North Thoresby Supply Stores, Lincolnshire - c1908

Colour-tinted "JAY EM JAY" Gy. postcard, posted 20 January 1908

This attractive Edwardian postcard depicts the North Thoresby Supply Stores, one of the village's principal businesses at the beginning of the twentieth century. Painted boldly across the upper façade is the advertising slogan, "North Thoresby Supply Stores Sells Everything," reflecting the remarkable range of goods available from a traditional village general store.

The proprietor's name, Broughton, appears above the entrance, while signs above the shop windows advertise specialist departments including Tea Blender and Milliner. Kelly's Directory of Lincolnshire for 1909 records Jesse Foster Broughton as the village grocer and postmaster, confirming the store's central role in the commercial and social life of North Thoresby.

Outside, a horse-drawn delivery cart stands laden with merchandise while members of staff, dressed in traditional white aprons, stand outside the shop. Another horse and cart waits nearby as villagers pass along the road, creating a vivid record of everyday life in rural Lincolnshire during the Edwardian era.

The reverse of the postcard is equally revealing. Posted from North Thoresby on 20 January 1908, it was addressed to Miss E. Chambers, c/o Arthur Woods Esq., 18 Lancaster Gate Terrace, Hyde Park, London W. It bears both the North Thoresby datestamp and a Grimsby & Peterborough S.T.O. transit postmark, applied aboard a railway Travelling Post Office as the mail was sorted en route to London. The efficient railway mail network enabled postcards to carry local news across the country with remarkable speed.

The handwritten message reads:

"I am just sending line to tell you father started work this morning, first time of month. Ernest Haigh, Grainsby Hall, died Sunday 6 a.m. Will write soon. Send P.C. W.E.C."

Written just one day after his death, the message records the passing of Marcus Harty Ernest Haigh (1864–1908) of Grainsby Hall, who died on 19 January 1908, aged 44, and was later buried at St Martin's Church, Waithe. The third son of George Henry Haigh DL JP, Marcus belonged to the wealthy Haigh family, Lords of the Manor of Grainsby, whose affairs were well known throughout the district.

Census and civil registration records strongly suggest that the recipient was Ethel Mary Chambers (1884–after 1921), a native of Louth who grew up in North Thoresby before entering domestic service. By 1911 she was employed as a domestic nurse in the London household of Arthur Woods at the same address shown on the postcard, illustrating how many young Lincolnshire women left home for service while maintaining close contact with family and friends through the post.

More than a century later, this postcard remains far more than a picturesque village view. Combining a thriving Edwardian business, a personal family message, postal history and an unexpected connection to one of Lincolnshire's leading landed families, it provides a remarkable insight into everyday life and communication in rural Lincolnshire at the beginning of the twentieth century.

From the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Museum collection.