Harbour Buildings by Courtney Kennedy-Sanigar

HARBOUR BUILDINGS

It is typical that the traditional stories vary; ‘yarning’ as it was called required a good story not accuracy! - Geoffrey Pike

Harbour Buildings has always fascinated me. The unusual castellated building at what now seems like the end of Harbour street, but when the land was bought and built on, it was very much ‘Harbour Buildings’, the entrance to the town, the first thing that you saw, and could not miss, from the Harbour. Always mentioned but never explained, we knew that the building was built in 1905 by Biscuits Goldfinch, but who was Biscuits? Why is the building so oddly shaped? How and when did it become Wallace Pring, and who even was Wallace Pring? Who was Mrs Wallace Pring and did she make dresses for Queen Mary? Was Mr. Wallace Pring really a Jehovah’s Witness who was the victim of a horrible motor accident that cost him his life? What happened to the two of them? What happened after that? All of these questions, and whilst some of them have been answered, a lot of them still remain open. This investigation is by no means finished, and saying that, I don’t know if it ever will be, but this is what I have found and what people have shared. From Fred ‘Biscuits’ Goldfinch, to Alan Kennedy and my family now, and everything in-between. I hope this is of interest. Courtney

FRED ‘BISCUITS’ GOLDFINCH “The triangle of ground at the junction of Harbour Street and Sea Street was left after the rebuilding following the great fire of 1869, being regarded as useless due to its shape and size, hence known by the seamen’s description ‘Starvation Point’. Fred ‘Biscuits’ Goldfinch was one of the town’s great eccentric characters; by reputation he could turn his hand to anything and always make a profit. Like all working men he had a nickname: at his grocer’s shop opposite the site of Harbour Buildings he was noted for his meanness - when weighing a bag of ship’s biscuits he would break one in half to get the weight exactly right rather than put the whole biscuit in.” - Geoffrey Pike, 23 April.

From various things I had read I was under the understanding that Mr. Goldfinch was a generous man. “The need for a hospital was paramount in his mind”, “in 1952 he gave a piece of land for a public garden”, “well known Whitstable native… his work and interests were many, and mostly for the good of the town” from Douglas west, and Cliff Courts books.

“Fred ‘Biscuits’ Goldfinch was one of the town’s great eccentric characters; by reputation he could turn his hand to anything and always make a profit.” “He did as a Councillor advocate a hospital and did give a piece of ground for a public park, it remains today at Tankerton Circus (some folk said he gave it because its shape made it unsuitable as a building plot!)” - Geoffrey Pike, 27 April.

Funny, he gave the land away because of the shape, obviously no one made a bet about that one! My grandfather was also under the impression that Biscuits was called Biscuits because on the boats, he used to love the sailors biscuits, the really hard ones they were given in the navy, Geoffrey assures me “the broken biscuit story for Fred is probably the original”.

“Fred even you couldn’t make anything out of that ground” “Fred purchased Starvation Point in 1901, this leading to the challenge “Fred even you couldn’t make anything out of that ground”, but I think he always had the wish to build there a suitably grand entrance to the town from the Harbour - hence Harbour Buildings. ‘Biscuits’ must surely have sketched out the rather eccentric design with its battlements and central tower and decorated the side with the emblem of the local Council: a ship’s wheel with 12 spokes for the 12 Councillors, one of whom was Fred who also designed it.” Geoffrey Pike, 23 April.

Alan, my grandfather, heard that Fred sketched the design of the building on the inside of a cigarette packet, and although there are variations to the story, and what the design was scribbled on, it was definitely scribbled.

The Whitstable Urban District Council crest can still be seen on the side of the building today, along with the Invicta Horse and ‘Harbour Buildings’ all in shields.

Rumour has it that Fred even grew potatoes on the roof, irrigated by water from a nearby well, and sold them to make extra cash.

“Fred’s shop front was most likely quite conventional for Whitstable and the shop may well have remained empty for it was well away from the town’s shopping area at the other end of Harbour Street round into the High Street.” Geoffrey Pike, 23 April.

Above: a photograph of Harbour Buildings. 2009. Below: Details of the shields, set into the walls of Harbour Buildings Opposite: Details of the conveyance signed by Fred Goldfinch, for No.1 Harbour Street, dated April 12 1901.

GEORGE WALLACE PRING

From top: Detail from the 1881 census showing George Wallace Pring, 1 month old. Living at Albert Villas, Hayward Heath. Detail from the 1891 census showing George W. Pring, 10 years old. Living at The Green, Marlborough,Wilts. Detail from the 1901 census showing Geo W. Pring, 20 years old. He is single, working as a Drapers assistant. Living in All Hallows Barking, London City.

Below: Details from the 1911 census showing George W. Pring, Head, 30 years old, Married. Drapery and high class dressmaking. Employer; and Elizabeth M. Pring,Wife, 31, Married. Dressmaker, Own acc. In the 1911 Census the street address is 23 Gospel Hall, but in his hand written return it says 23 Harbour Street.

George Wallace Pring was born in Haywards Heath, 1881. Though possibly, could have lived for a time in Whitstable when his father rev. Henry John Pring was a Primitive Methodist minister at the chapel in Albert Street in 1872. In the 1901 census he was 20, a boarder and student draper in London. In 1908 he married Elizabeth Martha Brock at Dunmow in Essex. George Wallace Pring came into business in Whitstable in c.1909 then aged 28, setting up as a draper at No.23 Harbour Street with Elizabeth. They moved into Harbour Buildings c.1912 and then or later put in the very modern shop front with its tall windows.

“He also purchased possibly adapted the building at the side at the end of Sea Street for a workroom for Mrs Pring.” Geoffrey Pike 23 April. The workroom can still be seen today, with an unusual little door lowered from the road. Now called Rest Haven, it is the first building you come to on Sea Street when leaving Harbour Buildings from the back door. Right: In the 1911 Kellys Street Directory, 23 Harbour Street is “Pring,Wallace, Dressmaking of high class, and General Drapery“ Below: Whitstable from Ludgate Hill , kindly sent by Philip Hadland © Canterbury Museums and Galleries

Previous page: A selection of Wallace Pring adverts from The Whitstable Times and Tankerton Press, dating from 1912 right until his death in 1915. From left: An article from the Whitstable Times and Tankerton Press, Saturday June 26th 1915.The article published only 4 days after his death. ‘Well known tradesman and preacher of the gospel passes away as result of motor accident.’

“Well known tradesman and preacher of the gospel passes away as a result of motor accident.” George Wallace Pring was in a motor accident 6 June 1915, fractured his right leg in 2 places, and died 22 June 1915. “Pring George Wallace of Harbourbuildings Whitstable Kent draper died 22 June 1915 at Work Room Sea Wall Whitstable. Administration Canterbury 28 August to Elizabeth Martha Pring Widow. Effects £1019 4s 6d” “Interesting that Wallace died in the workroom; I have a note that following the accident he couldn’t be taken home because the stairs were too narrow. There are other Whitstable stories of amputations being done on the kitchen table! The town gained a hospital (the Whit & Tank) after the War.” Geoffrey Pike

It also speaks of him coming to Whitstable, and then to Harbour Buildings ‘He came to Whitstable six years ago and started business as a draper at 3, Harbour Street, subsequently removing to larger premises at Harbour Buildings’ (probably a typo, meaning to be 23) It also explains his death in more detail. ‘He was motor cycling along the Tankerton Parade when a collision occurred between his cycle and a motor van as a result of which Mr. Pring’s right leg was fractured. He was taken into the Pavillion Hospital and received every attention. He was afterwards removed home, but he could not be carried up to his own residence owing to the narrowness of the staircase and he was taken to a room in his workrooms close by where he has since been. On Saturday evening the right leg had to be amputated. On Sunday at midnight he became unconscious and from that time until his death at 6 o’clock on Tuesday evening he only regained consciousness for short intervals.’ And confirms that he did not have a son, but a 2 year old daughter at the time of his death. Centre: A section of the article ‘Inquest twice adjourned’, Saturday July 3rd. Right: A section of the article ‘The death of Mr. Wallace Pring’, Saturday July 10th.

