WILLIE EMERSON DEDRICK was born in Snodland and died 18th March 1963 aged 77 years. His wife Doris Harriet died 2nd December 1981 aged 90 years. He was a scholar at Marlborough College and Managing Director of Snodland Paper Mill from 1919 to 1963. His father William was Managing Director before him and rebuilt the business following the disastrous fire of 1906 thus saving the livelihoods of many workers. Willie enabled the continued success of the business by links with The Times etc. A keen collector of art and antiques, he paid for the construction of windows in All Saints Snodland from Medieval fragments left after a bomb blast. A beautiful window commemorating him by Moira Forsyth was installed in the ancient All Saints Church Snodland in 1963 and a garden built near the High Street. More information on the window can be found in Snodland Museum.
Willie Emerson Dedrick sat on the Bench at West Malling and was High Sheriff of Kent in 1952. The Office of High Sheriff is the oldest secular crown office. Originally the principal law officer, the role of Sheriff is now largely ceremonial.
At the end of WW2 Mrs Dedrick ceremonially planted a flowering crab apple tree at the North end of the small green on which stand the Town Sign and the Statue “Hope”. It is possible that the tree also commemorates his nephew Richard William Pearson killed in HMS Hasty off Malta June 1942 aged 22 years. The tree is still living at the date of writing.
Lord Abergavenny succeeded Willie as Chairman of Snodland Paper Mill 1963 and KJ Funnel, author of the book Snodland Paper Mill, became Managing Director.
Andrew Ashbee, Curator of Snodland Museum says …
William Dedrick (d.1920) and Willie Emerson Dedrick (d.1963) were, in their turn, Managing Directors of the Paper Mill. Both, too, served the church faithfully in many ways for many years. Some of the valuable glass destroyed in the war was salvaged and re-instated through the kindness of WE Dedrick at a cost of £200. This is now placed in the west windows of the aisles, both carrying the same inscription:
“Damaged by enemy action 1941 and restored 1949 in memory of William Dedrick (1857-1920) of the Paper Mill and of his grandson Richard Pearson killed in HMS Hasty off Malta, June 1942.”
In 1966 Mrs. Doris Dedrick gave a beautiful window in memory of her husband. Designed by Miss Moira Forsyth, ARCA, FMGP, it replaces the “Palmer window” which was destroyed. The inscription reads:
“To the GLORY of GOD and in loving memory of WILLIE EMERSON DEDRICK J. P., Paper Maker, High Sheriff of Kent, 1952. 10th May 1885 – 18th March 1963.’’
The following description was provided when the window was dedicated:
“The Church of All Saints is an ancient foundation and stands on the old Pilgrim’s Way. The window has been designed to commemorate these pilgrimages to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at Canterbury. The left light shows St. Thomas vested as Archbishop, with the Arms of the See of Canterbury impaled with his personal arms, three Cornish choughs. At the head of the light is the Cathedral with pilgrims approaching. The right-hand light shows above, an angel holding the emblems of martyrdom, the crown and the palm, and beneath, a procession of pilgrims: in the foreground, at their head, is shown the sister of St. Thomas, who was abbess of Barking. The Dedrick crest is shown in the top tracery.”
“The glass of this window is of fine colour and quality, much of it a precious ‘slab’ glass no longer obtainable. The old stonework of the window is irregular in shape and has necessitated careful handling.”