Our History
1880
Our original funeral furnishing business was founded in the mid 1880’s by Simeon Higginson Breeze, in Finger Road, Dawley. During the 1920’s the running of the business was taken over by his son, John Vaughan Breeze, who moved location to our current site in Dawley Bank, whilst still operating as a village blacksmith and carpenter. He was assisted by his daughter, Kathleen, who in 1941 married Walter Williams, who had two children; Christopher and David.
1960
In 1961, Christopher Williams, entered the family business after serving his apprenticeship with local funeral director W. L. Jones of Wellington and Dawley. Christopher was a visionary and from the outset, as the youngest Funeral Director in the country, set about a lifelong ambition of offering the finest funeral service possible to the people of Telford and surrounding areas.
In the 1960’s Christopher opened Telford’s first dedicated chapel of rest, at Dawley Bank.
1970
The 1970’s saw the expansion of our Company with the purchase and amalgamation of John Sheward and Sons, Carriagemasters (Little Dawley), Broome and Poole Funeral Directors (Madeley), W E Wilkes Funeral Service (Dawley and Beckbury) and W J Williams Funeral Service (Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale).
1980
Throughout the 1980’s, our facilities continued to be developed to complement the requirements of the new town of Telford.
1992
In 1992, John Williams Funeral Service of Shifnal was purchased. John Williams retains its character as an independent business and shares our unrivalled services.
1997
During 1997, the Directors embarked on what was meant to be a simple building project to improve facilities, and further our ethos of creating and running the finest available funeral business in the country.
2000
2005 – Major office refurbishment
2007 – New chapels of rest and service chapel at Dawley Bank were dedicated and opened
2008 – An 8000 sq. ft. limousine garaging and valeting facility at Hortonwood, Telford
2009 – A Memorial Showroom at Dawley Bank
2010
2010 – The Shropshire School of Funeral Service opened its doors to students from home and abroad
2011 – We were invited to join ‘Selected Independent Funeral Homes’ (one of only 26 in the United Kingdom) and we remain members of this prestigious organisation
2013
Sadly, in December 2013, Christopher passed away, leaving his wife, Carol, together with Simon and Louise – the fifth generation – to run the business. Simon and Louise Williams, are actively involved in the family business on a daily basis and are extremely proud of the achievements made by previous generations.
2013 – A memorial masonry and pre-paid plans office at Lawley
2014
2014 – A new funeral home in Madeley (Court Street)
2017 – The creation of a new office, family arranging rooms and coffin showroom at Dawley Bank
We continue to build upon the vision and ethos set out all those years ago by Christopher. Our directors and team share that same vision – to provide every bereaved family we serve with the finest levels of service and facilities available.
Our Family Proudly Serving Your Family For Over 150 Years
Testimonials
Christian Parkhouse2024-03-03Adam at CJ Williams was fantastic and made such a difficult time so easy and smooth with such a level of understanding and compassion that I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend him to any other family going through the pain of losing a loved one. The whole team were amazing and my dad would have loved the Bentleys! I can’t thank you all enough for your exceptional service, thank you.
Hannah Gill2024-02-07My stepson passed away New Year’s Day, we asked for cj Williams as the funeral directors, we dealt with leonah from the start of the funeral process to the end she was amazing so empathetic and nothing was too much hassle the funeral was perfect I cannot thank everyone enough for the service we received and a special thankyou to leonah, from the smiths.
Lorraine Parker2023-09-22Excellent service very caring. Am so glad we trusted them.
Tracey Grainger2023-05-12Organising a funeral was something none of us were experienced in or ready for, we couldn't have asked for better support, we were helped every step of the way and more, during such an emotional period in our lives. A special thank you to Julie.
Victoria Humphries2022-12-30I don't normally write Google reviews but I have been so impressed, and touched, by the service that we recently received from CJ Williams when my father died that I felt I had to. Right from the start Lisa and team have gone out of their way to accommodate our wishes, look after us and just been there whenever I had a question. It felt as though I was liaising with friends rather than a business. Thank you for looking after us and being brilliant - it meant a lot.
kerry young2022-10-23Thank you to all for looking after us & Tom. from the time you took him to the time we said farewell you treated us with such kindness and reassured us everything would be as we wished and it was! A Massive Thank you to Adam who looked after us. Dad would have been so happy with everything xxxx Thank you 🙏
Trev Hill2022-10-04C.J. Williams carried out the funerals for both of my parents. Excellent, professional and sensitive attitude from this firm. The initial discussion was very effective in relieving much of the stress connected with such affairs. The gentleman asked about requirements but was also able to gently make suggestions to allow us to understand the range options available. The drivers of the hearse and limos were also exceedingly professional, even down to opening the doors, explaining the procedures etc. I have no hesitation in recommending C. J. Williams.
Stephen Mynott2022-06-10Highley Reccomend C j William's, so professional and caring. Really came to our rescue when we had problems, with a country wide well known Funeral Directors let us down. Cannot praise them enough, There for us all the way. A big Thank you to Lisa and all at CJ William's.
Darren Bishton2022-03-06I wanted to take this opportunity to thank Adam and his team for their kindness, professionalism and dedication regarding the death of my father. He passed away four weeks ago, early on a Sunday morning. At this sad and difficult time we contacted C.J Williams who spoke to us about the arrangements required at that time. When Adam and his colleague arrived they dealt with the situation with kindness and compassion. When they removed my father we went into the room after they had left and noted that they had made the bed where he had lay. We were so pleased to see this, as it gave us real confidence that even after his death he would be treated with respect and dignity. During the next few weeks we had regular contact with Adam and we felt confident that all of the details relating to the funeral would be dealt with. We were guided through this difficult process by all of the staff at C.J Williams. On the day of the funeral we were again grateful for all of the support offered and myself and all of the family felt that the professionalism of the staff helped with us all deal with our grieve. This has obviously been a difficult time for the whole family but we felt that my father had a dignified and respectful send off and we are grateful for this. Many thanks for you service
Mel2021-05-12Hello Hannah, I would like to say a huge Thank you for your all your help & compassion in helping organise everything for my brothers service today, You take time to get to know the deceased & their family & are very thoughtful & caring in how you help process what has to be done & what is needed for a ceremony 😢. I could not have done any of this for my brother or my dad without your help & support over the last year. You are outstanding at your job & everyone one else that you work alongside makes an amazing team at CJ Williams. Thank you so much for carrying out both my brothers & my dad services. I will be highly recommending you Kind regards Melanie & Family
