Witham
Where the first Pinkham glove factory was built in 1912
Off to Clacton 1916
Outside the Witham factory on July 24th 1916 a charabanc and a double decker bus run by Moore Brothers bus company are ready to set off on a factory outing to Clacton. Minnie Ottley in white and Herbert Keeble wearing a boater can be seen in the charabanc. Edith Sutton is standing in the double decker third from the left. Leslie Pinkham is in the centre foreground standing on his own with his hand in his pocket and William and Rebecca, his parents are on his left with Curly their dog.
The Witham team in the 1930s
Seen here outside the back of the first Witham factory which was built in 1912. Probably taken in the mid 1930s Leslie Pinkham can be seen seated the middle wearing a dark jacket and his beloved only daughter Marie sat directly in front of him.
The Witham team in the 1950s
Seen here outside the second Witham factory which was completed in 1948 is the Witham team. Taken sometime in the 1950s the Railway pub (then known as The Albert) can just be seen in the background. Leslie Pinkham is in the middle of the third row wearing a white shirt and to his right is John Pinkham.
Flat out
This picture from the 1950s shows the gloves being finished at the Witham factory. Machinists in the background and in the foreground the team are ironing the gloves and packing them in boxes ready for dispatch. The seated ladies on the left are inspecting each glove to ensure nothing sub-standard leaves the factory.
Many hands make light work
This picture again from the 1950s shows sew room at full stretch and although it can't be seen many of the machinists had photographs of their 'pop idol' sellotaped to their sewing machine.
The main sewing room at the Witham factory in 1953. Some fifty machinists worked in this area. The large windows gave good daylight for the nimble work and the quality supervisor seen at the top of the picture in front of the window ensured all went to plan. The experienced machinists could sew up nearly two hundred gloves in a day.
Always time to party
From the 1940s this photograph gives an idea the joie de vivre that ran throughout the company and shows how time was spent when not working. Leslie Pinkham can be seen in the centre of the photograph.
If you recognise any of the other people please email nickpinkham@pinkhamgloves.co.uk
Who's who?
KEEBLE Blanche (neé Parmenter) 1
KIMBER Jean 2
HARRIS ??? 3
PINKHAM Leslie 4
HAMMOND Nell 5
AGER Elizabeth 6
CLAYDON Glynis 7
ANDREWS Chris 8
RUSHDEN Mary 9
WOODS Mrs 10
WRIGHT Eunice 11
KEEBLE Sid 12
SPRINGETT Joyce 13
TAYLOR Doris 14
ANDREWS Jamie 15
Man and boy
HERBERT KEEBLE
Herbert Keeble began working at The National Glove Company in 1911 at the age of thirteen. One of eleven children he worked a twelve hour day and having started sweeping the factory floor he retired fifty three years later as a director of the company. He is seen here in 1962.
This photograph was taken on January 2nd 1914 in the Witham factory cutting room and shows Herbert Keeble on the right and Leslie Pinkham in the centre. If you know who the lad on the left is please get in touch.
JOHN SCOTT AND HERBERT KEEBLE
Seen here in the packing room at the Witham factory in 1960. John Scott on the left who was responsible for distribution had joined the company just after the war. Note the 'extravagant' boxes in which the gloves are packed and as can be seen in photographs elsewhere on the website the senior managers in the factories all wore white coats!!
Cutting Edge
Hand cutting fabric at the Witham factory.
Thought to be Michael Smith overseeing the commissioning of a state of the art glove cutting machine at the Witham factory in 1953.
These two photos show how production techniques developed. The first one shows fabric being folded ready to be cut out by hand. The one below show the company’s commitment to investing in state of the art machinery.
The official quote for the Central Office of Information at the time explained ‘”Time taken in cutting material into ‘tranks’ has been considerably speeded up”.
The top photo shows commencement of old method, i.e. folding the material over. The new machines could cut one hundred layers of fabric at a time.
Post War progress
Thought to be Jean Jones this photograph was taken in 1953 for the Government’s Central Office of Information to highlight the post war development in UK manufacturing.
It was a great honour for the company to be used and show cased as a leading glove manufacturer using modern machinery and production methods. A far cry from the Devon kitchen where it all began.
Love is in the air
VERONICA COOK
Seen here on her wedding day in 1945 Veronica Cook worked at the Witham factory in the 1940s and 50s. Her husband Leslie worked at the Crittall's metal window factory at Silver End nearby.
1920s working life in a N. G. C. glove factory
These photographs were taken during the latter part of 1923 and were used for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition where The National Glove Company showed off its ranges of gloves to the world.
BADON GROVES
Seen here on the left unloading bales of fabric at the Chelmsford factory.
JACK LUCK
BADON GROVES
SUNNY CLEMENCE
The cutting room team cutting out fabric ready for sewing.
LABOUR INTENSIVE
This shows the number of people engaged in cutting out the gloves ready for sewing up.
