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Bridge Road - R. Groom & Sons
From Humble Origins
When the Victorian era began, Wellington was one of Shropshire's principal furniture making centres and the town was particularly renowned for the production of chairs. R.G. Groom, who began his commercial life as a basket weaver, established a successful timber business in New Street during 1835, on a site that was very close to the modern day Wesleyan Methodist Church. Groom was eventually succeeded by his sons Richard and Thomas, who both played a prominent role in the life of the town. The Grooms were highly representative of a new class of affluent suburbanites who benefited from Wellington's improved commercial fortunes and were determined to leave their mark on the town by improving public services and amenities.
'Wrekin (formerly Wellington) College' During his lifetime, Richard Groom served as a Magistrate, County Councillor, Improvement Commissioner, Chairman of the Local School Board and a Guardian of the Wellington Union Workhouse, while his family were among Wellington's leading Methodists of the period. In this capacity, they funded a quarter of the costs of the new Wesleyan Church in New Street, which opened in 1883 and were trustees of the Princes Street School. When John Bayley founded Wrekin College (which was known as Wellington College during the Victorian era) in 1880, his success in establishing its good reputation was in no small part due to the financial help he received from Richard Groom, who was keen to establish a private school in the area for Wellington's burgeoning middle-earners.