Correspondence, notes, photographs and ephemera relating to Enid Usher, for many years a resident of Stratford-upon-Avon and contributor to the town's faith, business, cultural, literary and civic life.
Please note: This collection contains some archaic, offensive terminology and imagery. Content notes have been placed in specific catalogue entries, where appropriate. Please contact staff if you have queries or concerns.
DR988
c.1949 -1998
1 box
open
collection
Usher, Enid
DR687 - Records of the Stratford-upon-Avon Bookshop
DR1439 - Papers of Neville Usher (including Usher family history)
DR730/50 - Oral history interview with Caroline Mosey
MS203 - Papers of Embrace the Middle East (previously the Bible Lands Society), held at the Cadbury Research Library, University of Birmingham.
This material was created or assembled by Enid Usher.
Shortly following Enid's death in 1998, her brother Neville donated a bundle of ephemera that had been collected by her. These relate to religious, literary and music events in Stratford-upon-Avon and surrounding areas. Neville subsequently donated a wider set of papers relating to the Usher Family. This donation included material relating to aspects of Enid's childhood in Weston-super-Mare, her career as a book seller and employment, friendships and wider interests in Stratford. In 2023, these separate accessions were catalogued together, to reflect the integrated nature of aspects of Enid's life, as glimpsed through these records.
Enid Elizabeth Usher was born in Birmingham on 01/12/1943. In 1949, Enid, her brother Neville and parents Frank and Nora Usher (nee Hands) moved to Somerset, initially at 7 Quantock Road, Weston-super-Mare, later at Link Road, Uphill [see DR1439 for details of Neville and the Usher family].
Enid attended St Paul's Church of England Church in Weston-super-Mare and retained a commitment to religious works throughout her life. She was a junior member of the Weston centre of the Women's League of Health and Beauty. Enid attended Weston-super-Mare Grammar School for Girls. After leaving school, she worked in the Weston-super-Mare branch of W.H. Smith & Son, Ltd, where she studied for and gained certificates issued by the Education Board of the Booksellers Association of Great Britain and Ireland.
In the early 1960s, Enid moved back to the midlands with Nora and Neville, initially to Shirley, Solihull before the family settled in Stratford-upon-Avon. For many years, she lived at 'Baltimore', 11 Hunts Road, Stratford.
Enid was active in many aspects of town life, including Holy Trinity Church, Shakespeare Birthday Celebrations and an oral history project, instituted by the Stratford-upon-Avon Society in association with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust [see DR730/50]. She was a patron of the annual Stratford-upon-Avon Festival. Enid was also a donor of items to the Trust's library and museum collections.
Enid worked for local employers, including Alveston Manor Hotel (as senior accounts clerk) and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. With the Trust, Enid worked in the Shakespeare Centre Book Shop between 1974 and 1982 and returned as Head of Sales in 1989. The intervening period saw Enid open with her brother Neville the independent Stratford-upon-Avon Bookshop at 47 Henley Street, which traded between 1982 and 1988 [see DR687].
Enid had an interest in Arabic matters and through her engagement with Christian Holy Places in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, she developed a concern for the welfare of displaced Palestinians. Enid was an active supporter of and fundraiser for the Bible Lands Society, serving for a time on the Society's council.
Enid Usher died on 09/06/1998. Her funeral service was held at Holy Trinity Church on 17/06/1998. Roger Pringle, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust gave the address, reflecting the strong links that Enid had developed with the Trust and the wider Town over thirty years.
