A Special Mayor
Alderman Borsberry Shaw Porter JP Mayor of Andover
The Man Borsberry Shaw Porter was born on 3rd January 1890 in New Barnet, Hertfordshire; son of Joseph a carpenter and joiner and Alice. Borsberry was one of seven children, Joseph, Alice, Olive, Ada, Arthur & Kathleen, the family lived at Guildford Villa on Bulwer Road. By 1906 Borsberry, aged 16 was working in Boston, Lincolnshire for a fish merchant called Fred Kime.
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Fred had a brother, Austin, who was chief cashier for the building company constructing new Barracks at Tidworth in Wiltshire, near Andover. Once they were complete Austin Kime remained, starting his own fish business on the market within the grounds of the base, and in 1908 invited Borsberry to manage it for him, which he did. Whilst at Tidworth Borsberry began a relationship with Austin’s daughter, Violet, this was frowned upon by her father and Borsberry left the company returning to Boston. Five months later however, Austin’s business folded, and as the barracks needed a fish merchant, the wife of the Commanding Officer wrote to Borsberry saying that the General was happy for him to set up his own stall on the market if he wished. This being too good an offer to refuse, Borsberry’s father gave him a pony, cart and £5.00, and Borsberry moved back to the barracks starting his own fish, fruit and poultry business, supplying the messes and married quarters at the base. He worked long hours and would regularly be seen helping his pony pull the cart load of fish up Tidworth Hill, the axles of the cart deep in mud and chalk. His business boomed and by 1910 Borsberry was clearing £20.00 a week, by 1913 he was able to buy a shop in Tidworth, Shaw Porter & Co, for £1000.00 and selling similar produce. The outbreak of World War 1 bought problems for the business as the Navy and Army Canteen Board, forerunners of NAAFI, were formed and the soldiers had to buy their supplies from these canteens; leaving only the civilian population as Borsberry’s customers. In 1915 the canteen board was wound up and owed Borsberry a lot of money for loss of earnings. NAAFI subsequently paid this and with the money Borsberry now 25, purchased Gallagher’s Copse in Weyhill Road, Andover, a property set in 16 acres of parkland; and lived here for the rest of his life. Borsberry’s Father, Joseph came to live with him and they entered into a business partnership, building some piggeries on the land and planting nurseries which were to become Gallagher’s Pedigree Products Ltd and Gallagher’s Nurseries; dealing in fish, poultry, meat, game, fruit, flowers and vegetables. Their partnership lasted until 1924 when Borsberry became the sole owner.
Between July and September 1915 Borsberry married Austin’s daughter, Violet Gladys Kime, at Lambeth in London and they had four children Robert Kime, known as Jock, Austin Shaw, Sonia and Patrick Lloyd - who attended Christ’s College, Cambridge, was an accomplished high jumper and who sadly died young. Following WW1 Borsberry diversified his business and began running Officers’ Messes for the Army on a catering basis. His first contact was at Upavon and he fed the officers four meals a day, supplied and paid the chef, all for 3s 6d per head per day plus a ration allowance of 5½d a day. It did not take long before he had 20 messes under contract, from Yorkshire in the north to Bovington and Lulworth in the south.
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This profitable arrangement continued for the next 20 years with his chefs being ex servicemen or from Cunard or White Star shipping lines. During this time he would often ride on horseback across the downs early in the morning to get the orders from the messes in Netheravon, Upavon and Larkhill, or cycle in the evenings with a load of ice for the 7pm dinner in the in the Tidworth Officers’ Mess. Borsberry also joined the Special Constabulary in about 1920 and served until at least 1939 and was awarded the Special Constabulary Long Service & Good Conduct Medal and bar. He also entered local politics, being the Tidworth representative on the Andover Rural Council and elected onto the Borough Council in1932. He was made Mayor of Andover in 1935 and awarded the Silver Jubilee Medal 1935 on the Occasion of HM King George Vs Silver Jubilee. One huge undertaking during the Silver Jubilee year was taking sole responsibility for the catering, accommodation and associated equipment for a total of 2,300 men for two weeks at RAF Mildenhall for the King’s Review of the Royal Air Force on 6th July. In addition to the men, the King’s inspection included 250 aircraft on the ground and a fly past of 350.
