~

From the middle to late 19th century until the 1970s shoemaking was the major source of employment for many communities in Northamptonshire, Finedon was no exception. At its peak in the 1950s there were nine significant boot and shoe factories in the town, together with other businesses supplying materials and components.

Prior to the middle of the 19th century footwear was made by ‘cordwainers’ who made shoes by hand for local people. Often the parts of the ‘uppers’ were sown together (known as closing) by the shoemaker’s wife. All this changed as mechanisation was eventually developed.

Initially, treadle sewing machines were introduced to sew the uppers and small groups of people joined together in homes and barns, known as Outworkers to produce uppers and other components for a shoemaker. Later, larger, more powerful machines which could stitch the uppers to the soles of the shoes were introduced. These could only be economically used in factories built especially for that purpose.

~

1886

The Finedon Co-operative Society Boot and Shoe Company was founded at the junction of Obelisk Road and Mulso Road. This factory closed in 1935 and was taken over by the Debdale Leather Company.

1889

Albert Bailey and Samuel Elson started the firm of Bailey and Elson which was situated on the corner of Mulso Road and Wellingborough Road. Albert Bailey has previously worked at Charles Wright’s factory in Church Street. The partnership was dissolved in 1900 and became known as A.H. Bailey and Sons, in which at various times the father worked with up to five of his sons. This factory was closed and demolished in the 1960s.

Bailey and Elson 1897

In 1893, Arthur Nutt founded his company in Wellingborough Road which was eventually taken over by the Coles Group before becoming part of the Griggs Organisation, which produced the ‘Doc Martin’ range of footwear. The factory closed in the 1990s and has since been converted to flats as is Minney’s factory.

~

1900

Having split with Albert Bailey, Samuel Elson went on to build the Tower Boot Company situated between Wellingborough Road and Well Street. Sadly, the firm went bankrupt in 1904 and Elson emigrated to Canada with sixteen members of his family. The factory was later owned by the Pearson family for a considerable time before it became part of the Griggs Organisation and later closed.

In 1910, the firm of Yorke Brothers was started in Finedon by R E and W A Yorke. W A died in 1915 but the firm carried on producing boots for the army during the Great War as did many others. Exactly where the factory was is not clear but was it the same Yorke Brothers who traded in Wellingborough for many years.

In 1929, the firm of John R Gammidge was started, situated between Summerlee Road and Milner Road. It was created by John Gammidge and Alfred Minney. Subsequently their sons Peter Gammidge and John Minney took over the business. In 1995, the firm closed the Finedon factory and moved to Kettering Parkway, where they designed and marketed footwear as opposed to manufacturing them.

~

Locations of Finedon’s Boot and Shoe Factories

1. A.H. Bailey & Son, 

on the corner of Obelisk Rd and Wellingborough Rd

2. A.W. Minney & Sons 

(Tower Works), at the top of Tenter Lane

3. Roy Bailey, 

Situated at Berry Green

4. Coggins,

In Allen Rd a small ‘Closing Room’ operated by Coggins of Raunds.

5. G. Knight,

at the corner of Rock Rd and Thrapston Rd, later to become Rockleigh   

     Shoe Company (Loakes Bros).

6. The Tower Boot Company, 

Situated between Wellingborough Rd and Well St.

7. Finedon Co-operative Boot and Shoe Company, 

located at the junction of Obelisk Rd and Mulso Rd

8. J.T. Hawthorne 

Located on Burton Rd, later to become Rockleigh Shoe Company 

    (Loakes Bros) Closing Room.

9. J. R. Gammidge Ltd, 

Spanned between Summerlee Rd and Milner Rd.

10. Trolley Brothers,

Situated along Allen Rd.

11. Charles Wright, 

Located at the bottom end of Church St.

12. Arthur Nutt and Co Ltd, 

On the corner of Wellingborough Rd and Laws Lane, later to become Coles’s Tower Boot and R Griggs & Son.

13. J.H.Fox, 

Situated on Irthlingborough Rd, later to become Highfield Boot and Shoe, sadly destroyed by fire in 1926.

14. Arthur Parker/Elam Cooper, 

Located on the corner of Irthlingborough Rd and Allen Rd.

~