Who was the rustic woodworker of Thundersley in 1917?

I noticed the two cleverly made rustic garden chairs under the tree in the garden of Badger Hall. This put me in mind of the rustic fencing outside Kiln Road Post Office at roughly the same time.

Kiln Road Post Office, which was near the corner of what is now Badger Hall Avenue, was owned by the Cooper family at that time, and one of their sons. Stanley Cooper, was a carpenter by trade. It is certainly possible he fashioned the fence in front of the property. I wouldn’t be surprised if he also made the garden chairs for nearby Badger Hall.

Any reminiscences about this would be very helpful. Did you have an ancestor engaged in this kind of decorative craft, in the days before mass-produced garden furniture?

I have just been told by one of my archive colleagues that in the late 1950s/early 1960s, a John Eaton, ran a general store on the corner of Hermitage Avenue, which is the next road along from Badger Hall Avenue. He sold rustic garden furniture. He was one of a family of four brothers. John Eaton also had a smallholding in Shipwright’s Drive, and another shop in High Road, Benfleet on the parade between Green Road and Hope Road.