During 1936 Borsberry entered into a business partnership with Wilfred Armstead, another former Andover Mayor and they purchased land which is now the Croye Estate at Andover, and laid it out for housing. In 1937 he was elected Mayor again and awarded the Coronation Medal 1937 when King George VI acceded the Throne. At the end of his final Mayoral year he presented Andover with a Mayoral Chain of Office, remaining a Councillor and later Alderman until he retired from the Council in 1952. During 1939 and after his police service Borsberry became a Justice of the Peace and served on the Andover Borough Bench until his 75th birthday. With the outbreak of World War 2 the same year, the various messes he had contracts with appointed messing officers and developed their own centralised messing arrangements. As a result Borsberry’s contracts largely came to an end, although he did secure similar business with the Fire Services Training College at Brighton and three large civil defence centres at Gloucester, York and Esher; which carried him through the war. Following WW2 Borsberry did regain some of the military contracts he had held before and retained these into the 1970s. Borsberry's other business interests were also flourishing, Gallaghers Retail Products as it was now called had
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expanded and was providing meat to schools in five counties, Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and Somerset. 1946 was a busy year, he bought a war wreck building in Bognor Regis, transforming into a holiday camp, SouthdeanHoliday and Sports Centre, at a time when Butlin’s were the only other competitor and Pontin’s just starting up. He ran the camp as its Chairman for the next 12 years until 1957 when it was wound up voluntarily on 16th December and sold. He also took a huge gamble by building a firework factory at Middle Wallop known as Wallop Industries. Originally they made fireworks for 5th November, but the company grew and gained contracts for producing pyrotechnics for various companies throughout the world including the British Armed Forces. He also acquired two garages and was Chairman of Garrison Motors and Service Garage (Tidworth) Ltd until these too were also wound up and sold on 3rd September 1965. He opened two Florabunda florist shops in Andover, one in Bridge Street another in the town centre and acquired an ice cream company. It was in 1946 that Violet died, although Borsberry did re-marry, in Andover between October and December 1948 to Mrs Doris M Dresser, widow of Harold Breedon Dresser. On top of this Borsberry and Wilfred Armstead ran two farms at Wallop and Grately concentrating upon pedigree pigs, and expanded their real estate interests. They bought the entire village of Portesham in Dorset, and although they sold most of the property including the Manor House for a profit, they gave to the National Trust a memorial which was on the land dedicated to Admiral Hardy of Trafalgar fame together with 50 acres on Blackdown Hill. Borsberry was clearly a hard working, driven and dedicated businessman and entrepreneur who never fully retired or handed over control of his business. He did not take a holiday for 24 years, worked Sundays for 20 years, gave up smoking when he was 14 and did not drink, claiming he'd seen what drink did to a man whilst he was a youngster. By 1973 his companies were still going strong and being run by Jock, who was also a Chief Fire Officer and had been awarded the British Empire Medal, and his grandchildren Mark and Sarah Shaw Porter.
They employed 390 people whose work ranged from gardening, delivering meat, managing shops, manufacturing items for the Ministry of Defence, administering contracts for Army messes and wholesale provision. Borsberry would still oversee the entire operation and visit the many of his outlets up until he was 89, to ensure it was still all working to his standards and made it his business to ‘complain’ to his staff to keep standards up. Borsberry was also a Freemason and held Wiltshire provincial honours and a member of both Border and St. Hubert Lodges. His hallmarks were described as ‘a firm and steady tread, a shock of white hair and always wearing the inevitable blue and white spotted tie’. He was known by his staff as The Guv’ner. Borsberry remained active until just before Christmas 1978 when he entered a private nursing home for an operation. Over Christmas he was transferred to the Royal Hants County Hospital where he died on 30th December 1978 aged 89 just five days before his 90th Birthday. He was survived by his wife, two of his three sons, his daughter, six grandchildren and seven great grandchildren. There was a private service followed by a cremation at Salisbury on 5th January 1979 and a memorial service held at the Garrison Church, Tidworth on Saturday 13th January at 12.30pm.
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The Story The group of medals awarded to Borsberry Shaw Porter were acquired in January 2009 through a private sale from a dealer, from whom the set belonging to David Charles Burton had been purchased previously; and he knew they would be of interest as they also belonged to an ex Mayor. With the group came two silver 1937 Coronation Medallions, both personally named to the Mayor of Andover , Borsberry Shaw Porter and his wife, the Mayoress Violet Shaw Porter. There were also a small number of copy newspaper articles and London Gazette entries, that although relating to Borsberry, out of context, meant very little. As always with a new medal group there was an initial flurry of research activity; although surprisingly, even with a distinct name, there was very little on the internet, not helped by the fact that Andover had ceased to have its own Mayor upon the creation of the Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) in 1974, to work on. A telephone call to TVBC in an effort to locate the Mayoral portrait proved unsuccessful and so a visit was made to Andover on 28th February 2009. The local museum proved useful in providing some pictures of the Mayoral Chain of Office presented to the borough by Borsberry in 1937 and some other interesting related items, but very little in the way of real detail or pictures.
