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Mr W B Sanders
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One of our most prominent boot manufacturers, Mr. W. B. Sanders, has made an interesting New Year resolution – to take more leisure in 1925 and the following years than he has ever had in a very busy lifetime. A rather premature announcement appeared in a trade journal to the effect that Mr. Sanders gave up at Christmas active participation in the business of Messrs. Sanders and Sanders, the Hayway, Rushden, but a representative of The Rushden Echo visited Mr. Sanders’s house on Wednesday and was sent round to the office, where he found Mr. Sanders still at it.
Mr. Sanders admitted that he had decided to retire and leave the control of the business in the hands of his sons, but our representative gathered that he had made the decision with some reluctance. During the interview Mr. Sanders was affectionately handling old papers from his desk and said that he had been browsing among them before clearing things up.
A self-made man, Mr. Sanders could have given us a sermon from his own life – a bluff and ready story, too, but a very good one – for young men in this district, but he expressed the wish that our representative would not boom it. It is not necessary to do that, for everybody in the district knows Mr. Sanders and his life and his cheery outlook. The bare facts are a fine example.
Old residents know and respect Mr. Sanders as a native of Rushden who “got on in the world” because he applied energy and initiative to his work in the early years of his life. He was apprenticed to the boot trade as a lad and then went to work as a clicker in
London
. He returned to Rushden in 1871 – at the end of the Franco-Prussian War – and then he and his brother (now deceased) set to work in a little shop of their own next to the New Inn in High-street. Hard work followed, and long hours in conditions not of the best, but it was not long before they moved a little way up the street into a bigger building. The struggle was still very difficult – there were many setbacks – but about 14 years ago they started the factory in Hayway, and this continued successfully until about six months ago when Mr. Sanders suffered what he himself calls one of the biggest blows he ever had, in a fire which totally destroyed the factory and everything in it except a new engine. Profiting by misfortune, however, Mr. Sanders has had the factory rebuilt in the most modern style, inside and out, and has installed the very latest B.U. machinery. He had the greatest pleasure in showing The Rushden Echo representative this machinery and in pointing out the details of what he proudly calls his model factory.
Hard work in his earlier years and through-out life has not sapped Mr. Sanders’ energy. In his own words, he is “72 and still running,” and his retirement does not mean that he will resign from his work as a School Manager (he has held that position for twelve years). His interest in Rushden, the progress of which he has watched with pride, is unflagging.
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Rushden Echo, 19th July 1912
Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Sanders entertained to a garden party at Moorland House, Hayway, on Wednesday the whole of the day school teachers of Rushden, a very happy party assembling. The guests were cordially welcomed by Mr. Sanders (one of the School Managers for Rushden), Mrs. Sanders, and the members of the family, who worked assiduously to promote the pleasure of those present. Tea was served on the lawn, and afterwards Mr. L. Perkins, B.Sc., proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Sanders and the family, which was seconded by Mr. Fox and carried with cheers. Mr. Sanders replied. A cricket match, Ladies v Gentlemen, was played, the latter being handicapped. Bowls, tennis, and other games were played; refreshments were served; selections were given on a gramophone; and dancing took place to the music of an orchestral band.
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Rushden Echo, 23rd February 1917, transcribed by Kay Collins
The Marriage took place at Grimsby on Saturday last of Dr. Walter Elwood, formerly with Dr. Owen at Rushden, now on medical work with the Colours, to Miss Florence Sanders, third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. B. Sanders, of Hayway, Rushden.
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Rushden Echo, 15th March 1918, transcribed by Kay Collins
Piscatorial—Mr. W. B. Sanders, Mr. G. Selwood, and Capt. Vann, fishing at Radwell yesterday week, caught ten pike in three hours, the aggregate weight being over 40lbs. The largest fish scaled over 10lbs.
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