William Barrett (1877-1939)
William Barrett (1877-1939) of W. Barratt and Co
Born the son of John Russell Barratt, a machinist (Boot Trade).
1930 William Barratt, managing director of W. Barratt and Co., Ltd., Footshape Works, Northampton, will be the Labour candidate for North-east Bethnal Green at the next Parliamentary election.[1]
1939 Died. 'Mr. William Barratt, chairman of the directors of the shoe firm of that name, died at Northampton yesterday aged sixty-two. Mr. Barratt, who began life as an assistant in a London shoe shop, eventually became founder-chairman of the £1,000,000 company of W. Barratt and Co., Ltd., Northampton. He left London to return to Northampton, his native town, and opened a small shop to sell boots through the post. His business grew so rapidly that in 1913 the first part of the present factory was started. Mr. Barratt’s business was the first to supply goods by air—in 1911. His firm equipped the Shackleton expedition, and supplied immense quantities of boots to the British Army in the last war. He was a former member of Northampton Town Council in the Labour interest, had been a Labour Parliamentary candidate for Bethnal Green, President of the Northampton Shoe Manufacturers’ Association, and was a generous donor to charities.'[2]