Street View: 24
Address: 40 Fish Street Hill
The story of Wilcoxon & Co. starts at the end of the 18th century at 58 Lombard Street where Robert Stanton and Arthur Wilcoxon were in business as looking glass manufacturers, although the firm probably existed since around 1770 (see 1864 advertisement below). Robert Stanton died in 1818 and was buried in Bunhill Fields, pointing to a non-conformist background. Robert’s son Robert junior inherited his father’s stake in the business, but in 1821 he withdrew from the partnership(1) and the firm became known as Wilcoxon, Harding and Owen. William Harding was Stanton’s brother-in-law, married to his sister Frances. Arthur Wilcoxon bought himself the freedom of the Clothworkers Company in 1821, just before the partnership with Stanton was dissolved. I guess because Stanton had been the member of a City Company which was obligatory for any businessman working in the City and the only option Wilcoxon had was to either find a new partner who was a Company member or become one himself. He paid the usual fine of 46s 6d. A year later, his son, Arthur II (I will refer to him as Arthur II rather than junior, as a 3rd generation also has an Arthur), also bought himself into a Company, this time the Wheelwrights. Edward Owen left the business in 1824 and the remaining partners were Arthur I, Arthur II and William Harding.(2)
portrait of Arthur I kindly supplied by Sheila Holt (nee Wilcoxon)
The Wilcoxon family lived in Frodsham, Cheshire, from the earliest records of the 1500’s, but moved to Holt, near Wrexham in the 1770’s to farm at Cornish Hall (photo and information supplied by Sheila Holt)
The first time we hear about a Wilcoxon in the Fish Street area is in 1836, when Robert Wilcoxon insures premises at 1 Monument Yard with the Sun Fire Office as wholesale looking glass manufacturer. That same year, the tax records show “Wilcoxon & Harding” for a property at Fish Street Hill. The confusing thing about having the corner shop is that most of the time it was referred to as 1 Monument Yard (these days Monument Square), but occassionally, as Tallis did, it would be listed as 40 Fish Street Hill. As we can see from the 1799 Horwood map, it was quite a substantial building.
William Harding and Fredrick George Harding withdrew from the partnership in 1839, and the business was continued by Arthur I, Arthur II and Robert Wilcoxon.(3) The only address given is that of Monument Yard. Arthur Wilcoxon I died in 1842 and was buried in Bunhill Fields, just as his former partner Stanton had been. In Arthur’s will, drawn up in February 1841, we read that he is “late of Lombard Street but now of Monument Yard”, confirming the move. He leaves three portraits, one of himself, one of his late wife, and one of his brother Jonathan, to his son Arthur II. Is the portrait he mentions of himself the same as the one depicted above? Robert Wilcoxon turned out to be the other son of Arthur and he and his brother Arthur II are to receive the remainder of the estate after various legacies have been paid to their four sisters and various small sums to more distant relations and some of the employees and servants. Arthur I bequeathed 10 pounds and a ring to the value of 2 guineas to each of his two clerks and his two ‘travellers’, by which he means travelling salesmen, which seems generous and unlike most other Tallis shopkeepers whose wills do not normally mention their personnel at all.(4)
top part of the 1855 indenture for Arthur III
Although the firm started out as looking glass manufacturers, they branched out into all kinds of goods that could broadly be described as house furnishings. In 1840, for instance, they registered a design for stained paper hangings.(5) And on the indenture for the next generation, Arthur III, the son of Robert, Arthur II is described as upholsterer, cabinet-maker and plate glass manufacturer. And in 1857, Wilcoxon & Co. brought out a booklet with their designs for furniture. Unfortunately Google Books does not show the content, so I cannot give you any examples.
