Biography of BRENDA AUDREY PARSONS
[Ref. S.5]
| Biography - before marriage |  |
Biography - after marriage |
Biography of BRENDA AUDREY PARSONS
[Ref. S.5]
| Biography - before marriage | |
Biography - after marriage |
Hairdressing
Brenda's ambition from young was to become a hairdresser having enjoyed brushing and plaiting her mother's hair in the past. She was also inspired by her aunt Freda who was a hairdresser. However, her father did not consider this to be a proper job and wanted her to become a secretary. She was encouraged to take an interview at Guildford Technical College for a secretarial course but failed both the interview and the aptitude test and was advised not to persue that career.
She persisted with her intention so her mother arranged for her to work on Saturdays at Owens hairdressers which is where she had her own hair done. She was 14½ years old at the time and the arrangement with her parents was that she should do this work unpaid and, if she still liked the idea after six months, then she would be allowed to proceed with that career. She started with all the unpleasant chores such as hand-washing the many towels then progressed to being allowed to shampoo clients hair.
Having left school in 1958, just after her 15th birthday, Brenda started work properly at Owens shop at 152 Lynchford Road, North Camp on 28 April. She entered into a three year apprenticeship with the owner, Mr. John (Jack) Williams, on 6 July. It was very hard work with long hours, 9am to 6pm every day including Saturday, Friday was 9am to 7pm and Wednesday was a half day. Her starting pay was 28/- per week. There was an hour break for lunch so she used to cycle home for her meal each day. As the apprentice, Brenda had to hand wash all the towels, make coffee for the customers then wash the cups. This required her carrying the items up and down the stairs from the cellar and she fell on the steps a number of times then had to pay for any breakages out of her wages. She found it particularly hard as she was becoming aenemic from heavy and prolonged periods to the point that she was prescribed iron tonic by the doctor. When it came to actual hairdressing her training was given by the owners wife, Mts.Williams. Initially Brenda would be doing the shampoos before going on to cut or tint hair. Soon after joining Owens, the owners took the staff for a day out in London to see the film South Pacific, probably travelling up on the Aldershot & District coach. On her half day off, Brenda would practise by doing the hair of friends and neighbours.
The gents salon occupied the ground floor of the shop and the ladies salon was on the first floor, looking out over the balcony into the street. Mrs Williams kept a nice display of geraniums on show on the balcony every year. When Brenda was in her third year, Mr Williams decided to open an additional salon in the basement. He required Brenda to work there with the apprentice whom she had started training. It was a quite unplesant environment in the basement, having no access to natural light and Brenda did not enjoy it. Although Brenda was still an apprentice herself, she was now working as a full hairdresser. As business picked up, another experienced hairdresser was brought in to work in her salon, the apprentice serving her as well. The hairdressers would be responsible for mixing their own chemicals which was a job that had to be done carefully and precisely. Nearing the end of a busy Friday, Brenda suddenly became aware that she had forgotten one of her customers who was under a dryer out of sight in a cubicle. The lady had actually fallen asleep so was unaware of the time but, luckily, was quite amenable about the delay.
In 1961, after her required three years at Owens, Brenda was told of a job at Coles hairdressers in College Town, Sandhurst by Leanne, a colleague who had left earlier. The shop was run by husband and wife and the working conditions were completely different, being much more considerate of the staff. It had only opened six months earlier and Leanne was there from the start. The journey to the shop was longer than the previous but Leanne had promised to give Brenda a lift on her scooter if she took the job. Mr & Mrs Cole were really nice and both worked extremely hard but were good to their staff. Brenda's starting wage was £8-10s-0d on top of which she earned commission and received tips then automatic yearly increments. In theory she would spend the next two years as an'Improver' following the end of her apprenticeship. Brenda used to cook a lunch in the shop kitchen for herself and her colleagues. They would buy the food from Mr Taylor who had a greengrocery shop at the other end of the terrace. Brenda remembers him and his wife as being nice people.
Brenda soon built up a good list of clientele most of whom were polite and kind. However, there was one unpleasant army wife back from an overseas posting who came in on a single booking and was unexpectedly found to have long and difficult hair. Brenda coped as best she could but the customer was unpleasant also her regular customers were being kept waiting. After she had finished, Brenda went to the staff room where she had a rant and just then the customer popped back to collect her handbag which she had forgotten and heard Brenda's comments. One day Brenda was chatting to her customer and it transpired that her husband worked in the same office Bremda's fiancée but th econversation did not go any further. Luckily that avoided an embarrasing moment as the man was actually Malcolm's manager and was universally disliked. Brenda knew that already and recognised his name before she spoke out of turn.
The mother of Brenda's fiancée became a regular customer of the shop also his sister came in once when her hair was long. Most customers were good and one lady gave Brenda a pair of tickets to the televised show Sunday Night at the London Palladium where, unbeknown to Brenda, The Beatles were the headline act.
The girls in the shop were often chatting about their boyfriends or looking out of the window at boys passing by. The business was adjacent to Sandhurst Military College and many of the cadets would get their hair cut at the shop, many especially at the start of each term.
