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The Public Benefit Boot Company

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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES: Surnames P to S

Fred Watkin PAGE
Born 1858 at Little Harrowden, Northamptonshire, son of Samuel PAGE, labourer, and his wife Charlotte SPENCER. He married Harriet PALMER of Great Doddington in 1881 and their children included Fred Bernard PAGE 1886 and Maud Harriet PAGE 1891. Fred first worked in the boot trade as a shoe riveter at Ecton, Northamptonshire and by the age of 30 he had built up his own Wellingborough boot-manufacturing establishment – F W Page & Co. The company specialised in high-grade footwear. He was president of the Wellingborough Manufacturers’ Association and a business associate and shareholder in the Public Benefit Boot Co for many years.

Fred Bernard PAGE
Born 1886 at Wellingborough, son of Fred Watkin PAGE, boot manufacturer, and his wife Harriet PALMER. He worked in the family footwear manufacturing business – F W Page & Co and was thoroughly competent in all aspects of the manufacturing process. He was a business associate of the Public Benefit Boot Co and well known in the boot trade. F W Page & Co at that time sold footwear under trademarks that included Submarine, Midland, Gaffer, Boss, Swashticker, Skipper and Point-to-Point.

James Ashdown PAGE
Born 1868 at Northchurch, Hertfordshire, son of Edward George PAGE, bottle and envelope manufacturer and tobacconist, and his wife Emma NICHOLLS. He married Eunice Thersa COOKE in 1897 and they adopted a son Charlie PAGE who was born c1902. He managed the company’s premises on Union Street, Torquay, Devon, from at least 1901 until 1911.

William Richard PAGETT
Born 1868 at Kidderminster, Worcestershire, son of Eli PAGETT, boot-maker, and his wife Betsy. He worked initially in local carpet works but by the 1890’s he had followed his father into the boot trade. In the mid-1890’s he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at 6 Church Gate, Loughborough. By 1901 he was managing a boot shop in Worthing, Sussex and in 1911 he managed a boot shop at Westbourne, Bournemouth. He married Mary HOUGHTON in 1902 at Tetbury, Gloucestershire, and their children included Dorothy Mary PAGETT c1904, Archibald James PAGETT c1906 and Ellen Muriel PAGETT c1908.

Thomas Henry PALMER
Born 1879 at Gloucester, son of Thomas Arthur PALMER, printer compositor, and his wife Mary Ann WILKES. He married Rosa Ethel HILLIER in 1906 at London and they had a daughter Violet Evelyn Mary PALMER 1908. At the age of 21 he worked as a London boot shop assistant and by 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 124 Lawrence Hill, Bristol.

Mr PARR
Working initially for the Public Benefit Boot Co in Liverpool, he was subsequently moved to Doncaster, Sunderland and finally in 1937 to Stockton where he managed the company's repair facility at 15 Norton Road. When the Stockton repair business closed in 1961 he started up his own business in Church Street.

Frederick PATCH
Born 1876 at Bristol, Gloucestershire, son of Jenkin Edward PATCH, dock foreman, and his wife Susan Jane PODBURY. He married Emily TOOKE in 1905 and they had a daughter Dorothy Violet E PATCH 1907 at Ipswich, Suffolk, He worked as a boot shop assistant in 1901 and by 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 11 Carr Street, Ipswich.

Gertrude M PATRICK
Born 1916 in Northumberland, daughter of John PATRICK and Margaret HISCOCK, in 1939 she married James NICHOLSON. Known as ‘Pat’, Mrs Nicholson continued to work as 2^nd sales in the 1940’s at the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at 38 Northumberland Street, Newcastle. Her brother also worked for the firm and managed the Wallsend branch.

John Henry PATRICK
In 1885 he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at Market Place, Alford, Lincolnshire.

Mr PATRICK
The son of John PATRICK and Margaret HISCOCK and brother of Public Benefit Boo Co employee Gertrude M PATRICK, he managed the company’s premises at Wallsend on Tyne, Northumberland c1960’s.

Charles Henry Bruce PATTERSON
Born c1884 at Barnstaple, Devon, son of Henry PATTERSON, labourer and scaffold maker, and his wife Elizabeth Ann SYMONS. He married Florence DENDLE in 1907 and they had a son Peter J B PATTERSON 1916. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 16 High Street, Ilfracombe, Devon.

Caroline Frances PAXTON
Born 1889 at Keynsham, Somerset, daughter of Thomas Henry PAXTON, boot dealer, and his wife Emma Berwick CURL. In 1911 she worked as an assistant in the boot shop managed by her father at 212b Hotwell Road, Bristol. She did not marry and died at Bristol in 1969 aged 78.

Frederick Henry PAXTON
Born 1883 at Northampton, son of Thomas Henry PAXTON, boot dealer, and his wife Emma Berwick CURL. In 1904 at Bristol he married Mercy May EDWARDS and they had children Maurice Fred PAXTON 1905 and Sydney Frank PAXTON 1911. In 1915 he enlisted at Bristol and served as a Gunner with Royal Regiment of Artillery. After the war he managed the Lennards Ltd branch at 176 City Road, Roath, Cardiff. He died at Cardiff in 1946 aged 61 and his widow Mercy died there in 1953 aged 67.

Lilian Emma PAXTON
Born 1880 at Northampton, daughter of Thomas Henry PAXTON, boot dealer, and his wife Emma Berwick CURL. At the age of 20 she worked as an assistant in the boot shop managed by her father at 118 White Ladies Road, Bristol. In 1904 at Bristol she married George Sealy DAWES, a grain merchant. She died at Bristol on 26 August 1935 aged 54.

