A 111-YEAR-old old article has revealed a family business has been active for longer than they had previously thought.

The family behind Douch Family Funeral Directors has always believed their company began trading in 1910, but recently discovered evidence has proven that theory wrong.

The business, which has branches in Swanage, Blandford and Wareham, was due to celebrate its 110 year anniversary this year before plans were altered by the pandemic. However, the new findings indicate the celebrations should have taken place last year if not earlier.

The second cousin of managing director, Nick Douch, discovered a newspaper article from March 1909 documenting the sale of the business from a Mr J E Jenvey to Frederick Charles Douch, Nick’s great grandfather.

Mr Douch said: “For many years we thought we had been founded in 1910 because our earliest document comes from that year.

“My father’s cousin, however, is an historian and he discovered a small story in a paper from early 1909 and it shows that my great grandfather was in business before then.

“The story explains that the new business was based in Leigh Road, Wimborne, where our Douch & Small branch is located today.

“We had lined up a series of events to mark our 110-year anniversary, but they would have been misleading.”

Mr Douch is the fourth generation of the family to be in charge of the business and currently oversees seven funeral branches. The company originally traded in cabinet making and furniture dealing in Mr Douch’s great grandfather’s day, but eventually diversified into funeral directing over the years.

Mr Douch added: “In our business, history and traditions are important and that is why we have always kept the original names of the companies we have taken over.

“The Douch name is very well known in the county and we’d love to hear if anyone has further information about when my great grandfather began in business.”