George Wherrett, his wife Sarah and their eldest son William^[1] were photographed outside their bakery and shop at what is now 73 Church Street. The date is uncertain, but the photograph was likely to have been taken around 1905. At the time bread deliveries, and possibly some of the other items they sold, were loaded into baskets and were taken to customers by horse and cart. The Wherrett's bread cart had two wheels.

There had been a bakery here since before 1841, owned and run by Thomas Boden^[2]. William Harrison Moore took over the premises after his death and remained here until about 1876-7. George Wherrett replaced him and he and his family continued to run the Church Street bakery for over 80 years. In 1882, when the executors of Thomas Boden decided to sell the bakery and its buildings, the oven was said to be able to bake 20 stones of bread at once and the frontage was "37 feet to the main road"^[3].

This photograph was accidentally discovered by a descendant many years ago; it had been used as a backing card for another framed photo that was eventually taken apart. There is another, slightly later, picture of the family, which includes George, Sarah and their eldest daughter Mary Elizabeth (b.1878)^[4] who married Herbert Edwin Giles on 18 May 1897. A baker's boy (name unknown), one of a number hired by George, was also in the later picture^[5].

The shop window was full of items for sale. In 1899 George Wherrett was one of a number of agents selling the products of Arthur Davy and Sons of Sheffield. These ranged from pies, polony and brawn to black puddings and potted meat^[6].

George Wherrett was born in 1851 at Walton on the Hill in Surrey, the fourth child of George Wherrett, a carpenter from Gloucestershire, and his wife Mary Chandler who were married on 22 May 1843 at Bristol. Another sister was born in 1853^[8] but, unfortunately, their mother passed away in 1854 and by 1861 the family was split up although most of them lived in and around Reigate. George Wherrett, senior, died in 1863.

George became a baker, possibly trained by his elder brother William, and in 1871 he was working for John Boden in Matlock Bath as a Journeyman Baker^[9]. His soon to be wife, Sarah Smedley, was also employed by John Boden. George and Sarah were married at Holy Trinity, Kirk Ireton on 15 January 1873. George's occupation was recorded as a confectioner and he was by then living at Eastwood, NTT^[10]. The couple then moved to Croydon for a time, where their sons George (1874-75) and William (1876-1939) were born, before returning to the Matlocks. Ten of their twelve children were born in the town.

Sarah Wherrett passed away in 1906^[11]. Amongst the wreaths at her funeral was one from [her husband's] cousins of Slimbridge in Gloucestershire^[12]. By 1911 their eldest son William was in charge of the bakery, with brother Ralph a master baker working alongside an assistant baker who was unrelated to the family. George had moved to Starkholmes with four of his children^[13].

William was also involved with Matlock football club and was voted chairman in both 1902 and 1905^[14]; he had previously been the hon. secretary and retained his interest in the club's affairs for a number of years.

Three of George and Sarah sons fought in the first war and Thomas, the youngest, was killed in action in 1917. At the time the letter was received from the Army Chaplain informing George that Thomas had been killed^[15] his family learned that his eldest brother Pte. William Wherrett had been recently seriously wounded. Another sibling, Jack (John Edward), was also with the Colours. William had been running the bakery pre-war whereas John Edward was employed as a clerk. Both men survived the war.
Matlock Men Serving King and Country, 1916. (A list from St. Giles' Parish Magazine showing all those who enlisted between August 1914 and January 1916).
MI for Thomas and his parents.

On 4 July 1918 Ralph, who had taken over the bakery, went before an Army Tribunal. He was said to be grade 2 and a master baker. This meeting was adjourned in order that the position of bakers could be ascertained^[16]. However, a few days before the armistice, he was placed on three months' notice to be called up^[17], something that fortunately never happened.

Some of George and Sarah's sons moved away from Matlock. Joseph Smedley Wherrett had lived at Chapel-en-le-Frith for some time, John (Jack) was living in Matlock Bath and George Harry was in Newhaven in 1921, when their father was visiting him. Both William and his father declared that they were retired in 1921, although William stated that he was out of work^[18]. He had by then moved to Chesterfield Road. Ralph and his wife Margery Ann were living at the bakery with their four children. Harry Joseph Knowles was living with them and employed as a Baker & Confectioner^[18].

Ralph became a member of Matlock & District Confectioners' Association and opened a small additional shop near the Picture Palace Cinema on Dale Road that sold sweetmeats and pastries. It is not quite clear when it opened, but the shop was listed in Kelly's Directories between 1924 and 1941.

Four generations of the family.
George Wherrett is seated on the left, his grandson Arnold Hursthouse is holding his daughter Maureen whilst Sally, George's daughter and Arnold's mother, is seated on the right. About 1931-2. W. N. Statham excelled at portraits such as this.

In October 1938 Roy Wherrett, one of the sons of Ralph and Margery, enlisted for the Training Centre of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve at Derby Airport. He had already passed through the Selection and Medical Boards^[19]. In May the following year his uncle William, by this time 63 and a retired widower, was found dead near the Duke William Hotel, a short distance from his father's home where he had been staying^[20].

George Wherrett and his ten surviving children, perhaps celebrating 60 years at the bakery.
A group portrait taken in the Dale Road studio of William Nathan Statham, about 1838.

Back row from left:
1. George Harry (Harry) b.1886 ; 2. John Edward (Jack) b.1893; 3. Lilian Grace (Lily) b.1890;
4. William (Bill) b.1876; 5. Joseph Smedley (Joe); b.1885; 6. Ralph b.1888.
Front row from left:
7. Edith (Edie) b.1882; 8. Mary Elizabeth (Polly) b.1878; 9. George b.1851;
10. Florence May (May) b.1895; 11. Amelia Sarah (Sally) b.1880.