Percy Thomas PAXTON
Born 1876 at Northampton, son of Thomas Henry PAXTON, boot manufacturer, and his wife Emma CURL. He married Kate Helena WESLEY in 1902 at Bristol and their children included Cyril Percy PAXTON 1904 and Francis Thomas PAXTON 1906. In 1911 he managed the company premises at 58-60 Oldham Street, Manchester, Lancashire. He was a Lennards Ltd shareholder. He died in 1953 aged 77 and his widow Kate died in 1962 aged 84.

Thomas Henry PAXTON
Born 1854 at Bermondsey, London, son of Thomas Joseph PAXTON, boot manufacturer, and his wife Caroline Fisher ROLFE. He married Emma Berwick CURL in 1874 and their children included Percy Thomas PAXTON 1876, Lilian Emma PAXTON 1880, Frederick Henry PAXTON 1883 and Caroline Frances PAXTON 1889. In 1891 he managed the company’s shoe factory at Keynsham. By 1901 he was manager of the boot shop at 118 White Ladies Road, Bristol where Lillian and Frederick assisted. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 212b Hotwell Road, Bristol, where their daughter Caroline continued to work at that branch. All four of his children assisted with the business at some stage. He died at Bristol in 1932 aged 78 and his widow Emma died there in 1935 aged 81.

Arthur George PEARCE
Born 1881 at Turnham Green, Middlesex, son of Thomas PEARCE, a London metropolitan police constable originally from St Columb Major, and his wife Mary. At the age of 20 he was a Torquay boot dealer’s assistant. He married Emily Matilda PERROTT in 1904 at Newton Abbot, Devon. In 1914 he was a Lennards Ltd shareholder and managed the company's branch at 8 Queen Street, Newton Abbot.

George PEPPER
Born 1884 at Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, son of Thomas PEPPER, farmer, and his wife Sarah Ann IRONS. He married Alice WALKER in 1908 and their children included Thomas Edward PEPPER 1909 and Margaret A PEPPER 1913. He worked initially as a boot shop assistant at Melton Mowbray and by 1911 managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 36 Westgate, Elland, West Yorkshire, where he died 28 June 1940 aged 56.

Cornelius Paul PERKINS
Born 1869 at Blaenavon, Monmouthshire, Wales, son of Joseph William PERKINS, shoemaker, and his wife Rebecca RAWLINGS. He married Louisa Nora BIRCH in 1895 and they had a daughter Stella Alexandra PERKINS 1896. In 1901 Cornelius managed the company premises at 12 Green Street, Neath. He died in 1907 aged 38 and his widow Louisa died in 1930 aged 56.

Edward Dart PERKINS
Born 1853 at Crediton, Devon, son of William PERKINS, domestic gardener, and his wife Ann DART. He married Agnes RAYMOND in 1882 and their children included Hilda Eliza PERKINS 1884 and Mabel Agnes R PERKINS 1892. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 9 Fore Street, Brixham, Devon. He died at Brixham 1 June 1938 aged 84.

David Levi PERRY
Born 1876 at Llawhaden, Pembroke, Wales, son of George PERRY, railway labourer, and his wife Mary SERMON. He married Mary Jane PAYNE in 1902 and their children included Vines Levi PERRY 1902, Violet May PERRY 1904 and George Haydon PERRY 1907. In 1901 he worked for the company as a shop assistant in Neath and from at least 1911 until 1918 he managed the company’s premises at Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire, Wales.

Frederick James PICKARD
Born 1857 at Hereford, he married Ellen Augusta RICH in 1899 and they had no children. During the period 1911-14 he managed the company’s premises at 39 Gloucester Road, Bishopton, Bristol. He was also a shareholder in Lennards Limited.

Clara PICKLES
Born 1862 at Keighley, Yorkshire, daughter of George PICKLES, grinder at a tool works, and his wife Nanny WILD. From 1891 until 1911 she worked as a boot shop assistant at the Driffield premises managed for many years by her uncle and aunt, William and Mary BUTERFIELD. She married in 1913 to Thomas WILSON, a widower, who operated a drapery business in Market Place, Driffield. Clara died at Driffield 21 April 1919 aged 56 and her husband died the following year aged 71.

Albert Berry POPPLEWELL
Born 1879 at Pudsey near Leeds, Yorkshire, son of John Alfred POPPLEWELL, woollen waste dealer, and his wife Elizabeth Ann BERRY. At the age of 21 Albert was a boot trade salesman and a shareholder in the Public Benefit Boot Co. He married Lucy CARR in 1903 and they had a son John Alfred POPPLEWELL 1906. In 1911 he was based in Pudsey and worked as a boot store keeper for the Leeds Co-Op Society. On 15 June 1916 he enlisted and served in France as a Corporal in the Army Pay Corps. He died at Roundhay, Leeds, 27 May 1934 aged 55.

William POSTLE
Born c1825 at Norwich, son of William POSTLE, cordwainer, and his wife Susannah. By the age of 15 he worked in the boot and shoe trade. He married Sarah GRAY of Norwich in 1850 and their children included Emma POSTLE 1850, William James POSTLE 1852 and Henry Walter POSTLE 1854. Following the death of his first wife he married Sarah A SOTHERN in 1866 at Norwich. In 1890 he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 8 Lower Goat Lane, Norwich.

Samuel Frederick POTTER
Born 1888 at Ripley, Derbyshire, son of William POTTER, coal miner, and his wife Harriett BUTLER. He married Elsie PONTER in 1910 at Birmingham and their children included Frederick G POTTER 1911, Thomas H K POTTER 1915, Elsie M POTTER 1917 and Desmond C POTTER 1924. In 1911 Samuel managed the company’s premises at 78 Lichfield Road, Aston Manor, Warwickshire.

Edward POTTS
Born 1874 at Stockport, Cheshire, son of Samuel POTTS, boot and shoe maker, and his wife Jane Ann JACKSON. In 1911 he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 54 Market Place, Malton, Yorkshire.

