Ryder & Amies, outfitter to the University of Cambridge for over 150 years, supporting the Cambridge Colleges and Clubs. Historically it was a gentleman’s tailoring and robe outfitters, established in 1864.
The business was founded by Joseph Ryder (1831-1900) and in 1896 Edward William Amies (1862-1941) took on a partnership with Mr Ryder. Edward William Amies was a founder member of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce and held the office of Mayor of Cambridge during the period 1927-1928. Joseph Ryder's sons carried on the business after their father's death although the grandsons did not have any children, thus ended the Ryders’ link with the business. Today it is still run by descendants of the Amies family.
The Amies family continued to ensure the business flourished and moved along with the modern day. Gordon Amies (1914-2002), grandson of the original partner Edward Amies, and his wife Wilhelmina James Amies (1914-2006) became partners and took over the business.
Tony, eldest son of Carol Amies (1940-2005) has been involved in the business from a young age working with his mother and father to grow and keep the traditional values of the business and association with the University of Cambridge alive, he is proud to have passed on his knowledge and expertise to his son Mark and is now enjoying retirement.
Steven, youngest son of Carol Amies, has also been involved in the business from a young age working with his brother, mother and father, he now works more behind the scenes of the business with his wife Carrie, whilst their son George works the shop floor.
Mark, also involved in the business from a young age, has developed his knowledge of product lines and been instrumental in expanding the ranges of College items now in stock. Mark manages the shop floor on a day to day basis and continues to develop new products. Mark lives in the Fenland area of Cambridge with his wife and young family.
Historically all Academic Robes and Scarves were produced on site in one of the rooms above the Shop floor on King’s Parade, in the 1980’s Ryder & Amies moved and expanded their manufacturing to a small workshop in Fenland, Cambridgeshire, where many gowns, hoods and scarves continue to be produced by our team of eight members of staff.
A Henley Spare in 1962 for the Kent School, Connecticut.
Isaac Daw Russell of West Tisbury died February 27th at Martha’s Vineyard hospital, just three months after the death of his beloved wife, Gertrude Richards Russell. Born in New York City on January 7th, 1933, Isaac was the first-born child of Henry E. Russell and Faye Rattenbury Russell of Tenafly, NJ and the adored big brother to Clare, Dorsa, Gillian, and Felicity. While attending Kent School in Kent, CT, Isaac was the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper and rowed for the crew that traveled to London for the Henley Royal Regatta. He came home with a first place medal and a lifetime love of the sport. In 1954 he met the love of his life, Trudy, during a doubles tennis game pre-arranged by his younger sister, Clare, and his soon-to-be sister-in-law, Ann. After graduating with a BA from Yale University, Isaac was promptly sent by the US Army to the Panama Canal Zone for two years. When he returned in 1956, he and Trudy married and moved to Cambridge, MA where he attended Harvard Law School. He liked to mention, with some pride, that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on the Harvard Law Review with him, but he also acknowledged with humility that she was much smarter than he.
In 1959, he joined the law firm of Day, Berry, and Howard in Hartford, CT and together with Trudy raised three children, four good dogs, and a couple of inscrutable cats. Isaac was an engaging and attentive father. He read stories aloud most evenings and, following the service on Sundays at Grace Church, led the kids on hikes at the reservoir or bike rides around the neighborhood. He volunteered himself and his children to visit elderly friends and relatives in nursing homes and to ride bikes with the visually impaired. Throughout his life, he worked to build affordable housing in Hartford CT, Johannesburg, South Africa, and later on Martha’s Vineyard.
After years trying to persuade his children to take the Foreign Service exam, he decided to take it himself, and passed! At the age of 56 he left Hartford and proudly became a “junior officer in training” in the US Foreign Service and was soon posted to Zimbabwe as a Cultural Affairs Officer in the US Information Agency, followed by postings to the Ivory Coast and Ethiopia. After “aging out” of the US Foreign Service at age 65, he taught Constitutional Law at Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya, before returning to West Tisbury to settle in and embrace the role of Grandfather and community member. He was an active congregant of Grace Church, Vineyard Haven, the Howe’s House Conversation Group, and even made a few nerve-wracking forays into island theater.
Isaac’s connection to Martha’s Vineyard began in the 1940s in Oak Bluffs with cousins in the summer and deepened at his parents’ camp on Deep Bottom Cove in West Tisbury. The Russell family enjoyed many summers there, without heat, running water, or electricity, often sailing or paddling across Tisbury Great Pond and riding the waves at South Beach. Isaac and Trudy eventually moved to West Tisbury in 1998 and their house became the welcoming nexus for family gatherings, large and small. Ike’s booming “Hello’s!” welcomed all who came in the door. We will all miss his warm embrace and infectious smile.
Isaac was a man of deep intelligence, an ebullient nature, and numerous accomplishments. He once stated in a quiet moment, however, that what he most wanted was “to be a good person.” And that he was. Eternally optimistic, kind, cheerful, funny, and loving, he found joy wherever he was and spread it generously. Isaac believed that marrying Trudy was the best thing he ever did, and he was a devoted, loving husband for seventy years. We like to think of them reunited once again among the stars.