1916 | Born 5th May 1916 in Poplar, London E14. |
1918- | War orphan, mother remarried, difficult childhood, taken in by his grandmother. |
1930 | Left Oban Street school, Poplar, aged 14. |
1930 | Joined Drivers, bookbinders, in Carter Lane, near St. Paul’s. |
1932 | Joined C. Stevens & Sons, scalemakers, 38 Goswell Road, ECl, as office boy, on Toc H reference after being turned down by Avery. Learnt scale and weight making unofficially. |
1934 | Set up as sole trader at 34 Moness St., working evenings and weekends, whilst still at Stevens. |
1938 | November; resigned from Stevens. |
?? xx | Lordship Lane, Dulwich. (workshop; only one reference.) |
1939 | 18th March; married Claudia Ostertag. |
c1942 | First proper premises:
28 Ramsden Road, Baiham, SW12. (office in basement flat)
lA Oldridge Road, Baiham, SW12. (works over yard entrance) |
1945 | Re-formed as H.M. Stanley (Scales and Weights) Ltd. |
1946 | c1946 moved to 172 Clerkenwell Road, EC1. (shop) |
1947 | May; on a BIOS team in Germany with Bert Harrington. |
1950 | April; moved to 14 Grasmere Avenue, SW19. (offices)
593 Kingston Road, Raynes Park, SW20. (works) |
1954 | August; moved to Burgess Hill, Sussex (home over shop) |
1957 | May; opened purpose-built factory:
Rider Works, Victoria Gardens, Burgess Hill, Sussex. |
1963 | 14th August; death of Claudia. |
1965 | Sold factory; worked from home thereafter. |
1970 | 4th April; married Cheryl White from Jersey, Channel Islands. |
1970 | August; moved to Jersey (St. Helier), C.I. (business post address from here onwards) |
1973 | Moved to St. Clement. |
1985 | October; dissolved limited company: sole trader again. |
1998 | Still working late in year, in a very small way. |
1999 | Died 24th January, aged 82. |