Stanley Wilkin

1874 - 1946

Stanley Swinborne Wilkin lived at, and managed, Bounds Farm in Goldhanger from 1924 to 1946. He was a director of Wilkin & Sons of Tiptree, a business that his father, Arthur C Wilkin had established. He not only developed and maintained the fruit orchards in both Goldhanger and Tiptree, but also bred many pedigree and thoroughbred animals over the years including horses, dogs, pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and ducks. He was probably best known as an international breeder of Whippets.

Stanley Wilkin (on the right)

with his father and brother

Stanley was an enthusiastic support and benefactor of the Goldhanger Wesleyan Chapel and its last preacher, and was chairman of the Goldhanger Village Hall committee when it was first built. As a keen horseman and member of the local hunt, he was frequently seen riding his mount to the Chapel in Goldhanger and to the factory at Tiptree.

Stanley Wilkin at the front of Bounds Farmhouse

Here is an extract from an obituary of Stanley Wilkin published in local newspapers in 1946 which summaries his life. . .

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The remaining extracts below from newspapers, magazines and journals are arranged chronologically. . .

From The Journal of the 1919 Bath and West and Southern Counties Society. . .

      

from Google books. . .

Encyclopaedia of Modern Pig Farming, Stanley S. Wilkin, 1920, 32 pages

from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk. . .

A BOOKLET concerning Tiptree herd of pedigree large black pigs and arable system of pig farming.

TR PRR/P2/B61,  Stanley S. Wilkin, Tiptree, Essex. 32 pages, published in 1921

from www.worldcat.org. . .

Outdoor pigs; how to make them pay. By the leading authorities on modern pig keeping.

Stanley S Wilkin was one of ten authors of this book in 1923

from the Journal of the Ministry of Agriculture in 1923. . .

from the Agricultural Gazette and Modern Farming in 1924. . .

from the Agricultural and Modern Farming Gazette of 1924, which hints at his move from Tiptree to Goldhanger. . .

A postcard from Stanley Wilkin at "Bounds" Goldhanger, date unknown. . .

Two advertisements for "White Wyandottes", dates unkown. . .

         

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A letter in the Goldhanger Parish Magazine in 1928. . .

The Rector, who was chairman of the Church of England school's management board, began his reply robustly . . .

Dear Mr. Wilkin,

Your letter to me is an astonishing document, and I see nothing but the spirit on mischief at the back of it. . .

Stanley subsequently became a very public campaign extensively reported in local newspapers to block the local education committee from adopting uniform fixed school holidays, which would result in the children and their mothers being unavailable for pea and strawberry picking, and hence losing a significant income for poor families.

Between 1928 and 1930 Rice Grass or the Spartina townsendii hybrid specie of grass was introduced into Goldhanger Creek, and the Bounds Farm area of the Blackwater. Stanley was largely responsible for this and the horticulturists involved were based at Bounds Farm. More in. . . Natural History

From the 1933 edition of Bee Matters and Beemasters. . .

Stanley commissioned Fish Street photographer   Crawshay Frost   to take photos of Bounds Farm and its wild life several of which were used in Company publicity. Here two of Frosts photos of flowering fruit trees in 1933 and a Cuckoo used on a catalogue. . .

    

A letter from Stanley published in the Essex Chronicle in 1935. . .

an advert from Crufts Annual in 1936. . .

A Christmas card from the "Tiptree Kennels", Goldhanger in 1942. . .

 

an extract from:  www.whippetview.com . . .

THE TIPTREE WHIPPETS

The Tiptree prefix, which Mr. Wilkin has owned for a dozen years or more, bids fair to come into prominence more than ever, with the promising kennel he now holds of some dozen Whippets, now at his new home at Goldhanger, Essex. . .Tiptree Gold-dust has kept his head above the best at the summer shows. Another outstanding dog that will soon be seen is Tiptree Yoyo, full brother to Tiptree Bounds King, who lately distinguished himself by winning the C.C. at The Hague.

Amongst the bitches there are the two dams of the above-mentioned dogs, good enough to stand amongst the best, but kept quietly at home attending to their domestic duties; there is also Tiptree Sunshine, who will disappoint her owner if she does not do something out of the common at Crufts. For two years running she has won the cup for the best at Colchester - Whippet or Greyhound. . .

. . .The future stud dog is Tiptree Factor, born November 6, 1945. By T. Beau ex T. Freesia, he has T. Jink and T. Golddust twice each in his pedigree in three generations. He was bred by the late Stanley Wilkin specially to obtain a stud dog for his own use and who described the breeding as "the concentrated TIPTREE blood all in one dog." He has a lovely outline, excellent feet, shoulders, and quarters, with a grand sweep of stifle. He looks the beau ideal of a sire.