“The inquest into the death of Mr. George Wallace Pring, of Harbour Buildings.”

Previous page: Adverts in the Whitstable Times and Tankerton Press, July 17th 1915 and July 24th 1915. ‘Great reductions have been made to effect an Entire Clearance.The object being to dispose of The Whole Stock before vacating the premises.’ ‘Mrs. Pring would like to take this last opportunity of thanking her friends and the Public of Whitstable and the district for their valuable and much appreciated support she has received during the sale, which finally closes on Saturday next the 24th inst.

MARGARET BURNETT Telephone conversation between Margaret Burnett (MB) and Courtney Kennedy-Sanigar (CK) All images received via further correspondence by post. All images supplied by Margaret from her personal collection, or taken by Author unless otherwise stated. Recorded on April 14th 2012. (edited and condensed)

Right: A postcard of George Wallace Pring and his wife Beth (nee Elizabeth Martha Brock) leaving Yardly Hall, where they were married, for their honeymoon. Beths home was Yardly Hall Farm,Thaxted, Dunmow, Essex.

MB: Hello Courtney. Right lets go. What can I tell you? CK: Anything you know really, I’ve only really got the message that you knew Wallace Pring? MB: Ah, well (laughs) not exactly, cos he died in 1915, but he’s my Great Uncle. CK: Wow OK, that’s amazing. MB: I’ve got a photograph of his marriage. It’s quite a grand wedding actually. He’s got morning dress on, I don’t know whether that was standard for then, but they’ve got a horse drawn carriage to take them away, well I suppose that might have been standard as well. I said it was a grand wedding, perhaps it wasn’t, but it always looked grand to me. CK: Do you know what she did, because from what I’ve been reading she was a draper? MB: Well, its interesting because, I’ve tried to find them on the various censuses, and after I knew that you were interested, I spent hours and hours and hours trying to get the 1911 census up. That’s when he was 20. Have you got the copy of the 1911 census? CK: I think I may have found one for William Wallace Pring.

MB: Yeah, that’s his brother, and my grandmother was a sister. There were 6 of them, all together, 4 men and 2 ladies. Now here’s the 1911 census, he’s just indexed as Mr. Pring, which is not terribly helpful, and the address given is number 23 Gospel Hall.

Dressmaking of high class and general drapery.

CK: Gospel Hall?

CK: So that’s him, not her?

MB: Yes, which is the most extraordinary address, but on his form, where I’ve actually got his writing of course, it’s got 23 Harbour Street.

MB: Yes, he was the person who ran the business, and she was the dressmaker. So they did it together. Now, she’s Elizabeth Martha Brock. That was before she was married, and she was born in about 1880/1881. Her father was a farmer, and they lived at Yardly Hall Farmhouse. Thaxted and Dunlow are very very old I discovered.

CK: Well that’s where her shop was first. On the street directory 1911/1912, it says 23 Harbour Street. Pring, Wallace,

MB: That’s very interesting, this 1911 census, it says 23 Harbour Street, drapery and high-class dressmaking, for him.

MB: George Pring’s Father was a Primitive Methodist minister. One of his brothers was a Wesleyan Methodist minister and there are a lot of other Methodists in the family. What used to happen was that every 3 years or so, the Methodist ministers got moved around, so they spent ages going round from place to place. They’re very hard to trace, you can imagine, if they move every 3 years, the census is only every 10 years. As far as I know this particular Pring family started off in Bridport. He was Henry Pring, born 1806, and he married somebody called Hannah, now she’s possibly Hannah Fowler, and she’s possibly Hannah Foster, but we honestly don’t know. I would tend to go for Foster, because one of the children was

called John Foster Pring, and it was quite common to give a child the wife’s second name. Henry and Hannah had 3 children, as far as I know; there was Frances Pring, Hannah Pring and Henry Pring Junior. Henry Pring, senior, was a painter guilder and glassier, and a Methodist local preacher. Henry, the son, the one born in 1833, he was born in Bristol, they moved from Bristol to Calne in Wiltshire and he became a pupil teacher at the school, aged about 12. Now from there, he progressed to being a school master, and he went off to Yorkshire, teaching in a school up there, and he obviously got involved in a Methodist church up there, because he met this girl. He married her, and I think, he then decided to become

a primitive Methodist minister, and I suppose he must have trained to do it, and one of his postings, was I think to Kensington where she had her first child, and I think both she and the child died. Now he obviously got moved on after that, and one of the places he went to, was one of the other places down on the Medway. I’ve got this amazing thing, it’s the Primitive Methodist Magazine of 1895, and I’ve actually got a copy. In the front, the first page, as an appreciation of reverend Henry John Pring, which is extremely useful, because it tells you where he went. Below: Pages from the Primitive Methodist Magazine, “for Sunday & general reading. April 1895“

So 1847-1851 he was a pupil teacher at Calne national school, then he went to Westminster normal college, and then he was a local Wesleyan preacher from 1853-1860 and he went to London first, Guernsey, London third, Canterbury, Reading, Baldock etc. And I think it was while he was in the Canterbury district where he was circulated round the various Methodist Chapels, and I think there was one in Whitstable, from memory I think it was in Albert Street. It must have been there that he met a family, possibly was entertained by them, I believe they were quite involved in building the Chapel at Boughton-underblean. They were the Plommer family. It’s Boughton that’s the place. This girl was called Adeliza Mary Ann Plommer, and they got married in, I think, 1871. So it wasn’t his first marriage, and they lived in Whitstable and their first child was born in Whitstable. There are not very many Plommers around at all; it’s an extremely uncommon name. It’s spelt P L O M M E R not the more usual P L U M M E R, and they were hop-growers, I think quite major ones as well. But I think they were quite involved with building the Wesleyan Chapel in Boughton. So that’s where the connection is.

Right: The Wesleyan Chapel in Boughton-under-blean. April 2012, by Author.

MB: Now, I’m not sure who bought the shop in Whitstable. I suspect probably George rented the shop. George on the 1901 census was an assistant draper, that means a student draper, somewhere in London. And she was ditto, Elizabeth Brock, that he married. They were unmarried at that point; they were both students, both in the drapery trade, kind of thing. It was quite common that sort of thing. She’s down as Lizzy Brock, age 21. She’s down as a boarder. CK: Boarder? MB: Yes, meaning that she was paying rent for somebody, and she was living at Woodfield. Now, Woodfield, I think, must have been probably been one of those villages that centres round a big estate. In this case, possibly Stansted house, it’s in Stansted, and she was down as a dressmaker. Now a lot of the other people on the estate, on this big complex, and there seem to be a couple of hundred of them at least, maybe lots more. They all seem to be doing things like butlers and gardeners and things, and it makes me wonder if they were actually employed by the estate. You know, and that she was a dressmaker for somebody in the big house. I honestly don’t know, but obviously was a very good one.

