Great leader rose from the slums

January 15, 2004

JEX ROAD, AVENUE and LANE
(Marlpit Lane)

HE WAS the boy who rose from the slums of Norwich to become a great civic leader — a man described as one of the most outstanding citizens of his time.

Fred Jex was born in Norwich in 1886 and he died in the winter of 1968. During that time he devoted much of his life to helping others . . . and he won their hearts.

The man they called the “Prime Minister of Norwich”, relaxing with his wife, Blanche, at their home in Catton Grove Road.

He became Lord Mayor and alderman.

He was made an honourary freeman of the city and for 44 years helped guide the policies of the education committee.

When he stepped down from the chairmanship in 1963 it was said that 83 per cent of Norwich children then at school were in premises which had been built or radically improved during his term of office.

In the 1880s, Fred’s parents had a little greengrocer’s shop in Cowgate on the edge of Pockthorpe.

He was the sixth of their 12 children.

The family were very poor but saw worse poverty among their customers. Fred won a scholarship but had to leave school at the age of 14 because his parents couldn’t afford to educate him.

It was said of him that he “never had the chance to be a child” and that his subsequent love of children and enthusiasm for education were traceable to that missed chance.

He went into a shoe factory and became a fine craftsman — a turnshoe maker.

This was a Norwich speciality and in the good times, often so rare, he made up to £2 a week.

He first became a member of the Board of Guardians in 1913 and was described as a “very slim, pale young man, burning with indignation at the hardships people at that time suffered.”

Fred went on to become a full-time official with the National Union of Boot and Shoe Operatives and his fame spread across the land.

He could have left Norwich to become national secretary but was determined to stay in his city and was elected to the city council where he became one of the most respected and powerful men in the chamber.

Fred was the natural choice to become leader of the Labour Group on the council and then leader of the council and chairman of the education committee.

Some said he could have become a Norwich MP but he never wanted to leave his city and became, in effect, the “Prime Minister of Norwich.”

For more than 40 years he campaigned for better schools, decent working conditions and houses with electricity and hot water.

When he became Lord Mayor in 1933/34, Fred was said to be one of the most eloquent and forceful men ever to hold the ancient office and when he went to London to demand a better deal for Norwich — the people of Whitehall listened.

When he finally stepped down from the council, one of his old adversaries, the Conservative Sir Robert Bignold, said they had served on opposite sides of the political fence for more than 40 years but they had worked together to bring more than 200 teachers to Norwich. Sir Robert added: “I found him to be a bitter opponent sometimes, but always ready to hear the other point of view and I had complete trust in Mr Jex.”

He married Blanche Rivett and they celebrated their golden wedding in 1957. They had one daughter.

Fred Jex died in 1968 at the age of 82 but his name lives on thanks to the roads named after him and Blyth-Jex School.

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