Reginald Guy Bassett descends from #16B John Bassett of Alstonfield, Staffordshire as follows:
John Bassett (d. 1667) and wife Dorothy
Robert Bassett (b. 1609)
Robert Bassett (b. 1656) and wife Dorothy Ratciliff
Robert Bassett (b. 1708) and wife Joan Bonsel
Thomas Bassett and wife Hannah Fraggatt
Mary Bassett (b. 1794)
Ralph Bassett (b. 1819) and wife Hannah Shenton
Joseph Bassett (b. 1854) and wife Ellen Hall
Leonard John Bassett (b. 1886) and wife Mary Clare Weaver
Reginald Guy Bassett
Evening Sentinel, Wednesday, May 25, 1988
In Character
Musical way of conducting big business
By. Alan Cookman
At 75, the mellow and avuncular boss of the giant Bassett transport group may now seem an unlikely cupid.
Yet generations of North Staffordshire couples were sent quickstepping to the altar under the obliging baton of Reg Bassett.
The former resident bandleader at Trentham Gardens was the Joe Loss of North Staffordshire for over 50 years. New ballroom fashions and rhythms came and went, but Reg Bassett was immovable.
It all started in the 1930’s when his mother organized a dance in the local Tittensor school to raise funds for a new village hall.
“They were stuck for a band,” Says Reg. “I’d played the drums in the cadets at Alleyne’s School, so I volunteered to get some pals together. We were a big success.”
Gigs at village halls in and around Stone followed, and during World War Two Reg and the boys entertained the troops and factory workers. Later came success in the Melody Maker band contest and engagements in two halls and ballrooms across the North and the Midlands.
The original five-piece band had grown to a 15-piece orchestra when the legendary Geraldo, then resident musical director at Trentham Gardens, signed them up in the Fifties.
“Jackie Trent was one of our singers, and we played alongside bands like Harry Roy, Ted Heath, Joe Loss, Victor Sylvester and Ivy Benson,” says Reg, who finally put away his baton in 1978 on doctor’s orders.
“I loved every minute of it. For me it was a relaxation, an escape from the pressures of business. I was really touched by all the letters I received when I retired. I got messages from people all over the country.
“Now we get together twice a years, with some top class musicians from Manchester, to play the Lord Mayor’s Ball and the Lady Mayoress’s Ball.”
If Reg Bassett’s band-leading days are all but over, he is still firmly in control at the Tittensor headquarters of what is one of Britain’s biggest independent haulage companies.
Founded by his grandfather, Joseph Bassett, who operated horses and carts, steam rollers and heavy traction engines from Strongford Farm, the business was expanded by Reg’s father, Leonard Bassett.
When Leonard died in 1934 at the age of 48, Reg inherited a fleet of 15 vehicles. “I was only 22, but I already had plenty of experience in haulage,” he says.
During the next 50 years, the family concern grew into a vast operation, with 75 lorries, 200 trailers, 23 coaches and an annual turnover of betweenmillion.
Reg, whose wife Marjorie still works full-time at the sprawling complex beside the A34, runs the business with sons Leonard (42) and Ashley (40). He seldom takes a holiday and, at 75, still puts in 12 hours a day.
Road transport has come a long way since Leonard Bassett hauled boilers and bricks by iron-wheeled traction engines before the Great War. Today, for example, a modern unit and trailer can cost well over
A grandfather of five, whose interests outside music and transport include a passion for model railways, Reg Bassett now has the contented air of a man who has achieved outstanding success in two widely contrasting fields.
Yet the two can overlap – for thousands of people, the sight of a Bassett’s wagon or bus still evokes fond memories of the foxtrot, the cha cha cha or the twist on the Trentham Gardens dance floor.
Picture from “Bassetts of Tittensor, 100 Years of Transport, 1897 – 1997”
To read a previous article about the Bassetts of Tittensor, click on the link below.
http://www.bassettbranches.org/newsletters/2011/04/201104.shtml