Mr. Quintin Lawson

Editorial Department • Published 4 Feb 2010 12:01

The funeral took place in the Scottish village of Moniaive, Dumfries and Galloway on Wednesday, January 27, 2010, of Mr. Quintin Lawson, a highly regarded former general manager of the Taylor-Woods factory in Enniskillen, who lived in Fermanagh for many years.

Quintin, late of Bourtree Crescent, Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway, died peacefully, at a private nursing home on January 16, 2010, surrounded by family members. He had been in declining health in the past two years.

Quintin, a member of a Strabane family, was a former RAF pilot and served with distinction as a Flight Lieutenant in 73 Squadron, Burma. He led his squadron for the last few months of the war.

In 1954, he got married in Enniskillen to his late wife, Muriel Lawson, formerly Glennie of Rossorry Terrace, Enniskillen.

The couple made their home at Derryinch, Enniskillen and had a family of two - Mary, who is now in Cambridgeshire, and Charlie, of Prestbury, Cheshire. (Actor Charlie Lawson played the well-known character Jim McDonald in popular television soap, Coronation Street.)

Quintin Lawson, a popular figure in the county, had been a very well-liked figure at Taylor-Woods, where he rapidly rose through the ranks to become Production Director. He came to the factory around 1948 and began on the floor, working as a fixer (a mechanic) to familiarise himself with the procedure of making hosiery.

Quintin had progressed to a management position within a year and he went on to serve as production director for a long number of years at Taylor-Woods.

A man, who played a very active role in the factory, he was a keen supporter of the Taylor-Woods sports and social club and he went on the Works Council annual outings. Each year, they paid a visit to a different industry.

He had also been very keen for supervisors and middle management to attend seminars and courses.

Mr. Billy Humes, a former colleague on the management team, recalls that Quintin was "very, very well-liked in Taylor-Woods by everyone".

He described him as "a gentleman" as far as the workers were concerned and he said he was positive and a caring man.

A booklet, entitled "Seventeen Years of Taylor-Woods" by Q.Y. Lawson, was published in March 1963 by Taylor-Woods (Northern Ireland) Limited, Enniskillen. Taylor-Woods Limited was first registered in Northern Ireland in 1946. A site was bought at Derrychara for the hosiery factory and as it was likely to take two years to build the new factory, the Enniskillen Borough Council provided temporary accommodation for Taylor-Woods to start up in the County Hall, which had originally been the old County Gaol. Early in 1946 the first employees were engaged locally, and nine of these people were sent to the Hosiery Division of York Knitting Mill in Ontario for training. A member of the original party was Mrs. Lawson, nee Muriel Glennie.

The first stocking produced in Enniskillen was on April 1, 1947, in the County Hall, while the first machine to produce a stocking in the new factory at Derrychara did so on April 1, 1949. In the mid fifties, they chose lingerie as the second product. Taylor-Woods closed in 1966.

The Lawsons remained in the county and they farmed beef cattle and Quintin ran an extremely successful shoot with his neighbour John Fawcett.

He was a former captain of Enniskillen Golf Club and he enjoyed sailing and game shooting.

The Lawsons moved to Scotland in the mid to late seventies.

Quintin's funeral took place at Glencairn Church, Moniaive, where his late wife Muriel was laid to rest.

Mr. Lawson is survived by his daughter, Mary, and son, Charlie, and by his sister Virginia Pink, Malone Park, Belfast.

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This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 04 Feb 10

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