why are national holidays called "BANK" holidays in the uk???

Question

can someone explain to me why they're not simply clled holidays?

Answer 1

Bank holidays are so called because they are days upon which banks are (or were) shut and therefore (traditionally) no other businesses could operate. Legislation allows certain payments to be deferred to the next working day.

Answer 2

In the mid 19th century a clever left-wing MP wanted to introduce some general public holidays so the working people could have a few days off work each year on full pay. But he knew he could never get a Bill through Parliament to create them. The Commons was dominated by the employer class and the Lords by the upper class - the House of Lords still had to approve everything. So the MP tabled a Bill that said it was The Bank Holiday Bill and all the toffs shrugged their shoulders and said 'who cares' and didn't turn up for the vote. Meanwhile, the promoter of the Bill tipped off his leftist allies that there was a clause buried in the Bill saying 'the compulsory holiday with full pay for bank staff shall also apply to all office and factory workers'. And so the general public holiday slipped through Parliament un-noticed by its opponents until it was too late.

Anyway, that's the story I've heard. I don't promise it's true but it sure makes sense.

Answer 3

Banks have always been closed on the weekend.
Certain days of the year are religious holidays, (for instance Easter Monday, good Friday,) and banks do not open on these days. Over the years these days have become known as bank holidays.

Answer 4

Probably because the banks are closed, Used to be in ages past that the average working folk in the UK worked on most hollidays, while the banks were shut down.

Answer 5

It speaks for itself,but as things go today it may be banks will open on Bank Holiday,just to confuse things

Answer 6

Most answers are correct - banks are closed and therefore classed as an official public holiday.

Answer 7

Because it is when Banks are shut! and the staff are on holiday as opposed to just being closed at weekends

Answer 8

That lot are all wrong.
On a bank holiday you have to go fishing and sit on the river bank.
Thats what I do anyway.

LMAO

Answer 9

A long time ago, on certain days, banks used to allow people in & provide them with sunglasses & deck chairs to sit on. They could queue up at the till points but only for icecream & candyfloss. This practice ended when men were told that they could not wear handkerchiefs with knotted corners on their heads. However, the name given to such days was still kept & passed down from generation to generation.

And the next question please...

Answer 10

Because this is where the banks used to count peoples money, and because they needed to know everyones amount with out it being changed they used let evryone have the day of work