CK: Yeah, because I’ve got an article about her making dresses for Queen Mary, I don’t know if you saw on the website? MB: I did, that fascinated me. I rather think, and there may be no connection, but Adeliza Mary Ann Pring, Georges mother, was the sister of a lady who married another Methodist minister, called John Robinson Gregory, and one of his children was the reverend Benjamin Gregory, who was president of, or editor of the Methodist Recorder or something like that. Quite a big cheese in the Methodist church I think. And I’ve got a photograph of him with Queen Mary. But I don’t know whether there’s necessarily any connection. CK: That’s still really interesting MB: It is isn’t it?

Below: Queen Mary with rev. Benjamin Gregory, a Wesleyan Methodist minister, who was a cousin of George Wallace Pring. Benjamin Gregorys mother was Caroline Gregory nee. Plommer, sister of Adeliza Mary Ann Pring nee. Plommer, Georges mother.

Above: A newspaper clipping from The Whitstable Times, April 13th 1989. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Queen had other Whitstable interests. Many of her dresses were made by Mrs.Wallace Pring, who had a shop in Harbour Street and workrooms in Sea Street. Some believe that Queen Mary made many secret trips to Whitstable to visit Mrs. Pring and be fitted for new gowns.â&#x20AC;?

MB: I’ve also got, and this is the most fascinating of the lot, I’ve got a post card, and on the back of it, it’s addressed to my grandmother, “From Harbour Buildings Whitstable.” CK: That’s our building! That’s it! MB: Yeah, “6 June 1915. George has met with a motor accident. Double leg fracture right leg. More later on.” And it’s signed, love Pontz, who my mother says is uncle John, George’s brother. Now, why he was staying at Harbour Buildings, I have no idea. And George died about 4 days later. I think the local tradition or what you’ve picked up that it was a bicycle accident is probably wrong, I think it was a motorbike accident CK: It’s just what my grandfather was told, that it was Wallace Pring, not George Pring, that was a Jehovah’s Witness that would go round on a motorbike and he was knocked off his bike MB: Well the thing is there were 2 brothers called Wallace Pring, one of them was William Wallace Pring, and the other was George Wallace Pring. I think George used to use Wallace Pring as his name, except presumably with family. The business in Bromley is also Wallace Pring, but that was actually the other brother. He was a chemist

CK: So, George Wallace Pring was the one that was married to the dressmaker, and the one that was at Harbour Buildings? So our Wallace Pring is actually George Wallace Pring, and then Bromley Wallace Pring is William Wallace Pring. MB: Yeah, And William Wallace Pring actually bought that business for one of his sons, who wasn’t a pharmacist, but he put in a pharmacist to manage it, and for the other son, he bought a business for him too, so he did buy 2 businesses, I don’t know what happened to the other one. But it wasn’t the one in Whitstable. I suspect that they didn’t actually own

that business; I suspect that they rented the shop from Biscuits Goldfinch. They rented the one in Sea Wall as well. CK: When you say Sea Wall? MB: I don’t know, they had a workroom on Sea Wall, and a shop at Harbour Buildings. CK: Yeah I did hear about Sea Wall but I assumed that it was 23 Harbour Street that they were at before, because number 23, right next to it is an alleyway. MB: It could well have been that. 23 Gospel Hall, it could well have been that

Extreme left: Notice the address is Harbour Buildings.,Whitstable.Written by John Foster Pring (who signs himself Pontz) on June 6th, 1915, to his sister Mrs. Percy Howard nee. Ada Maria Pring. In it he informs her that George Wallace Pring had met with a motor accident, and sustained a double leg fracture of his right leg.There is a note above the address which suggests George Wallace Pring was about 30 or 32 years old when the picture of him with the banner was taken.We do not know whether John lived at Harbour Buildings or not. Although the card says George died about four days later, in fact he didn’t die until June 22nd 1915, aged 34. Left: George Wallace Pring us on the extreme left of the postcard. His banner reads “everyone shall give an account of himself to God”. The building in the background is labelled “Carfax Hall”.

they were erected as a sort of charitable thing, and people rented them. CK: So was the 23 Harbour Street, or Gospel Hall? MB: It’s described as 23 Harbour Street, or 23 Gospel Hall, so I suspect that they would traditionally called Gospel Hall, but actually he said his address was Harbour Street. CK: Yeah MB: Well it’s described as Sea Wall. Probate records say “Pring, George Wallace, of Harbour Buildings Whitstable Kent. Draper, died 22 June 1915, at

Workroom, Sea Wall, Whitstable”. I think it was in administration. If people died without making a will, the next of kin used to usually get permission to administer it. She’s listed as Elizabeth Martha Pring, Widow. And his effects apparently were £1019 4 and sixpence CK: How much would that have been back then? MB: I don’t know, but when I started working in 1959 I got £4 10shillings, a week. So it was a lot, not a huge fortune, but they were obviously successful. But I’m not sure that he ever actually owned the building.

Now the other side of this postcard is absolutely fascinating. I don’t suppose you can throw any light on it. It’s got a building in the background which is labelled Carfax Hall, and in front if it there’s standing about 25 or 30 people, men and women, holding banners that say “be sure your sins will find you out” or “salvation is from the lord” or “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” and the one that George Wallace Pring is holding none says “everyone shall give an account of himself to God”. Now I don’t think that there’s any way that he was a Jehovah’s Witness, because if he had been I’m sure the family would have known, because it would have been a miasma to them. To have a Jehovah’s Witness, in a Methodist family like that.

Right: A postcard sent from George Wallace Pring himself.The picture on this side is his portrait.The card is dated April 29th 1908

CK: Yeah exactly, I’m not sure where my granddad got that information. Do you know if George used to have a tall hat, cos that’s one thing that my granddad was told, that he was an intimidating man with a tall hat. MB: Well I’ve got a picture of him, he’s not wearing a hat, but of all the members of the family, he looks the maddest. I mean, he’s got a rather fanatical looking stare in his eye. He might have had a tall hat, but I think possibly the legend about the blood transfusion and the fact that he might have been a Jehovah’s Witness has come from a misunderstanding. I’ve never ever seen a Jehovah’s Witness brandishing a banner, they go from door to door, but I don’t think they were terribly active in Britain in 1915 anyway.

CK: Well yeah, that’s another thing that I was really confused about, because it only really became popular maybe 1911 in America I think. MB: Yeah that’s right, I think they only thought of it in 1911. And I think the transfusion things a bit out too. Because if you think about it, when somebody had a motorbike accident and they break their leg, in 1915. Was there a hospital in Whitstable then? CK: Possibly MB: Would they have been set up to do blood transfusions? Did they do cross matching in those days? Would they have given you a blood transfusion for a broken leg? I mean you see what I mean.

CK: Yeah, it didn’t even click. MB: Well, I mean I haven’t completely clicked on that one, I haven’t looked it up yet, but I used to work as a secretary in a hospital, and it just doesn’t sound sense to me. How would they transport it into hospital? And why would they have waited. So, if he had the accident on the 6th and he died on the 22nd, unless he’d bled to death on the scene they wouldn’t have even been thinking of giving them a blood transfusion would they. Not with a leg broken in 2 places, or a double fracture. But the other thing is, according to the Canterbury Archives anyway, that the Methodist chapel in Whitstable was actually sold to somebody else. And I think now, its probably been sold on again, and it may be belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Now that’s a guess, but I think its possible.