    

             Tiptree Jay                                         Tiptree Jink                                      Gold Dust

           the winning whippets, property of S. S. Wilkin, Esq., Goldhanger, Essex

 

A short extract from. . . "Whippets - einer ist nie genug", a German publication in 2003 by Marianne Bunyan, which translates as. . .

Whippets - One is Never Enough

After the Second World War the Whippet moved to near the top twenty of the most popular breeds. The registration numbers fluctuate until today, and clearly in the UK the Whippet finds the most followers. One of the first and most important postwar breeders was Stanley Wilkin (Tiptree), resulting from a unique advertising campaign and an enterprising breeder who left no stone unturned in his careful whippet breeding. Although he started his breeding as early as 1930, the influence of his dogs reached far into the next decade and all parts of the world. Tiptree Whippets were bred consistently and went back mainly to the early Towyside Tatters Ch. The breeder collected many available breeding animals, built-up the Tatters genes and developed a systematic breeding program.

Mr. Wilkins ideals and ideas probably had the greatest influence on the breed. His glamorous and slightly larger Whippets with the beautiful heads were very popular in the U.S., Africa, India, Holland, Portugal and Norway, as did the world famous, traditional jams from the house of Tiptree. Stanley Wilkins son John wrote to me: "My father bred Whippets at Bounds Farm, where we lived. We had up to 25 Whippets at the same time and I have very fond memories of that period of my life".

Stanley Wilkin supplied well known breeders with Whippets, like Dorrit McKay (Laguna), Douglas Todd (Wingedfoot) and Mr & Mrs Evans (Sapperley), Fred Jones (Allways), later continued by the widow Mrs. Bobbie Cooke and Mrs. Kay Chapman (Samema). Over the decades Laguna Whippets have produced significant number of Whippets specifically for exhibitions, coursing and racing. . .

from "The Whippet Handbook" by W. Lewis Renwick, published in 2006. . .

from:  thewhippetarchives.net. . .

Breeder: Stanley S Wilkin, Goldhanger, Essex

owner and breeder of:

Flornell Fleetfoot, Flornell Glamorous (Tiptree Honey), Silver Phyllis, Tiptree Ben, Tiptree Bounds King, Tiptree Daphne, Tiptree Evangeline, Tiptree Evon, Tiptree Iris, Tiptree James, Tiptree Jane, Tiptree Jimmy, Tiptree Jink, Tiptree Joan, Tiptree June, Tiptree May of Oslo, Tiptree Mee Mee, Tiptree Monk, Tiptree Noel, Tiptree Ophelia, Tiptree Peggy, Tiptree Ruby, Tiptree Sheila, Tiptree Silver Dream, Tiptree Veronica, Tiptree Yoyo, Tiptreee Golden Dream

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Stanley took a strong interest in the Goldhanger Weslwyan Chapel and as well as many other village activities. Here is an extract from The Story of the Weslyan Chapel, written by Maura Benham in 1993, with the help of Stanley's son John John Wilkin ...

It seems that the chapel was not prospering in 1923 when Mr Stanley Wilkin came with his family to live at Bounds Farm. He was a staunch Non-Conformist, but finding the church was the leading light in the village he went there. However, it did not suit him, and as he and the Rector were both men who held their views strongly, he turned his attention to the chapel. There he played a leading role until his death in 1946, despite the Rector's warning that "to flirt with non-conformity is to preach infidelity". . .

John Wilkin has memories of Charlie Ruffle who started up a brass band which played in the chapel. John joined in, playing the violin, or the saxophone, or the harmonium. . . Charlie had been a keen supporter of the Salvation Army and liked its infectious enthusiasm. . . John also remembers Charlie's long working life with the Wilkins firm. As a child when his family were in difficulties, he went to see Stanley at the factory and asked for work. He was told to get a spade. So he went to Colchester with the carrier and bought one for 1 shilling which was a days wages. The firm took him on and he later became a foreman, moving to Goldhanger when Stanley came to Bounds Farm. Charlie was devoted to Stanley and modelled himself on him. The band came to an end during the Second World War.

It was said Stanley told his Goldhanger workers that if they were not in chapel on Sunday they would not have a job on Monday!

Stanley was a keen horseman and member of the local hunt, he was frequently seen riding his mount to the Chapel and to the factory at Tiptree. . .

      

here are more images of Stanley's life from 1915 to the 1930s...

select for a high definition version and zoom

After Stanley's death in 1946 his remains were carried from Bounds Farm up Fish Street to St.Peters Church

on an open farm wagon, drawn by two Suffolk Punch heavy horses.

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