William Tom Griffiths PREECE
Born 1894 at Sutton, Herefordshire, son of John Charles PREECE, brewery horse-keeper, and his wife Emma Elizabeth GRIFFITHS. At the age of 16 he worked as a boot shop assistant at the company’s Worcester premises. He served in World War I and in 1921 at Worcester married Lilian HAMLETT.

Charles Metcalfe PRUDENCE
Born 1863 at Aberford, Yorkshire, son of Thomas PRUDENCE, grocer, and his wife Mary. He married Alice Gertrude BONE in 1889 and their children included Ernest Charles PRUDENCE 1890, Mabel Frances G PRUDENCE 1892 and Gladys May PRUDENCE 1897. He carried on his father’s grocery business in Main Street, Aberford and by the turn of the century he had expanded the business and sold footwear; in the 1897 Public Benefit Boot Co list of shareholders he was noted as a boot and shoe dealer. Both he and his wife Alice died at Knaresborough, West Yorkshire in 1943 aged in their 80’s.

Frederick Frank PUDDICOMBE
Born 1890 at Torquay, Devon, son of Philip PUDDICOMBE, farrier, and his wife Alice Jane WEST. At the age of 21 he worked as a shop assistant, along with his cousin Horace John RUGG, at the Public Benefit Boot Co premises, 74 King Gardens, Plymouth, Devon. He died in 1914 aged 24.

Archie Henry PULLEN
Born 1888 at Petworth, Sussex, son of John PULLEN, stableman and groom, and his wife Elizabeth Drew WOODS. Prior to enlisting in WWI he worked for Lennards as a boot shop assistant. He married Frances E FOSTER in 1921 and they had a daughter Joyce PULLEN 1923.

Thomas Frederick PURSEHOUSE
Born 1869 at Sheffield, son of Henry PURSEHOUSE, edge tool forger, and his wife Mary A. In 1882 he worked as an errand boy for William Henry Franklin at his Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 175 South Street, Moor.

Francis Parker RAVENOR
Born 1875 at Lymington, Hampshire, son of Henry Charles RAVENOR, house decorator, and his wife Elizabeth PARKER. He married Emma Louise WOOD in 1900 and their children included Frank Charles RAVENOR 1900, Alec Stanley RAVENOR 1903, Ethel Freda RAVENOR 1905 and Muriel Ellen RAVENOR 1907. At the age of 17 he worked as a boot shop assistant in Newbury, Berkshire, and from at least 1901 until 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 82 Old Town Street, Plymouth, Devon. He died at Plymouth in 1939 aged 65.

William Burnell REES
Born 25 May 1873 at Swansea, son of David Burnell REES, copper worker, and his wife Mary JONES. He married Irenia OXENHAM 5 June 1904 at Truro and their children included Burnell Oxenham REES 1908 and Rona REES 1912. For many years he and his wife managed the company’s boot retail premises in Market Square, Camborne, Cornwall. His wife Irenia died in 1941 aged 67 and he died at Camborne 17 March 1959 aged 85.

Edwin REEVES
Born 1876 in London, son of Edwin REEVES, a scientific instrument maker, and his wife Eliza BUTCHER. At the age of 14 Edwin Jr worked as a boot maker’s assistant in Hampshire and when he was 21 he married Annie LENNARD at Gloucester. By the turn of the century he was living in Bromley and managing one of Lennards Ltd shops.

Emily REYNOLDS
Born c1870 at Batheaston, Somerset, the daughter of William REYNOLDS, market gardener, and his wife Anna. From at least 1901 until1911 she worked as a shop assistant at the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 125 Edgware Road, West London.

John REYNOLDS
Born c1875 at Batheaston, Somerset, the son of William REYNOLDS, market gardener, and his wife Anna. In 1903 at London he married Agnes Maud Lye ANSTICE and their children included Douglas REYNOLDS c1904 and Cyril REYNOLDS c1906. From at least 1901 until1911 he managed the company’s premises at 125 Edgware Road, West London. His sister Emily REYNOLDS worked as an assistant at the same boot shop.

Ernest Edward RHODES
Born 1887 at Gravesend, Kent, son of Richard Thomas RHODES, steam tug engine driver, and his wife Caroline Lamburn RASPISON. In 1911 he worked as an assistant at the company’s premises at 25 Whitley Street, Reading, Berkshire. At the time his brother Richard managed the store.

Richard Charles RHODES
Born 1876 at Gravesend, Kent, son of Richard Thomas RHODES, steam tug engine driver, and his wife Caroline Lamburn RASPISON. He married Margaret Jane FREEMAN in 1906 and their children included Richard Thomas RHODES 1908, Martha E RHODES 1912, Ralph RHODES 1919 and Bernard Wilfred RHODES 1920. At the age of 25 he worked as a boot shop assistant in Kingston on Thames, Surrey and by 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 25 Whitley Street, Reading, Berkshire. His younger brother Ernest at the time worked as an assistant in the same store. Richard died 15 July 1924 at Sydney, Australia, aged 48.

Leonard Thomas RICHES
Born 1862 at London, son of Francis Bloye RICHES and his wife Lucy GOODWIN. In 1889 at Windsor he married Edith Mary Cordelia HARRIS, the daughter of a publican. They had a son Lionel Victor RICHES 1901 who died as an infant.  In 1901 he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises in conjunction with his mother at 143-143 Peascod Street, Windsor, Berkshire. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 30 Cornhill, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. He died in 1917 aged 55 and his widow Edith died in 1926 aged 62.

Frederick James RICKARD
In 1914 he was a Lennards Ltd shareholder and managed a company branch shop at 39 Gloucester Road, Bishopton, Bristol.

