. She left it with Marlow's aunt because his dad was bad with money. They bought their clothes at Grafton's of Peterborough. Marlow recalls you got cards with each purchase which could add up to get prizes like sporting equipment and toys which were kept on the top floor.
Marlow lived at home until he got married in 1940. After the marriage he lived with his wife in a ‘flat' on Lock Street. During the Depression there were few options for living arrangements for single people. Many stayed at home with their parents until they got married. Marlow had a good relationship with his parents.
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Marlow Banks' father Charles and older siblings Helen and Carl in the family car.1914
314 Maitland Avenue, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Charles Banks, Marlow's father, had the third car in Peterborough. He put a gas pump on the curb by his store, even though there were only a dozen cars in Peterborough at the time. Marlow's dad always had a car. As Marlow recalls "he was a pioneer with cars". [Historic note: before there were gas stations in Peterborough, the City charged merchants $25 a year per gas pump. By 1927, many downtown merchants complained about the number of cars and pumps that were blocking the entrances to their stores. This led to the development of service stations.]13
Marlow Banks' father Charles, demonstrating his bicycle stand in front of his store.1935
George Street, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Marlow Banks talks about his first car.15 February 2006
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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