CK: And there was also talk of possibly Wallace Prings son being a Jehovah’s Witness, did George and Elizabeth… MB: They didn’t have a son for a start, that I know. They only had a daughter. Her name according to my grandmother was Eva Elizabeth Martha Mary Ann Pring. CK: Woah MB: I know, we all said what a mad name to give anybody. The primitive Methodists were very interesting actually; they were an offshoot of the ordinary Methodists. The ordinary Methodists were quite prosperous I think, and they appealed to, by the 1900s, but earlier than that as well. They appealed to the more affluent in society I suspect, who were their sponsors and supporters, although they did have lots of ordinary members as well. The Primitive Methodists tended to go to sort of, city centres and to people who were really poor. CK: Well in that time Whitstable had the sailors coming in, and the first passenger steam train was from London to Whitstable, so there would have been lots of people coming down from London, back and forth; that’s probably why Queen Mary came down.

MB: And actually when you say that, the mission hall houses, some of them could have been built as accommodation for people like that I suppose. They’d be coming and going and would have had families probably, in every port as they say. But of course you had the Whitstable oysters as well didn’t you. CK: Oh yeah of course, yeah.

MB: And of course Faversham, Boughton and Canterbury are very old, very old indeed. I’ve never been to Boughton-underblean, I’ve had a look on Google street view, and I cant find any of the houses, but I think there may be somebody still around, they had Blean House at one stage in the family, and Chestnut House. But they were major hop growers in the area; they’re listed as major. I think they originally came from Faversham and married into the Holmes family, who had a drapery shop in Faversham CK: Yeah cos Faversham is where Shepheard Neame started, MB: Yeah I know, and I think that they may have been friends with the Shepheard Neame people, certainly if they grew hops they probably sold them to them. CK: Well Boughton, even now there are still hop farms.

MB: There was several lots of family that lived there, and they operated more than 1 farm and there was somebody called Butler, who is also in the Plommer family, and I think they could have been hop growers, hop dealers in Southwark. It’s very difficult when you’re in search of a name like Butler in London before 1837, but certainly, he died at Boughton this gentleman. His name was Olding Butler, and he died in 1959/69 something like that, aged 80 something CK: That’s quite old. MB: Yeah I know it is. And he owned property in Essex. I don’t know whether he was next door to the Ship Inn or whether he actually owned the Ship Inn at that time. Right: Adeliza Mary Ann Pring in the garden (you can just see her to the left of the door) of 8 St. Marys Road Faversham.This is where Adeliza lived with her daughter Selina after Rev. Henry John Prings death in 1895. Adelizas family, the Plommers, lived in Boughtonunder-blean.

MB: Georges other brother, there were 4. John Foster Pring, Henry William Pring, William Wallace Pring, and George Wallace Pring. Henry, he was an ordinary Methodist minister, a Wesleyan Methodist minister. I know much more about them than I do about George really.

CK: So that’s maybe why the name Wallace Pring was continued

CK: Yeah, in the 1907 Kellys directory, Wallace Pring, Bromley, chemist and post office at 24 Chatterton road

MB: I don’t know why the name Wallace is, cos 2 of them had the name, William Wallace Pring and George Wallace Pring.

MB: Yeah it seems to have moved up and down Chatterton road somewhat.

CK: Was it William and Max his son that ran the shop in Bromley?

CK: Do you know if the shop in Bromley had a sign as well? I don’t know if you’ve seen the sign for the one in Whitstable?

It’s still there, but I think they just retained the name, I think its like you, you know they bought the business, I don’t think its any connection.

MB: Maxwell yeah, he had 2 sons Edward Dudley and Maxwell. And he was Maxwell Wallace Pring you see.

MB: Oh it’s not a sign like that. But I’ve got a postcard, which is earlier actually; it looks like 07 or 09, its not very clear.

Below: William Wallace Pring, George Wallace Prings brother. His carte-de-viste as a young man.

Above: The chemists shop in Chatterton Road, Bromley.This shop was owned and run by William Wallace Pring, who was a pharmacist.The postcard is dated October 15th 1907 or 1909 and is sent from 28 Chatterton Road, postmarked Bromley, Kent. The shop was later taken over by William Wallace Prings son, Max. Max probably employed a pharmacist to run the pharmacy side of the business.The shop was also the local post office.

CK: you know what Elizabeth did with the shop after George passed away? MB: No I don’t, but I would imagine she carried on with it, and I was trying to see whether she remarried because people did quite a lot in those days. But its tricky to know because I haven’t really looked into that yet, but she may have called herself Elizabeth, she may have called herself Lizzy, she may have called herself Beth because the family, they called her Beth I think. So its difficult to know, but Pring is a fairly unusual name, the problem is how are you going to sort out whether Elizabeth Pring was the right one. The chances are she would have got married from Whitstable I suppose unless she got married from Dunlow or wherever her parents where by then. And this is the real problem you see, mostly people tended to get married either where they lived or where their parents came from. But an awful lot of the family seemed to have gravitated back towards Boughton. But probably not after 1915, the family seems to have almost died after that. CK: I wrote down all of the names that were associated with the shop afterwards. In 1918 it was Mrs. M Haines, Maude Haines.

MB: So 1918, it suggests that she would have stopped being there doesn’t it. CK: Yeah, possibly, as it was so soon after Georges death, that might have been the reason. MB: And it was the war remember. If she was a high class dressmaker, and I mean it’s a very very long shot, but if they had connections with the Plommer family, I suppose its possible that she might have gone to work for the Holmes family in Faversham. That’s a real long shot. Boughton’s historic obviously, but looking at the modern Boughton I think its very unlikely ill be able to find the places that were there then, if they’re named the same as they were then.

CK: You know at one point you said it was on The Street, one of the houses? MB: It was in Boughton Street, but that’s what they called the village, Boughton Street. CK: Because there is The Street, there’s the motorway now, but back then it would have been the main road to go to London. MB: Yeah it was it was the main road, one of the roman roads.

Above: A photograph of Boughton Street. Postmarked Faversham, February 20th 1905. Left: Boughton Street today. Notice how similar the scene, you can even see, second building from the right, the bracket still that was holding the sign more than 100 years ago.

CK: Do you know if the building was built for George and Elizabeth or if it was just that they rented it off of Biscuits?

CK: And they must have been pretty wealthy as well, cos all inside the shop there’s marble panels.

MB: Well I think they rented it off biscuits, I can’t be sure, but I think so. They might have bought it off him.

MB: Ahh, very pretentious

CK: Well, inside the shop it’s got all drawers and shelves, all the original ones, which we originally though were pharmaceutical drawers, but now that you say they were drapers. MB: No they weren’t pharmaceutical. It does make sense, men’s outfitters used to have load of drawers, cos they put gloves and handkerchiefs, ties, bow ties and lots of those sort of things in them. Right: The original shelves and drawers still in the shop today (some drawers replaced), and the original marble panels on the ceiling of the shop.

CK: On the ceiling, and on the walls, and the sign on the front of the shop is gold plated. I’ve tracked down the people that made the signs, they’re still in business but they closed and then re-opened.

CK: Especially as it was that long ago MB: I think one of the Plommers might have done something like that originally as well, but I’m not sure, they changed occupation far more than you’d think in those days.

MB: Who were they? CK: The Brilliant Signs Co Ltd London MB: That’s not old though, at least the name isn’t, but gilding is what Henry senior, Georges grandfather did for a living, he was a painter guilder and glassier. And I think with the gilding that probably evolved going round to posh houses and doing signs and things like that. When it says painter, guilder and glassier it sounds like someone that went around doing double glassing, but it wasn’t I’m sure.

