This must have been one of the longest spells of ownership of any shop in Wem (except possibly No 17!). Henry Kynaston had a bakery and ballroom - his logo is still on the doorstep in 2012. He was aged 31 in 1881 according to the census of that year. These Kynastons were not known to be related to either the brewing family or to the Ironmongers further up the High Street.
These Kynastons were an interesting family. In 1851, Henry (born in 1821) was listed as a Master Grocer and Ironmonger and was married to Alice and living in Crown St. His son, Henry Jnr, was 1 at the time. In 1874, Henry Jnr. married Eleanor in Liverpool and by then had taken over the business. However, he seems to have given up the ironmongery and concentrated on being a baker and confectioner. He had 6 children, including sons Henry, Francis George and Herbert.
In WW1, Francis joined the Kings Own Borderer Regiment and went to fight in the war. In 1916, at the age of 35 he married 21 year old Eleanor Cubbon at Whitegate in Cheshire. In 1918,he was killed at Ypres.
The family maintained the shop well into the latter part of the 20thC. when they retired. Interesting dummy window frame on the first and second floors- as far as can be
ascertained, there never was a window there.
The ballroom was noted for the mirrors on the walls which made it appear far larger than it was. The Ceiling was decorated with stars, sun and moon.
The entrance was from Chapel Street,
and it was a popular venue for dances and weddings. During the second world war, it was popular with American soldiers from the camp, though as happened at the time,
dance nights were racially segregated and subject to frequent checks by the American military police.
Kynastons sold up in 1953 and Readers shoe company at No 31 moved in. The sprung dance floor was then used as a base for show repair machines which quickly ruined it. Readers werein occupation for 30 years.
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1902 Advertisement for premises |
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Below- Shropshire News photograph of the Sang Kong Restaurant in the mid 1970s. this is part of a collection in Shropshire Archives.
