Document Request: Cyril meets the Bletchingley Risbridgers p 1/2
Document Description: Notes from a meeting in Bletchingley on 30/04/1994 recounting the local history of the family
Transcription URL: https://risbridger.surnametree.com/library/vdocs/D_355#355
Document Transcription:A write-up of a chat with Gerry, Jean, Annie and Bill, all Risbridgers on 30th of April 1994. William, Gerry's brother is opting out.
W and J Risbridger Ltd was formally started in 1926 by William (Bill) and Jack (John) in 1926. Brother Ted also worked in the factory at Stychens Lane but did not get involved in the management (drove van).
William (Gerry and Bill's father) left school at 12 and did menial work muck spreading and butchering prior to the Great War. His introduction to the business of petrol storage came about by chance. An observation balloon trailing a rope was in need of assistance and young Bill was the first of a group to grab it. He was befriended by the crewman on board and persuaded to enlist in the RNAS. Training on the first Ark Royal amongst others meant studying in the type of work that he was later to develop with his brother.( I.e. metres, valves.)
As a young man he worked near his home at the garage beside the Red Lion where he built bicycles (not the wheels) and used to cycle to Woolwich Arsenal to work as a brass finisher. He was always interested in brass and it was he who had the brass eagle on the lectern in St Mary's made. He did the wiring to the battery shop on the Castle Estate, the first place in the village to have electricity. Later the firm used to charge all the accumulators in the village for 6d time. Making bunsen burners in their hundreds with a 5 inch treddle lathe (chason lathe) acquired from Woolwich Arsenal helped this self-taught man along the road to success.
The family history can probably be traced back to a William Risbridger who held demesne lands of Shere on lease from henry VIII and the Manor of Shere was bought by another William in 1609. There are also clockmakers in the family (Barry and Gerry each have one and Ted’s son in US also).
The modern family was born and bred in this village and they once owned five of the 16 Stychens Cottages to the north of the factory (3/6 a month) because they had long gardens. There were...
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