Individual Stories – WW1 Frederick Rowntree More of the life of Frederick Rowntree It showed be noted here that Frederick Rowntree, the father of Colin and Douglas and father-in-law of Ralph Thorp was involved in the war in very many ways including offering his services with the design and production of camps for the Belgian refugees in Holland. It seems that he had ownership or access to 4 of the 15 houses in Hammersmith Terrace and one of these was made available to Belgian refugees. He was also reponsible for setting up a workshop in his local area for the Belgians to produce furniture ready to return when the war was over. In a letter to his son Colin on 14th November 1914 Fred wrtes that he would be pleased to receive any sketches of Belgian Furniture - the kind of thing you see in peasants or middle class houses. Fred is interested in designing Belgium Furniture to be made here. The story of the Rowntree Family in WW1 is included in: particularly in the section The War Years |