One day Brenda was waiting for a lady who was late for her appointment so she was looking out of the shop window to see if she was on her way. She saw her pushing her bicycle along on the opposite side of the road then, being in a hurry, turn to cross the road without looking properly into the path of a van. She was knocked down and died of her injuries.
Other than working in the shop, Brenda attended a couple of courses in London. One was a two week course near Oxford Circus put on by Wella to teach the use of Koleston tints such as sectioning the hair and identifying tint colours. The other was a one week tinting course held by Clairol in a building off Baker Street. During these courses, Brenda stayed with her aunt Audrey in Harlesden. She also attended with some of her colleagues a one-day competition held at Albert Hall in Kensington. Brenda continued to do a little hairdressing at home and started to cut Malcolm's hair after he had a bad experience in a barbers in Hammersmith. She also came to Malcolm's house and did the hair of his grandmother when she was staying.
Mrs Cole's father had a caravan at Rockbeare in Devon and she invited Brenda and her family to stay there when they wished. Mr Cole used to help the girls in the shop by tidying up after their lunch and also washing the towels despite his bad health due to having been a prisoner of war. One day he considered that Brenda looked really tired so he sat her down and made her a cup of coffee, insisting that she rested for a while. He would sometimes find the girls in the stockroom giggling at the 'gentlemen's weekend supplies' and would tell them that life was not all about that sort of thing and they would soon tire of it after they were married.
Brenda left the shop to get married in November 1967. She had hidden her car on her last day so that her colleagues would not decorate it and Malcolm came to drive her home. Her employer, Mrs.Cole attended the wedding. Her colleagues, customers and friends were most generous in giving Brenda wedding presents.
Once married and living in her new home in Verwood in Dorset, Brenda soon found employment in Hair Care in Vicarage Road, a shop just a few hundred yards from home. She had previously written to the owner, George Moore, to see if there was a job available. He was the same person from whom Malcolm had bought their cottage. He offered her a job but on a low wage as she did not have any clientele to bring. Brenda settled in quickly and got on well with Shiela, Sue and Linda. After a few months apprentice Jean was taken on and it fell to Brenda to train her. Brenda also would go round to the house of her employer to trim his hair one a fortnight.
One demanding customer was the actress Jessie Matthews who would come in without an appointment. Brenda did her hair and from conversation found out that Jessie was renovating a cottage and told her that her husband was doing the same. Jessie invited Brenda to view her cottage which she did. Brenda had told her about Malcolm making a new staircase which prompted Jessie to ask if he would do the asme for her. Malcolm declined knowing that it would likely lead to problems with her not being satisfied with the work, anyway he was not a tradesman. He also know tales of her from his grandfather, Sydney Folker, who had worked with her in the early days of film.
Brenda was unfortunate to witness another fatal road accident from the window of this shop. A boy on his bicycle was in the centre of Vicarage Road waiting to turn right into Ringwood Road. A lady in a large car swept round the corner from Ringwwod Road and knocked him off. The girls from the shop went out to help and covered him with a blanket but he did not recover.
Brenda continued to work at Hair Care for three years without any increase in wages although the staff had been able to bargain for commission. Furthermore, the owner was not paying the statutory holiday pay so Malcolm took Brenda to confront him. He said he could not afford it (which was quite untrue as he was well known to be a miser) and that Brenda had the option to leave, so, in April 1971 she did just that. Shortly after all the other staff, Sue, Sheila and Linda left as well, taking their clients with them, and he was obliged to take on new staff at a proper wage. The receptionist remained as a hairdresser which had been her profession previously.
Brenda decided to work from home using the utility room as a salon. In order to comply with any legal requirements, Malcolm checked with his solicitor and found no reason for concern. She restricted it to Thursdays and Fridays and her mother came to help by doing the shampoos and made the appointments. However, early in 1972, her former employer decided to challenge her and reported her to the council who instructed her to make a planninmg application for change of use for the property. Permission was refused but subsequently granted upon appeal but Brenda was able to continue working during that process. Thereafter, Brenda kept proper accounts which she declared to the tax authorities. She contimued with her work after the children were born and sometimes the customers would assist in feeding them. She obtained her supplies from Halliwells wholesaler in Bournemouth.
When the family moved to Shaftesbury House in 1978, Brenda set her salon up in the dining room which had been converted from the former integral garage. As before, Brenda only worked at home on Thursdays and Fridays and her mother continued to help out by applying the shampoo and answering the phone. As some of her clients became older and unable to travel, Brenda started going to their homes by car, but later she went by bicycle when Malcolm needed the car. Halliwell ceased trading so Brenda then went to Capital Hair and Beauty for her supplies.
In 1986, Brenda broke her right leg and dislocated the ankle. However, she keen to continue with her hairdressing so she managed to set herself up on a barstool and her ladies would manoeuvre themselves around her. She continued hairdressing until she had passed the age of 70 when she was obliged to give up due to having problems with her legs.
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