FIVE GENERATIONS OF W.S. COLE & SON

William J Cole moved to St Nicholas-at-Wade with his wife Charlotte in 1891 and purchased a local funeral and building business from the widow of the former owner Jonathan Grant. The business had been run by the late Jonathan Grant and his predecessors for the past 200 years looking after the village and surrounding area. William J Cole continued the business in the same way and soon his sons William and Edgar became involved. Edgar continued at St Nicholas-at-Wade with the funeral and building business until his early death in 1939. Many old ledgers still exist in the business’s archives, and provide a fascinating insight into the past.

In 1914 William Stephen Cole and Amy his wife moved to the neighbouring village of Monkton where he continued the funeral business his father had begun. Eventually all the funeral work was transferred Monkton. It was the need for carpenters to make coffins that led to the old tradition of building and funeral businesses often running alongside each other. This tradition still lives on at W.S. Cole & Son, although today coffins come to us ready made leaving only the furnishings and trimmings to be fitted.

In the late 1930's William Stephen Cole had the opportunity to acquire the funeral business of G Terry in Minster. The funeral side was moved to Monkton, leaving the Minster premises to be used for building works. W.S. Cole & Son was formed with his son Bernard Cole who joined the business in 1940. The business continued to care for bereaved families and the number of funerals steadily increased.   

Bernard and his wife Joyce carried on the business after the death of William in 1966. The same year the Acol Methodist Chapel closed, this was purchased to convert into a Chapel of Rest, which was now needed as the tradition of keeping the deceased relative at home was declining.  

Jonathan, the fourth generation of the Cole family, started work in 1968 again working in both the building and funeral side of the firm. The company continues to maintain close links with the rural areas of Thanet and surrounding villages East of Canterbury but frequently take custom in nearby towns. Christopher Cole joined the company in 1999 and for some time prior to Bernard's death in 2003 there were three generations of Cole 'Boys' in the hearse when attending funerals.     

It was Bernard Cole who introduced computers into the family business and after Bernard's death Jonathan, his wife Nicolette and son Christopher aim to continue the traditional values established by their father and grandfather whilst incorporating today’s needs and desires.

In 2008 Jonathan built new premises on the site acquired by his grandfather in Minster in the 1930’s. Today, the funeral business operates from these new purpose built premises in the heart of the community that has been served by five generations of the Cole family.

Happy to do things in the way it has been for years but equally pleased to accept and provide for more modern and less conventional practices.