RootsChat.Com
England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => London & Middlesex Lookup Requests => London and Middlesex => England => London & Middlesex Completed Lookup Requests => Topic started by: Keith Sherwood on Sunday 09 October 05 11:56 BST (UK)
-
Hi, Everyone,
When my gt-gt-grandfather James Kershaw died in 1898 the firm he worked for were well-represented at his funeral and burial at Abney Park. They were referred to as:"DENT, ALLCROFT and Co., of 97, Wood Street.
I believe they made quite fancy gloves, and there's even a bit of family folklore that says that my ancestor managed to get hold of someone else's idea and patent it - the stud, or fastener, which would have been used, I suppose, in those gloves.
Does anyone know whether this firm still exists in London or elsewhere...?
Keith (Have edited incorrect name, now 16.23 mon)
-
Hi Keith
there was this ref. on google
John and William DENT, who were 19th century glove makers and owner/restorers of Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire. (http://www.northpennineancestors.co.uk/OurSurnamesD.htm)
appropros to nothing - this continues on re the Castle (http://www.statelyhomes.com/areas/details.asp?HID=168&ID=594&path=12,25,116,594)
Interesting that I found nothing 'current' - but I remember the name Dent in ref. to gloves - in fact, think I still have a pair. Sorry nothing more came to light - perhaps one of the locals will know what became of them-the manufacturers, not my pair. ;)
Cougar
-
Hi Keith
Are you certain of the name of the company? I have relatives who worked for Fownes Gloves in Worcester and their big rival was Dent Allcroft & Co.
Quote from www.worcestercitymuseums.org.uk/mag/spirit/spglov.htm#da
"While many of the smaller businesses did not survive this period, two of Worcester's most famous gloving firms, Dent Allcroft and Co Ltd. and Fownes Gloves Ltd. survived by reorganising their workforce, introducing a factory system and improving the overall quality of the products. Both these firms went on to become leading glove manufacturers in Europe."
See also www.plal.com/dents.htm where you can read some history and buy yourself a pair of Dents gloves!
Monica
-
Hi again, Cougar,
Thanks for having a bit of a search around on my behalf. Are your Dent's gloves good quality? - better than Adam Gilchrist's, I expect (or Geraint Jones of England, to be perfectly fair).
Wasn't the cricket amazing in the end, and I can't wait for the 2006/7 re-match.
Now, I'd better shut up about the "flannelled foolishness" or I'll be excommunicated from this list. Will pursue those excellent links you provided...
Keith
-
Hi Keith
Just had to let you win one to make you feel good.
Note we just trounced the world 11 by 3 matches to nil???
Yes, my Dent gloves are excellent quality leather ones - thought I might be showing my age knowing about them, but obviously from Monica's post - they are still available.
Cougar
-
Monica,
What an embarrassing gaffe on my part! I've just looked up the obituary again, and of course it's meant to be ALLCROFT, not Allcock. (Puns leap into my head, such as not crowing about it - must have been thinking of that famous chapel in Ely cathedral to one of their bishops; the place is festooned with dozens of cockerels) And having sorted that out for me, it looks as though you've put me onto the right trail. No wonder I couldn't find anything...(I wonder whether I can edit the misleading Subject Title now)
Keith
-
Hi Keith
We'd better not pursue just what you might have been thinking of! And I thought genealogy was an all-absorbing subject, leaving no time for other interests.
Our glovemakers came up from Somerset to work for Fownes and rose quite high in the business. All their gloves with a stud had a picture of a gloved fist stamped on the stud. Family tradition has it that the fist was drawn from life and belonged to our man. What a claim to fame!
Monica
-
Found
http://www.dents.co.uk/
Cougar
-
Hi, Monica and Cougar,
This is getting quite steamy now, isn't it, with studs and cocks flying about all over the place...!
But on a much more serious note (ahem...drawing a deep breath), this has all been fascinating, and I hadn't realised that Worcester was where it all started. I suppose the Wood Street address in London must have been some kind of London office, to go along with all those other branches worldwide. Wonderful to think that the firm is still going strong today - I used to live in Warminster in Wilts for a while, and had no idea that Dent's had a factory there.
I suppose I should have put this on the Worcs. site, not London. And we're in good company here, for wasn't William Shakespeare's father, John, a glove-maker too, in the 16thC...?
Keith
-
Hi to all those asking about Dent gloves . I am currently researching the Dent family as my mother was the daughter of William and Clara Dent . I have been told by a very distant relative that they are still in business but until I know for sure I'm not betting money on it . I'll let you know when and if I get a result . Just for the record , they are beautiful gloves . Bye for now .
Annie Dent
-
Hi, Annie,
And welcome to Rootschat! How wonderful that you are directly descended from the DENT glovemaking family. This thread has lain dormant for over 4 years, and I presumed had been forgotten about, but not so.
I remember a while ago looking on Ancestry and discovering in one of the first telephone directories the phone number of DENT's gloves, and right underneath (or above, I'm not sure) the Di (or De) Ferranti number, the electrical firm that another gt-grandfather of mine worked for in the late 19th and early 20thC...
Both firms must have been quite go-ahead in their approach to business in those early days,
Regards, keith
-
Hi Keith. Thank you for the welcome . Looking back over the family stuff I have to date the I think the William who started the gloves business was my mothers grandfather . Her father was born in 1887 but that's as far back as my sister and I have gone as we've been busy with our dads side of the family. This tracing family stuff takes a long time to work through because families were so big in those days . Mum had seven siblings and dad had the same . It's going to be interesting to see who we can find when we do start digging a bit more . If anyone knows anything of interest about them I'd be grateful to read it . It's nearly 5a.m. here so I'm going to bed . Thanks again and goodnight.
-
I've been doing my family history and one distant relation was in service in Claines, Worcester, with Martha Williams, a widow living with a young son. Ten years earlier, in 1871, Martha's husband Joseph was still around and described as a glove manufacturer employing hundreds of staff. I can't find out anything about him, and understand he'd have servants in his house, but for Martha to still have one after his death is odd (she is described then as a 'wooden box maker' so must have fallen on hard times).