Introduction

In the summer of 1959, Geoffrey Coleman Smith of Whitethorn, Hill End, Hardington Mandeville, went on holiday to Cornwall with his wife, Margaret. He was the Accounts Director at the Yeovil gloving firm of Clothier, Giles & Co, and their factory had probably shut down for a two-week break. Geoffrey liked visiting Cornwall for its landscape and beaches and because of family associations. His maternal grandfather, John Coleman, was born at Bodmin in 1836 and had a long career as a Customs Officer.[1] Geoffrey may have visited him as a boy as he lived until 1922.[2]

Life in London and Brazil

Geoffrey was born in Catford in 1904, the youngest of three sons born to Cyril and Florence Isabella Smith.[3] His father was a Post Office clerk, and his mother was the daughter of John Coleman, the Customs Officer referred to above.[4] Geoffrey worked for the London & Brazilian Bank Limited in their office near the Bank of England as a young man.[5] He also spent time in Brazil, returning to England in August 1928.[6]

Life in Yeovil

A job opportunity in Yeovil may have prompted Geoffrey’s return to England. In 1910, his mother’s sister, Winifred Margaret Coleman, married the Yeovil glove manufacturer Fred Giles. [7]  Fred had taken the business of Clothier, Giles & Co over from his father, George. Following his father’s death in 1927, he sought a family member to share the responsibility and develop as a potential successor.[8] Although Fred had two daughters, Barbara Sylvia and Lucile Mary, he had no son.[9] He knew Geoffrey well because Geoffrey had visited him as a boy.[10]

Geoffrey joined the Yeovil firm. By July 1929, he lived at 25 Everton Road and worked as a clerk in the Addlewell Lane factory.[11]

On 27 July 1929, Geoffrey married Margaret Mabel Chapple Sawtell at the Church of St Leonard, Streatham.[12] Her father was a yeast company director who lived in London his whole life. Her mother came from Ashcott, Somerset, where her father was a farmer.[13]

Margaret joined her husband in Yeovil. Their first home was a three-bedroomed house in West Coker Road named “Mellstock.”[14] Their daughter, Anthea Mary, was born there on 25 October 1930 and their son, Richard John, on 14 January 1933.[15]

Geoffrey and Margaret participated in Yeovil’s social life. In February 1936, he sang in the Mikado chorus at the Gaumont Palace.[16] He was also a member of the Territorial Army.[17]

Wartime

During the Second World War, Geoffrey served with the Royal Artillery, reaching the rank of captain.[18] For part of this time, his wife and children lived at Elsford, Closworth, near Prowle’s Cross.[19]

Post-war

After the war, Geoffrey returned to Clothier, Giles & Co, where he became a director in about 1951. He also served as Company Secretary and designed gloves.[20] As a Director, he oversaw the company’s financial operations and made strategic decisions to ensure growth and success. His responsibilities were all the greater because his uncle, Fred Giles, died in 1950.[21]

In 1946, Geoffrey and his family lived at Bridge Cottage, West Coker Hill. [22] This cottage was close to where his cousin, Lucille, lived with her husband, Wilfred Sawtell, of Hill, Sawtell & Company.[23]

In about 1957, Geoffrey and his family moved to Hardington.[24]

Death

In 1959, he and his wife went to St Ives on holiday. On Sunday, 2 August, Geoffrey swam in the sea, returned to the beach, collapsed and died. He was 54.[25]

His body was cremated at Weymouth on the following Thursday, and on the following Saturday, a memorial service was held at Hardington Church.[26]

Postscript

His widow later lived at Rydon Farm, Hardington. She was a rather formidable woman who used the name Mrs Coleman Smith. She served as a churchwarden and was an active member of the Women’s Institute.[27]

In 1965, she married Gerald McDermott of Ashcott, a retired journalist, twenty-four years older.[28] He died eleven weeks later, leaving her very well-off.[29] She died at Wells in 1989, aged 86.[30]

Lucille Sawtell (nee Giles) died in 2009, aged 94.[31]

References

[1] Bodmin baptism register.

[2] Probate indexes, Bodmin, 15 June 1922.

[3] Civil Registration Birth Index, Lewisham Q4, 1904.

[4] RG13, piece 1255, folio 42 page 23; RG14, piece 2805; RG12, piece 310, folio, page 40.

[5] RG15, piece 11326, schedule 358.

[6] UK Incoming Passenger Lists.

[7] Western Chronicle, 3 June 1910, p.5.

[8] Probate indexes, London, 12 November 1927.

[9] RG15, piece 11326, schedule 358.

[10] RG15, piece 11326, schedule 358.

[11] St Leonard, Streatham marriage register.

[12] St Leonard, Streatham marriage register.

[13] Ashcott marriage register.

[14] Western Gazette, 19 October 1928, p.9; Western Gazette, 31 October 1930, p.16. In 1928, “Mellstock” was advertised for sale.

[15] Western Gazette, 31 October 1930, p.16 and 20 January 1933, p.16.

[16] Western Gazette, 7 February 1936 p.3.

[17] Bristol Evening Post, 6 August 1959 p.9.

[18] Bristol Evening Post, 6 August 1959 p.9.

[19] 1939 Register.

[20] Bristol Evening Post, 6 August 1959 p.9; Bob Osborn’s Yeovil’s Virtual Museum: an article about Clothier, Giles & Co.

[21] Probate indexes, Bristol, 17 January 1951.

[22] The will of Geoffrey Coleman Smith, dated 4 April 1946, proved in London 15 December 1959.

[23] 1939 Register.

[24] Grant of probate for the will of Geoffrey Coleman Smith; Margaret’s mother died in 1957.

[25] Bristol Evening Post, 6 August 1959 p.9.

[26] Bristol Evening Post, 6 August 1959 p.9.

[27] Taunton Courier and Western Advertiser, 11 April 1959, p.9.

[28] Wells Journal 19 February 1965, p.14.

[29] The will of Gerald McDermott, dated 15 March 1965, proved at Carmarthen on 17 June 1965.

[30] Civil Registration Death Index.

[31] Civil Registration Death Index; memorial inscription at Hardington Mandeville..