Rogers Grocery Store - Lower Somercotes
by SLHS on
Wednesday 12 August 2020
For well over one hundred years the Rogers family of Lower Somercotes ran a grocery and wines & spirits business from their premises located on the corner of Somercotes Hill and Cinder Road. It passed through the capable hands of three generations.
THOMAS ROGERS [1814-1877]
Thomas Rogers opened his grocery store on the corner of Cinder Road and Somercotes Hill, Lower Somercotes in 1838. He was born in Darley, Derbyshire in 1814 and was baptised there on 12th April. His parents were recorded as William and Esther Rogers.
It is not known whether he moved to Somercotes as a grocer, but he had established his business in 1838 and was listed in the Post Office Directory of 1849. Thomas married Amelia Horsley at the Church of St. Martin in Alfreton on 6th May 1845. Amelia herself was born at Pye Bridge in 1821 and was a member of a well-respected family, several of whom became managers of the local ironworks, at the time owned by James Oakes & Company, in the mid to late 19th century. During their marriage they had several children, but Amelia sadly died in 1858, at the young age of 37 years.
The business continued to flourish, and Thomas is variously described in documents as a grocer, provisioner and tea dealer. He ran the business until at least 1881, when he was described in Kelly’s Trade Director that year as a family grocer, dealer in provisions, British wines and Burton Ales, having previously been granted a licence to sell both beer and wines & spirits. The Derbyshire Advertiser & Journal published on 25th March 1881 also mentions Thomas, when he was fined £2 with 11s 6d costs at the Alfreton Petty Sessions for having defective weights [this seems to have been an accepted hazard of running a business, and something many shopkeepers of the day were prosecuted for].
Thomas died in 1887 and was buried in St. James’s Churchyard, Riddings.
PHOTO: For many years a delivery service was available from the Grocery store. This photograph, from the late 19th or early 20th centuries shows the wagon used to make the deliveries. The photgraph was taken outside the shop premises
JAMES ROGERS [1854-1936]
James was born in 1854 and succeeded his father to the grocery business. He was baptised at the Church of St. James, Riddings on 16th April 1854. He married Eliza Jane Roberts who was born to a Sergeant Major in the Militia on the Island of Zakynthos, Greece.
James appears in Kelly’s Trade Directory in 1895, when he is listed as a grocery and an Ale & Porter Merchant. In 1934, the Town & Country News ran an article on the business which is likely to have been written in part due to its longevity and continued success. It was published on 16th November and read: “A CENTURY OF SERVICE AND SUCCESS” Nowadays a private trader’s lot is far from easy. But, as we have often maintained in these pages, it takes all sorts to make the world of commerce, and fine qualities will show themselves, whether in a village store or multiple concern.
Certainly, the former type of business has been hard hit lately, by the latter. Improved bus facilities, encouraging the country population to shop in the cities have added to the problem. Even so, the best of the smaller concerns can still challenge comparison with their biggest rivals. Example after example has proved that up to the hilt.
Here is a case from Somercotes, a Derbyshire village, being between Nottingham and Derby, is wooed by the traders of two cities. Notwithstanding this, most of the Somercotes people shop at home. Why? because they possess stores which can give them as good service as anything in the city, without the trouble and expense of a journey.
This business, controlled by Mr. J F Rogers, is now nearly a hundred years old, for it was established in 1838 by the late Mr. Thomas Rogers. He had previously been apprenticed to a Wirksworth firm, and his indentures, which are of no little historical interest, are still preserved. He was succeeded by his son, Mr. James Rogers, father of the present proprietor, and now living in retirement at Oakland Villas, Somercotes. The two elder Rogers were in turn presidents of the Workingmen’s Institute and managers of the National Schools, while Mr. James Rogers was also a church warden for a considerable number of years. He had four sons all of whom took part in the last war. One was killed and another, a Lt. Colonel is still serving in the army. Mr. James Frederick Rogers, who now runs the business served for four years during the war. He is well-known and poplar locally, taking a special interest in various branches of sport.
Personal service is the key note of the stores. That and the high standard of quality in all the goods supplied, form the secret of its success, and its present ability even with the keenest competition from the multiple shops. Mr Rogers is able to supply the tastes and requirements of every customer, and does his upmost to meet them. That is impossible in a large concern.
In addition to all the usual lines of grocery, provisions and the like, the establishment is licenced to sell wines, spirits and beer. The premises are fitted up in the most up to date manner, and deliveries are made by motor transport over a large area.”
James died on 16th June 1936 at the age of 82. His estate was valued at £5,992, a considerable sum in those days. He was survived by his wife, who died in 1941. The Ripley & Heanor News ran a short obituary: “Somercotes and Riddings district lost by death last Saturday a much respected lady in the person of Mrs. James Rogers, widow of Mr. James Rogers at 86 years of age. The Rogers family have been in business as grocers and wine and spirit merchants at Lower Somercotes for over 100 years. Deceased was the first secretary of Riddings Parish Nursing Association, was an ardent church member and a devoted worker for the British and Foreign Bible Society. Four sons and a daughter are bereaved. The funeral took place at St. James’ Church, Riddings, the Rev. W M Dawes conducting the last, sad rites.”
As mentioned in the Town & Country News, James and Eliza had four sons all of whom served in the armed forces during the Great War. Lieutenant Stanley Arthur Rogers, of the 2/6th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters (Notts & Derby Regiment) was killed in action on 21st March 1918. His name appears on the Riddings War Memorial. Thomas Leslie Rogers had an army career and had achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel by the mid-1930s.
After James retired, the business was continued by his son, James Frederick Rogers.
JAMES FREDERICK ROGERS [1884-1955]
James Frederick was born on 22nd October 1884 at Lower Somercotes. He was baptised on 30th November at St. James’ Riddings. James married Cecilia Lambe in 1924. Cecilia was born on 12th September 1892.
According to the Town & Country News article James Frederick had already taken over the business in 1934 He is listed on the 1939 Register [taken for the National Identity Card and Ration Books] as a wholesale and retail grocer and wine and spirits merchant. He was also recorded as an ARP Warden for the Alfreton Urban District. He also appeared in Kelly’s Trade Directory for 1941 as a grocer and wine and spirits dealer.
James Frederick continued in business until his retirement, when he moved away from Somercotes to live in Skegness. He died on 8th October 1955 and an obituary was published in the Skegness Standard on the 12th of that month: “Former Grocer Retired to Skegness – After an illness lasting almost a year, Mr. James Frederick Rogers of 47, Burgh Road, Skegness died at his home on Saturday. He was 70. Mr. Rogers had lived in Skegness since his retirement in 1953, but was a native of Derbyshire. He was the son of Mr. James Rogers, whose family was in the grocery, wines and spirits business for three generations. In the First World War, Mr. Rogers held a commission in the Royal Fusiliers, and was an instructor in the Civil Defence during World War II. He ws a member of the Royal Alfred Lodge, Alfreton, Derbyshire, and a Rotarian in the same town until his retirement when he was made an honorary member of the Rotary movement. Mr. Rogers is survived by a widow and two daughters, Mrs. C. Scully of Nottingham and Miss A V Rogers of Skegness. The funeral is at St. Clement’s Church, Skegness, today.”
The shop premises continued as a grocery and off-licence for many more years until it finally closed in the 1970s. The premises were eventually converted and re-opened as a Dental Practice, still operating today [2020].
PHOTO: The premises after conversion into a Dentist Practice, 2013