NORAH WELLINGS "ISLAND DOLL" c1930s.
(Norah Wellings was born in 1893 in Shropshire, England. In 1907 at the ...

NORAH WELLINGS "ISLAND DOLL" c1930s.
(Norah Wellings was born in 1893 in Shropshire, England. In 1907 at the age of fourteen she left school to help her mother take care of her invalid father. Norah still received tutoring at school and studied with the London School of Art through the post.
She started her doll making career in 1919 with the Chad Valley Co. Ltd., and seven years later Norah and her brother Leonard opened their own toy factory, Victoria Toy Works. They started off small – only six staff members excluding Norah and Leonard: their cousin Mary, the four Tinsley sisters and another cousin, Arthur, who was the sales manager. When Queen Mary (the grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II) visited Shropshire in 1927, Norah was able to present the Queen with one of her own designs, a ‘Cora’ doll. This was excellent exposure for Norah and her small company. That same year, after displaying her designs at the British Industries Fair in London, Norah and her company was mentioned in the Games and Toys magazine:)