John Lobb

John Lobb was born in Tywardreath, near Fowey, Cornwall, on 27 December 1829. Unable to follow his father's farmwork occupation after an accident left him with a lifelong limp, John served a five-year apprenticeship with a local shoemaker. Seeking a greater stage for his skills, he walked the almost 250 miles (400 km) to St James's in London, in a stout pair of boots of his own making, only to be ejected from the premises of the best-known society bootmaker, when he demanded to see the proprietor, Mr Thomas.

John Lobb junior was banished from the family by his father for dishonesty, married a chorus girl and retired to Margate, where he was discreetly supported by his brother. In later years he and his wife were much loved and visited by the Lobb children.

William Hunter Lobb (1870–1916) trained as a bootmaker, oversaw the expanding business, opening a shop in Paris in 1901 and a second unsuccessful premises in Regent Street in 1904. He married Betsy Smerdon (1868–1956), the daughter of a Devon farmer. Betsy would run the shoe business after 1916.