The Grocers of Lacey Green & Loosley Row

GROCERY STORE KEEPERS   research by Joan West

THOMAS DELL

1775 – 1836    In 1775 Thomas Dell set up shop as a baker and chandler in a premises later called Vine Cottage in Lacey Green. click Thomas Dell snr & Ann Dell for their life story

JOHN CARTER & BETSY DELL

At least from 1821 – 1836, his grandson John Carter Dell and his wife Betsy ran the shop as a grocer and beerseller.   (not necessarily as a pub, but to take away).

JESSE WARD, ALFRED WARD MARY ANN WARD & HENRY ALLEN

1841 – 1945   By 1841 Jesse Ward had a general store, selling grocery, carpentry and it was also a post office.   His son Alfred and wife Betsy worked there, as did their daughter Mary (Polly), who took over the shop in 1904 and the Post Office in 1906.   Polly married in 1913 and she and her husband, Henry Allen, ran the store, adding pocket watches & second hand books to the shop.  They retired in 1945 and the shop closed.   The store was demolished and replaced by a new house called ‘Green Pastures’.

JACOB & REBEKAH DELL

1841 – 1861   In the census of 1841 Jacob and Rebekah Dell are listed as Shopkeepers at Darvills Hill.  They may have been grocery store keepers.   In the census of 1851 and 1861 they are listed as shopkeepers in Lacey Green.    They lived at ‘Lieu de Repos’, later called ‘Highlands’ then ‘Ardengrove’.   They were known to smoke kippers there, making a very ‘fishy’ smell.

JOSEPH & JANE FLOYD & JABEZ & SARAH JANE DELL

1961 – 1901    In 1861 Joseph and Jane Floyd started a grocery store in Church Lane, Lacey Green on rented land.   Their daughter was Sarah Jane married Jabez Dell in 1868.   The following year he purchased the shop.   In the census of 1901 Sarah Jane, aged 70, is listed as grocer and tea trader.   After Sarah Jane it became a private House, now called ‘Green Hedges’

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HENRY JANES

1864 – 1970   In 1864 Henry Janes built a house in Lower Road, Loosley Row.   He was a baker and also sold groceries, even though the Ward family’s premises was just along the road.   In 1881 he let the shop to Thomas Harvey from High Wycombe.

ANNIE & GEORGE FLOYD. click George & Annie Floyd for this shop's story

In 1889 Henry died and he left the shop to his daughter Annie, who was married to George Floyd.   They added to the groceries with home cured hams and bacon.

EMILY & ARTHUR HARVEY

It was George and Annie’s daughter Emily who took over from them.   She married Arthur Harvey in 1930 and he joined the business.   After George died, the store bore the sign W. H. Harvey above the door.   The range of goods was expanded.   Fresh fish was brought from Wycombe on Fridays, they were agents for garden seeds and stocked decorations at Christmas time.   Emily and Arthur had one daughter, Edna.   She helped her mother in the shop, her father and husband running other services.   After her mother died Edna carried on alone until 1970 when she closed the shop for good

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WILLIAM & RUTH ANDERSON Click William & Ruth Anderson for more about this family

1891 and 1901.  In the census of these years William and Ruth Anderson are listed as having a grocers shop on Woodway, the last property going down, on the left, just before the left bend into the long stretch of Woodway   William had a small farm.   Their shop also specialised in chicken and fish.

ELLEN BROWN click Belle Vue no 1 for more about this shop

Census 1891.    Ellen Brown, widow, is listed as a grocer and shopkeeper at no 1, Belle Vue, Main Road, Lacey Green.   She is listed again in 1901, no longer a grocery, but continues as a sweet shop by Ellen and then her daughter Min.

HERBERT & ALICE WITNEY click Herbert & Alice Witney for more about his shop

1911 census.   Herbert and Alice Witney grocers shop on Woodway.   This was in the other half of the property where William and Ruth Anderson had their shop in 1891 and 1901.

HAROLD & EMILY HICKMAN

1924 – 1946.   Hickmans Stores, Main Road, Lacey Green.   Built by Harold Hickman in 1924.   This stores was the 1^st and only one to sell petrol.   Harold died in 1946, leaving it to his wife Emma.

BERT & MAY DELL

1946 – 1986.   Rented by Bert Dell, Harold and Emma’s nephew.   In 1964 Emma died, leaving the Stores to Bert Dell.   He and his wife May ran it until they retired in 1986.

THOMAS & BARBARA NORRIS

1986 -     Bert Dell sold the stores to Thomas and Barbara Norris

DEREK & MAUREEN WOODBRIDGE

Thomas Norris sold it to Derek and Maureen Woodbridge.   They added newspapers and wine to the stock.

About 1995 the shop closed as a grocers shop.

ARTHUR LACEY (TOEY) & WIFE

1934 -1950   At some time during these years, Arthur Lacey (Toey) opened a small grocery, at ‘The Crooked Chimney’, just up the road from Hickmans Stores.  His wife ran the shop.   It didn’t stock much, mainly sweets and tobacco.  However Toey did cook fish and chips, to order, on Fridays, in a shed at the back.   Their children delivered the orders.

JACK LAWRENCE & HIS WIFE

1934 – 1937     Jack Lawrence, of Hill Croft, Loosley Hill, Loosley Row, started a round selling milk and eggs from his small farm in 1934.  Soon it was a comprehensive shop with groceries and hardware, his eggs and milk, with a delivery round.   He took over the Post Office in 1952.    In 1963 it was reduced in size as Mary, their daughter took over, stocking less grocery products.   It was closed in 1997

COMMUNITY STORES

2009   After prolonged negotiations a Community Stores was opened in Lacey Green Village Hall.   It was manned by volunteers.