Roy had a lucky escape whilst flying solo in 1940. He was at about 15,000 feet when he smelled burning; part of his plane's fuselage was on fire. He decided to try to put it out rather than bale out, so grabbed a fire extinguisher and then did a fast dive to about 500 feet before getting his undercarriage down and landing safely^[21]. Tragically for the family Roy was killed in operations in January 1943. The tribute placed in the local paper said he was "a dauntless spirit is the breath of freedom^[22]."
See the MI in the churchyard for Roy and his parents.
Roy Wherrett's name is on Matlock's War Memorial.

George Wherrett passed away on 9 February 1945, aged 93. His youngest daughter, Florence May, and her husband Archie Swift had lived with him at his home on Starkholmes Road and Florence May looked after him. At his death he owned three houses on Starkholmes Road, a cottage on Church Street, two cottages on Stoney Way^[24] and a house in Chapel-en-le-Frith.

Someone who had to transfer to other employment after Wherrett's closed was Arnold Hursthouse (seen in image 2 above). Arnold had worked briefly at Lea Mills before the first war but spent most of his working life with Wherrett's. When the Church Street business closed he joined the staff of Mr. W. H. Moore and sons and he was still employed by Moore's at the time of his death^[25]. He worked alongside Cecil Harrison, who arrived early and baked the first batch of bread in readiness for the earliest customers of the day. Arnold then presumably baked another batch of bread after Cecil went home and then spent the remainder of the day on confectionery^[26]. One of his daughters retained - and used - all his piping nozzles for many years.

The Church Street property is now a private house.

References:

^[1] See the Wherrett family in the 1901 census transcripts elsewhere on this site. Only William, their eldest son, was employed in the business at the time, as the others all have still been at school. William was married in 1901, and living on Matlock Green next door to his sister and her family.

^[2] Thomas Boden is mentioned in both census returns as well as on the Matlock Tithe Award.
p.13 sch.R, Landowner Boden Thomas (Matlock Town), Occupier Boden Thomas (Matlock Town), No.1007, Outbuildings and Yards, 5 p.
p.13 sch.R, Landowner Boden Thomas (Matlock Town), Occupier Boden Thomas (Matlock Town), No.1048, House Court Garden and Privy, 16p.
He can also be found in the 1841 census | the 1851 census | the 1861 census |.
He was listed as a Baker (and sometimes a grocer) in trade directories until 1864, including Bagshaw's Directory 1846 (under Shopkeepers) | Kelly's Directory 1848 | White's Directory 1852 |.

^[3] "Derby Mercury", 15 March 1882. One of several advertisements offering the bakery for sale and naming George Wherrett as occupying the property. Two cottages in Stoney Way were also being sold. It is unclear if any of Thomas Boden's properties sold at this time but the Stoney Way properties were advertised again in 1900 (see [24] below].

^[4] Mary Elizabeth, the Wherrett's second child, was born in Matlock in 1877 and was christened at Holy Trinity, Matlock Bath, on 6 Jan 1878. Her slightly older brother, William, was born in Croydon; he was also christened at Matlock Bath on the same day. Their slightly younger sister, Amelia Sarah, was baptised at Kirk Ireton on 29 Aug 1880. Their abodes were given as Matlock.

^[5] The second photograph of the shop was published in Keith Taylor's New and more recent books about the Matlocks (scroll down) and is also available elsewhere on the internet.

^[6] "Derbyshire Courier", 28 January 1899. The products were listed in an advertisement by the Sheffield Company. For those who have never heard of polony it is a sausage of partly cooked pork.

^[7] Harry Findlow worked for them in 1901 as an assistant baker and he was still with the family in 1911. He later went to work for the Derwent Valley Co-operative Society.

^[8] Martha Wherrett, the youngest child of the first George Wherrett and his wife Mary (nee Chandler), was born in 1854 and died in November 1856.

^[9] See the 1871 census entry for George and his future wife, who also worked for John Boden.

^[10] Marriage reference for George Wherrett and Mary Smedley is © Helen Betteridge & Jean Shannon, and published on Find My Past.

^[11] See Sarah's gravestone in St. Giles' church yard.

^[12] "Derbyshire Times", 14 April 1906.

^[13] Information from the 1911 census (see Find My Past).

^[14] "Derbyshire Times", 13 September 1902 and "Sheffield Independent", 22 September 1905. He had also played for the club in 1899 (see Tomlinson, Susan (2017) "The Early Years of Matlock Town Football Club, ...".

^[15] Thomas is commemorated on both Matlock's Pic Tor Memorial and Starkholmes Memorial.

^[16] "Ashbourne News Telegraph", 12 July 1918. Matlock Tribunal, 4 July.

^[17] "Derbyshire Times", 9 November, 1918. Matlock Tribunal.

^[18] Information from the 1921 census (available on Find My Past).

^[19] "Derby Daily Telegraph", 18 November 1938. Learning to Fly. Candidates enlisted at Derby Training Centre.

^[20] "Nottingham Journal", 18 May 1939. He still had his Chesterfield Road house at the time.

^[21] "Derbyshire Times", 2 February 1940. Fuselage on Fire at 15,000 feet. Young Matlock Airman's Dive to Safety.

^[22] "ibid.", 7 January 1943. Obituary (for Roy).

^[23] "Matlock Mercury", 18 June 1960.

^[24] "Derbyshire Times", 7 July 1900. The house and cottage (or two cottages) on Stoney Way, previously for sale in 1882, were bought by George Wherrett. The tenants of the properties were the same in 1900. The properties he owned "at his death" were mentioned in his Will (probate Lewes 9 April 1945), although the section referring to those properties was written in 1929.

^[25] "Matlock Mercury", 26 May 1967. Mr. A. W. Hursthouse.

^[26] This information has been provided by Grenville Smith and his late aunt, Val Moore.