• About
  • Index
  • Map

London Street Views

~ London Street Views

London Street Views

Category Archives: 12 Regent Street Division 3 nos 45-167 and 52-168

Benjamin Poulson, tailor

20 Fri Feb 2015

Posted by Baldwin Hamey in 12 Regent Street Division 3 nos 45-167 and 52-168, Suppl. 02 Regent Street Division 2 nos 32-119

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

clothing

Street Views: 12 and 2 Suppl.
Address: 94 Regent Street

elevation

On 15 February 1827, Benjamin Poulson gives evidence in an Old Bailey case where a young man is accused of stealing a pair of trousers from the shop of John Eddels. Poulson states that he is shopman in Eddels’ tailor’s shop in the Strand.(1) From another Old Bailey case two years later we learn that Benjamin Poulson has his own tailor’s shop in the Quadrant, Regent Street.(2) Tallis’s Street View tells us that Poulson had his shop at 94 Regent Street and this is more or less confirmed by the 1841 census which sees Benjamin living with his sister Anna and a servant. The 1841 census records are not very informative, they just give the street (not the house number), the approximate age, the occupation and whether the person was born in the same county as the census was taken from. Benjamin is given the age of 36, his sister is 40 years old, Benjamin is a tailor and they live in the Quadrant, but were not born in the county, that is, not in Middlesex.

Advertisement In Dickens' Bleak House (1853)

Advertisement In Dickens’ Bleak House (1853)

Later censuses are more informative and from the 1851 census we learn that Benjamin and Anna were born in Gloucestershire, that Benjamin is now 48 years old and Anna has acquired a second initial M. and is 46 years old. Benjamin employs 20 men and is indeed living at number 94. In 1861, Benjamin’s age is 58, but Anna’s has shot up to 62. Benjamin still employs 20 people (16 men and 4 women) and the place of birth for both of them is now given as King’s Stanley in Gloucestershire. In 1871, they are still at 94 Regent Street, but Benjamin is now a retired master tailor, 68 years old, and Anna is 73 years old. And that is the last census in which both figure. Anna dies in 1873 and Benjamin in 1876 and they are both buried at Kensal Green cemetery. Benjamin’s last adress is given as 34 Loudoun Road, St. John’s Wood.(3)

The Quadrant with colonnade, drawn by T.H. Shepherd and engraved by W. Wallis (Source: British Museum)

The Quadrant with colonnade, drawn by T.H. Shepherd and engraved by W. Wallis (Source: British Museum)

So much for his personal life. I have not found any baptism records for either Benjamin or Anna, so cannot tell you much more about his family, other than that neither of them ever married. There is a bit more to tell about the shop, although not an awful lot. In 1846, Benjamin was one of the 47 signators of a petition to have the colonnade in front of their shops removed because of its “dilapidated state”.(4) Whether is was really as dilapidated as made out or whether the petition had more to do with the nuisance of the “ladies of the night from neighbouring Soho” using the space under the roof, or with the complaint that the roof of the colonnade blocked out too much of the light, making the shops dark and uninviting.(5) Whatever the reason, the petition was successful and the colonnade was removed.

1848 Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command, Volume 60 3

Some advertisements for Poulson’s shop speak of Poulson and Company, which probably implies the partnership with one William Worrell. When that partnership started is unclear, but it was dissolved on 27 September 1864.(6) Some advertisements also mention 7 Great Vine Street as another address for the firm, but by the time the partnership is dissolved, that address is no longer mentioned.