MABEL CHALK
A store in the Chelmsford factory where Mabel Chalk is seen sorting the partly finished gloves ready to go through to the machinists for sewing up.
Machinists sewing fabric gloves at the Witham factory, it's close up work.
Natural light streaming through the windows would have helped for some of the day.
Look for the two 'supervisors' watching over the production benches in this picture taken in 1920.
Just one 'supervisor' keeping an eye on things this time.
MINNIE OTTLEY
MISS HARRINGTON
Once the gloves had been sewn up they were prepared for packing. Seen here Minnie Ottley and Miss Harrington are seen in 1923 at the Witham factory ironing fabric gloves.
ROSIE BIRCH
Once the gloves had been ironed and inspected they were ready for packing. Here Rosie Birch (on the right) along with a colleague is bundling and banding fabric gloves into packs of a dozen which were then placed in cardboard boxes and labelled up ready for dispatch. Rosie went on to devote her entire working life to the company.
CHAS HALMOND
Here in 1923 Chas Halmond is packing the Engecie glove boxes into outer cartons some of which would find themselves going to many corners of the world.
Time for some fresh air
Below are some of the Witham girls taking a break in the fresh air.
Who's who?
BARBER Pat 1
BARBER Doreen 2
RICHARDS Eddie 3
TRIGG Marjoie 4
PARMENTER Blanche 5
Time for relaxing
These photographs show some of the Chelmsford team still in their work wear relaxing.
Emily Wade (née Carter) is on the far right.
Emily Wade (née Carter) is second from the left in the back row and Florrie Wade (neè Baldwin) is second from the right in the front row.
If you recognise any of the people in the photographs please email nickpinkham@pinkhamgloves.co.uk
Below are the names of those people who are known to have worked for or been associated with the Witham factory
Those names with a number alongside can be seen in the photograph below
AGER Elizabeth
ALBONE John 56
ANDREWS Chris
ANDREWS Jamie
ANDREWS Kathy 19
BALDWIN Joyce D
BALDWIN Gladys B
BALDWIN Mary 7
BALLS Mrs 2
BELL Mr 55
BENDALL Lorna 44
BIRCH Rosie
BRAMAN Jean 97
BROWN Billie
BROWN Doris 124
BROWN ( née Hawkes) Edie
BUTCHER (née Ellis) Ethel 68
CHALK Mabel
CLARK Lil 106
CLAYDON Glynis 11
CLEMENCE Sonny
COOK Veronica
COWELL (née Jennings) Eileen
CRANE Maureen 105
CURLY (William and Rebecca’s beloved dog)
DAWSON Wilson
DOBSON Mrs
DRIVER Mrs 93
DRIVER Pat 119
ELLIS Agnes 30
ELLIS Geoff C
ELLIS Valerie
EMMENS Frances, Ella (nee Quilter)
GROVES Badon
HAMMOND Chas
HAMMOND Jean 78
HAMMOND Nell
HARRINGTON Miss
HARVEY Jean
HAYGREEN Nellie
HAMMOND Miss
HOOD Miss
HORSNAL June 18
HAYLEY Marlene 9
JACKSON May 81
JENNINGS Aston
JENNINGS Barbara
JENNINGS Eileen 8
JENNINGS Marie
JENNINGS Shelia
JONES Jean 101
KEEBLE Mrs 71
KEEBLE Sid
KEEBLE Vic 57
KEEBLE Walter 85
KELLY Miss 1
KIMBER Jean
KING Bill A
KING May 94
KNIGHT Aubry 59
LADKIN Jack 47
LADKIN Margaret 108
MEAD Miss
MEAKINS Mrs 22
OTTLEY Minnie
PARMENTER Blanch 99
PARMENTER Doris 6
PATTISON David
PAVELIN Flo
PAYNE Mrs
ROSS Freda (née Wade) 83
RICHMOND Mrs 72
RUSHEN Betty 36
RUSHEN Kathy 45
RUSHEN Margaret 10
RUSHEN Mary
RUSHEN Tommy 50
SCOTT John 90
SHELLY Gladys 26
SHELLY Joy
SHELLY Kit 37
SHELLY Louise
SHELLY Rena
SMITH Michael 53
SOAR Mrs 43
SPRINGETT Joyce
STOCKWIN Ivy 38
STONEHAM Nancy
TAYLOR Doris
THOROGOOD Ethel 14
THURGOOD June
TRIGG Mrs 5
TURNER Mrs
TURNER Mrs
WADE Emily (née Carter)
WADE Florrie (née Baldwin)
WHITE Betty 35
WILSHIRE Bill 51
WITHAMS Peggy 46
WRIGHT Eunice
YOUNGS Evelyn 63
If you know anyone who has been involved in the business and is not mentioned here please email nickpinkham@pinkhamgloves.co.uk
Email your stories of Pinkham Gloves
nickpinkham@pinkhamgloves.co.uk
