The Jeffs of Turbury Farm
Lewis was born on 8th August 1872 in Grappenhall, Cheshire to Mary and Edward Jeffs, farmers. Initially, he worked on the family farm but when he married Emily Summers on 23rd May 1897, his occupation was a butcher (according to the marriage certificate).
The couple then moved to 27 Bedford Road, Birkdale, Southport where they set up their own successful butcher’s shop. It was here – above the shop – that their first son, Lewis Oliver Jeffs (Ollie) LWD5-8TC was born on 6th April 1899. By 1911 Lewis, Emily and family were living and working at 117 Eastbank Street in the seaside town of Southport, Lancashire. They had their own grocer’s shop in the town; Ollie was 11 years old by now and had two younger brothers – Ernest Frederick and Frank Edward.
Just three years later, Britain was at war and young Ollie Jeffs enlisted with the South Wales Borderers on 27th March 1917. Private Lewis Oliver Jeffs was discharged, just before Christmas, on 21st December 1918.
He returned to the family home and we can see that in 1921 the Jeffs were still living at the Eastbank Street address but Lewis and his son Ollie were working as market gardeners at Kew Gardens’ nurseries in Southport. To find out more about the attractions at Kew Gardens, follow the link.
Working for another local business, Lewis’ son Ernest was working as a tool maker for the Vulcan Engineering Motor Company in Crossens, Southport. His brother-in-law, Fred Summers was living with the family and he too was working at Vulcan as a tinsmith. If you are interested in the Vulcan Engineering Co., follow the Wikipedia link.
In the early 1920s Ollie Jeffs decided to set up in business on his own as a farm produce merchant – L.O. Jeffs, the company was born! It probably wasn’t the best time to start a new venture – prices were at rock bottom and competition was stiff. Not long after this, in 1924, Ollie married Winifred Clayton; they lived at 208 Scarisbrick New Road, Southport and had two children: Raymond P91G-1DY and Margaret.
At the beginning of WW2 when the 1939 Register was taken, Ollie’s occupation was listed as an ‘authorised potato merchant’. Unfortunately, he didn’t live to see the end of the war as he passed away on 2nd November 1941, aged 42 years old; his death certificate states he died of a brain tumour, tumour of the lung and pneumonitis. He was buried at Duke Street Cemetery in Southport as was his wife Winifred.
At the time of Ollie’s death, his children , Raymond and Margaret were 16 and 13 years old. Winifred decided that she would take over the running of the business which she did for the next five years. Lewis (Snr.) died a year after his son – on 29th December 1942, leaving his wife Emily alone at Turbury Farm. She eventually moved back to Southport.
During WW2 Raymond joined the Navy and then in 1946 at the age of 21, he took the helm of L.O. Jeffs from his mother Winifred. Gradually, Raymond expanded the business, buying land and two houses on Hart Street, Southport where he built two new warehouses. When pre-packing vegetables was first heard of, Raymond thoroughly researched the concept and L.O. Jeffs was the first in the north to start washing potatoes and pre-packing them.
In 1957 he married Joan Brierly Firth, daughter of Dr. J.B. Firth CBE, director of the N.W. Forensic Laboratory in Preston, Lancashire and they had a family of their own.
Professionally, business was booming with Ray in charge and eventually new premises needed to be found as the Hart Street site was far too small for the vast number of wagons that needed to be kept there.
Three years was spent looking for suitable premises to move to. Eventually the site at Haskayne – off School Lane – was bought in 1964; a purpose-built packhouse was constructed, new machinery purchased and large areas of concrete were laid to provide sufficient working space for the forklift trucks; this meant a far more efficient operation was enabled, cutting out unnecessary manual work.
Stage by stage the company grew – L.O. Jeffs (Growers Requisites) Ltd was formed and became responsible for the ‘non-returnable cardboard box’ scheme as well as provision of chemicals and fertilisers followed by aerial spraying in the 1960s.
Remarkably, L. O. Jeffs’ biggest customer was Marks and Spencer who were and still are known for their quality produce, demonstrating the success of L.O. Jeffs at that time. The company went from strength to strength and provided employment for many people in Haskayne and the surrounding area. In his early career, Conservative MP Michael Jack worked for the company as a Sales Director from 1981 to 1987.
In 1981, after having been involved with the company since its humble beginnings in the 1920s, Winifred Jeffs passed away. It wasn’t too long after her death that Ray sold his firm to Northern Foods in 1986. The site where L.O. Jeffs once stood is now the Chisnall Brook Close housing estate, built circa 2012.
Ray’s first wife, Joan passed away in 1999 and in 2001 he married Betty Grace. Betty was a former teacher of St. Anthony’s school, Scotland Road, Liverpool – long since demolished. In addition to his work life, Ray was a Southport councillor and received a Member of the Order of the British Empire award for his achievements and services to the local community.
Raymond Oliver Jeffs MBE died on 3rd March 2012 at the age of 86 years old and his wife Betty passed away on 22nd August 2017.
