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The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Messrs W BISCOMBE & SONS
The Plymouth business house of Messrs W Biscombe & Sons was situated in Green Street, Plymouth. According to the sign on the building the business was established in 1857.
The Biscombe works in Green Street just prior to
demolition, 1957. Mr William Biscombe came from Wadebridge, in Cornwall [1], and married Miss Charlotte Hitt, from Bradninch, Devon, in Plymouth in 1856 [2]. It would be fascinating to know how a Doctor's general servant from Cornwall came to meet and marry a rag cutter from a paper mill in mid Devon [3]. In the 1861 census William is recorded as a ginger beer manufacturer and he and Charlotte, along with 3-years-old William junior and 1-year-old Kate, were living at number 19 Saint Andrew Street, Plymouth [1]. William must have made some really good fizzy drinks because by 1871 he had the works in Green Street, where he and his family were also living. And what a family. In addition to William and Kate there were now two other sons, John Montague Biscombe and Frederick Biscombe, and no fewer than four more daughters [4]. By 1890, when Mrs Charlotte Biscombe passed away [2], the family had been enlarged by another daughter and two more sons, James Biscombe and Alfred Joseph Biscombe. William Biscombe junior was now a cork manufacturer while Fred and James had joined their father in the mineral water business. [5] At the turn of the century both William Biscombe senior and William Biscombe junior were both recorded as mineral water manufacturers while Alfred Biscombe was the manager and James was a traveller for the business. [6] Mr William Biscombe senior died suddenly from the effects of rheumatism on Thursday February 5th 1903. He was 71 years of age and died at number 6 Tothill Avenue. [7] The funeral took place at Efford Cemetery on Tuesday February 10th 1903. A cortege of about 25 carriages wended its way from Tothill Avenue via Ebrington Street and the firm's works in Green Street to the Cemetery, headed by Doctor Ward and Mr Phillips of Messrs Skardon & Phillps. The body was enclosed in a polished oak coffin with brass mountings, which was borne by employees of the business. There was a large attendance at the Cemetery, where the Reverend J M Hodge led the service. His four sons, William, Frederick, James and Alfred Joseph, and his four daughters, Kate, Evelyn, Lucy and Bessie, all attended. The coffin was placed in the family tomb. [8] This meant that all four of William's sons were now in charge of the business, Mr John Montague Biscombe having died in 1890 at the age of 28 [2]. William Biscombe was living at number 5 Tothill Avenue with his younger sister Kate, both unmarried [9]. Fred Biscombe was living at 16 Freedom Park Villas with his wife, Jane, and two children, Miss Dorothy Biscombe, a drapery apprentice, and 16-years-old Percival Fred Biscombe, a warehouse apprentice [10]. At number 82 Greenbank Avenue was Mr James Biscombe, along with his wife, Lilian Marie and 6-years-old son, Master Eric William Biscombe [11]. Finally, the youngest brother, Mr Alfred Joseph Biscombe, and his wife, Ellen, were living at number 41 Salisbury Road: they had three children [12]. Mr William Biscombe died on Saturday December 23rd 1916 at the relatively young age of 59 [7]. His sister, Kate, died in 1923, aged 64. Mr Fred Biscombe, the senior partner, and his wife, Jane, were the next to pass away, on January 5th 1937 [7] and in 1949 respectively. They were living at "Springway", Vapron Road, Hartley [7]. Mrs Lilian Marie Biscombe, James's wife, died in 1955. [2] By now Mr James Biscombe was 81 and Mr Alfred Joseph Biscombe was 80 and it it was perhaps inevitable that when it was announced that the factory was to be demolished to make way for a new Plymouth, they decided to close up shop. In their centenary year Messrs W Biscombe & Sons ceased trading and and at the end of January 1957 their works in Green Street was demolished. [13] Mr Alfred Joseph Biscombe, who lived at "Moorcroft", Southway Lane, Plymouth, passed away in April 1959, at the grand age of 83 [14] and the last of the brothers, Mr James Biscombe, died on Friday August 11th 1967 at the even grander age of 93. [7]
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