Charlotte Easton

Charlotte Easton

Charlotte Easton ran a laundry in Hessle at first from her house on Tower Hill, then from a site in Eastgate (1892) and later from purpose built premises adjacent to Hessle Common (1900). She eventually retired around 1921 and died in 1946 at the age of 95.

Charlotte (Mann) was born in Lincolnshire in 1851 and married Charles Easton of Raywell in 1874, settling in Hessle on Tower Hill Her husband became a groom and coachman to Charles Grotrian of Westhill but developed disabling rheumatism and died in 1892 aged 43. They had four children.

When Charles became ill Mr Grotrian persuaded Charlotte to do his laundry thus giving her the idea to set up her own business. The laundry quickly acquired a reputation for service and efficiency and premises on Eastgate were rented from a Mr Bailey in 1892. Eight years later she moved to a new site on Hessle Common employing around sixty women and several men.