Richard Jarvis

Bank: Westminster Bank

Place of work: Head Office, London

Died: 25 February 1941

Richard Jack Jarvis was born on 4 April 1920, the son of Richard Henry Jarvis and his wife Elizabeth. He joined the staff of Westminster Bank in September 1938.

Outside work he was a successful competitive swimmer, representing both Westminster Bank and the collected London banks at competitions in 1939 and winning a local diving championship in its last season before the war started. He was also a popular member of the bank’s First XI hockey team and, outside the bank, an assistant scout master.

In May 1940 Jarvis left his job in the bank’s head office premises department to go on war service, training as a signaller in the Royal Navy. He had passed all his exams and was expecting promotion at the time of his death, on 25 February 1941, when his ship, HMS Exmoor, was sunk during an attack by German E-boats. Ordinary Seaman Jarvis was 20 years old. 

Richard Jarvis is commemorated on a bank war memorial held at NatWest Group Archives.