Circular To Bankers, 18 September 1852

Circular To Bankers, 18 September 1852

There is not all that much more to be told about Benjamin Poulson, but one snippet of information in a will led to another will which revealed close family links between several shopkeepers that figure in the Tallis Street Views. On 27 October, 1827, Benjamin Poulson is one of the witnesses of the will of John Eddels, his master. Poulson’s address is given as 2 Coventry Street, so he had not yet started up on his own, but was still working for Eddels. John Eddels mentions two properties in his will, one at 64 Cheapside and the one at 2 Coventry Street. The other witness was James Eddels of 34 Piccadilly. John Eddels died the following year and his widow Mary continued the business at Cheapside. John had intended the Coventry Street property to be disposed off and the proceeds to be invested for his daughter, but it seems that James Eddels took over the shop, or at least, he is mentioned there in the Tallis Street View of ten years later. John’s brother, Nathaniel Keen Eddels is, with John’s wife Mary, named executor and guardian of daughter Mary.

Fast forward to June 1848 when Nathaniel Keen Eddels of 153 Whitechapel Road draws up his will. It is quite a complicated one and, besides providing for his wife Sarah, consists of a long list of bequests to various Eddels, Hemming and Wakefield nephews, nieces and cousins. Nathaniel (and John) had a sister Judith who married Samuel Hemming sr. Two of Judith and Samuel’s sons, Benjamin Hemming of Blackfriars Road and Samuel Hemming jr. of Piccadilly are among the relations receiving annuities from their uncle Nathaniel and are also listed in the Tallis Street Views. Nephew Samuel Hemming, friend Benjamin Poulson and the widow Sarah (nee Wakefield) are named as executors in the will, but the probate records hold a statement by Sarah that “for divers good causes and considerations” she is “desirous of renouncing … all my right title and interest in and to the probate and execution of the said will”. She obviously did not want the bother of the administration – no wonder as Nathaniel did not make it an easy and straightforward affair – and Benjamin Poulson and nephew Samuel Hemming are pronouced joint executors. But that was not the end of the story. Sarah Eddels died in 1858 and named Benjamin Poulson and a Wakefield nephew as her executors.(7) In 1864, in the Court of Chancery, the case Freudemacher v Poulson was heard. I have not seen the actual documents, but the entry in the National Archives catalogue suggests that the settlement of Sarah’s estate was contested on behalf of Eliza Sarah Freudemacher who was the daughter of Thomas Freudemacher and Eliza Wakefield.(8) According to Nathaniel’s will, Eliza was to have the rent of 153 Whitechapel Road after the death of Sarah and after Eliza’s death, her child or children were to receive the bequest. If Eliza died without issue, the property was to revert to the residual estate. It sounds as if Freudemacher wanted to make sure his daughter got her fair share.

Whatever the outcome of the case, Nathaniel’s will gives us a good idea of the relations between the various families. The Eddels, the Wakefields, the Hemmings and indeed Benjamin Poulson all came from the Nailsworth area in Gloucestershire and most of them seem to have had a link with one or other of the non-conformist groups in the area.(9) The Hemming children were baptised at the Independent Forest Green Chapel in Nailsworth and although I have not found Poulson’s baptismal record, he was buried at Kensal Green which, although no proof as they also had an Anglican section, may indicate a Dissenter affiliation. Although Nathaniel himself was working in the furniture trade, the families mentioned in his will were employed in the cloth trade; many of the ones mentioned in the will were hosiers and we already know from the Old Bailey reports that John Eddels was a hosier/glover/tailor. In Tallis’ Street Views we find hosier James (Creed) Eddels at 2 Coventry Street and 34 Piccadilly, Mary Eddels (John’s widow and/or daughter) at 64 Cheapside, also as hosiers, Samuel Hemming of Piccadilly, a hosier and Benjamin Hemming of Blackfriars Road, linen draper. No Wakefields have made it into the Street Views, nor have I found a family link between Poulson and the other families, but that may very well be through lack of sources. Who knows what can be found in a Gloucestershire archive.

