Published in Windlesora 28 (2012)
©2012, WLHG
One of the UK’s oldest firms of undertakers reached a milestone in 2012. Sargeant and Son, of St. Leonard’s Road, Windsor, is celebrating 300 years since the company was first established in 1712.
Generations of the family worked in the business, carrying out many thousands of funerals for families of Windsor and Slough, and the surrounding areas.
The last member of the Sargeant family to work in the business was Teddy Sargeant, who died in 1988, leaving his secretary Pat O’Neill to continue the business. She raised the money to keep the company going, and shortly before her death in 2009 she passed it on to Funeral Partners Ltd to ensure that the business continued with the same high standards set by the Sargeant family.
Many of the staff who work for Sargeant’s today have been with the company for decades, showing the huge loyalty that this family-oriented firm inspires in all those who work for it. Letty Atkinson, a well-known face in Windsor, retired from full-time work in September 2011 after nearly forty years looking after the branch. Formerly a District Nursing Sister in Windsor, Letty has helped thousands of families to arrange funerals during her decades in St. Leonard’s Road.
In 2012, the company will be celebrating the tri-centenary with a series of special events. Although currently still in the planning stage, it is hoped that these will include a thanksgiving service in a Windsor Church in memory of all those whose funerals have been carried out by E Sargeant’s, a presentation to the town of a commemorative item, and a series of receptions and celebrations.
Windsor Local History Group 