Friar's Shop on The Street, Melton.
William Marsterson and Mary Anne Fisher were married in 1875 and had eight children: William, Emma, Mary Ann, Thomas, Eliza, Henrietta, John and Frederick. William Sr. was a blacksmith and the family were living in a cottage on The Street in Melton. In 1893, William died, leaving Mary Anne to bring up the family on her own.
Two years later in 1895, Mary had remarried and her new husband was James Herbert Friar. In 1901, James and Mary were living in Spring Road, (Saddlemaker’s Lane) in Melton, and the family comprised five children from Mary’s first marriage and two new arrivals, James and Alice. James Sr.’s occupation was an agricultural smith, working at Page and Girling’s, the local iron foundry.
By 1911, James had changed his occupation and was now a pork butcher and beer retailer, running his own shop at 26 The Street, where the podiatry practice is now located. Mary had had a third child with James; a son, Douglas and, along with his two full siblings, his half-brothers, John and Frederick were still living at home.
Mary’s sons, Frederick Marsterson and James Friar, both served during the Great War.