William John RICKARD
In 1929 he lived at 33 Albany Road, Redruth, Cornwall, when, in conjunction with Lennards Ltd of Bristol, he applied for a patent relating to improvements in boot and shoe makers' foot gauges.

Albert John RIXSON
Born 1881 at Galley Hill, Kent, son of Henry RIXSON, coal labourer, and his wife Emily CHERRY. He married Matilda Beatrice BLACKMORE in 1900 at Cardiff and their children included Violet Eveline RIXSON 1900, Edith Marion B RIXSON 1902, Helen RIXSON 1910 (adopted) and Phyllis B RIXSON 1913. Albert worked as a boot repairer with Lennards prior to enlisting in WWI. He died in 1971 aged 89.

Thomas ROBERTS
Born 1832 at Hardingstone, Northamptonshire, son of Thomas ROBERTS, victualler, and his wife Catherine. In 1856 at Northampton he married Elizabeth Corby LOVELL and their children included Charles Henry ROBERTS 1859, Harry ROBERTS 1863, Annie ROBERTS 1865, Emily ROBERTS 1869 and Kate ROBERTS 1873. He worked firstly as a leather cutter in Worcester and in 1872 founded the Portland Shoe Co in Leicester. Until the firm's amalgamation with the Ward-White Co in 1979, it was the oldest private limited company in the shoe trade in Leicester still controlled and managed by descendants of the founder. Thomas and his sons Charles and Harry were all shareholders in the Public Benefit Boot Co.

Arthur Thomas ROBINSON
Born 1873 at London, son of William ROBINSON, bricklayer, and his wife Mary Jane PANNELL. He married Annie Elizabeth WALKER in 1894 at Kensington and their children included Arthur F ROBINSON 1896 and Harold C ROBINSON 1900. At the turn of the century he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at 3 Lavender Hill, Clapham.

Joseph ROBINSON
Born 1847 at Brafield on the Green, Northamptonshire, son of David ROBINSON, shoemaker, and his wife Anne FAIRY. He married Mary Ann STENSON in 1880 at Nottingham. At the age of 14 he worked as a shoemaker, as were other members of his family from a young age. He later worked as a boot-maker in Nottingham and was a shareholder when the Public Benefit Boot Co was incorporated in 1897.

Robert Rowland RODWELL
Born 1862 at Putney, Surrey, he married Clara SUTLIFF in 1898 at Cardiff. Their children included Frank Sutliff RODWELL 1899, Ethel Florence RODWELL 1901 and Dorothy RODWELL 1905. He worked for some time at Sunderland, Co Durham and 1905-11 managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 152-154 Hessle Road, Hull, East Yorkshire. He became a branch inspector for the company and died in 1939 aged 77.

Charles Bagnall ROE
Born 1866 at Brimingham, the son of Charles ROE, boot-maker, and his wife Susannah. In 1889 he married Rose Annie HAZLEBY of Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, and they had a daughter Rose Dorothy M ROE 1892. From 1891 to 1895 he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at Market Street, Abergavenny.

John George ROLLESTON
Born 1870 at Whittington, Derbyshire, son of John ROLLSTON coal miner. He married Harriet WHYATT in 1892 and their children included George Edward ROLLESTON c1893, Doris Edna ROLLESTON c1898, John George ROLLESTON 1904, Vera Kathleen ROLLESTON c1908 and John Clifford ROLLESTON c1910. From the turn of the century until at least 1911 John was a boot-maker and clothier on High Street, Ibstock, Leicestershire, and a shareholder in Lennard Bros of Leicester.

Jonathan ROSE
Born 1855 in Louth, son of Jonathan ROSE, groom, and his wife Frances REED. By the age of 15 he and his twin brother William were working as errand boys. In the early 1880s Jonathan worked as a boot dealer’s assistant with the Public Benefit Boot Co. He went on to manage the large and prestigious Wakefield branch for many years. He married Emily Jane SHACKLETON of Wakefield in 1887 and they had two daughters Nellie May ROSE 1887 and Kathleen Edna ROSE 1901. He died at Wakefield 24 December 1940 aged 84 and his widow Emily died there in 1953 aged 84.

Horace John RUGG
Born 1891 at Exeter, Devon, at the age of 19 he, along with his cousin Frederick PUDDICOMBE, worked as shop assistants at the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at Plymouth, Devon.

William John RUNYARD
Born 1878 at Crichel, Dorset, son of Michael RUNYARD, general labourer, and his wife Elizabeth STEELE. He married Annie Eliza Rose PHILPOTT in 1900 and they had a son Graham Henry RUNYARD 1903 at Bournemouth, Hampshire. From 1901 to at least 1911 William worked as a boot repairer at the company’s premises on Wimborne Road, Winton, Hampshire.

William Edward RUSH
Born c1869 in London, son of Edward David RUSH, plasterer, and his wife Esther WILD. At the age of 13 he worked as an errand boy for a tallow chandler and ten years later he worked as a draper’s assistant in London. In 1897 he married Alice May KIRBY in Hertfordshire and their children included William Henry E RUSH 1897, and Gladys Nellie M RUSH 1903. William Edward RUSH managed Lennards Ltd boot shop at Southampton and then the company’s premises at 99 High Street, Winchester. In 1911 he was based in Enfield, Middlesex, and working as a boot shop assistant.

William SANDLE
Born 1850 in London, son of Joseph SANDLE, shoemaker, and his wife Naomi NEWTON. He married Mary Jane BLAKE in 1871 at Bethnal Green, London, and their children included Naomi Harriet SANDLE 1876 and William Joseph SANDLE 1878. William and his brothers George SANDLE and Thomas SANDLE were all shoemakers and by the age of 30, William was employing 29 staff in his Hackney boot and shoe manufacturing business. In 1897 he was a shareholder in the initial float of the Public Benefit Boot Co.

