Harris Lebus

This book explores the history of the furniture manufacturer HarrisLebus from 1840 to 1970. Four generations of the Lebus family were engaged inthe business which evolved from a family partnership into a public company. Oliver Lebus was chairman when the company ceased cabinet furnituremanufacturing at Tottenham Hale in 1970.Using personal testimonies from those who were there, aspects of the story of 'the largest furniture factory' in the worldare told through their eyes and using, in as far as possible, their own words.

On a relatively, unremarkable North LondonStreet, at Tottenham Hale, a set of railings stops short at a bricked wall onwhich a metal gatepost is affixed - this was the Ferry Lane entrance to HarrisLebus 'the largest furniture factory in the world'.

Beyond the solitary post, a sloped, grassverge leads to a pleasant, low-rise housing built in the 1970's - Ferry Laneestate, and it is hard to imagine that this was once a bustling, energisedfurniture manufacturing hub. For seventyyears furniture flowed on conveyor belts, and through a tunnel under Ferry Laneas the factory expanded in the fifties to occupy what is now Hale Village.During both World Wars the parts for wooden aircraft were made and assembled inhuge workshops that were shrouded in secrecy.

With the discovery of the factory undergroundwar shelters in 2008 under what is now Hale Village and a subsequent Lebusexhibition curated by Haringey Local History Archives, interest was generatedin this aspect of history and which has subsequently gathered momentum.

Thousands of workers, each living individual lives came from near and far tospend their working days at Lebus. Many formed lifelong friendships, and justas four generations of the Lebus family spent their working lives in thefactory, so too did successive generations of other families. Seeminglyforgotten in the passing of time, they all left an indelible mark in thishistory. And in the case of some, their identities now emerge as their stories areexplored; they are brought back to life telling their experiences in their ownwords.

This is Paul Collier's first foray intoauthorship. In 2008, shortly after moving to Ferry Lane estate, Paul made aconnection with Oliver Lebus, then in his nineties and who was the last familymember of four generations at the company. They formed a special friendship andover several afternoons at his home in Kensington, Oliver introduced the authorto his personal archives on which the foundations of this book were laid.

Fully supported by bothHaringey Local History Archives and members of the extended Lebus family, HarrisLebus - A Romance with the Furniture Trade, fully illustrated with over 200 photographsand images is a must read! His debut book appeals to a wide audience - interestin this history extends far beyond the locality of Tottenham Hale and Haringey,and will delight social historians and those with connections to the furnituretrade, past and present.