…………………
(1) Old Bailey case t18270215-104.
(2) Old Bailey case t18290910-302.
(3) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1876. The executor is Henry Cook, a nephew. Value of the estate is £30,000, later resworn at £35,000.
(4) “Copy of the circular letter addressed by the commissioners of Her Majesty’s Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues, to the lessees of houses in the Quadrant, Regent-Street, respecting the removal of the colonnade ; and of the replies respectively received to the said letter” in Parliamentary Papers, House of Commons and Command, volume 60 (1848).
(5) See Ian’s blog for more information.
(6) The London Gazette, 7 October 1864.
(7) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858.
(8) Court of Chancery, National Archives C16/197/E40.
(9) A.P. Baggs, A.R.J. Jurica and W.J. Sheils, “Nailsworth: Nonconformity”, in A History of the County of Gloucester, Volume 11, Bisley and Longtree Hundreds, ed. N M Herbert and R B Pugh (London, 1976), pp. 216-217 (online here).

Neighbours:

<– 96 Regent Street 94 Regent Street –>
Advertisement

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Links

  • My other blog:
    London Details
  • Index
  • Map

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Or:

Follow on Bloglovin

Recent Posts

  • Isaac and Hannah Manfield, wire workers
  • John Meabry & Son, grocers
  • Williams & Sowerby, silk mercers
  • Nichols & Son, printers
  • John Boulnois, upholsterer
  • Perkins, Bacon & Petch, bank note engravers
  • Thomas Farley, toy warehouse
  • Ralph Wilcoxon, boot maker
  • Ruddick and Heenan, importers of cigars
  • Sampson Low, bookseller
Blue plaque John Tallis

Blue plaque John Tallis in New Cross Road (photo by Steve Hunnisett)

