Gavin Manton retells with fondness his memories of his mother, the last of the family to run former Sidmouth shop Trump Stores.
“People of Sidmouth may be interested to learn of the death of my mother, Alice Ruth Manton, nee Trump, at the age of 102.
“She was the middle of three sisters born to Edwin Gove Trump and his wife Ruby on May 7, 1918. She arrived, like her sisters, in the living quarters above the shop of Trump Stores in Fore Street, the premises now occupied by the Sid Vale Association. Although christened Alice after her grandmother, she preferred to be known by her middle name Ruth. She survived her two sisters Mary and Barbara and was the last of the Trump family who continued the business, which was established in 1813.
“Under the management of my grandfather, Edwin Gove Trump, the business prospered to the extent that the family moved from Fore Street to a house on Cotmaton Road called Lodge Orchard. She was educated at St. Winnifred’s in Ramsgate, Kent and was by all accounts a mischievous pupil. In 1936 my grandfather died unexpectedly leaving my grandmother to complete the upbringing of her three daughters alone.
“When war broke out my mother joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment and received a commendation from The British Red Cross for her service. I remember her saying that she heard one night the bombing of Exeter, something that is now difficult to imagine. In April 1946 she married my father, Lennox Manton, a Captain in the Royal Army Dental Corps, in Salcombe Regis Church. It was a marriage that was to last for over seventy years. Having spent a brief time in Singapore she moved to Guildford in Surrey where she had three children and lived for most of her married life, making frequent visits to Sidmouth where we had many happy holidays.
“Over twenty years ago she moved to Scotland to be nearer her oldest sister Mary. She never lost her love for Sidmouth and was always supportive of the subsequent owners of Trumps, wishing them every success. She has left me and my sisters with very many happy memories of Sidmouth and of Trumps.”
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