Commendation of F W Boreham for his First Job

A letter to F W Boreham as he concludes his work at the High Brooms Brick and Tile Company in Tunbridge Wells.

When Frank Boreham was approaching his fourteenth birthday there were discussions with his parents about the career he should follow. On 5 December 1884, Frank’s father came home with information to report that a boy was wanted in the office of the High Brooms Brick & Tile Company. Frank went the next morning for an and he started straight away. His was an office job but whenever a train came in, his job was to check the number of carriages or trucks as they left the works.

At the High Brooms Brick & Tile Company F W Boreham had a dreadful accident that hurled him under a locomotive, smashed his leg and for five months his life was in the balance.

When he got out of hospital Frank had to walk on crutches and then later a stick. His position at the Brick Company remained open but after he fell and broke his leg it was thought best to find another job closer to home.

The letter, written on 25 November 1887, by Leonard W Andrews, Managing Director of the High Brooms Brick and Tile Company reads:

“F. Boreham was in our employ as Junior Clerk for two years and a half, and during that time we found him painstaking, honest and industrious.”

More information about the High Brooms Brick & Tile Company can be found at this link and this link.

More information about FWB’s first job and his accident can be gleaned from Crago’s biography.

Geoff Pound