Forgery in Finchley Town

The first bank to open its doors in the town of Finchley was Brook’s Savings and loans bank in 1799. Established by Reece Brooks owned a merchant business, the business thrived in the economic uptake seen in the early 19th century. A few years later BS&LB founded two branches in Watershed and a forth branch all the way over in Shannon on the site of St. Canice's Cathedral.

In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars in however the modest fortune amassed by BS&LB was no match for the nationwide collapse of the delicate economy. The BS&LB branch in Shannon was forced to closed its doors on May 19th of that year and the other branches were on the brink of collapse. Back in Finchley, Reese Brooks was battling tuberculosis throughout the month. His condition worsening in parallel with the economy. A doctor by the name of Tim Wallace was sent out to conduct a weekly check-up. The Brooks household was on the outskirts of Finchley and took at least an hour to get to from the BS&LB on horseback. After one of the weekly check-ups, Dr. Wallace is said to have arrived at the bank in under 40 minutes. Perhaps a jockey in a past life. He handed in a note with a signature that read "Reece Brooks". The note read that Brooks wanted Wallace to withdraw a large sum of money from his account on his behalf. The tellers trusted the well-respected doctor and never once doubted Wallace' intentions. As he parted the cash with the bank he informed a teller that Reese Brooks had been pronounced dead within the last hour. The bank spun into chaos as Dr. Wallace briskly made it out to his horse. The medical report stated that Mr. Brooks had died due to complications relating to tuberculosis.

With the passing of BS&LB's founder, its headquarters closed down, promptly followed by its remaining branches in Watershed. Dr Wallace had made out with his money and while his riding skills were top notch, speculation was quick to catch up with the doctor. He stopped practising medicine in the autumn and by December was put on trial for the murder of Reese Brooks. The court heard from another Finchley Doctor by the name of Bill Weir, that he had visited the deceased's wake that May and noticed some irregularities about the corpse. There seemed to be some marks around his neck.

Curiosity led to suspicion which led to him conferring with a Doctor from St. Mary's Hospital who humoured Dr. Weir by examining the body two days later at the funeral. With as much respect as one could show, he inspected the neck of Reese Brooks as he lay in his open casket. The doctor confirmed with his fellow practitioner that the deceased had suffered from strangulation and not from complications relating to his illness as Wallace had stated.

The two doctors gave evidence to the court that December and Tim Wallace, now stripped of his medical license was sentenced to death by hanging for the murder of Reese Brooks. He would likely have been exiled to Australia for the lesser crime of forgery. Tim Wallace died of a heart attack in prison at the age of 69 in 1847, awaiting execution.

Brook’s Savings & Loans Bank remained buried with its founder. Tim Wallace was survived by his only son Albert, who disappeared with his father’s savings shortly after the sentence was handed down. Nothing is known of Albert Wallace in the history books. He likely changed his name once he skipped town.

Side Note; This is another piece written by Gerard Gilroy aka Gilly Ghouly who will be joining Twitter shortly.