advertisement in Deane’s Illustrated Family Almanack (1864)
When Robert died in 1866, his sons Arthur and Charles were given as two of the executors, both with the address 1 Monument Yard and both with the job description “upholsterer cabinet and looking-glass manufacturer”. In 1868, a patent is given to James Watson, foreman to Messrs. A. & R. Wilcoxon, of Newington Causeway for the invention of “an improvement in the manufacture of wall papers, and in apparatus used in such manufacture”.(6) The description does not tell us much about the invention, but it does tell us that the firm must have branched out across the Thames. And indeed, a notice in The London Gazette of 11 April 1876, tells us that the partnership existing between Arthur II, Arthur III, Charles Wilcoxon and Frederick George Wilkinson (the third executor of Robert’s will and described as accountant) of 1 Monument Yard and 17 Newington Causeway is to be dissolved by order of a decree of the High Court of Chancery in the case Wilcoxon v. Wilkinson. Well, well, the Wilcoxons seem to have fallen out with their accountant.
Arthur II died in 1878(7) and the business seemed to have been split up after that. Arthur III moved the Monument Yard business to 153, 154 and 156 Queen Victoria Street, but went into liquidation in 1881.(8) In The Truth, G.M. and H.J. Story announce that they have taken over “the old-established cabinet & upholstery business of A. and R. Wilcoxon, late of Monument-yard” and that they have removed the whole business from Queen Victoria Street to their premises at Coleman Street and London Wall. And that was the end of the Monument Yard branch. Charles and a new partner, Frank Robson, continued the paper staining business at 17 Newington Causeway, but the partnership was dissolved in 1886 with Robson to continue the business under the old name of Wilcoxon & Co.(9) Not much more can be found on Robson, so I am afraid that was the end of the Newington Causeway branch as well.
The monument from Maitland’s History of London (1739) with Wilcoxon’s corner premises on the right, although it was not yet in their occupation then (Source: British Museum)
(1) The London Gazette, 29 May 1821. Things did not go well for Robert and he was at one point confined to the king’s bench and it is suggested that he died in a mad house (see here)
(2) The London Gazette, 6 April 1824.
(3) The London Gazette, 26 February 1839.
(4) One of the salesman, John Robert Cuffley, can be traced to Great Yarmouth where he stayed a few days in July 1847 in the Angel Inn. He later had to give evidence in a case of election fraud (see here). On 27 december 1849, Arthur and Robert Wilcoxon attended a anniversary dinner of the Commercial Travellers’ School. Had Cuffley been a pupil at that school?
(5) Board of Trade, registered design 467 (National Archives BT 42/15/467), dated 13 November 1840.
(6) The London Gazette, 23 October 1868.
(7) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1878.
(8) The London Gazette, 22 July 1881.
(9) The London Gazette, 22 June 1886.
Neighbours:
| <– 41 Fish Street Hill | 39 Fish Street Hill –> |
London Street Views 
Really interested to find this on the internet. Arthur Wilcoxon (1) born 1759 was my ancestor, 3 x great uncle. He moved to London from Holt in North Wales and was born in Frodsham Cheshire. I have a drawing of him and also of his wife. We have traced our family back to the 1500’s, most of them staying in the Cheshire area, although Arthur moved down south and became a successful businessman and his line continued there. The film star of Cecil B DeMille films, Henry Wilcoxon is a direct descendent. I knew Arthur had premises in Monument Yard but never knew until now exactly where. There is also a record of a Ralph Wilcoxon who had a number of shoe shops in London, one near by on King William St and I am sure he was related, possibly a nephew to Arthur but have yet to find the link. I read your article yesterday when we had just returned from a visit to London and had stayed near Bunhill Fields where Arthur and family are buried although there are no gravestones for them.
Very interesting Sheila to learn about the Cheshire origins of Wilcoxon and also good to know that there must be a family link with the shoemaking branch. Tallis gives 3 shoemakers, twice with the initial R., so that will be Ralph (King William Street and Regent Street) and once without an initial (in Tottenham Court Rd). I have not done any research on the Wilcoxon shoemakers, so if you have any information, please email me. And whatever I manage to dig up is obviously at your disposal. History is for sharing.
