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An Exceptional Undertaking
The Story of the Jennings Family Business
by Bev
Parker |
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| This was written in 1999 when Jennings was still run by
the original family. |
| Many family businesses have
come and gone, occasionally one may reach its centenary, but few of them
have lasted as long as Jennings Funeral Directors of Horseley Fields who
started their business in 1848. The present Directors are the fifth
generation of the family to run the business which must be quite
extraordinary. The founder was Mr. George Jennings who was born in
1826. He was a woodworker and craftsman by trade, working from Union
Mill Street in Wolverhampton. One day a close family friend asked him to
undertake a funeral. This was presumably a great success because in 1848
George and his wife Sarah set up in business as undertakers. They called
themselves George Jennings General Undertaker and ran the
business from their Union Mill Street premises. |
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Mr. George Jennings and his wife Sarah.
The first few years were extremely hard as George
and Sarah did all the work themselves. They worked long hours, sometimes
throughout the night. There were no motor cars, horse-drawn hearses were
expensive and the premises were very small.
Sarah took charge of the administration and between them they thoroughly
learned all aspects of their business. Their reputation soon became
established and eventually they were joined by their son Frederick.
Frederick took the business over in 1875 and George & Sarah enjoyed a well
deserved retirement until 1907, the year in which they both died. |
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The original
premises in Union Mill Street. |
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One of their
very first business cards. |
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