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Diamond Jubilee for Wooster Chairmakers in Newcastle

By Nick Wooster

A full-page advertisement feature in the Sunday Sun, a Newcastle newspaper, from 1978 was recently discovered. This was celebrating the diamond jubilee of the Woosters business at Pudding Chare in the city.

The article begins: The sign, in beautiful old gilt lettering above the shop in Pudding Chare, Newcastle, boldly states: "R. Wooster. Cabinet Maker." A matter of some curiosity to those with an observant eye, and especially strangers to our city - the rest of us are so used to it that many don't think to question any more - because in the window beneath there is a mixed display of women's fashion, men's shoes and bedding. Step inside and you might be further puzzled because there is no sign of a cabinet maker at work, though there are several departments offering shoes, quality menswear, furnishings, bedding, handbags and drapery.

Robert Wooster (1927-2014) outside his store in Pudding Chare, Newcastle in 1978

In the article, Robert describes how his great grandfather, also Robert, moved from High Wycombe and the family fragmented (Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester being other cities occupied by Wooster chairmakers (Full Story)). His grandfather, William Thomas Wooster ran the business, along with his wife Clara, who was an astute businesswoman in her own right, diversifying into drapery and probably saving the business during WW1. By the end of that conflict, the business had moved to Pudding Chare and Clara's drapery part of the firm was outshining the cabinet making. However, male chauvinism still ruled in those days and the Cabinet Maker sign remained firmly in place above the shop!
In 1978, Robert ran the business with his mother, May and his daughter Carole. We don't yet know how long the shop continued.

 

Adverts and a photo from the newspaper

That these Woosters stayed firmly with tradition is exemplified by the classy heading on this receipt for a bed purchased in 1974 by Eleanor and John Dunnett.

Something of note here is the reference to "Wooster's Buildings" which, thus far, has only been seen on one other piece of documentation, namely Robert's grandfather's will.

Source: Sunday Sun (Newcastle) - Sunday 15 October 1978. Page 12

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  Page last updated

  14 September 2025