I mean maybe Henry bought the shop for his son, but id have thought that extremely unlikely. I don’t think a primitive Methodist minister would have had that much spare, they weren’t poor but they weren’t terribly rich. CK: But the shop is very elaborately done inside, even upstairs, its all got really beautiful fireplaces and wood panels on the walls, mahogany, it’s all really beautifully done. So Biscuits, if it was to make money,

I doubt he would have outfitted it like that. It might be that George and Elizabeth, once they had a bit of money, did it up in that way. MB: Well yeah you wonder don’t you, I mean they might have bought the business, after all if he put up the building, he may have sold it, I don’t know what they did in those days.

Above: The original “Wallace Pring” sign. A gold plated, fishtail design, it can still be seen on the front of the shop, along with the text “Established over half a century” and “Brilliant Sign Co Ltd London W.C” Note: Since speaking with Margaret, Alan, my grandfather, the current owner of Harbour Buildings, found the deeds. Fred ‘Biscuits’ Goldfinch owned the building until his death November 12th 1956, leaving the building in his will to Wallace Charles Harvey, Utrick Henry Burton Alexander and William George Relton, and it stayed in their hands until my grandparents bought it from them October 2nd 1979..

Right: Details from the 1921 street directory for Harbour Street. Notice ‘HARBOUR BUILDINGS, Haines, Mrs. M. fancy draper and milliner’ Below: An article from the Whitstable times and Tankerton Press, August 7th 1915. Notice ‘Having

purchased the Entire Stock of the late Mr.Wallace Pring at large discount from Cost Price.’ Below right: An article from the Whitstable times and Tankerton Press, August 21st 1915.

MAUDE M. HAINES After George Wallace Prings death, and the clearance sale held by Mrs. Wallace Pring (Elizabeth Martha Pring) until July 24 1915, Maude M. Haines ‘purchased the entire stock of the late Mr Wallace Pring at a large discount from cost price’. In the 1918 Street Directory she is still Trading at Harbour Buildings as ‘fancy draper and milliner.’

P. E. KNIGHT In the 1922 Street Directory there is a P. E. Knight fancy draper and milliner at Harbour Buildings; again in 1923, and 1924.

MISS EVELYN M. EPWORTH 1925 Harbour Buildings becomes Epworths drapers; and then in 1927 a Miss Evelyn M Epworth is registered at Harbour Buildings. In 1929 it becomes â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fancy drapersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and is there still in the 1930/1931 directory.

HORACE PAYNE KELLY In the 1931/1932 directory there is Horace Payne Kelly, drapers at Harbour Buildings, he is registered there until 1934. From here Mr. Kelly moved to 29 Harbour street and Harbour Buildings, from the street directories, had no one registered there until 1940

COMBEN & LONGSTAFF CO. LTD SHIPOWNERS In 1940 there is Comben & Longstaff & Co. Ltd. Ship owners noted at Harbour Buildings 1940 is the last directory in Whitstable Library.

ALAN KENNEDY After a successful fashion career in London and Essex, Alan, my grandfather, found Whitstable, and although originally used it as a weekend retreat, they soon decided it was the place they wanted to be. Still commuting up to London, working with Burton at this time, Alan found the shop Harbour Buildings, saw its potential, and 23 October 1979 him and my grandmother Diana, signed the papers and were the first people to ever buy Harbour Buildings. The building was in a state of “utter disrepair” layer upon layer of bad paint on the walls, front obliterated with layer upon layer of newspaper posters and advertisements and a flooded basement. Everyone thought Alan crazy when he announced he would be opening a clothing shop. “You’re not serious about this are you?” But he was and with Diana, my mum Melena and my aunt Mirelle, restored the shop. “The family stripped much layers of paint from the much decorated building and discovered the marble ceiling and wall panels, and original “Wallace Pring” sign, both of which can still be seen today”

The restoration work all done by Alan and the family and it was only when Melena, began scraping away the layers of newspaper that they discovered the original gold and marble sign underneath. It was during this time that my grandfather was approached by the BBC film crew, and asked if they could use the shop for filming TV mini-series ‘The History of Mr. Polly’ based on the novel by H. G. Wells and starring Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs. My Family can still remember the whole of Harbour Street being closed for filming, old cars and an old train put on the railway.

Over the next five years, Alan and my family were involved in a continuous process of renovation and expansion, whist running the shop between them at the same time. Each of them bringing something to the shop, Melena being in her early 20s and Mirelle still a young teenager influenced Alan to work with women’s wear for the first time in his career. The following is an extract from student magazine Incant. c. 1980.

“The ground and first floors house clothes and accessories, and the basement which had been flooded for eighty years has been drained and decorated and now serves as a coffee, tea, and ice-cream parlour, and the coffee is real! Alan has plans for a roof garden and possibly a small range of food to add yet more to the intricacies of this fascinating shop. Wallace Pring Burlesque is clearly no ordinary clothes shop. The stock is unusual and often exclusive. The Kennedys select their stock from designers’ samples and clothes worn by models; they also have a range of well known names such as French Connection, Marc O’Polo and the Hardware Clothing Company at lower prices than found elsewhere; and sometimes articles are imported from abroad, such as French boots, that you would have difficulty finding anywhere else outside London. However, Very often there will only be one size of a particular garment, or a limited number. It is first come firs serve, and if you see something you like, buy it, as it probably won’t be there next time you call in. The good thing about having only limited numbers of each items is that you are virtually guaranteed of not seeing the same thing worn by many others if indeed by anyone at all. Wallace Pring Burlesque certainly fills in the gap between the mass-produced High Street fashions and expensive designer clothing. Alan emphasizes that clothing should

be stylish whilst being hard wearing and comfortable. It is well worth taking the time to look through the range of men’s and women’s clothing that caters largely for the every day situation at affordable prices and also includes some outfits and accessories that can be work for more special occasions. So drop in to Wallace Pring for a new experience in clothes shopping and a very friendly reception with it” Incant, 1981

After running samples in the shop for some years, Alan decided to focus on selling Marc O’Polo and for over twenty years customers from London, all over Kent and further came to find the quality and hospitality of the family run business. Last year Marc O’Polo pulled out of selling to England and the shop now runs a carefully selected range of French and Danish fashion labels such as Part Two, Cottonfield, American Vintage, Nu by Staff, and Hartford; as well as a great selection of Birkenstock footwear, and accessories including bags, scarfs, swimwear, hats and belts. Throughout my family’s time at the shop, we have always held true to Alans ethos “clothing should be stylish whilst being hard wearing and comfortable.”