Frederick James SANSOME
Born 1878 at Southampton, son of Edward SANSOME, grocer, and his wife Fanny. He married Lillian Mildred ANNETT in 1900 and their children included Lillian May SANSOME 1901 and Freda Annette SANSOME 1906. He worked firstly as a Southampton boot shop assistant and in 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 7 High Street, Yeovil, Somerset. He died at Yeovil in 1960 aged 81.

Ada Emily SARBUTT
Born c1873 at Lincoln, daughter of Charles SARBUTT, boot maker, and his wife Sarah. She was a sister-in-law of William Henry FRANKLIN, founder of the Public Benefit Boot Co. In 1896 she worked as a shop assistant at the Doncaster premises of the company. In 1909 she married Richard Thomas KIMBER, a gold mining company clerk and registrar. They had two children Robert Thomas KIMBER 1910 and Constance Mary KIMBER 1912. Ada died in April 1956 aged 76 and her husband Richard died a few weeks later aged 72.

Mary E SARBUTT
Born c1866 at Lincoln, daughter of Charles SARBUTT, boot maker, and his wife Sarah. She was a sister-in-law of William Henry FRANKLIN, founder of the Public Benefit Boot Co. From at least 1901 to1911 she worked as a shop assistant at the Hull premises of the company.

Walter Charles SARBUTT
Born c1870 at Lincoln, son of Charles SARBUTT, boot maker, and his wife Sarah. He was a brother-in-law of William Henry FRANKLIN, founder of the Public Benefit Boot Co. In 1901 he worked as a bookkeeper for the company at Hull and in subsequent years he handled the company’s advertising. He died at Hull in 1936 aged 67.

Edwin Pearce SAUNDERS
Born 1866 at Stoke Lane, Somerset, son of Thomas SAUNDERS, police constable, and his wife Elen Ann BISHOP. He married Lydia POWELL in 1887 at Pontypool, Monmouthshire, and their children included Beatrice Ellen SAUNDERS 1887, Nelson Powell SAUNDERS 1894, Rosetta SAUNDERS 1895 and Phyllis Mildred SAUNDERS 1901. Edwin originally manufactured boots from a small building in Cross Street, Kingswood, but later moved to Alsop Road where he bought several small cottages, had them demolished and erected his factory. He also bought two cottages on Downend Road and converted them into Kilvie House (now Kilvie Guest House). When his parents died, Edwin took his brothers Thomas, Charles and Harry into the business, trading as Saunders Brothers. They remained partners until 1910 when Edwin bought out his brothers – they continued working for the firm as paid employees. Edwin's son Nelson came into the business and continued footwear manufacturing when his father retired in the 1930s. Edwin was a Lennards Ltd shareholder. His wife Lydia did at Kingswood, Gloucestershire, in 1944 aged 76 and he died there in 1950 aged 83.

Nelson Powell SAUNDERS
Born 1894 at Kingswood, Gloucestershire, son of Edwin Pearce SAUNDERS boot manufacturer and his wife Lydia POWELL. He married Effie Alice Watts in 1915 at Bath and they had a sons Keith SAUNDERS and Terry SAUNDERS. Nelson built the house 'Myrtle Glydd' and lived there, almost opposite the Saunders Brothers factory in Kingswood. His sons, Keith and Terry, were the last in the firm that ceased production in 1957.

William George SAUNDERS
Born c1876 at Bristol, in 1903 he married Frances Mary HILES and they had a son William George Hiles SAUNDERS 1904. Frances died in 1911 and in 1916 William married Annie Marie MARLEY. Their children included Arthur M SAUNDRES 1917, Peter Alan SAUNDERS 1920 and Robert B SAUNDERS 1925. He managed company branch shops at Bristol and Bath and during WWI served as a lorry driver with the British Army. He was a Lennards Ltd manager and shareholder. He died at Bristol in 1953 aged 77.

Frederick SCHOFIELD
Born 1866 at Gravesend, Kent, son of James SCHOFIELD, baker, and his wife Elizabeth. He worked as a boot salesman and buyer in Derby and later managed the prestigious Public Benefit Boot Co Metropole branch in Derby. He married at Derby in 1902 and by the 1920s he was living at Birmingham and a director of the Public Benefit Boot Co.

William SCOTT
Born c1859 at Pensher, Co Durham, son of George Atkinson SCOTT, grocer’s assistant, and his wife Margaret MARRINER. He married Sarah Jane PATTERSON in 1882 and they had six children including Bertrand Patterson SCOTT 1883, Ruby SCOTT 1886, Mabel SCOTT c1888, Claude William SCOTT 1890 and Walter SCOTT 1894. He worked in boot shops in Bishop Auckland, Bristol and in 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 155-157 Commercial Road, Langport, Portsmouth, Hampshire.

Joseph Sherriff SCUDAMORE
Born 1866 at Llangarren, Herefordshire, son of George SCUDAMORE, farmer and butcher, and his wife Sarah Jane SHERRIFF. In 1893 at Bath, Somerset, he married Charlotte Elizabeth ISAACS and they had a son George Sherriff SCUDAMORE 1895. He was a Lennards Ltd shareholder and managed boot and shoe retail businesses in Bath and later in Taunton where he was a Borough Councillor in the 1920’s.. His wife Charlotte died at Taunton 17 September 1930 aged 70 and he died there 15 September 1932 aged 67.

Harry SEAGROVE
Born 1871 at Leeds, son of Samuel SEAGROVE, carter, labourer and later a green grocer, and his wife Priscilla WEBSTER. He married Helen Annie WORSLEY in 1898 at Dewsbury and they had a daughter Florence Marion SEAGROVE 1904. By the age of 19 Harry was a boot shop assistant in Leeds and a decade later he was a Public Benefit Boot Co shareholder. He managed the company’s premises at Morley, Yorkshire 1897-1911. He died 20 May 1938 aged 66 and his widow Helen died in 1958 aged 91.

