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The History of Thomas Spencer
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The Below information has been kindly supplied by Phil Wood
of Main Street, Whittington, Staffs.
James Spencer a shoemaker by trade had a son named John Spencer, who also became
a shoemaker.
1840, On the 17th of September, John Spencer, married Elizabeth Horner, the
daughter of Joseph Horner, a schoolmaster, they were married at the parish
church in Bury Lancashire.
1851, On the 7th of November, in Skipton, Yorkshire, Elizabeth gave birth to
Thomas Spencer. (He had sister Ann Horner Spencer, and another of unknown name,
both later married). His birthplace is marked with a blue circular plaque, on
the wall of what is now (2009) “Superdrug” on Queen’s Square, and was previously
“Woolworths”, at the bottom end of the market place in Skipton. See below.
1873, on the 19th of May, Thomas now aged 21, a bachelor, and working as a
draper, married Elizabeth Baxter, also aged 21, a spinster, they were married in
Yorkshire. The first of their children was born, Grace Baxter Spencer, on 14th
September 1873, at Water Street, she may have been the reason for the marriage!
1879, Their second child Ethel A Spencer was born in Leeds.
1881, On the 31st of July, Thomas and Elizabeth had a son, Thomas Henry Spencer;
he was born at No 1 Olive Grove.
1881, On the 17th of September, Thomas Henry Spencer’s birth was registered.
1882, Michael Marks a Russian refugee came over from Poland; he went to London,
and then Leeds, where he met Isaac Jowitt Dewhirst, founder of a knitwear
company. He advanced him £5 worth of goods which Marks sold around villages, and
later had a stall on Leeds Market
1892, By this time, Thomas Spencer’s wife Elizabeth, had died, and he now 42
years old, married Agnes Spencer Whitfield, aged 32, a spinster, of 22, Smithies
Place, and working as a sewing teacher at the Captain Cook memorial school, see
below.
a qualified teacher she became headmistress of Blue Coat School in Stockton,
when she met Thomas. She was the daughter of Ralph Whitfield a deceased tailor.
They were married on the 26th of November 1892, in Leeds.
1894, Thomas Spencer was by now working as a cashier at Isaac Jowitt Dewhirst,
he entered into a partnership with Michael Marks, who had by now, established a
small chain of penny bazaars. Each of the partners put up £300 to form the
partnership.
1896. A new branch was opened in Manchester, at 63, Stretford Road.
1897. Marks and Spencer built a new warehouse in Robert Street Manchester which
became the centre of their empire of 36 branches. By 1898 Tom Spencer’s £300,
initial capital was worth over £4,500.
1901. A new warehouse was built to M & S’s own design in Derby Street off
Cheetham Hill Road
1903. Marks and Spencer became a limited company. Spencer’s £300 was now worth
£15,000. Spencer decided to retire later that year and bought a small farm in
Whittington.
'Reproduced from "Retail Revolutionary"
by Paul Bookbinder, the biography of Simon, Lord Marks of Broughton.'
1905. On the 25th of May, at their home at 3 The Hill, Whittington, Thomas
Spencer, retired smallwares merchant, died. He is buried in the churchyard of St
Giles, and rests beneath a red granite headstone shown below.
2005. (The headstone has since been cleaned by yours truly, prior to the 100th
anniversary of his death).
2006. I met with Barry Hyman, who worked as the company archivist for Marks &
Spencer, for 35 Years, now retired.
He has been approached by a film maker with a view to making a feature film
about the strange partnership of a Russian Jew immigrant, and a Yorkshire
businessman.
Barry and I have shared our information freely between each other
1906. On the 5th of September, Thomas Henry Spencer, son by Thomas Spencer’s
first wife Elizabeth, was married to Lillian Richards, aged 24, a spinster, the
daughter of Edward Richards, a deceased manager; they were married at Southport,
Lancashire.
1907 Thomas Spencer’s partner, Michael Marks unexpectedly collapsed and died on
the 31 Dec, aged 48 which meant it was now time for a new generation to advance
the success of the founders.
1917, On the 12th of July 1917, Thomas Henry Spencer, aged 35, occupation-
Private No m339101, Army Service Corps, died, in the Royal Herbert Hospital,
London.
1959, On the 1st of March, Agnes Spencer Spencer, died aged 98, she had returned
to her home in Marton, nr Middlesborough, Yorkshire, where she was born, as she
and Thomas Spencer, had no children.
In her will, Agnes left Marks and Spencer shares to St Giles church, and some
time later, some of the shares were sold to fund an extension to the vestry. She
left the bulk of her fortune to the Marks and Spencer Benevolent Trust.
She also left funds to assist the Y.M.C.A and the Y.W.C.A. the lecture room of
which bears her name, “The Agnes Spencer Lecture Room”.
1981,On 1st February the bishop of Lichfield laid the foundation stone of our
new “Thomas Spencer Hall”, which replaced our previous dilapidated wooden church
hall, money for materials of the new building was donated by Marks and Spencer,
and labour was by both local and foreign volunteers.
Michael Marks & Thomas Spencer
Thomas Spencer
e-mail :- phil.norcis@btinternet.com
Tel 01543-432124
Compiled by Philip James Wood
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