The Williams family were fruit growers in Leverington and Gorefield, north of Wisbech, for several generations.

Frank William Mark Williams was born in 1907 and he was most probably the Frank Williams who built up a business empire based on fruit and farming.[^1]

Comprising at least 8 companies it was a business that grew quickly then fell in a heap in less than 25 years.

By the early 1930s he was operating as a wholesale fruit merchant with a fleet of motor lorries and a warehouse in Albion Place, Wisbech. From these early days onwards, he was dealing not just in local fruit but exotic imports - grapefruit from Puerto Rico, grapes from Alicante, cranberries from Holland and bananas from Jamaica. Alongside the wholesale side, he soon established a retail business selling in markets and setting up fruiterers' shops carrying his name all over the east - Boston, Skegness, Kings Lynn, Grantham, Bourne and in 1938 at 62 High Street, Stamford. The shops would have been supplied from Wisbech with local fruit and Frank Williams' imports. He was also providing canned fruit, nuts, dates and figs.

A job for a "smart young lady" as Manageress was advertised. The successful applicant was 28 year old Kate Lilian Hurst from Emneth near Wisbech. She took lodgings in Queen Street and soon proved that she was indeed smart. She often took the day's takings home with her to her lodgings but noticed that sums were missing so she marked the notes and scratched the coins. Her landlady was found to be in possession of the marked money, found guilty of theft and fined.

Miss Hurst moved to new lodgings in King's Road. As a point of comparison, it is interesting to note that the day's takings cited in the case were £11 8s 9d. In the late 1930s things were clearly going well. Adverts for assistants, including in Stamford, appeared regularly.

At the time of the 1939 Register, Frank Mark William Williams and his wife were living at Mountville on a brand new, middle class development, Mount Drive in Wisbech. It was probably about this time that the company moved to Ramnoth Road and Frank's portfolio expanded to include several companies covering different aspects of his trade - fruit, vegetables, farming and agricultural contracting. He had departments as far north as Liverpool and an address on Bow Street in London.

In the mid-1940s, another new company was formed, Middleton (Frucon) Ltd., and this may mark a downturn in his fortunes. Frank's mother's maiden name was Middleton and the "Ltd' could have been a fabrication. It was the only one of his businesses not to carry his own name. Although he continued to use his name in some places, he also began to advertise as "Middleton Frucon (late Frank Williams)' and the shop at 62 High Street in Stamford was renamed.
The Stamford address was used as a contact address as well as Ramnoth Road. In 1947 Middleton (Frucon) Ltd were advertising deliveries of apples for Christmas in local newspapers from Bristol to Leeds and London.

The crash came in 1956. Between September and November, petitions for bankruptcy were filed in at least 5 separate companies carrying the name Frank Williams at the two addresses, Ramnoth Road Wisbech and Bow Street London. Liquidators were appointed on 14th December.

What happened to Frank? - Middleton (Frucon) does not seem to have been included in the proceedings but no further references to it have been found and the Stamford shop certainly ceased trading. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility that Frank picked himself up and started again elsewhere. He had plenty of life left in him - he died in Hounslow in 1999 at the age of 92.

[^1]: All this information has been gleaned from official records and old newspapers. It assumes that the business was started by Frank M W Williams but it could have been his father, also Frank Williams, born 1882.