Herbert Brand SHARMAN
Born 1887 at Northampton, son of Henry SHARMAN, boot manufacturer, and his wife Emma BRAND. In the 1920’s he served as a director of Lennards Limited.

Roland Withers SHELTON
Born 16 September 1906 in Shropshire, son of Robert Henry SHELTON, saddler, and his wife Minnie PEPLOW. He was Export Manager for Lennards Ltd 1906-49. He died in 1974 aged 67.

William SHEPPARD
Born 1850 at Ipswich, Suffolk, son of William Sheppard, sawyer, and his wife Susan POLDON. He married Sarah ROBERTS in 1871 and they had eight children: Alice Kate SHEPPARD 1872, William Henry SHEPPARD 1874, Florence Sarah SHEPPARD 1875, Alfred Charles SHEPPARD 1878, Frederick John SHEPPARD 1880, Edith Annie SHEPPARD 1883, Ernest Edward SHEPPARD 1885 and Herbert Stanley SHEPPARD 1890. From 1891 to 1901 William managed a boot dealership on High Street, Brentwood, Essex, where his son William assisted in the business. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 67a High Street, Plumstead, London, where his son Herbert worked as an assistant.

Thomas SINGLEHURST
Born 1860 at Northampton, son of Thomas SINGLEHURST, a shoemaker from Bedfordshire, and his wife Mary Ann STARMER. He married Mary Ann Elizabeth BRITTEN in 1882 at Northampton and their children included Elizabeth SINGLEHURST 1883 and Arthur SINGLEHURST 1885. Thomas followed his father into the footwear business, trading as Thomas Singlehurst and Son in Northampton. In 1923 his company was manufacturing 2,000 pairs per week for the wholesale and export market. He was a director of Lennards Limited.

Harry SLANEY
Born 1878 at Pleasley, Nottinghamshire, son of Henry SLANEY, Pleasley Hill publican, and his wife Eliza LUCAS. By the turn of the century he managed a boot shop in Worksop where he lived with his first wife Minnie. He secondly married Alice BIRCHENOUGH in 1910 and they had a son Henry Victor SLANEY c1908. From 1910 to 1916 he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 97-99 Radford Road, Hyson Green, Nottingham. He died in 1947 aged 68.

Emma Harvey SMALLEY
Born 2 March 1910 at Blyth, Northumberland, daughter of Thomas Henry SMALLEY, telephone linesman, and his wife Ellen. Her father died when she was aged 10 and at the age of 16 she commenced work at the Blyth branch of the Public Benefit Boot Co where the manager was George Marmaduke FREAR and the first sales lady was Miss THOMAS. In 1936 she married Arthur JOHNSON and they had children Elsa JOHNSON 1942 and Arthur Harvey JOHNSON 1946. She died in 2004 aged 94.

James SMEATHAM
Born 2 September 1914 in County Durham, son of James SMEATHAM and his wife Nora CATCHPOLE. He worked for Public Benefit Boot Co branches in the North East, served in the air force during WWII and on his return took over management of the Whitley Bay branch. In 1952 he married another Benefit Footwear employee, Olive GOSPELL and they both continued to work for the company for more than 20 years, their last branch being Carlisle, Cumberland. James died at Carlisle in 1973 aged 58. The following year Olive retired from Benefit Footwear and married James’ brother John S SMEATHAM.

Leonard Vivian SMEE
Born 25 March 1894 in Cambridgeshire, son of Herbert SMEE, master boot maker, and his second wife Bertha Jane DART. At the age of 17 he was a shop assistant in the boot trade at Chesterton, Cambridgeshire. In 1920 he married Annie Elizabeth GOODWIN and they had a son Peter Goodwin SMEE in 1922 who immigrated to the US in 1946 to work as a communications engineer for General Electric. He joined the Public Benefit Boot Co in 1931 as Inspector and shops supervisor of a group of shops in the Midlands.  He specialised in staff management and staff control. His outstanding ability and energy quickly earned him promotion within the company and in the 1940’s he took charge of the entire retail staff and Inspectors as well as the company’s transportation system. His keen devotion to duty won him the respect of all members of the company’s staff and there were many managers who gained promotion due to his early training and advice. His wife died in 1946 aged 51, he retired from the company in  the 1950’s and he died in 1979 aged 84.

Alfred SMITH
Born 1827 at Leicester, son of Samuel SMITH, shoemaker, and his wife Sarah. At the age of 14 he worked with his father in the boot trade. He married Rhoda IRELAND in 1846 at Leicester and their children included Edward SMITH 1848, Alfred SMITH c1850, Sarah Ann SMITH 1855, Betsey Maria SMITH c1860, Frederick SMITH c1861, Eliza SMITH c1863 and Walter Henry SMITH 1866. In 1883 Alfred senior managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 4 North Street, Kings Lynn. Two sons, Frederick and Walter Henry, assisted their father, working for some years as boot salesmen. His wife Rhoda died 1900 aged 75 and Alfred died 1904 aged 77.

George Edward N SMITH
Born c1876 at Bath, Somerset, he married Ada Blanche L HOWELL in 1901 and they had a daughter Gladys SMITH born c1904 at Cardiff. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 79 High Street, Bideford, Devon.