ALAN KENNEDY Conversation between Alan Kennedy (AK), Melena KennedySanigar (MK) and Courtney Kennedy-Sanigar (CK) All images from the Kennedys personal collection unless otherwise stated. Recorded on April 14th 2012. (edited and condensed)

AK: When I was young, well, I did lots of things. I worked in the building trade mainly. I did go to a technical college so I studied building really, and so when I left school I did become a builders mate sort of thing. So I worked in lots of different things, doing all kinds of building work. And then, my mother said to me one day “I’m fed up with you coming home with plaster all over you, and dirt all over you. Get yourself a clean job for goodness sake” and so I thought OK, ill try this, so I went down the town and I got a job working in Hepworth’s, a clothing shop, a big multiple. A bit like another Burtons really. They used to have factories making things and selling them in the shops and also ready made things. Well you could buy ready made or you could have them made to measure. And from then on, the money was OK, but then another shop down the road seemed a little bit more modern, and I got a job there and did quite well there. I got on quite well with the boss, and then he sent me up to a shop in Hammersmith, and I worked there for quite some time. And I got on really well. CK: And was this all menswear? AK: Menswear yeah, only menswear, yeah. And then from there I got called up for national service and went to the army. And served my national service, and went to mill hill in London, and did my guard and all that sort of stuff, training and all

“I’m fed up with you coming home with plaster all over you, and dirt all over you. Get yourself a clean job for goodness sake.” that and got really fit. I was in the infantry so you had to get really fit for that. It was really quite hard. Anyway from there on they transferred me then to Germany, to a place called Minden Westphalia, and I got on quite well there. I was a bit sneaky, I was doing all kinds of deals out there, I was always a bit of a wheelerdealer really. I wont say too much about that. But when we used to go out on manoeuvres we used to talk to the farmers and they used to say well if you can get me something we’ll let you have some eggs and all that, some chicken. So I was trading there and then, you know, with odd bits of army stuff I shouldn’t have been doing. CK: What guns? AK: No, no not guns. No I drew the line at guns. Then I found a lucrative business

myself, and that was cutting hair, because you had to go to the regimental barber and then that meant all off. I found a way of just cutting it so when the beret was on they still had a bit of hair there, you know. I was doing it in such a way that it worked quite well with the soldiers. So I was cutting hair in there. And it went up on orders; they wanted to find out who was cutting hair. So everybody had to keep quiet, and what we used to do, I used to cut it in my room, and where the door handle was, we rigged it so the door handle would come off if anyone pulled it from the outside, it would come off. So I could cut hair in there and soon as the door handle went off everything disappeared, you know, and we’d just be sitting there reading our books. So that’s the way I carried on, so yeah, so I was always in business really, one way or another, yeah.

AK: And then I got made a sign writer. They were looking for people to become self employed in the army and I thought that was a good way of getting out of marching and all the silly things you’ve got to do; running and jumping and walking about in dirt and things. So I thought, well perhaps I could get myself a good job there. So I applied for this job as sign writer, and because I was reasonably good at that sort of thing anyway, not too bad, and they tested me out and they said yeah. And then I had to go and paint a clenched fist on all the lorries, and things like that company signs on the front of stuff. I then became company sign writer, so then I had my own little workshop there, and again, I don’t know, some sort of wheeling dealing used to go on. And I know, I came away on leave, and Kenny wrote to me, or phoned me at home, and he said “Alan. They’ve been into your workshop, they found loads of stuff in there.” He said, “I don’t think you should come back.” (Laughs) I was in the army, so there was no way of not going back. So I did go back and manage to explain my way out of it. I forget what it was all about actually, I don’t know, spare bits of equipment I had there. It wasn’t anything dishonest really. I think people used to come in there, put their things there and leave things there you know. So anyway I used to quite a bit for work for the officers so I was OK, you know, they would ask me to paint their boxes with their names on when they were

being transferred and things. So I had good connections in there so, so again, the army couldn’t really touch me as such cos I had connections with the officers. So I could get away with most things. I’ve always been a bit of a wheeler-dealer. CK: Yeah so then you left the army, and then what did you do? AK: I left the army and George Francis who I worked for in Hammersmith, he offered me a job, and I think it didn’t sound quite so good CK: How old were you then? AK: I suppose about 21. And so I applied for a job with a company called Maxwell. And they sent me down to work in Hounslow funnily enough with a man called Jack Skinner. He was the boss. And I worked there for a while. And then they said that they’d got a shop opening in Uxbridge, would I like to take that over and become a manager. So I went there and I worked quite hard at it and I enjoyed it, and I did very well there. I don’t know how they knew that we had connections in Brentwood, we had a flat down there, but then it came up that they had

a shop in Brentwood. So they offered the manager job there, and I employed a guy called Derek, he was a nice guy. CK: What kind of clothes was it? AK: Mens clothes again. So worked there for quite some time, and then we were broken into and some stock got stolen and they decided to shut the shop down. So I then thought id take a break and look around. Brent and Collins was a shop in Brentwood, so I went along there and they offered me a job in Romford,

And from then on I worked for Brent and Collins. So I worked for them and got on really well with them, and ended up with a good thing and I became manager, then general manager, and I used to do buying’s and the governor who used to work in the shop with us, he would ask me questions about did I like this, did I like that, what did I think about this cloth and styles. We used to really be designing and working on clothes together so I then became a sort of part designer and manager with the shop so we were designing things and doing things in the factory; so he would ask me to go down the factory and do some things, he trusted me to do all that and I worked with fabrics.

and do stuff with it. And then we opened shops in, our first one was in Wardour Street, that was called Take 6 because it was our 6th shop and that was the centre of the film word as well, you know “Take 6, scene three”. And our symbol was a clapper with a 6 on it, so that was the sign we had. And then I worked at the shop and became manager, general manager and while I was general manager I was also doing designing as well, partly, but mainly managing and running the shops. So it was my job to go round the shops and promote everything we were doing. So I became a merchandiser really, and also a manager.

CK: Was that the first time you were actually making the clothes as well?

And then Sid asked me, Sid Brent, he was the guy who, but of an entrepreneur really, he had all the ideas but also he wasn’t a complete person as such as he was never really satisfied, a lot of designers and people that are creative, they’re never satisfied you know. And so he used to take amphetamines and things like that. He was a nice enough guy and I worked really well with him, but he would get really high and then he would come down, and be up and down. A bit difficult to work with him sometimes, you know some days he wouldn’t come in, other days when he came in he was all buzzy and another days he would come in and nothing. So anyway, having said that they then made me manager of it

AK: Yeah that’s the first time I got involved with that, yeah. I used to go down the factory then work on the designs with the factory, but it was all self taught really. I mean I didn’t have any education about designing so we just worked on patterns looked at patterns, and move them around you know,

all and he then went to the West End, he opened a shop in Oxford Street and had an office there, and worked there. I was working in Romford we also had a little warehouse in Romford, and offices there and so I then had an office in the warehouse and came away from working with the shops, and became more involved in buying. And when they moved into the West End then they left the local shops to me and I had to buy and produce the merchandise for the local shops. And so that was my job then.

Various drawings done by Alan Kennedy during his time working with Take 6 Previous page: Original Take 6 hanger and badge.

CK: So was that in Essex and London? AK: Yeah it was in Romford that I had the office, and they moved to Oxford Street, the directors moved up there and had offices up there, and I then controlled the local shops. But then Barry Brent his son was left with me and he was quite young. Sid asked me to work with Barry and try and get him involved in the business as much as possible. Though he wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really very interested in it, he was more interested in finances and accounts and things like that, so he would a lot of that with me when we would go out buying. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d do accounts and stuff and id do all the fabrics.

