C McGough & Sons - About us

Discover our story

For over Ninety years, C McGough & Sons have been providing funeral services to families in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Cheshire and beyond. The C McGough & Sons family funeral business was founded in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent by Clement McGough the son of William Peter McGough and Anne Elizabeth Bould. William Peter McGough owned a shop and a haulage business in Nash Peake Street, Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent. He was an independent councillor, a Justice of the Peace, and a Papal Knight. McGough Street in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, is named after him.

Clement McGough was one of seven children born to William & Anne, but two of them sadly died young, one as a baby, and his sister at 21. As Clement left school he went to work at the Brittle works at the end of his street, by the age of 15 he was brick maker, that was as far as he could go so, he looked for another position.

He moved jobs to H & R Johnson Limited, where he served his apprenticeship as a joiner before becoming a full-time factory joiner and was proud to prepare and set up displays at Crystal Palace for the Great Exhibition and work for the Johnson family on their homes.

While Clement was working on the building of the Sacred Heart in Tunstall he was approached by the then Parish Priest Fr P J Ryan (for whom Clements’s mother was the housekeeper), to make a coffin for a family who could not afford a funeral.

Clement went beyond the initial request to not just make the coffin. He decided to organise the whole funeral for the family, so that the day ran smoothly, and it took all the stress and worry away from them. After he made the coffin, he purchased handles from the local iron mongers Farrs, dressed up his father’s horse and dray and made sure the day was memorable.

Unexpected to himself, Clement had gone into business as a funeral director, a fact which was announced at the next Sunday Mass by Fr Ryan (you could have knocked him down with a feather). Since then, C McGough & Sons have offered a continuing caring service to all religious persuasions, denominations and beliefs in Stoke-0n-Trent, Staffordshire, Cheshire and beyond.

Initially, Clement continued working at H & R Johnson, and during this time, he was helped by his father. It was during this period that Clement would meet his future wife Ethel, who helped to build the family business, by acting as secretary, and keeping the books part time. Later, after they were married, she went on to join the family funeral business full time as their secretary and bookkeeper.

Clement and Ethel would be married at the Sacred Heart in Tunstall, a marriage that would last over 60years, they first set up home in Copes Avenue in Tunstall before moving to Moreton House, 79 Roundwell Street, Tunstall (Where the family Business is still situated) Clement and Ethel were blessed with six children, three sons and three daughters: Margaret, Lawrence, Joan, Paul, David (Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham) and Veronica.

Clement would become one of the first qualified embalmers in Staffordshire in the 1950s. In addition to conducting the funeral service, the Clement also provided a taxi service, taking the sick, visitors and many expectant mothers to the hospital.  During the second World War Clement volunteered as an Auxiliary Fireman based in Tunstall and would go as far a field as Liverpool and Coventry to put out the flames of the Blitz.

Throughout the generations, the business has continued to thrive. Paul purchased adjoining buildings, allowing the business premises to develop. Supported by Brenda and their son Tim, Paul decided to upgrade and refurbish the premises. A catering facility was created, so that clients could be served refreshments, whilst they were arranging the funeral services that they required.

They also upgraded their fleet of vehicles, so that the journeys to and from the funeral are more comfortable and more memorable for the families. Following Paul’s retirement, Tim, along with his son Callum and his staff, continue to serve the local area and beyond in a professional and caring manner. McGough & Sons are now in their 5^th generation. Please see photos below of all the generations of the McGough family.