Anyone passing thought the gates to the churchyard may well notice carved on there is “Nellie Banyard 1901- 1980”. Many in the village will remember Nellie but others may wonder who she was.Nellie (or Nelly) was born on the 4th August 1901 to Frederick and Harriet Banyard. Her father was an employee at Edward Packard and Co’s factory in Paper Mill Lane, Bramford. The company was one of the fore-runners of what came to be known as “Fisons”.
The following report is taken from the December 1961 edition of the Fisons Journal:
FAREWELL TO NELLY
On 31st July [1961], three days before her sixtieth birthday, Miss Nelly Banyard, Fisons longest serving lady, retired. She had served at the Company’s offices in Ipswich for over forty-five years. At a farewell party at Princes Street the Chairman, Sir Clavering Fison, presented her with a cheque from the Directors. On behalf of her colleagues, Bill Garrod, the longest serving member of the male staff, made the gift of a refrigerator and a magnificent spray of flowers.
Sir Clavering Fison (Left) at Nellies’s presentation
Speaking affectionately of his long working association with Nelly, Sir Clavering recalled how she would address him as ‘Mr Clavering’ and was never afraid to speak her mind on any problem. He praised her efforts to raise the morale of those men who left Fisons to serve during the last war. Throughout the six years she wrote regular personal letters keeping them up-to-date with Company news. Bill Garrod said he had known Nelly since she joined Edward Packard & Company at the Duke Street offices as a junior in 1916. Few people are aware that until two or three years ago Nelly cycled from Bramford to Ipswich every day, whatever the weather. For some months when her mother was sick she made the return journey at lunchtime too. For many years she would cycle to work with a supply of eggs for the staff on the back of her cycle — always arriving without mishap. From her position as a postal clerk in Ipswich, she became an accounting machine operator and finally joined the Accounts Department of Fisons South Eastern Sales Office, which recently moved into the new premises in Princes Street, Ipswich. From her earliest days with the Company, Nelly collected local press cuttings on Fisons activities and personalities. ‘A lot of people have found them useful for reference from time to time,’ she says. ‘Over the years I suppose I must have collected hundreds — including all the weddings and funerals.’
Sir Clavering Fison with Nellie
How does she plan to spend her retirement? Says Nelly, who lives at 1 Ship Lane, Bramford*: ‘I shall have enough to do. I shall visit my colleagues in Fisons from time to time and I am also interested in my local church — St Mary’s. And of course, there’s always the garden.’
*Later renumbered 5 Ship Lane
During the Second World War Nellie was an ARP Warden