L Tranter & Son Funeral Directors of St Georges, Telford have recently become the proud owners of the newest and the oldest Hearses in Shropshire. During late March one of the very first all new Jaguar XJ’s was delivered to the 5th generation family business as a replacement for their existing Jaguar Hearse. The four door 3.0 litre diesel Jaguar, designed and built by Eagle Specialist Vehicles, a subsidiary of Wilcox Limousines represents the very finest in modern funeral vehicles. Paul Wilcox, Managing Director of Wilcox Limousines said “ We have been supplying L Tranter & Son with Daimler/ Jaguar Funeral Vehicles for three generations and are very proud that Symon & John Tranter have taken delivery of one of the first new XJ Hearses to be delivered anywhere in the country. Our new aluminium Jaguar Hearse is a blend of stunning design, intuitive technology and innovative thinking, the elegant contemporary styling manages to retain the traditional lines, practicality and durability requirements of a modern Funeral director.
In addition to the new Jaguar XJ, L Tranter & Son have also taken delivery of a completely restored Victorian Horse Drawn Hearse. The Hearse, believed to date to around 1885 was discovered in a barn on the outskirts of Wellington where it had remained untouched for over half a century. The restoration which took 5 ½ years to complete was carried out by the Queen’s coachbuilder’s Croford’s of Ashford, Kent. Edward Crouch of Croford’s commented “ We were delighted to be asked to restore such a beautiful example of an original Victorian Horse Drawn Hearse, Once we had sourced all the correct parts we restored the Hearse to it’s original condition using traditional methods, Without the determination of companies like Tranter’s these historic items would be lost forever along with our skills and craftsmen. As holder’s of the Royal Warrant we have had an extremely busy six months preparing the carriages which were used in the Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, however we have somehow found the time to complete the restoration of the Hearse and return it to the area where it began it’s working life all those years ago.
The previous owner of the Hearse Mrs Pat Gwynne said “I’m thrilled to see my old hearse restored so magnificently, it had rested in my barn at Cluddley for over 50 years where it became the star attraction for all our visitors. When we purchased the house in 1960 we discovered the hearse had been left behind by the last owner a Mr Pearce who had previously been in the undertaking business. I am looking forward to taking my friends to see it now in all it’s splendour”
Symon Tranter commented “ Both new arrivals have created quite a stir at our St Georges headquarters, with many visitors not knowing which hearse to look at first. We are now the only Funeral Directors in Shropshire to have our own Horse Drawn Hearse, which along with our original Daimler DS420 and New Jaguar XJ Hearses enables us to offer our clients the very best of both worlds. I would like to take this opportunity to thank both Paul Wilcox and Edward Crouch and their teams for the personal service and attention to detail our company demands.”
