Whatmore Family History

Browsing through a second hand bookshop recently I came across a copy of ‘John Hartley’s Clock Almanack 1926′ - a collection of poems and stories in Yorkshire dialect. What was intriguing was that it was published by Watmoughs Limited of Idle, Bradford.  Although people I asked had heard of the company I was able to find out little more until I managed to obtain a copy of ‘Watmoughs 1888 - 1965′ by J E Watmough, published in 1989 by Whatmore (Holdings) PLC.  This provides the story of the company and of its founder. This post is derived entirely from this book.

All illustrations in this post, apart from that of the ‘Clock Almanac’ are taken from ‘Watmoughs 1888-1965′ and reproduced here by kind permission of Polestar UK Print Ltd.

Watmough’s Ltd was founded by John Edwin Watmough who was known as ‘Ted’ to his friends. Ted was born on 22 July 1860 at North Street, Thackley, Bradford.

John Edwin Watmough  

(Click to enlarge)

Ted’s father was William Watmough who was born on 17 November  1835 at Eccleshill, Bradford. He married an Ann Victoria (surname not known) and became one of the best known autioneers and valuers in the Bradford area. He died on 26 March 1887 and is buried in the Upper Chapel Cemetery at Idle, where his wife, who died on 10 March 1922, is also buried.

William’s father was John Watmough born about 1814 at Hawksworth near Bradford and he is probably the John baptised on 29 May 1814 at Otley. John was a Cabinet Maker and he married Mary Ann Glover who died in 1876. He then married a Judith Baxter in 1879. If I am correct about John’s baptism, then his line would appear to go back to a William Watmuff born about 1673 at Wigan in Lancashire.

 The Watmough family house at Idle which also served as the printing and publishing works

Returning to Ted, the founder of Watmough’s Ltd, he married Catherine Rushworth in 1890. Their three children were:

William Erroll Glanville Watmough who was born on 16 September 1890 at Idle and who married Elsie A Dixon in 1925 in the Skipton Registration District. They had two children - John (Jack) E Watmough born 28 April 1926, and who wrote ‘Watmoughs 1888 - 1965′ and who died in June 1989; and a daughter born in 1929. William died on 18 November 1970 and is buried in the Upper Chapel Cemetery at Idle.

Cyril Edwin Athelstane Watmough who was born on 16 October 1892 and who died on 15 June 1895. He is buried in the Upper Chapel Cemetery at Idle.

Marjorie Gladys Watmough who was born in 1897 and who married Douglas Grellin and died on 28 June 1950. She is buried in the Upper Chapel Cemetery at Idle.

Ted, the founder of Watmoughs, was regarded as a dandy and wore a grey bowler, spats and yellow gloves. he used to drive around the area in a dogcart and later in a Sunbeam car, which he never learned to reverse successfully. He was generous and benevolent towards his staff, but insisted on strict economies when trade was bad.

In later life Ted lived with his wife at Plumpton Hall  where he enjoyed throwing parties. One wonderful story about him is that he invited the Idle and Thackley Brass Band to call one Christmas morning and plied them with punch. Later in the day, several of the bandsmen were found asleep under some bushes! 

Ted had a great love of animals and he was a successful breeder of cows, pigs, horses, dogs, rabbits, cavies and pigeons. It was Ted’s love of animals which led himn to become a printer and publisher.  Ted wanted to be able to read show reports, news and articles about rabbits so he founded his own paper - ‘Rabbit Keeper’ - in 1880. This became ‘Fur and Feather’ in 1890. This is still a thriving publication today and details of this can be read at this link: http://www.furandfeather.co.uk/ 

To cut costs, Ted soon decided to print the paper himself so he installed a flat bed printer powered by steam in the cellar of his own home at Highgate House in Idle. He made space for the compostitors in the attic. The press took two days and one night to print an issue. In 1894, Ted started to print ‘The Shipley Express and Airdale News’ and by 1896 he had founded ‘Homing World’ and was also printing posters and handbills. In these early days, the company was very much a family affair. Mrs Watmough would help by feeding sheets into the press with one hand, whilst holding her son with the other. The press would fall silent on a Monday whilst she did the weekly wash in the cellar.

 The early belt-driven machinery

 In 1896 the business became a proper company with a capital of £35,000.  and at that time a lithotype machine was installed in the house.

The turn of the century brought a downturn in profits and the company did not do as well as in the earlier years. It struggled to survive through the years of the First World War with the staff working on reduced wages. By 1917, twenty-four of the employers were away fighting, but the post war boom saw the company bouncing back and it continued to thrive even during the Great Depression. In 1925, the company bought ‘John Hartley’s Clock Almanack’.

William (Bill) and Elsie Watmough

(Click to enlarge)

Ted died on 6 January 1939 and his wife died on 20 March 1939. They are buried in the Upper Chapel Cemetary at Idle.  Ted’s son William (Bill)  now became the driving force of the business, being assisted in later years by his own son Jack

John (Jack) Watmough

(Click to enlarge)

During the Second World War, Watmoughs had a number of important contracts with the Government.

In 1953, Watmoughs became a holding company. In the early 1960s there were four building extensions and the staff increased to 500 employees. Watmoughs became a public company in 1965 and is today part of Polestar UK Print Ltd.