2010 - Ashfield
Care Home, Rackheath - Newsletter Article on
Doris
Doris was the daughter of Bertie and Rose Grint
and was 1 of 10 children Walter, Freddy, Bertie,
Arthur, Lenny, Sam (sometimes called Charlie),
Ivy, Edna and Iris.
When Doris was a teenager her her mother sadly
passed away and her father remarried Winnie,
who gave him another daughter Ann. Doris then
went to live with her sister Ivy as she was
not happy that her father remarried. Only Doris,
Sam and Ann are still with us.
In the early years the family had very little
money and lived near Chapplefield in Norwich,
they were a very close family, particularly
the sisters. Lenny was very kind to Doris as
a child, and often paid her to wash and iron
a shirt for him, which Doris loved to do.
On leaving school she started working at Caley's
chocolate factory in Chapplefield, and also
joined the Wrens with her sister Iris and joked
that 'that it was for the 6 white collars',
but soon got homesick and left.
When Doris and Len started courting, they would
both cycle to Hemsby with friends most weekends,
and spend time camping.
Doris married Len in 1940 and then was posted
to Sierra Leone, West Africa during WW2. He
was a non commissioned officer and she loved
his uniform.
While Len was away during the war, Doris lived
with Len's parents in Leicester, she adored
them and they were all very close.
Len worked in the shoe industry all of his life
and started by sweeping the floors and finished
up Managing Director of Trimfoot Shoes ....
Needless to say Doris never went short of beautiful
shoes.
Doris and Len's 1st daughter Margaret was born
in 1944, with son Richard in 1952. When the
children were very young they spent most weekends
at the coast in a caravan which they owned and
Doris loved packing up on a Friday night ready
to go to the caravan. Doris loved staying at
home to look after the house and children.
In 1950's & 1960's Doris and Len loved to
holiday in Italy - mostly Venice and Lido di
Jesslo. However one memorable holiday was spent
in the lake district in a tent where they were
flooded out in a torrential rain storm.
Sadly Len passed away in 2001. Doris has 4 grandchildren
Ryan & Jack who are Richards boys and also
Adam & James who are Margaret's boys. Doris
also have 3 great grandchildren, Rebecca, Beatrix
and Toby.
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Doris
with daughter Margaret
Ashfield Care Home
2010 |
More on Leonard Jack Waspe
(known as Len)
This is the start of records
found which appear to show the ancestors of
Len
1787: Feb 13
- Bural at St Margaret's Church Norwich
Susanna Wasp late More wife of
John Wasp
1788: Mar 23
- Marriage at St Clements Church Norwich - Entry
204
John Wasp
Widower to Elizabeth Nobbs a Single Women
Witness: Samuel Nobbs and Ursula Nobbs
Notes: Bride made her mark.
This could be
the baptism of Len's G.G. Grandfather and the
next generation back
1793: Mar 24 - Baptism at St Paul's
Church Norwich
James Wasp
born Mar 20th 1793 son of John
Wasp a Pauper and his wife Elizabeth
Nobbs
James Waspe married Sarah
Nicholson at Norwich -
no record found
Sarah's name taken from the Baptism recoprd
of their children at St James Pockthorpe
1851: Census
- Sussex Street, 197 St Augustine Norwich, Norfolk
James Waspe
- Head - age 58 - Ironmongers Porter Norwich
- Len's Great, Great Gandfather
Sarah Waspe - Wife - age 59 - Norwich
Maria Yaxley - Dau - Married - age 21
- Shoe Binder Norwich
Henry Waspe - Son - age 18 - Braziers
App - Norwich
George Waspe
- Son - age 14 - Scholar - Norwich -
Len's Great Gandfather
Charlotte Waspe - Dau - age 9 - Norwich
Edward Yaxley - SonL - Married - age
23 - Journeyman Shoe Maker - Norwich
1860: Marriage
record - George Waspe
married Hannah Goose at Norwich - Dec
quarter (4b 301)
1861:
Census - Westpotte St Heigham Norwich
George Waspe
- Head - age 23 - Shoemaker Norfolk - Norwich
- Len's Great Gandfather
Harriet Waspe - Wife - age 21 - Shoemaker
