PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Mr 'TED' WEEKS, Confectioner
The Plymouth business house of Messrs Weeks, confectioners, was situated at 104 Union Street, Plymouth, before the Second World War and was continued by Mrs Winifred Weeks at number 96 Union Street thereafter. Mr Thomas Francis Weeks was born at East Stonehouse in 1843 and became a carpenter and joiner. [1] He may have worked for the Admiralty because his first child, Edwin Thomas Weeks, was born at Greenock, in Scotland. The family remained there until circa 1880 and Edwin was followed by Agnes A Weeks, Elizabeth J Weeks, Alfred Weeks, Samuel B Weeks and Thomas Francis Weeks. [2] The youngest child, Oliver Woodward Weeks, was born towards the end of 1880 at Cardiff, Glamorganshire, South Wales. [1][2] However, the family must have moved yet again soon after Oliver was born because the 1881 census, taken on April 3rd 1881, shows them as living at 30 East India Dock Road, Limehouse, Middlesex. Thomas, the father, was still a carpenter and joiner and also residing with them were two relatives, Miss Fanny Richmond and 22-years-old Mr George Woodward, who was a clerk and time keeper. [2] By the end of that year Thomas Francis Weeks was dead, at the very young age of 37, suggesting it was possibly a fatal accident. [1] It would appear that the family then removed back home to Plymouth, where Edwin Thomas Weeks, sugar boiler, married Miss Jessie Rickard, also a sugar boiler, in 1889 [1]. Edwin and Jessie were living at 24 The Parade, on the Barbican [3]. Mrs Elizabeth Weeks was in 1891 living on her own means at 1a Abbey Place, Old Town Street. Her 19-years-old daughter, Agnes Weeks , was a confectioner and 15-years-old Alfred was an errand boy whiled the two youngest sons, Thomas Francis Weeks and Oliver Woodward Weeks , were both at school. Curiously, 17-years-old Miss Elizabeth J Weeks, was occupied 'On Own Account'. [4] In 1897 Mr Edwin T Weeks was listed as a 'Dealer in sweets' at 155 Union Street, Plymouth. [5] The census for 1911 shows Edwin as a confectioner and sugar boiler living at 121 Union Street, Plymouth, with his new wife, Ellen, whom he had married 2 years previous, and two sons and three daughters by his first marriage. Both his wife and the two eldest children, 20-years-od Thomas and 18-years-od Jessie, assisted him in the business. [6] A few doors away, at 100 Union Street, Plymouth, was his younger brother, Mr Oliver Woodward Weeks, who was by now a fruiterer and confectioner. [7] Mr Thomas Francis Weeks, Edwin's eldest son, married Miss Winifred Gladys Ryder at Charles Church on April 3rd 1918 [8]. He had served in the 3rd Canadian Rifles during the Great War. When he was discharged he took over his father's business and assumed the nickname of 'Ted'. Between the two Wars he moved the shop further along Union Street but those premises were destroyed in 1941, along with al the stock. He re-started production in new premises immediately opposite the New Palace Theatre. [9] Mr Power recalled in 1982 that: 'This shop at the Octagon where his sweets were produced is remembered by the mechanical arms which always seemed to be working - mixing and stretching - some sugary material.' [10] 'Ted' Weeks's most well-known confection was the "Cough-no-more" peppermint. These were brown in colour and sold in blue coloured packets at the gates of the Royal Dockyard from 5am onwards, at football matches, and to those waiting in cinema and theatre queues. In the summer months they were also sold from a stall on Plymouth Hoe, where they were joined by candy and mint rock. Mr Weeks was very fond of children and used to offer his sweets at a reduced price for children's parties and often made gifts of them to Nazareth House. The "Cough-no mores" were apparently very effective. With sugar on ration during the Second Word War production was stopped for a few years. [9] Mr Weeks retired in 1959. When the health of both he and his wife began to fail, they moved from 41 Pendeen Crescent, Southway, to live with their son, Douglas, and his family at 19 Duncombe Avenue, Honicknowle. On Sunday January 28th 1962 Mrs Winifred Gladys Weeks died at Freedom Fields Hospital at the age of 67 years. Mr Thomas Francis Weeks passed away at his son's house on Tuesday January 30th 1962. He was 70-years-old. There was a joint funeral at Modbury Parish Church on Thursday February 1st 1962. [9] His younger brother, Mr Oliver Woodward Weeks, had retired from his confectionary business in 1939 and had died at his home, 38a King Gardens, Plymouth, on February 10th 1947 at the age of 66 years. The funeral took place at Saint Paul's Church, East Stonehouse, on Thursday February 13th 1947. His business then passed into the hands of his eldest son, Mr Frank Weeks, who had a stall in the Pannier Market. [11] Sources:
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