Page 88 - Redditch People
P. 88
Redditch People
Life and Times of Walter & William Humphries
Walter Humphries was born in 1837 in Redditch, to parents William and Betsy Humphries.
Walter opened his first shop in 1862.
On the 1881 census Walter aged 43, was a Boot Maker and married to Emma. They had
5 children and lived at 15 Evesham Street. In the 1884 and 1888 Kelly’s Directory Walter
was classed as Walter Humphries and Son, Shoemakers, 15 Evesham Street, Redditch.
By 1891 Walter had become a Pastor of the Congregational Church in Balsham,
Cambridgeshire.
On the 1891 census it was Walter and Emma’s son William Humphries, born in 1867, in
Redditch, who was now classed as Boot Maker at 15 Evesham Street and he was married
to Susan. They had 9 children but only 8 children lived to the 1911 census.
By the 1908 Kelly’s Directory William Humphries Boot and Shoe Maker had moved to 39
Evesham Street, but by the 1940s, the shop had moved to 45 Evesham Street. William
Humphries died 3rd March 1956.
When Evesham Street was demolished to make way for the Kingfisher Centre the shop
moved into the centre and still trades today.
In 2012 Humphries shoe shop celebrated 150 years of trading.
Advert - The Redditch News – Thursday 23rd June 1892
Page: 88 © RLHS 2015
