John William Tyrrell Browne, Master Tailor

John William Tyrrell Browne was born in 1899 in Gateshead and was the youngest of 4 children. His parents were both actors. His father died at Gateshead when John was 11 months old and after some time, his mother gave up the acting profession and settled in the West Riding. John attended Spring Street School until the age of 13, when he left to work in the woollen mills. His mother also gained employment as a finisher with a tailoring firm in Dundas Street. During the First World War, and at the age of 17, John joined the Royal Navy, being demobilised in 1919, after which he took up employment in various tailoring firms in Huddersfield.

He married Lucy, from Batley in 1922 and had two daughters. Although changing jobs several times during the 1920's and early 30's through ill-health, John remained interested in becoming a master tailor. After some time spent studying and obtaining the Tailor and Cutters Diplomas, he decided to register as a part-time student with the Huddersfield Technical College and gained a City and Guilds Diploma in 1939. During the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Huddersfield Auxiliary Fire service for a short period, then in 1941 he was appointed to the Vocational Training Staff as Tailor Master at the Wellesley Nautical School, Blyth, Northumberland. His family remained at their home in Huddersfield but moved to Northumberland at the end of the war. John Browne took early retirement in 1962 due to ill-health, and went to live in North Oxfordshire with his wife. They lived in Hook Norton, a small village in the Cotswolds until his death in 1966, aged 67.

These records are held by WYAS Kirklees, collection reference KC588