George & Annie Floyd

LOOSLEY ROW STORES, known as “A.W.Harvey’s”    research by Miles Marshall.

THE PROPERTY

This brick and flint cottage on Lower Road, Loosley Row was built in 1864 by Henry Janes.   The cottage had a bread oven and grocery shop.  There he lived with his wife Mary and their children were born there.    By 1881 Henry had built for himself a new bakehouse in Lacey Green on the corner of Goodacres Lane.   He let the Loosley Row premises to a grocer, who by coincidence was named Thomas Harvey, but unrelated to A. W. Harvey (the name above the shop).   When Henry died he left the Lacey Green bakery to his son Hezekiah.   The Loosley Row Shop and Lane Cottages nearby, he left to his daughter Annie.

GEORGE FLOYD

In 1890 Annie Janes married George Floyd. George born in 1865, was the son of Peter Tyler Floyd, His sister Mary Ann, born 1855 married Eldred Tilbury, His younger brother Frederick, born 1871, Inherited Floyd's Farm, lacey Green.

LACEY GREEN TO LOOSLEY ROW

They had two daughters Daisy and Annie Elizabeth.   George had been the assistant gardener for John Forrest.  They had been living in Lane Farm, Church Lane, Lacey Green.    The family moved into the Loosley Row Stores after giving Mr Harvey notice and waiting some time before he went.   It became known as “Floyd’s Stores”.   They continued with the shop with all the usual groceries and provisions, sweets and tobacco.   They also sold some hardware such as bass brooms, besoms, tea pots and other crockery, coal shovels, needles, cotton and darning wool.   Annie paid great attention to the window displays.   It became the children's duty to dress the windows, turning everything out at regular intervals so that they could be cleaned and polished inside and out.   The window, nearest the chapel next door, had shelves loaded with rows of large sweet jars.   The other window display varied with the season.   In spring a large display of garden seeds from John Walkers, nurseryman and seedsman at Thame, for which they had the agency.   At Christmas a colourful show of toys and decorations were the attraction.

ADDED ENTERPRISES

George developed other enterprises in conjunction with the shop.   He kept and fattened pigs and also bought fat pigs for slaughter.   Annie cured the bacon and the hams and ran down the lard, all of which they sold in the shop.   Every market day he would collect fish and newspapers from High Wycombe.

A COAL and CARRIER BUSINESS

He bought a horse and cart and started a coal business, collecting the coal from the goods yard at Princes Risborough and later he bought a second horse and cart, employing Harry Gomme as driver and started a general carrying trade.   He carried parcels to and from both Princes Risborough and High Wycombe stations.

OUTSIDE CATERING

He undertook outside catering for such functions as the Chapel outings, where Mrs.Thomas, (their daughter Annie) recalled serving tea, lemonade, ginger beer, cakes and buns from trestle tables at Whiteleaf.

TIME FOUND

George Floyd was always a keen gardener, having been a gardener to Mr. Forrest of Grymsdyke, he was often in demand to judge the allotments at Longwick.   He was also secretary to two local slate clubs – at the ‘Sprat” and the ‘Whip’.

GROWING FAMILY

George and Annie had a third daughter Emily, born after they moved to Loosley Row.   They also brought up three orphan girls from about five to fourteen years, when the vicar of Lacey Green found them employment in service.  They regarded the Floyds as 'family' all their lives.

EMILY TAKES OVER STORES

It was Emily who eventually took over the business.   She had married Arthur Harvey in 1930, born at  Bryants Bottom but then living with two brothers at Lodge Farm, Saunderton.  He moved into the shop but continued working as a builder for White Bros. in High Wycombe until George became ill and Arthur took over the coal and carrying side of the business.   When George died the name of the shop was changed to “A.W.Harvey”.

POST OFFICE

The post office was added to their other activities in 1945.   Emily and her mother Annie still ran the shop.  During the war Arthur had to work in an aircraft factory in Princes Risborough.   He still delivered the groceries after factory hours but the carrier business had to go.  After the war he worked at Bomber Command until he retired in 1973, dying in 1980.

EDNA

Arthur and Emily had a daughter Edna in 1935.   She lived and worked at the shop.  After her mother died in 1962 she took over, with some help from her father.   She had married Donald J Bailey and they had one son.   With both men working she carried on for eight years but as her father needed more care she decided in 1970 to have a sale and close the shop for good.