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Note added, correcting Sarah Woodward (first woman councillor, not MP)
Kelly’s Directories records the names of the agent’s representatives (the LMS Railway also had a presence at Kidderminster but did not handle parcels) as follows:
*1884
Bewdley – now Mrs SE S.E. Woodward of The George Hotel, Load Street. <ref group="note">Sarah Elizabeth Woodward (née Lund) was England's first female county or borough councillor, elected for Bewdley in 1907.</ref> She also operated a horse and trap to meet passenger services.<br>Kidderminster –Thomas Bantock (Thomas Webb, manager)+ and Samuel Partridge Hunt goods agent for GWR.<br>
Stourport - Thomas Bantock
*1904
Bewdley – Mrs SE S.E. Woodward, George Hotel. She became first lady MP for town<br>Kidderminster - Thomas Bantock (Thomas Webb, manager) + and Samuel Partridge Hunt goods agent for GWR<br>
Stourport - Thomas Bantock and Hodges and Sons (Albert Parker for GWR)
*1924
Bewdley – none recorded (via Station master Ernest N Carter)<br>
Kidderminster – Thomas Bantock (Henry Charles Carter, manager) + and Thomas Squires goods agent for GWR<br>Stourport – Thomas Bantock (Harold Edward Pool, Minster Road) + and Charles and Frederick Hodges
*1940
Bewdley – none recorded (superseded by Country Lorry Service)<br>
Kidderminster- Thomas Bantock (Robert Taft, manager, Marlborough Street) <br>
Stourport – Thomas Bantock + and Charles and Frederick Hodges, 4 Bridge Street.
Thomas Bantock’s second son, Albert Baldwin Bantock, became a partner in 1886. He had been born in 1862 and was to become mayor of Wolverhampton three times. He ran the Company after his father’s death on 20 July 1895 at Merridale House. He himself died in 1938 but the Company was to continue until after nationalisation. By then it was almost fully motorised although they were still using horses and wagons to move carpets from the manufacturers at Kidderminster to the Goods Warehouse at Kidderminster Goods Yard into the early 1950s. They were finally bought out by the Western Region of British Railways on 13 December 1953. 140 vehicles were acquired mostly Fordsons and Scammels. Merridale House and grounds were left to the people of Wolverhampton and it is now known as Bantock House which includes a museum featuring the family. There are a number of canal boats which survive (including those owned by the GWR) and a few cartage vehicles.
==Notes==
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==References==