Best, Baldwin
Thanks Baldwin,
Yes, I will look up the information I have on Ralph Wilcoxon although may be a few weeks. I know of the locations you mention. Best wishes, Sheila
Thank you and no hurry, there is plenty more to keep me busy
My reply came under the name of Tomasovitch, but it is Sheila Holt replying. I think Tomasovitch is a name my husband might have used.
Interesting! I have found the indenture for Arthur, son of Robert, who is apprenticed to his uncle Arthur in 1855. Uncle Arthur is given as one of the assistants of the Clothworkers’ Company, so yes, he must have transferred to the clothworkers from the wheelwrights. It was not very common, but it does happen. Apparently Arthur II found the Clothworkers a better place to be (or is there another Arthur floating about who is confusing the issue here?). There is probably evidence of the transfer in the archives of the Clothworkers’ Company, but as far as I know, not online.
Baldwin,
I have found that Arthur Wilcoxon II was Master of the Clothworkers Company in 1856. You say that he bought himself into the Wheelwrights Company in 1822. Would he have been able to transfer companies, I wonder?
Sorry for the delay (a lot longer than a few weeks!) I will try and dig up information on the shoemaker Wilcoxon branch.
I think that it is unlikely there is another Arthur Wilcoxon, as my research is into the whole Wilcoxon family not just my direct line and so have a good idea of those in London at that time. The only possibility, but unlikely, is that it is an Arthur Wilcoxon born 1832, son of Jonathan and Maria (nee Frampton) who was a fishmonger in London. He is possibly the brother of Ralph the shoemaker, and both brothers could be cousins of Arthur Wilcoxon II but I haven’t been able to confirm this. There are a lot of coincidences to link the families but still waiting to find the last pieces of the jigsaw.
I can send you a picture of Arthur Wilcoxon I but not sure how it is possible through your site.
Discussion continued by email
Edward Owen was born at Llandderfel, Merionethshire, Wales and was buried with his wife at Bunhill Fields, near the grave of John Bunyan. His nephew Robert Owen (East India Warehouseman) lived at 95 New Bond Street. His brother Owen Owen(s) was also born at Llandderfel and was one of the Coroners for Merionethshire, dying at Bala, North Wales in 1834.
Thanks for that Nicola. Tallis has Owen (no first name) at 95 New Bond Street as India shawl warehouse.
Pingback: Arthur Wilcoxon of Lombard Street, London. Merchant. – Wilcoxon Family Tree
Pingback: Wilcoxon Grant of Arms – Wilcoxon Family Tree
Kia Ora,
I am completing a book here in New Zealand for our national museum Te Papa Tongarewa. I have a copy of Designs for Furniture that came out with cabinet maker Benjamin Cranwell to Auckland in 1862.Here is a snippet from my draft that may fill in some gaps.
… a rare copy of John Dwyer’s (1857) Designs for Furniture.[i]
Dwyer, an architect who worked in partnership with Charles Laugher and Joseph Greenberry in Soho, occupied himself with outspoken commentary on design and lecturing on décor.[ii] In 1852 Laugher, Dwyer & Greenberry published a twenty-two-page booklet, Select Designs for Bedsteads, cheffoniers and bookcases, Window – cornices, Valances Etc., largely in the English (Elizabethan) and Italian (Renaissance) revival styles.[iii] Dwyer left the partnership in 1854 and from nearby Great Marlborough Streetpromoted his new Designs for Interiors of Mansions, General Architectural Arrangements, Furniture, and Working Drawings.[iv] His last and biggest work, Designs for Furniture, contained 157 images for ‘Hall, Library, Dining, Drawing, and Bedroom’ that were largely devoted to the French (Louis XIV and XV), with Grecian remnants and some cabinetry encrusted with Elizabethan and Gothic ornamentation.
