Page 18 - Jigsaw October 2019

Glance at the past.......................................................................................
Freeman and Webb to Dupont Bros Eric Franklin explains...
Freeman and Webb ran their business at 23 – 25 Midland Road from the latter years of the 1800’s. Their business included sections covering drapery, haberdashery, millinery, hardware dealing and general merchants. They had a large range of china and ceramics. During their early years a craze grew for crested china souvenirs which could be bought for just a few pennies. The company bought the basic ceramic from
a Staffordshire pottery, applied the local crest, then gilded and glazed it for sale. All local examples have the crest of the arms of Washington in Thrapston Church. Some of the pieces in my collection are shown and range from classical pots to animals.
The picture of Midland Road was taken in about 1905 and shows Freeman & Webb’s window displays and, in the upstairs window above the archway, dresses and hats.
The partnership between William George
Freeman and Alfred Webb was formally dissolved on 24th January 1939 and announced in the London Gazette on
24th January 1939; the business however continued, being run by Alfred Webb alone.
The business was bought by Dupont Bros Ltd in the 1950’s. Their advertisement in the 1951 Festival of Britain souvenir programme of events in Thrapston is shown at the end
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