PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Messrs JOHN WESTCOTT Ltd
The Plymouth business house of Messrs John Westcott Ltd, coal, salt and cement merchants, had their office at 111 Tavistock Road, Plymouth, before the Second World War and at 110 Tavistock Road, with a storage yard at Saint Budeaux Victoria Road Station, in 1953. It is said that the business was founded by Mr John Westcott in 1865, when he was 23 years of age. [1] He was the second son of Mr Nicholas Bennett Westcott and the former Miss Sarah Doidge, a ship builder and an Alderman of the Borough of Saltash, in Cornwall. [2] In 1855 Sarah became a widow and she and by 1861 [2a] the family had moved to Queen Anne's Battery at Coxside, Plymouth, where George Westcott had become an apprentice in a shipyard and John and Nicholas were both clerks. The youngest child, Miss Fanny Westcott, was still at school. [3] Mr John Westcott married Miss Bessie Banks at the Church of Saint John the Evangelist, Sutton-on-Plym, Plymouth on November 12th 1868 [4]. Bessie was the eldest daughter of Mr Joseph Banks, shipbuilder, of number 1 Queen Anne's Battery [4a]. The business continued to prosper. The offices were at Queen Anne's Battery and John also had a yard in the locality, where he stored the coal, coke, and agricultural salt and lime. He owned schooners, which not only sailed around the British coastline but crossed the Atlantic to Canada and Newfoundland. For local work he owned several barges and two steam tugs, the "Herbert" and the "Stormcock", the last-named being the most powerful privately-owned tug in the district [5]. The coal was unloaded at Victoria Wharves by the most up-to-date coal handling and screening plant in the West of England. [1] John and Sarah soon had a large family, the main ones as far as the history of the business is concerned being Albert Westcott, Herbert Westcott and Miss May Westcott. By 1891 they were all living at Teat's Hill House, overlooking the entrance to Sutton Harbour. [6] At the end of the 19th century Westcott's domestic and steam coal was being supplied by Harton's of Newcastle, Clifton Hall of Dowtop, Abram & Garswood Hall of Wigan and various South Wales collieries. The coal was brought to Plymouth by his own ships but could be forwarded on to other places in Devon and Cornwall by both the Great Western and the London & South Western Railways. Westcott's salt, also imported by sea, was used for both domestic purposes and for fish curing. [5] Mr Albert Westcott became a ship owner in his own right, with an office at number 42 Woolster Street and a home at 10 Saint James's Place East. [7][8] His younger brother, Mr Herbert Westcott, became an accountant and lived in 1911 at number 23 Beechwood Avenue, Mutley, Plymouth. [9] It was at Teat's Hill House that Mr John Westcott died on Wednesday February 12th 1913. [10] His funeral took place on Monday February 17th 1913 at the Plymouth & Devonport Cemetery. The service was conducted by the Reverend H K Banks, a nephew who was home on furlough from Uganda. [11] The funeral was attended by Mr A Westcott and Mr H Westcott, sons, Mr A Shakerley of Clapham, and Mr W Townsend, of Hereford, both sons-in-law. The following members of his staff also attended: Messrs W Manning; W Cook; Horne; Stanbury; James Adams; John Adams; T Adams; Hedley Adams; W Adams; D Osler; W Hobbs; Bate; J Evans; Tarring; P Ham; and P Horn. [11] It was following the death of their father that Albert and Herbert began to run the business. Herbert managed the coal importing and River Tamar barges and Albert ran the shipping fleet. Mr Herbert Westcott was the first to pass away, in 1917, and Miss May Westcott, the late founder's youngest daughter, took over his responsibilities. After Mr Albert Westcott died on Sunday December 13th 1936 [11a] she ran the entire business. Having been a kindergarten mistress she was no doubt ably qualified to run such a male orientated business. Indeed, it is said of her that 'she suffered men little and fools not at all'. [12] In the meantime, in 1927, the coal import part of the firm at Victoria Wharves was acquired by Coast Lines Ltd and Miss May Westcott was appointed to their Board of Directors in addition to managing the remaining shipping operation of Westcotts. This had been greatly depleted during the depression of the 1930s and consisted of only the cutter barge "Industry" and the smack "Gwendowline". Both were quickly disposed, the last-named in 1937. [12] The Company's office in Woolster Street was still in operation when it was destroyed during the Second World War and all the Company's documents and records with it. [12] During the 1950s the business was offering its 20,000 registered customers in the Plymouth area the best house coal, coalite, anthracite, boiler fuel, coke, logs and chopped wood. [13] The end of the Westcott story is a little confused and remains to be clarified. On the one hand Mr Ian Merry states that the Westcott name was kept alive by Coast Lines Ltd, who operated their fleet of black and yellow coal lorries carrying the name of John Westcott until the late 1970s, when the name was changed to Western Fuels. [12] But when in 1957 the Wallsend House in Union Street was being constructed for the Plymouth Coal Company Ltd it was stated in the press that Messrs John Westcott Ltd was one of their subsidiaries. [1] Sources:
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