Walter Burnet
| Walter Burnet | |
|---|---|
 Walter Burnet's model shop in West Street, Boston (Photo:Robin Smith) | |
| Died | 1 March 2017 (aged 91) |
| Education | Boston Grammar School (1937-1942) |
| Spouse | Sylvia |
| Children | Heather, Paul |
Walter Burnet was educated at Boston Grammar School (1937-42).
Obituary
Walter Burnet passed away 1 March 2017 aged 91. The former owner of a model shop in West Street, he leaves his wife Sylvia, daughter Heather and son Paul.
Ray Millard (BGS 1959-66) commented on the OBA blog: "Such a gentleman. We used to spend hours in his shop talking aeromodelling. Sometimes we'd leave without buying anything at all. He never seemed to mind and always made us feel very welcome."
Facebook discussion
A long discussion on Facebook about Walter Burnet and his shop included these comments
Graham Forman: I used to live at the Axe next to the Toy Shop (Sounds like bit of fantasy that.. living above a pub next to a Toy Shop). My sister jumped on her bike in the yard at the Axe once and I asked her where she was going. She told me she was going to the Toy Shop and left before I could blurt out that it was only next door!
Beverley Alexander: This was up the road from my childhood home. I spent many a time looking in the window and wanting most things! Happy days when you didn't get everything you wanted so if it was a special occasion and you got into the shop it meant so much more!
Robert Cooper: Walter purchased the building from my father Stan Cooper which was a Motor cycle shop before hand. I remember going to my Dad's motor bike shop in the fifties when I was very young and sitting on his race bikes. There was a great smell of petrol and paint. In the back yard was another building full of old motor bikes. We also owned the sweet shop and flats next door as well. Then when Dad had his bad accident at Caldwell in 1961, Mum sold it to Walter Burnet. End of a era for me.
Kevin Gash: Like everyone else I spent a lot of time and money in Walter Burnet's shop. I remember him telling me he did his National Service in the Army. I can't remember if he was in Signals or REME, but he was a life long radio ham as a result.
Burnet on White
Walter Burnet supplied the following article about Edward White to The Old Bostonian magazine for its Spring / Summer 2005 issue.
Transports of delight
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries inventor Edward White kept Boston up to date in personal transportation.
Edward White, my wife’s great uncle, was by all accounts a delightful, shy, genial character whose life is a personal record of a man caught up in the excitement of an era of great inventions.
Born in 1862, Edward entered the blacksmith business of his father, Dawson White in the town’s Bargate End, in the early days of bicycles. I have heard my late father-in-law say that Edward was frequently in trouble for taking too much interest in what his father called 'those new-fangled contraptions'.
But eventually Edward was allowed to experiment with making bicycles as a sideline. He made his first with a particular purpose in mind. New docks were being built at Sutton Bridge. There had been much excitement about this in Boston and Edward was determined to be there when the grand opening was held on 18th May, 1881. He achieved his ambition to cycle there and back on his own creation. He recounted that he later sold this machine to 'a gentleman at Skegness'.
Cycling was increasing in general popularity. Edward himself once commented that cyclists in Boston were considerably helped when Spilsby Road was steam-rollered for the first time in February 1892. By this time he had begun cycle manufacture in earnest and in 1897 produced his first catalogue advertising the various models of the "White's Imperial Bicycle". As an offshoot of this he also produced mechanically hand-operated bath chairs. He always attended the annual cycle show held at the Agricultural Hall in London - the forerunner of the present-day Motor Show - and it was here at around the turn of the century he saw a bicycle propelled by a Singer petrol engine. He bought engine and transmission parts and built the White's Imperial Motor Bicycle at his works. Considering his great interest in innovations, it is probably not surprising that in 1899 he acquired his first car - a single cylinder Baby Peugeot. It had no hood, no windscreen, no doors and no windows. In 1919 he teamed up with General Motors to sell Chevrolet Trucks. In these days, before exclusive franchises, he also sold Buick, Singer, Rover and Armstrong Siddeley cars. He altered the 'Cycle Infirmary' to provide a showroom for these. The business continued to expand and he opened an extension further along Bargate End in 1932 and also opened a branch in Sleaford.
He continued to be involved in the business until his death in 1939 at the age of seventy-six, having spent a lifetime involved in meeting the needs of transport in an era of extremely rapid change.
Edward, known to the family and friends as 'Ned', was certainly one of the characters of Boston at that time. Well into his later years he continued to take a keen, if slightly eccentric, interest in anything new. One anecdote in particular seems to sum up his character. When electric razors were first available, he bought one, but wishing to continue his daily visit to Mr Maddison, the barber in Bargate, he offered to pay for a power point to be installed so he could still enjoy the social occasion while being shaved by the latest piece of technology!
E White's car showroom in Bargate End which was extended in 1932
Edward White in 1937
The White's Imperial No.2 from the 1897 catalogue where it was on offer for thirteen guineas (£13.65)
