Grandad Preston 1939

Denis Pickles sent this scan, his notes are shown below the photo.

Alan will remember [better than I] that Marshall Preston, our maternal grandfather, being the longest serving employee at Horsfall's Mill, was selected to make the 21st Birthday presentation to the Horsfall twins, Donald and Michael, on behalf of the mill workers. They'd had a whip round and collected sufficient to buy them each a silver Smokers Compendium. Shock, horror - smoking! Actually it looks as though they are getting a pair of shoes but each box probably contained five Woodbines and a box of Swan Vestas!

I'm not sure of the date, but if it was their 21st b/day it would be around 18th April 1939 - and I don't know which is Donald and which is Michael.

Perhaps the photograph has more interest to Glusburnites than Suttoners. However Michael is commemorated on the gravestone in Sutton Church Yard [see We Will Remember Them] and Marshall [What a distinguished name!] was Laurence Preston's brother, Laurence being a governor of Sutton Council School in the late 30's early 40's.

Incidentally, my grandfather would, by this time, have worked for almost 60 years in the mill as a woolsorter. He was apprenticed to John Cousins Horsfall in October 1879 for the princely sum of 8 shillings a week!

D Marshall Pickles