Sid Brent would come down once a week and work with me there with fabrics and things; again for the West End. But then he wanted me to go up and work with him in London. He felt that he wanted my help up there really. So I didn’t really want to do that, I had family and everything and I knew that because of his character you’d be working at his whims. One day he’d work hard and he’d want to work all day and all night, and another day he wouldn’t want to work, so I drew the line at doing that. So I said I would only go up there a few days a week, and so that’s what we did. I would drive my car up to Barry’s who lived on the way up to London, and even then Barry didn’t want to work too much with his father either because he knew how difficult he was to work with. So he had a shop in Oxford Street, or we had, we opened a shop in Wardour Street first, and then we opened a shop in Carnaby Street, then we opened a shop in Marlborough Street, and then we opened a shop in Kensington, then Kings Road, then another shop in Kings Road and then we opened two shops in Oxford Street. So in all we had 14 shops, all Take 6, so quite a powerful organisation, all based in London. And when we opened our shop in Carnaby Street, in Carnaby Street was the time that everyone wanted to come to London. Everybody. We used to have all kinds of people coming in there; we had Stevie Wonder. Everybody famous at the time

MK: It was like the place to be, Carnaby Street, in London, to buy clothes, was the place in the 60s. AK: There’s a guy, Harry Nilsson, he used to come into the Kensington shop. He was really friendly with the Beatles. And he was a one off, a master of what he did, unfortunately he died of cancer. I’ve got a lot of his music, Harry. So again when we were in Oxford Street it became a bit crazy really, it became very busy, extremely busy. I got more and more involved in that, but it was very time consuming really. Everything we’d produce we’d sell just like that, so fast moving and I was working buying fabric working with the factories putting it through the factories making sure that it got to the shops and then also we would then be going to fairs and doing export as well. So we’d have to go abroad to buy, and also go abroad to show and then produce stuff at their own factories and everything else. In the end you didn’t know where you were, quite mad really for a while. Sid Brent, his lifestyle, he separated from his wife and he had two sons. One son was at university, then he came into the business, that was Andrew Brent, and of course he wanted quite a big slice of everything that was going on, he wanted cars and the good job. And Barry Brent also had a nice lifestyle.

Irvine Sellars and other boutiques, Carnaby Street, 1968. Photograph taken by H. Grobe

The other side was Jack Collins, Sids partner, he ran mainly the shirts and that, whereas I did mainly clothing and suits and jackets, which was big big business then. The shirts again, were another part of the business. So it was like a slightly separate thing, and Jack Collins used to run that. And he ran that with his son in law and he was quite good. And he brought in other people to work and that when we bought in Steve, he came to work for us for a while, Steve James, and he ran a company called Hardware Clothing Company. Again which was very successful in its own right. He left us and did his own thing with a couple of other guys and they became extremely successful, and he opened shops himself but unfortunately they all closed down because he opened them at the wrong time and it was during the Maggie Thatcher period which was a financial disaster at the time. A big recession. And he was encouraged to take out loans and things like that but it got all too much, and it all wound up. Such a lot going on then. MK: But Hardware Clothing Company, he was involved with Marc O’Polo wasn’t he. AK: Yeah so Hardware Clothing Company then because every shop they went to abroad where they sold Hardware Clothing Company they found Marc O’Polo there in the shops, and it was a Swedish company. And everything

seemed to link up so well with their clothing with what they produced, then they decided to be agents for it in England. When they sold hardware clothing they also sold Marc O’Polo. And so it all linked up so well for them, and that was the start of Marc O’Polo. And so I was very friendly with Steve, and so when I left Steve said well we can supply you with Marc O’Polo. First of he said he’d sell me all samples, and pieces he wasn’t sure would work, and so we used to buy all odd bits and pieces when we first started out and the from there on it worked out that it was easier to buy the correct merchandise, and sell it because you could have it in a full range of sizes and everything, when it was samples you weren’t quite sure where you were. And the Marc O’Polo stuff was so good

MK: And French connection, we bought their samples as well CK: And this is in Whitstable now? AK: Yeah, but anyway in between that when I was working for Sid Brent he became more and more erratic and he became more and more difficult to work with, and then I had been made a director of the company then, or what you would call an associate director. But then Sid would just disappear for some time, and he was just trying to get a bigger part of the company, it was all politics really, trying to get a bigger part to support his lifestyle. Jack Collins wouldn’t have any of it. But then Jack Collins said to me “could you run the business Alan?”

Opposite: Man’s shirt in printed viyella, wool and cotton blend. Retailed at Take 6, England, c. 1970. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Left: Man’s suit consisting of a mohair doublebreasted jacket and trousers, retailed by Take Six, London, 1967 “This distinctive suit with its long frock coat and tall ‘highwayman’ collar was worn for public appearances by the cabaret group ‘The International Minipops’ who toured their musical puppet show on luxury cruise-liners. It is typical of the more flamboyant menswear available from Carnaby Street boutiques in the 1960s. Retailers such as Take Six’s owner, Sidney Brent, carefully courted show-business personalities as clients in order to generate useful publicity.” © Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Next page: Various drawings done by Alan during his time at Take 6.

Left, above and right: “This is a fantastic and rare 60’s blue velvet suit, a great piece of History, as velvet suits were so popular until mid 70’s. This suit was sold at the famous Take 6 shop in Canaby Street. The jacket is double breasted with six buttons, two flap pockets one breast pocket, three buttons cuff and single vent at the back. The trousers are flat front, side pockets, no rear pockets, zip fly, bell bottom 60’s and 70’s style also known as flares.” Images kindly contributed by Ze Landum of Landum Vintage

Above: ‘Rare and covetable vintage 1960’s leather jacket by the Take 6 boutique, a renowned swingin’ sixties shop located on Carnaby Street In black leather with popper-fastening cuffs, pointed collars and curved yoke to the shoulders front and back. Stitched pleats to the front either side form high pockets at the waist, and there are stitched seams and a central pleat to the back too. Tapered-in waist, straight panelled waistband.

Chunky zip fastening down the front of the jacket, Fully lined in black acetate, with Take 6 psychedelic label at the back of the neck and leather care lable inside at the waist. Images kindly contributed by Dawn of Candy Says

So I thought oh my god, you know, so now he’s putting me in between Sid Brent who I respect, and also himself, so putting me in the middle that means that I cant please both people at once. What’s going to happen, there’s going to be a showdown eventually, with the two of them. So I said, “well I just get on with my job Jack, and if it means some taking over then ill do that, but I wont say I’m taking over any of that you know. So ill just do my job and work as hard as I can and do it”. And then Burtons said, a person called Ralf Halpern who again was a merchandiser for Burtons then he said that he needed a man to run Topman, and bring Topman up to date. So he wanted our sort of styling and what we were doing with Take 6 in Burtons really. So he wanted the suits and everything else. Topman was a new venture for them. It opened and it went for a while, but they hadn’t got the image right, and so they said they wanted someone to work with their factories and get their produce on the market. So then they approached me and I said no I wasn’t interested in doing it, and so they approached me again. Its what you call headhunters. They employed an agency then to find out what I wanted and go back to them and negotiate, so really quite a big business then. So they kept coming to me and offering more and more and more and more and more, and in the end it seemed

quite stupid not to accept, even if I do it for a couple of years it will be worth while to me. So I went to them on my own terms, I said I wouldn’t be employed by them, I would be self employed, I would work three days a week for a very large sum (laughs) so I just dictated my terms, and so I went to work for them, I think for about a year. Then I decided I didn’t want to do it any more. CK: So did Take 6 close down? AK: Yeah I moved to Burton, Take 6 carried on for a while but then decided to sell up, yeah. The writing was on the wall really; the people at the top were getting too difficult to work with. CK: And then that was when you moved to Whitstable? AK: That’s when we moved to Whitstable yeah. So I decided to give it all up yeah. CK: What brands was it when you first started in Whitstable? AK: We opened up selling samples, so we bought from French Connection, Marc O’Polo, two or three other companies which were small companies that I knew, that’s when we changed to doing men’s and ladies. And French Connection was very successful, dresses and things like that. That was ages ago, so very different to how their stuff is now

Below: Alan Kennedy behind the counter at Wallace Pring, The Whitstable Trader. Left: Alan, Melena and Mirelle Kennedy having tea in the shop.

