Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2015 | Page 89

ISLAND LIFE MAGAZINE
popularity of poet Alfred Lord Tennyson
who lived at Farringford House, a short
distance from Orchard’s shop. Tennyson
preferred seclusion and would rarely visit
the shop, although on one occasion he did
drop in with American poet Longfellow to
order half a dozen clay pipes.
With new houses built in the Bay, there
was a demand for a local post office and
Julia Margaret Cameron, the pioneer
photographer who lived down the road
at Dimbola, wrote to the authorities
suggesting that William Thomas would
be a suitable candidate for post master,
describing him as ‘very respectable and
businesslike’. He was duly appointed and
the post office would remain part of the
business for the next 83 years.
In 1882 the shop was granted a licence
to sell wines, spirits and beer and various
drinks were bottled on the premises. The
family also acted as coal merchants and
house letting agents. A year later Orchard
& Son became agents for Capital and
Counties Bank, which was later to become
part of Lloyds Bank.
In 1887 William Thomas’s eldest son,
another William, was called home from
school in London. His grandfather died
aged 72, and young Will was needed to
help run the business.
Will was just 15 when he began in the

"The business has
passed through five
generations of the
Orchard family since it
was founded by William
Orchard in 1865."
post office, and recalled having to walk
six miles and back to deliver a telegram.
He would sometimes relay telegrams
from Queen Victoria at Osborne House to
Tennyson at Farringford.
At the age of 26 Will succeeded his
father, William Thomas, as postmaster
and remained in the job until his
retirement in 1954 - at the age of 82.
When William Thomas, the founder’s
son, died in 1908 at the age of 64, sons
Will and Fred inherited the business. Will

Dick Orchard in the late 1950s

ran the post office and letting agency
while Fred took charge of the grocery
store. The shop was renamed Orchard
Bros and has remained so ever since.
Fred Orchard was just 53 when he died
in 1927, leaving Will in charge of the
post office with managers brought in
to run the grocery shop and its smaller
subsidiary branch in Totland. Five years
later the fourth generation of the Orchard
family entered the business.
Fred’s son, Dick Orchard, aged 15,
teamed up with his uncle Will, in 1933.
Apart from six years away serving with the
Royal Navy during World War II, he was at
the heart of the business until his death in
2005 aged 87.
The shop witnessed plenty of changes
in the 1930s. Motorised vans were
brought in to replace horse-drawn
delivery vehicles and the old stables were
converted into a new bakehouse. The
steam ovens were the most modern on
the Island and at one time two bakers
were employed to produce bread, cakes
and pastries as well as commissioned
wedding and birthday cakes.
Dick Orchard took over the running of
the business and when their five sons were
old enough his wife Barbara joined him
in working in the shop. Their eldest son,
Mark, became the fifth generation to be
involved in the business when he began
work straight from school in 1968. Mark
now owns and manages the business.
Orchard Bros pride itself in offering
a comprehensive range of everyday
groceries, fresh fruit and vegetables,

"He would sometimes
relay telegrams from
Queen Victoria at
Osborne House to
Tennyson at Farringford."
beers, wine and spirits and confectionary.
They specialise in local products and their
home cooked ham is renowned. There is
also a local delivery service available.
These days goods are electronically
scanned at the