A Passion for Stratford Life: Enid and Neville Usher
James Ranahan
Monday 17 March, after AGM which starts at 5.30 (Talk from 6pm) - White Swan
The Usher siblings were long time residents of Stratford-upon-Avon, until Enid's untimely death in 1998 and Neville's in 2021. They immersed themselves in Stratford life, not least through their business, the Stratford Bookshop on Henley Street. Both were strong supporters of the Stratford Society, and both interviewed residents for oral history projects undertaken by the Society.
In their different ways and through their varied interests, Enid and Neville Usher demonstrated a passion for life in and around Stratford, along with the people of their town. This passion is reflected in the ‘Papers of Enid and Neville Usher’ which, along with records relating to the Stratford Bookshop, are cared for by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Jim Ranahan is cataloguing archivist at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He strives to ensure that the collections reflect the lived experience of Stratford people, past and present.
Photo Credit: Neville Usher, dressed for a Shakespeare-themed event, 1990s. Courtesy of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.
Report on the talk
Jim Ranahan’s job is to make historical information available to people about the town’s residents. Jim is an archivist with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT).
Enid and Neville Usher left a large collection of material to the SBT. Enid and Neville Usher were siblings. The Usher family can be traced back to the firm of C&R Usher based in Birmingham in the early 20th century. They ran a shop: they were drapers, outfitters, and also sold household furnishings and radios. They later moved to Weston-super-Mare in Somerset and ran a guest house.
Neville and Enid were born to Frank and Norah Usher. Neville was born in 1938 and Enid in 1943. In 1960 Frank died and the remaining members of the family moved to Solihull, and later to Stratford in the late 1960s. Enid went to the grammar school in Weston and then worked in WH Smith where she gained qualifications as a bookseller in 1962-63. She also belonged to the Women’s League of Health and Beauty (1952-53). Fitness was a important feature of her life. She also was active in the church, Sunday School and the Bible Society. In Stratford she worked at Alveston Manor Hotel as a bookkeeper. In 1974 she worked as a bookseller, and also in the SBT bookshop in 1982 and in 1989.
In between, she worked in the Stratford Bookshop, Henley Street, which was run by Enid and Neville (1982-1988). She also was involved with promoting children’s books, and she also won a Stratford in Bloom Award. She was also mentioned in the Bookseller and in Bookselling News. The shop closed in 1989 - the rent had increased, and closure was also due to the abolition of the Net Book Agreement. This loss was greatly mourned. Enid then went back to the SBT again and was Head of Sales. Enid collected a lot of material, some of it ephemera, and Neville donated it to the SBT when Enid died in 1998. She was also involved in a lot of social and community activities, and fundraising. So, for example, she ran a book fair to raise funds for disabled and dispossessed Palestinians in 1989 and was connected to the Bible Lands Society. She also took part in the Shakespeare birthday parades.
Jim had less of a story to tell about Neville as there are fewer records. He had a life quite similar to Enid’s in some ways, e.g. with regard to the Shakespeare celebrations. He was known to dress up for the occasion! Neville was involved in the Stratford Society, the Warwickshire Local History Society (WLHS) and the Town Trust. He also contributed to the recordings of people’s life stories for the BBC’s People’s War (2003-2006) and also transcribed them.
Neville was also involved with the Guild Chapel and volunteered for the SBT. For the WLHS he performed three roles: treasurer, organiser of lectures and he also ran an active programme of excursions. Neville was also very interested in technical matters, such as the Skylon at the Festival of Britain in 1951, and aircraft at Filton, Bristol. He was an accountant for a manufacturing company, and he computerised the stock control system for the Stratford Bookshop. Neville was very forthright when it came to the closure of the bookshop. He also knew Cyril Bennis when the latter was the Mayor of Stratford, and a photograph of them in the Herald forms part of the collection donated to the SBT. The collections can be found in the SBT catalogue under the label DR687.
