I THINK it is a delightful coincidence that Huddersfield had two Freddie Carters, who were both memorable gentlemen of distinction in their own right.
F A Carter – known as Freddie – was a member of a Kirkburton business family and was a scholar, broadcaster and writer who contributed the Owd Joss column to the Examiner for 40 years until the mid 1970s.
While F A Carter – also known as Freddie – was a senior partner with the accountancy firm of H N Bostock and Co, that had premises above Barclays Bank in the Market Place. Bostocks, coincidentally, were the accountants of the Kirkburton Carter business.
The second Mr Carter was recollected with respect and affection by readers last week. Now his nephew and niece provide a picture and a few more memories.
Su Mason (nee Harpin) says their Uncle Freddie actually got her an interview for a job at the Examiner because he knew one of the directors. Su worked for the paper’s former managing director Chris Dicks from 1966 to 1970.
“Uncle Freddie was not only a long standing member of the Inner Magic Circle but also of the Thespians, the Huddersfield Amateurs and the Cine Club. He was a great entertainer. When I was a child, I used to make him dance the soft shoe shuffle all the time!”
David Harpin, Su’s brother, says Uncle Freddie was aided and abetted “in all his social enterprises” by his wife, Auntie Marian.
Freddie died in 1970. Auntie Marian is now 95 and lives in Oswestry.
Su adds: “We were brought up on Owd Joss. I had no idea that it was another Freddie Carter.”