Wife Norfolk - Norwich
George Waspe - Son - age 3months - Norfolk
- Norwich
Len's Great Grandfather died
1869: Death record - James
Waspe at Norwich - Sep quarter (4b
63) age 76
1871: Census
- 1 Church St Coram Place St Clement Norwich
George Waspe
- Head - age 33 - Shoemaker Norfolk - Norwich
- Len's Great Gandfather
Harriet Waspe - Wife - age 31 - Shoebinder
Norfolk - Norwich
George Waspe - age 10 - Scholar - Norwich
Frederick Waspe - Son - age 4 - Scholar
- Norwich
1881: Census
- Infirmary Road Norwich St Clement, Norfolk
George Waspe
- Head- age 43 - Shoemaker - Norwich, Norfolk
- Len's Great Gandfather
Harriet Wapse - Wife - age 42 - Shoe
Binder - Norwich
George Waspe - Son - single - age 20
- Shoemaker - Norwich
Frederick Waspe - Son - age 14 - Shoemaker
- Norwich
Leonard Waspe
- Son - age 9 - Scholar - Norwich -
Len's Grandfather
Algar Waspe - Son - age 7 - Scholar -
Norwich
1891: Census
- St Clements Norwich
George Waspe
- Head - age - Len's Great
Gandfather
Harriet Waspe - Wife - age
George Waspe - Son - age
Leonard Waspe
- Son - age 20 - Len's
Grandfather
Algar Waspe - Son - age 17
I believe this
to be Len's father and family
1911: Census - 13 Eade Road
Norwich Norfolk
Leonard Waspe - Head - Married - age
40 (1871) - Turn Shoe Maker - born Norwich
Harriett Waspe - Wife - married 19 years
- age 40 (1871) - born Norwich
Frederick Waspe
- Son - Single - age 18 (1893) - Boot Clicker
- born Norwich - Len's
Father
Alice M. Waspe - Daughter - Single -
age 17 (1894) - Dressmaker - born Norwich
Mabel G. Waspe - Daughter - age 12 (1899)
- School - born Norwich
Len's parents
1915: Marriage record - Frederick
Leonard Waspe married Harriet Curl at
Norwich - Dec quarter (4b 379)
I believe
this to be Len's mother and family
1911: Census - 8 Crown Court
Yard Norwich Norfolk
Sarah Curl - Head - Widow - age 40
(1871) - Charwoman - born Norwich
Harriet Curl
- Daughter - Single - age 21 (1890) - Mill
Hand - born Norwich
John Curl - Son - Single - age 18 (1893)
- Boot Finisher - born Norwich
Frederick Curl - Son - age 5 (1906)
- School - born Norwich
Florence Curl - Daughter - age 2 (1909)
- born Norwich
1916: Birth
record - Leonard J.
Waspe at Norwich - Sep quarter (4b
205)
More on children
01
- Child of Doris
Eva Grint (1920) and Leonard Jack
Waspe |
1
- Margaret Waspe married Robert
Adrian Brawm-Meek, born June 26, 1944,
in Norfolk on October 31, 1966 at St Giles,
Norwich
They had children:
1 - Adam Robert Brawn-Meek,
2 - James William Brawn-Meek,
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01
- Child of Doris
Eva Grint (1920) and Leonard Jack
Waspe |
2
- Richard Leonard Waspe (1952)
married Susan Fern, born 1952,
Nottingham, UK
They have Children:
1 - Rayn Waspe,
2 - Jack Waspe,
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More on Leonard
Jack Waspe (1916 - 2001)
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Len
in the Clicking Room at his factory 'Trimfoot'
on Starling Road , Norwich |
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Ray -
I love that picture of Dad in the clicking
room, that’s how I remember him.
Also my granddad (dads father) used to work
in that very room cutting out the uppers,
and I loved going up there because of the
lovely smell of leather. Also, on a Friday
afternoon after the workers had been paid
they all used to bring out sweets…this
was the highlight of the week and we called
them ‘Rosies’, I’ve no
idea why, but maybe they were Cadburys Roses??
- Margaret Brawn-Meek (nee Waspe)
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Barfield & Richardson
Ltd - Len began working there in
1931 as "the boy", where one of his
first jobs was to sweep the factory. He joined
his Father, who had worked in the trade from
1906, and at Barfield & Richardson had risen
to the position of foreman clicker. Despite
his humble start Len had an outstanding career
during which he won numerous gold and silver
medals and 23 diplomas for his shoe designs.
