George was King of town’s gentleman’s outfitters
The closure today of F.J.Burger, the jewellers, after 98 years trading in Maidstone has prompted us to think back on other long-established Maidstone firms now gone.
One such was Kings, the men’s outfitters and school uniform suppliers, which was in business at 3 Gabriel’s Hill from 1872 until 1989 - a total of 117 years.
During that time it underwent several name changes. The shop was opened by George King as G.H. King and Son, later it was known as King of Maidstone, and finally simply as Kings.
George King was a prominent figure in the town. He was a JP and sat on Maidstone council for seven years representing the North and West Borough wards. He was also a founding member of the Maidstone Band of Hope, a temperance society youth group for working class children, which he led for 50 years.
Before his death in 1932, aged 85, he passed the business on to one of his two sons, Percy King.
An ex-Maidstone Grammar School pupil, Percy was a deacon at the King Street church and was heavily involved in both the Maidstone Rotary Club and the Maidstone Choral Union. Despite leading a life of abstinence like his father, he died in 1936, aged just 61.
The business then passed to his two sons Bobby and David.
Both got caught up in the Second World War, with Bobby serving as an engineer officer with the RAF in India, and David also in the RAF as an Aircraftsman based at Detling.
David had a lucky escape in 1940. He was off-duty on August 13 when the airfield was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe, killing 67 personnel and injuring a further 94. Later, promoted to Flight Lieutenant, he too served in India in intelligence.
While the sons were away, the business was managed by Percy’s widow, Gertrude.
On their demobilisation, the brothers divided responsibilities between them, with Bobby taking shirts and David trousers.
It was at this stage that they legitimately dropped the apostrophe from the shop’s name, to become just Kings.
A governor at Sutton Valence School, Bobby too joined Maidstone Rotary Club, and was its longest serving member by the time of his death in 2003.
David King, a violinist, was a leading member of the Maidstone Orchestral Society.
When he was 69, he sold the business to Simmonds, a similar gents’ outfitters, based in Tunbridge Wells. The premises are currently occupied by Perfection Bridal and Menswear.