CK: So when you first started the shop, what was your kind of ethos, what kind of people were you selling to, what kind of ideas did you have? AK: Well we brought a totally new image to Whitstable, it was all very relevant stuff that was happening in London really, and it was the latest possible stuff that you could buy really.

Left: Mirelle showing off a pair of socks behind the counter of the shop. Below: Mirelle in the shop. Notice the ‘Wallace Pring Burlesque’ carved into the glass door when Alan and my family bought the shop. Right: Mirelle showing a selection of gloves.

CK: And then was Whitstable still really quiet? AK: Yeah it was yeah, there was only one other dress shop, which did a few sort of Indian type dresses, but that was all, there wasn’t any other clothing in Whitstable at all. CK: And were there still loads of people coming down from London? AK: No at that time there wasn’t no, it hadn’t started then. You’d get the odd one or two but nothing really, no flow of people.

CK: And how long did you do samples and stuff then before you then changed over to Marc O’Polo? AK: For really, we became known because people had found us then, people had discovered us, and they knew that they could buy really quite unusual clothes from us. And one or two company’s we worked with in London would supply us with some things, so they were really quite unusual bits and pieces and so people would come down and find something really very very different and stylish.

MK: The samples would mainly be the ones that they would be showing the public and if they didn’t get a good response from it then they would say OK well that’s not going to sell; we wont run that. But it would be quite unusual things, so the public then thought, and looked at us as more one off, quite designery looking garments. We did a bit of Mary Quant make up, and a bit of jewellery, and Mary Quant underwear.

AK: and striped tights and things like that. So I suppose we was a high fashion shop really, in Whitstable, and very much a one off high fashion shop yeah. Before much of that was around anywhere really. You didn’t find many designer shops about really. MK: We did a bit of Sterling Cooper, a bit of Steven Marks and they were all really designery names, and very expensive but we could get samples.

AK: And they were friends of ours at the time; Steven Marks was the owner of French Connection. He used to have French Connection and also a design side, which was called Steven Marks, which was a very up market sort of thing. Very stylish and he’d let me have samples from him, or his samples which we’d buy really cheaply, really quite expensive stuff at really quite low prices. And then we decided that we could then just sell Marc O’Polo so easily, so that was an easy way to go. And again the quality was always really great you know.

CK: Do you have any old drawings or photos? AK: I think I’ve got some old photos when I was a bit of a hippy CK: Is that at Carnaby Street? AK: Well I used to be a bit rebellious, so I used to think I was a bit of a designer. So I used to have a bit of a beard. I’ve always been into fashion, even when I was younger yeah. I had a period when I had longish hair, and was a bit Clint Eastwood looking. And then you got me in a 3-piece suit when I did my business bit. When I had to go off to, I think when I was involved in Take 6 to start with, I was a bit more formal then. So we went off to Yugoslavia or wherever to do some deals with a clothing factory out there, so I had a three-piece suit, and a big old tie. But my fashions have always changed. When I was younger I was into, sort of, not rock and roll but I always followed American fashion. Films and things like that, fairly big drapes and things like that, long jackets CK: And the trousers that were really high and really baggy? AK: Really high yeah, oh yeah. Really high. CK: Like Buster Keaton? AK: Like that yeah, and then it moved

“At that time you looked out the window and thought, wow this is like a Hollywood setting” away from that, and became a bit more mods and rockers then and then it was a bit like East End gangsters, big shoulders and a bit jack the ladish. I went through that period for a while, in the 50s yeah, just when Diana and I got married actually. CK: So why Whitstable? AK: Oh yeah, how we got into Whitstable first of all, was a friend Rodger who worked with me, my assistant. He worked with me in Take 6, and also I offered him a job with me in Burtons, so he came and was my assistant there as well. He was good; he worked quite hard with me. Anyway, he had bought a house here in Whitstable, which he lived in with his partner, and he invited us down here one weekend to his house and we enjoyed Whitstable a lot. A few weeks later he said he was going to a

party at a house on the beach, and would we like to come. He said I think you might like it, they’re thinking of selling it. This house, very much the same as it is now; she was very much an art deco person, lots of art deco furniture was here. So Diana fell in love with it. And at that time you looked out the window and thought, wow this is like a Hollywood setting, the water out there, where else can you have a house where you can see the water like that. At that time I had some money so I knew I could put a deposit down and possibly secure it. So, someone had already put an offer in so we negotiated with Barbra. So we lived in Brentwood and travelled down here weekends, but it wasn’t very long before we decided that we would rather be here anyway.

Right: Alan and Diana in their front room. Notice the beautiful deco styled panel above the fireplace.

CK: So with the shop now, what are the important elements you feel the shop has? AK: We’ve always had a quality conscious thing. We only sell quality merchandise. We would never ever dream of selling things just for the sake of selling them, or just to add things to the shop. Some people sell all kinds of tat, just to make up bulk, but we’ve never done that, we’ve only ever sold what we personally like. MK: You think about twenty years ago there wasn’t anyone selling that natural things like linens and cottons. You’re seeing it everywhere now. Twenty years ago it was all synthetic, nylon and so we were just selling silks and cottons, coconut buttons. AK: Marc O’Polo was very much that, purely natural things, and that was their thing and that was our thing really. But no one else was doing it, that was the start of really natural things. Everywhere you went it was polyester and acrylic everywhere.

“We’ve only ever sold what we personally like”

CK: And with Marc O’Polo it was quite neutral colours and then bursts of colour as well. AK: Well the thing is with natural fibres you get certain colour dyes with it, with synthetics the dyes are different, so they’re all different, they’re all highly mass produced, from these big companies.

Alan Trying on a leather and parachute silk Jacket by The Hardware Clothing Company.

And they have their set dyes. Where as because it was all made in Sweden mainly it was all different colours that you’d get and because they’re all natural fibres the colours would be different as well, they would just look different. Jus the whole concept was totally different. Shirts were made of polyester; even suits were made of polyester.

From Left: Alan and Mirelle, Mirelle, Melena, and Mirelle and Alan in the shop. Next Page: Mirelle leading the way to the clothing upstairs, Alan in the womenswear

“I’ve got this little secret shop in Whitstable I go to” and I’d say “Well, tell your friends about us.” And they’d say “I don’t want to do that, I want to keep it a secret.” Keeping us a secret! But people would find us.”

Our philosophy was we only wanted to use natural things. And our business has been done by word of mouth really. A lot of people used to think of us as their secret shop. “I’ve got this little secret shop in Whitstable I go to” and I’d say “well, tell your friends about us” and they’d say “I don’t want to do that I want to keep it a secret.” Keeping us a secret! But people would find us. MK: That was when we were doing 1s of things; they didn’t want the prime sizes like 10s and 12s to go. CK: And even now you only buy in 1 or 2 sizes of each don’t you. So even though it’s within brands it’s quite limited. MK: And were still gong for names that aren’t big names, even though Part Two is quite big, but not really down here. It’s all quite specialised.

CREDITS This publication and research leading to this publication was designed and undertaken by Courtney Kennedy-Sanigar, on the FdA Design Practice course at Camberwell Photographs and imagery contributed by Geoffrey Pike, Margaret Burnett, V&A, Dawn at Candy Says, Ze Landum at Landum Vintage, H. Grobe, Alan and the Kennedy-Sanigar family. Written, edited and designed by Courtney Kennedy-Sanigar.