His trademark at Barfield & Richardson was
the "Boofers" which were stylish,
top of the range day shoes for ladies, often
designed with a slight wedge. In the 1950's
he made shoes for many famous ballerinas, including
Dame Margot Fonteyn and Moira Shearer (star
of the film 'The Red Shoes'). In fact, in 1952,
he designed all of the shoes worn offstage by
the Sadler's Wells Ballet Company during their
American tour.
Trimfoot Ltd
- Len left Barfield & Richardson to be a
director at Trimfoot Ltd, which was formed in
1953. Following the demise of Barfield &
Richardson, Trimfoot took over the Starling
Road premises and also provided employment for
many of their staff. - Taken from "The
Story of the Norwich Boot and Shoe Trade"
by Frances and Michael Holmes - page 136.
More references to Len are on pages: 121, 221
& 244.
For many years Len was making
notes on his life and experiences in the footwear
industry with the intension of writing a book
when he retired. Apparently it amounted to reams
and reams of paper which in the end he gave
to a very good friend 'Ken Holmes' who was then
working for the local newspaper 'Norwich Evening
News'. With the help of Len's records Ken published
a book:
TWO CENTURIES OF SHOEMAKING 1792-1992 - START-RITE
SHOE BOOK
Searching the
internet I came on two patents that had Len
Waspes name attached to them
Improvements
relating to shoes and like articles of footwear
- United Kingdom Patent GB657441
Assignee: Leonard Jack Waspe - Barfield And
Richardson
IPC: A43B 21/24 - A43B 21/00
657,441. Shoes.
WASPE, L. J., and BARFIELD & RICHARDSON.
Ltd. Feb. 10, 1949, No. 3661. [Class 17(ii)]
A hard felt filler 1 extends below a rubber
backer member 2 and leather sock lining 3
and under its forward and rear ends are soft
felt fillers 7 bridged by a shank stiffener
6 which is secured to the filler 1 by adhesive
tape.
Improvements in or relating
to shoes and like articles of footwear - United
Kingdom Patent GB666910
Assignee: Leonard Jack Waspe - Barfield And
Richardson
IPC: A43B 15/00
666,910. Boots &c. WASPE,
L. J., and BARFIELD & RICHARDSON, Ltd.
Dec. 9, 1949 [June 1, 1949], No. 14682/49.
Class 17 (ii). A slip-lasted shoe has a sock
2 and platform cover 5 secured to a closed
upper 1, with a card seatpiece 9 applied to
the underside of the sock 2 and a wedge 4
stuck under the seatpiece. A felt platform
3 is applied under the sock 2 and wedge 4
and an outsole 7 and heel top lift 8 are attached
after the platform cover has been lasted in
position. The sock has a rubber backer and
a felt strip 6 is solutioned to the under
side of the cover 5 about the forepart of
the shoe and to the wedge 4 at the heel. The
part 6a is trimmed off after the strip is
secured.
The National Archive
Norfolk Record Office hold records of - Shorten
and Armes, shoe manufacturers, Fishergate, Norwich
Trimfoot (a subsidiary) first week's work sheets
and cards BR110/57 1953
Found on the internet
- It appears that Trimfoot
was originally called Barfield & Richardson's
Cecil Newman worked at Barfield & Richardson's
factory in Starling Road and in those days he
would have been a foot soldier in an army of
men and women working in the many shoe factories
dotted around the city. Their footwear went
all over the world.
http://www.edp24.co.uk/norfolk-life/those_happy_days_with_a_boozer_on_every_street_1_487758?action=login
Memories
Len Waspe was a
Shoe Designer and Manufacturer he had a factory
on Starling Road, Norwich. I would go and sit
in Uncle Len's office and talk to him about
his work and twice he took me with him round
his factory when he was attending to things.
In 1967 I decided to immigrate to Australia,
I mentioned it to Uncle Len and he said "you
can't go all that way without a job come and
see me next week." Next week he had arrange
that I should go and see Joe Goldberg (a friend
of his) on my arrival in Sydney. I was met off
the plane by two of Joe Goldberg's top guys
and straight into a job, how cool was that?
Years later when I had returned
home to Norwich, I was a sales rep for Zenith
Windows on a call of nature one night to the
Hotel Norwich on Boundary Road, I saw a now
retired Uncle Len sitting at the bar having
a drink and smoking his pipe, we had a drink
together and went over some old times. This
was the last time I saw Uncle Len, it is only
now when I think back that I really appreciate
the enormous thing he had done for me, I never
really thanked him enough. - Ray Taylor
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