This book explores the history of the furniture manufacturer Harris
Lebus from 1840 to 1970. Four generations of the Lebus family were
engaged in the business which evolved from a family partnership
into a public company. Oliver Lebus was chairman when the company
ceased cabinet furniture manufacturing at Tottenham Hale in 1970.
Using personal testimonies from those who were there, aspects of
the story of 'the largest furniture factory' in the world are told
through their eyes and using, in as far as possible, their own
words. On a relatively, unremarkable North London Street, at
Tottenham Hale, a set of railings stops short at a bricked wall on
which a metal gatepost is affixed - this was the Ferry Lane
entrance to Harris Lebus 'the largest furniture factory in the
world'. Beyond the solitary post, a sloped, grass verge leads to a
pleasant, low-rise housing built in the 1970's - Ferry Lane estate,
and it is hard to imagine that this was once a bustling, energised
furniture manufacturing hub. For seventy years furniture flowed on
conveyor belts, and through a tunnel under Ferry Lane as the
factory expanded in the fifties to occupy what is now Hale Village.
During both World Wars the parts for wooden aircraft were made and
assembled in huge workshops that were shrouded in secrecy. With the
discovery of the factory underground war shelters in 2008 under
what is now Hale Village and a subsequent Lebus exhibition curated
by Haringey Local History Archives, interest was generated in this
aspect of history and which has subsequently gathered momentum.
Thousands of workers, each living individual lives came from near
and far to spend their working days at Lebus. Many formed lifelong
friendships, and just as four generations of the Lebus family spent
their working lives in the factory, so too did successive
generations of other families. Seemingly forgotten in the passing
of time, they all left an indelible mark in this history. And in
the case of some, their identities now emerge as their stories are
explored; they are brought back to life telling their experiences
in their own words. This is Paul Collier's first foray into
authorship. In 2008, shortly after moving to Ferry Lane estate,
Paul made a connection with Oliver Lebus, then in his nineties and
who was the last family member of four generations at the company.
They formed a special friendship and over several afternoons at his
home in Kensington, Oliver introduced the author to his personal
archives on which the foundations of this book were laid. Fully
supported by both Haringey Local History Archives and members of
the extended Lebus family, Harris Lebus - A Romance with the
Furniture Trade, fully illustrated with over 200 photographs and
images is a must read! His debut book appeals to a wide audience -
interest in this history extends far beyond the locality of
Tottenham Hale and Haringey, and will delight social historians and
those with connections to the furniture trade, past and present.
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