Designs for Furniture had been commissioned by wholesale cabinet makers, upholsterers and looking-glass manufacturers Arthur and Robert Wilcoxon with Dwyer credited as designing lithographic artist. Wilcoxon’s were bought by George and Henry Story in 1881, with North and Scoullar in Dunedin as their colonial agents.[1] Jenks and Holt reproduced images for sideboards and beds directly from Dwyer’s Designs for Furniture in their Modern Furniture (1869)
[1] The dissolution by mutual consent, of the partnership “lately subsisting between Arthur Wilcoxon the elder, Arthur Wilcoxon the younger, William Harding, Robert Wilcoxon and Frederick George Harding, under the firm of Wilcoxon and Harding, of Monument-Yard, in the City of London, Looking-Glass Manufacturers this day 26 February 1839.” The London Gazette for the Year 1839 (London), vol. 1, p. 413; retrieved in July 2016 from The Gazette Official Public Record URL: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/19710/page/413/data.pdf
[i] Symonds and Whineray (1962) in Victorian Furniture make a one-line mention of Dwyer’s Designs for Furniture. They illustrate his half tester bed, console table and carved pier mirror. A single comment on cornices for draperies as found in Laugher, Dwyer and Greenberry’s Select Designs for 1852 can be found in Ralph Edwards, L. G. G. Ramsey, The Regency Period 1810-30 (London: Connoisseur, 1958).
[ii] “Edward Charles Laugher, John Dwyer and Joseph Greenberry of 16 Berners-street, Oxford Street in the county of Middlesex was this day dissolved by mutual consent so far as regards the said John Dwyer.” Public notice, 1July 1854, The London Gazette, p. 2092; retrieved in June 2016 from The Gazette Official Public Record URL: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/21568/page/2092/data.pdf
[iii] ‘Report on Great Exhibition’, 4 Oct 1851, The Illustrated London News, vol. 19, p. 427; retrieved in May 2014 from Illustrated London News URL: http://www.iln.org.uk/
[iv] John Dwyer advertisement, 14 November 1854, The Morning Post, London, p. 1.
You may note that Jenks & Holt were also London cabinetmakers of interest here in NZ so I am wondering about the name ‘Holt’ and if it is connected to the Wilcoxens?
Nga mihi,
Dr William Cottrell
Dear William,
Sorry it took a while to answer your comment, but WordPress saw fit to put it in the spam folder and I do not check that every day. Thanks for the extensive information from the draft of your book, which sounds very interesting. Good luck with the rest of the work!
Afraid I cannot be much help as regards Holt. There is no Holt, upholsterer, mentioned in Tallis, but T. Jenks on his own is. He has premises at 90 Fleet Street; an unremarkable building between Bride Lane and what is now St. Bride Ave. The Street View booklet does not show an advertisement for Jenks, so no help there either. I have not done any work on Jenks yet, so no more information to impart on him, but if you think I can be of any more help, please email me at baldwinhamey [at] gmail.com.
Regards,
Baldwin
Dear William,
I have a rather tatty copy of Dwyer’s Designs for Furniture which I purchased from a seller on the internet a few years ago. I was researching my ancestors, Arthur and Robert Wilcoxon, the upholsterers, plate glass manufacturers etc. cousins of my g.grandfather and know of their connection with Dwyer.
I have a record of Arthur and his wife staying at an Inn in Canterbury on the day of the 1841 Census. One of the occupants was a John Dyer aged 40. I wonder if this was John Dwyer and they were together for business. It could have been a different person as the spelling isn’t exactly the same.
Also I found a newspaper Lost Property notice in February 1844 concerning a book of Designs of Cabinet Furniture “supposed to have been dropped from a chaise between Rochford and Malden”. A 10 shilling reward was being offered for its return to Messrs Wilcoxon of Monument Yard (and others). At first I thought this referred to the Dwyer’s Design for Furniture but it would have been too early.
I haven’t come across any Holts in connection with their business. Completely unrelated, the Wilcoxons were farmers at Holt in Denbighshire before one of the family, Arthur, the father of Robert and Arthur moved to London around the 1780’s. A coincidence – my married name is also Holt, a common name in Lancashire.
Do get back to me if you would like to know more of the Wilcoxons and good luck with your book.
Best wishes
Sheila Holt (nee Wilcoxon)