Mary SMITH
Born 1860 at Ystalyfera, Glamorgan, Wales, daughter of William SMITH, boot manufacturer, and his wife Margaret THOMAS. In 1881 she married Richard Hughes ROWLANDS, a music teacher and later a schoolmaster at Broxwood Independent Chapel Boys School. Their children included William Hayden ROWLANDS c1883, Sarah Ceridwin ROWLANDS 1884, Anita Mary ROWLANDS c1887, Joan Barry ROWLANDS c1888, Richard H ROWLANDS 1889, Margaret Smith ROWLANDS 1889, Catherine ROWLANDS 1891, Rosa ROWLANDS c1895 and Frederick G ROWLANDS 1900. Her father and her six brothers all worked in the boot trade and in the early 1890’s Mrs Mary ROWLANDS was listed as manageress of the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at 41 Neath Road, Briton Ferry.

Thomas SMITH
Born c1881 at Tewkewbury, Gloucestershire, he married Gertrude Clara CECIL in 1901 at Birmingham and their children included Edward Thomas SMITH c1903 and Cecil SMITH 1907. In the early 1900’s he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 1 Stafford Street, Walsall, Staffordshire and from 1904 to 1912 he managed the company’s premises at Market Place, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.

Walter Henry SMITH
Born 17 November 1866 at Attercliffe, Yorkshire, son of Alfred SMITH, Public Benefit Boot Co manager, and his wife Rhoda IRELAND. In 1900-01 he worked as a boot maker’s assistant at the company premises managed by his father at 138 Norfolk Street, Kings Lynn. He married Priscilla Mary GARNER on 26 March 1903 at Grimsby and their children included Vernon Henry SMITH 1904 and Eva Mary SMITH c1906. In 1911 he operated as a boot factor from the premises at 359 Cleethorpes Road, Grimsby. His wife Priscilla died at Grimsby 6 March 1954 aged 78.

Ernest Alfred SNOW
Born 1867 at Bristol, son of Thomas SNOW, grocer, and his wife Maria HERNIMAN. He married Elizabeth Hannah MAY in 1891 at Barton Regis, Gloucestershire and their children included Kathleen Elizabeth SNOW 1892 and Harold Ernest SNOW 1897. Aged in his 20's and 30's he managed Bristol boot shops and by 1914 he was a shareholder in Lennards Ltd and managed the company’s substantial retail premises at 90 Queens Street, Cardiff. He died at Gabalfa, Glamoganshire 12 February 1921 aged 54.

J N SORENSON
For a time he lived a 8 Downs Cote Drive, Westbury-on-Trym and in the 1960s he was Ladies Buyer for Lennards Ltd, Bristol.

George Matthew SPICER
Born 1848 at Saffron Walden, Essex, son of Matthew SPICER, brazier, and his wife Jane. George was educated in Royston, Cambridgeshire and he married Mary RAYNHAM in 1876 at London. He worked initially as a warehouseman in Hammersmith before going in to boot and shoe manufacturing in Islington. He was a shareholder in the Public Benefit Boot Co.

Emily SPURLE
Born 1848 at Bristol, daughter of Eliza Marks SPURLE, in 1866 she married Henry George FACEY, a shoemaker, shoe riveter and machinist. Their children included Ernest FACEY 1870, Eliza Ellen FACEY c1873, Henry George FACEY 1874 and Albert FACEY 1877. Her husband died 18 April 1878 aged 36 and she worked in the boot trade to support her children. By 1891 she was operating as a Bristol boot and shoe dealer. In 1914 she was a Lennards Limited shareholder and she died at Bishopton, Bristol, 25 September 1936 aged 88.

Robert William STANGROOM
Born 1877 at Middlesborough, Yorkshire, son of William STANGROOM, furnace engine driver, and his wife Maria BARWICK who were both originally from Burnham, Norfolk. At the age of 13 he worked as an errand boy in Middlesborough and by 1901 he was a Sunderland boot dealer’s assistant. He married Isabella Elizabeth WATSON on 26 December 1904 and their children included Robert William STANGROOM 20 January 1911 and Isabella STANGROOM 11 March 1915. From 1908 to 1911 he managed Public Benefit Boot Co premises in West Hartlepool and later went on to become an Inspector for the firm. During WWI he served in the Royal Regiment of Artillery. He retired from the company as manager of the branch at Ashington and died in 1957 aged 79.

Charles STANIFORTH
Employed by the Public Benefit Boot Co in Birmingham to drive one of the large horse-drawn boots used for advertising the company and delivering merchandise to customers. In September 1887 he was summonsed to the Birmingham Police Court “for having driven a certain vehicle in the shape of a boot, for the purpose of an advertisement, and contrary to the byelaws. Mr Bickley (Buller, Bickley, and Cross) defended. Inspector Jeffries stated that he saw the defendant driving a horse and vehicle in Moseley Street on the 19^th inst. The body of the vehicle was shaped like a big boot. Mr Bickley argued that there was no intention to break the byelaws, as the vehicle was being legitimately used for the purpose of delivering goods, and not for the purpose of advertising. Mr Cook said that when the case came before the magistrates a few weeks ago it was admitted by Mr Bickley’s client that the vehicle was constructed as an advertisement, and that similar vehicle were used in other towns. In Birmingham, however, they had their own byelaws. The only difference between the arguments then used and now was that it was not stated that the vehicle was used for delivering goods. Mr Bickley stated that what his client wanted was an expression from the Bench as to whether they were of opinion that notwithstanding that the vehicle was used for commercial purposes it yet came within the spirit of the byelaws. The Bench said they considered that the vehicle was a violation of the byelaws – namely, that it was intended for an advertisement. The Bench would only inflict a fine of 5s. and cost in this case, as they presumed the intention of the defendants had been to raise the point. In future cases, however, a heavier fine would be inflicted.”