As happens, other medals were acquired and the research on this group dropped down the priority list; until September 2011 when it was decided to use them as part of an entry into the Birmingham Medal Societie's annual President’s Cup titled A Ménage of Mayors. As part of the preparation calls were made again to TVBC, who in turn suggested that the Andover Advertiser were called, they could not help but in turn suggested Hampshire County Council archives & local studies. This call was more successful with the archivist, Carol turning up three or four references within their records relating to Borsberry, including a photograph of him in Mayoral robes. The web site was visited and even more references found and an order placed for copies on 14th October 2011. Additionally a visit to Ancestry.com enabled some further detail to be built up around Borsberry’s early life, including the fact that no one it seemed, knew how to spell his first name correctly as there were several variations, Borsberry, Borsburry, Borsbery and Borsbury. His Special Constabulary Medal was named incorrectly as Borsbury.
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The BMS Competition took place on Wednesday 2nd November, with the display coming second and including only the sketchiest of Borsberry’s details acquired to date. However later the same evening when the days post had been checked, it contained the relevant copies from Hampshire Records. The photograph of Borsberry in Mayoral robes was disappointing as it was a photocopy of a faded picture and a distant shot of a large group of people. However there were two broadsheet sized newspaper articles from 1973 all about his various business interests, a potted biography of his life and the much sought after photograph, a large head and shoulders, which although a photocopy of a newspaper article, could be copied sufficiently clearly enough to see his features in detail and at long last put a face to the Man behind his Medals. From the newspaper articles, including his obituary it was possible to build up the above detailed biography and helped put into perspective the other newspaper cuttings contained within the original lot. Once again, and with a little perseverance it goes to show what can actually be achieved to help piece together a person’s life story, that otherwise may have been forgotten. The where-abouts of the coveted Mayoral portrait is still being sought.
Robert Kime Shaw Porter BEM
Borsberry Shaw Porter’s eldest Son, Robert Kime Shaw Porter, or Jock, as he was known was a well known Andover business man and local fire officer. He spent 32 years in the Fire Service and from 1952 until he retired in October 1971 was the Station Officer in charge of Andover Fire Station. In 1959 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for his outstanding leadership and enthusiasm and the respect he was held in throughout the county for his public spiritedness and desire to serve the community. He also represented Tidowrth on the Andover rural district Council for a number of years. Jock collapsed and died in his car on Sunday morning 17th June 1979, just six months after his father. He was found slumped over the wheel of his Rover car near the village of Shipton Bellinger. Ambulance officers and a passing Doctor attempted to revive him and he was found to be dead on arrival at hospital. His funeral took place at 11.30am on Friday 22nd June at St. Michael’s Garrison Church, Tidworth, follwed by a private family cremation. He was survived by his widow, Gladys, and children Mark and Sarah.
Robert Kime Shaw Porter BEM
Borsberry Shaw Porter’s eldest Son, Robert Kime Shaw Porter, or Jock, as he was known was a well known Andover business man and local fire officer. He spent 32 years in the Fire Service and from 1952 until he retired in October 1971 was the Station Officer in charge of Andover Fire Station. In 1959 he was awarded the British Empire Medal for his outstanding leadership and enthusiasm and the respect he was held in throughout the county for his public spiritedness and desire to serve the community. He also represented Tidowrth on the Andover rural district Council for a number of years. Jock collapsed and died in his car on Sunday morning 17th June 1979, just six months after his father. He was found slumped over the wheel of his Rover car near the village of Shipton Bellinger. Ambulance officers and a passing Doctor attempted to revive him and he was found to be dead on arrival at hospital. His funeral took place at 11.30am on Friday 22nd June at St. Michael’s Garrison Church, Tidworth, follwed by a private family cremation. He was survived by his widow, Gladys, and children Mark and Sarah.
Medal Details:
- Silver Jubilee Medal 1935: Unnamed as awarded.
- Coronation Medal 1937: Unnamed as awarded.
- Special Constabulary Faithful Service Medal: BORSBURY S PORTER
This page last updated 18 May 14