Samuel Frederick STANIFORTH
Born 1860 at Cromford, Derbyshire, son of Samuel STANIFORTH, tailor and draper, and his wife Elizabeth Margaret STORER. Samuel Jr married Sarah Annie BOWLER of Belper in 1884 and their children included Arthur STANIFORTH 1887, Roland STANIFORTH 1889, Mabel STANIFORTH 1893 and Annie STANIFORTH 1897. Samuel commenced his working life as a salesman in his father’s tailor shop. In the 1880's and 1890's he managed Public Benefit Boot Co premises at 109 Bath Street, Ilkeston and from 1901 he managed company premises at Birmingham.

George Henry STANDEVEN
Born 1869 at Hanley, Staffordshire, son of George STANDEVEN, coal miner, and his wife Ann GARSIDE. At the age of 22 he was a boot and shoe salesman and eleven years later managed the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at 4 Gaolgate, Stafford.

Percy STEADMAN
Born 1870 at Bristol, son of Henry Jonathan STEADMAN, wholesale boot manufacturer, and his wife Harriette Sarah BUCHANAN. Along with his brother Clifford STEADMAN, he worked in the family business and by the early 1900’s they were trading as Clifford and Percy Steadman and Company. He was a director of Lennards Limited in the 1920’s and served as a governing director of the British American Leather Co

William Henry STEVENS
Born 1850 at Shoreditch, Middlesex, son of William STEVENS, cheesemonger and grocer, and his wife Mary Ann WOODLAND. He married Helen Florence LEAVESLEY in 1878 at Leicester. He was a boot manufacturer and shareholder in the Public Benefit Boot Co.

Edward STRINGER
Born 1879 at Marylebone, London, son of John STRINGER, builder’s foreman. In 1901 when he married Marie Eva BOULDEN, he managed the company’s premises at 121 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, Middlesex, continuing there until at least 1911.

Collin MaCallum STEWART
Born 1867 at Sandhurst, Victoria, Australia, the son of John STEWART, shoe merchant and his wife Ann WREN. He married Florence Mary CLEMENT on 3 July 1894 at Brixton, London. Their children included Albert MaCallum STEWART born 9 November 1896 at Ilfracombe, Devon. In the 1890’s he worked as a shoe salesman and by 1901 he managed the company’s premises in Walthamstow, Essex. In 1911 he managed Lennards premises at 379 High Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. He died in Bristol in 1929 aged 61 and his widow Florence died there in 1942 aged 74.

Percy James STINTON
Born 1896 in Worcester, son of Ashley STINTON, bricklayer, and his wife Agnes Matilda ROWE. In 1911 at the age of 15 he worked as a boot shop assistant in the company’s Worcester premises. In WWI he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) 435512 Private 21st Field Ambulance, attached to the 7th Division. After the war he married, had two daughters and worked as a senior taxman in Wolverhampton.

Miss STONES
Manageress of the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at 19 Bridge Street, Goole, Yorkshire, 1913-1914.

Sydney Walter STRANGE
Born 1870 at Notting Hill, London, the son of Samuel STRANGE, who for many years managed a London boot and shoe shop. In the 1890s, Sydney, as well as two of his sisters, Florence Johnson STRANGE and Gertrude Maria STRANGE assisted their father in the boot shop. He married Lucy USHER in 1893 and their children included Sidney Vivian STRANGE 1894, Doris STRANGE c1900 and Marjorie STRANGE c1905. Around the turn of the century he managed Public Benefit Boot Co premises in London, Bristol and Gloucester. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 90 Parsons Green Lane, Fulham, London. He died 16 July 1933 aged 63 and his widow Lucy died 21 July 1945 aged 77.

Arthur Robert STUBBS
Born 1870 at Leeds, son of George STUBBS, woollen pattern man, and his wife Elizabeth. Arthur and his brother Christian Frederick STUBBS were both boot salesmen. By 1891 Arthur managed a boot shop in Leicestershire and ten years later managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises in Normanton. He married at Wakefield in 1909.

Christian Frederick STUBBS
Born 1864 at Leeds, son of George STUBBS and his wife Elizabeth. He married firstly at Huddersfield in 1885, and secondly in 1891 to Elizabeth WORFOLK of Dewsbury. Their children included Frederick STUBBS 1892, David STUBBS 1893 and Elizabeth STUBBS 1898. The family for some time lived at Bridghouse and at the turn of the century Christian managed a boot shop in Wakefield.

Arthur SUTTON
Born 1871 at Rodborough near Stroud, Gloucestershire, son of Edward SUTTON, grocer’s assistant, and his wife Emma BRINKWORTH. He married Annie CORDWELL in 1894 at Stroud and their children included Annie SUTTON born 1895 at Cheltenham and Emily SUTTON born 1897 at Taunton. He worked firstly as a shoemaker’s assistant and by the turn of the century managed the Public Benefit Boot Co premises a 35 Pandy Square, De Winton Street, Tonypandy, Glamorgan, Wales. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at Gloucester.

Harry William SUTTON
Born 1884 at Wimbledon, Surrey, he married Mabel Florence L RICHARDS in 1908 at Southampton. They had a daughter Gwendoline Ena M SUTTON 1909 at Southampton. In 1911 he managed the company’s premises at 102 High Street, Notting Hill Gate, Kensington, West London.

George William SWAFFIELD
Born 1875 at Newington, Surrey, son of George William SWAFFIELD, zinc worker, and his wife Emma COATES. Around 1898 he married Lizzie HANSON, widow of John Edward BENN and they had a daughter Edna Bernhardt SWAFFIELD 1899. He worked firstly as an office lad in Brighton, Sussex and in 1901 he managed the Public Benefit Boot Co branch at 58 High Street, Hornsey. From at least 1901 to 1916 he managed the company’s large premises in the Albert Buildings, 21-23 Derby Road, Nottingham. His wife Lizzie died at Derby in 1946 aged 84 and he died at Nottingham in 1954 aged 78.