Categories

  • 01 King William Street London Bridge nos 1-86 and Adelaide Place nos 1-6
  • 02 Leadenhall Street nos 1-158
  • 03 Holborn Division I nos 14-139 and Holborn Bridge nos 1-7
  • 04 Regent Street Division 2 nos 168-266
  • 05 Newgate Street nos 1-126
  • 06 Ludgate Hill nos 1-48 and Ludgate Street nos 1-41
  • 07 Bond Street Division I Old Bond Street nos 1-46 New Bond Street nos 1-25 and nos 149-172
  • 08 Holborn Division 2 Holborn Bars nos 1-12 and 139-149 and Middle Row nos 1-29 and High Holborn nos 1-44 and 305-327
  • 09 New Bond Street Division 2 nos 26-148
  • 10 Fleet Steet nos 1-37 and nos 184-207 and Strand Division 2 nos 201-258 and nos 1-14
  • 11 Holborn Division 3 nos 45-99 and nos 243-304
  • 12 Regent Street Division 3 nos 45-167 and 52-168
  • 13 Strand Division 5 nos 1-68 and 415-457
  • 14 St James's Street nos 1-88
  • 15 Fleet Street Division 1 nos 41-183
  • 16 Regent Street nos 251-328 and Langham Place Division 1 nos 1-3 and nos 14-15
  • 17 Regent Street nos 1-48 and Waterloo Place Division 4 nos 1-16
  • 18 Farringdon Street nos 1-98
  • 19 Strand Division 4 nos 69-142 and 343-413
  • 20 Holborn Division 4 nos 95-242
  • 21 Gracechurch nos 1-23 and nos 66-98 Also Bishopsgate Within nos 1-16 and nos 116-125
  • 22 Haymarket nos 1-71
  • 23 Piccadilly Division 2 nos 36-63 and nos 162-196
  • 24 Fish Street Hill nos 2-48 and Gracechurch Street nos 24-64
  • 25 Piccadilly Division I nos 1-35 and 197-229
  • 26 Holborn nos 154-184 and Bloomsbury Division 5 nos 1-64
  • 27 Broad Street Bloomsbury Division 2 nos 1-37 and High Street nos 22-67
  • 28 Strand Division 3 nos 143-201 and nos 260-342
  • 29 Red Lion Street and High Holborn nos 1-78
  • 30 Bishopsgate Street Within Division I nos 17-115
  • 31 Blackman Street Borough nos 1-112
  • 32 Lamb's Conduit Street nos 1-78
  • 33 Hatton Garden nos 1-111
  • 34 Oxford Street Division 2 nos 41-89 and 347-394
  • 35 Newington Causeway nos 1-59 and Bridge House Place nos 9-52
  • 36 Oxford Street Division 3 nos 89-133 and 314-350
  • 37 St John Street Division 1 nos 46-145 and Smithfield Bars nos 1-18
  • 38 Cheapside Division 2 nos 59-102 and Poultry nos 1-44 and Mansion House nos 1-11
  • 39 High Street Borough nos 85-236
  • 40 Oxford Street Division 1 nos 1-40 and 395-440
  • 41 Oxford Street Division 4 nos 130-160 and nos 293-315
  • 42 Cheapside Division I nos 3-58 and 103-159
  • 43 Skinner Street nos 1-61 and King Street Snow Hill nos 2-47
  • 44 St Martin's-Le-Grand nos 13-33 and nos 60-66 Also Aldersgate nos 4-25 and nos 164-175 and General Post Office nos 6-8
  • 45 Wellington Street London Bridge nos 1-16 and 40-42 and High Street Borough nos 44-83 and 237-269
  • 46 St. Paul's Churchyard nos 1-79
  • 47 West Smithfield nos 1-93
  • 48 Oxford Street Division 5 nos 161-200 and nos 261-292
  • 49 Tottenham Court Road Division 1 nos 91-180
  • 50 Wigmore Street Cavendish Square nos 1-57
  • 51 Bishopsgate Street Division 3 nos 53-162
  • 52 Tottenham Court Road Division 2 nos 46-226
  • 53 Tottenham Court Road Division 3 nos 1-46 and nos 227-267
  • 54 Goodge Street nos 1-55
  • 55 Aldersgate Street Division 2 nos 26-79 and nos 114-163
  • 56 Fenchurch Street Division 2 nos 44-124
  • 57 Blackfriars Road Division 1 nos 1-30 and 231-259 Also Albion Place nos 1-9
  • 58 Blackfriars Road Division 2 nos 31-76 and 191-229
  • 59 Shoreditch Division 2 nos 30-73 and nos 175-223
  • 60 Norton Folgate nos 1-40 and nos 104-109 Also Shoreditch Division 1 nos 1-30 and 224-249
  • 61 Shoreditch Division 3 nos 74-174
  • 62 Wardour Street Division 1 nos 1-36 and 95-127
  • 63 Wardour Street Division 2 nos 38-94 Also Princes Street nos 24-31
  • 64 Rathbone Place nos 1-58
  • 65 Charles Street nos 1-48 Also Mortimer Street nos 1-10 and nos 60-67
  • 66 Coventry Street nos 1-32 and Cranbourn Street nos 1-29
  • 67 Bishopsgate Street Without Division 2 nos 1-52 and nos 163-202
  • 68 Wood Street Cheapside Division 1 nos 1-36 and 94-130
  • 69 Westminster Bridge Road Division I nos 4-99
  • 70 Old Compton Street nos 1-52
  • 71 Burlington Arcade nos 1-71
  • 72 Oxford Street Division 6 nos 201-260
  • 73 Parliament Street nos 1-55
  • 74 Fenchurch Street Division I nos 1-44 and 125-174
  • 75 Chiswell street nos 1-37and 53-91
  • 76 Trafalgar Square nos 1-12 and 53-91
  • 77 Cockspur Street nos 1-4 and nos 22-34. Also Pall Mall nos 1-21 and 117-124
  • 78 New Bridge Street Blackfriars nos 1-42 also Chatham Place nos 1-13 and Crescent Place nos 1-6
  • 79 King Street nos 1-21 and New Street Covent Garden nos 1-41
  • 80 Bridge Street Westminster nos 1-28 and Bridge Street Lambeth nos 1-13 Also Coade's Row nos 1-3 and 99-102
  • 81 Lowther Arcade nos 1-25 and King William Street West Strand nos 1-28
  • 82 Charlotte Street Fitzroy Square nos 1-27 and 69-98
  • 83 High Street Islington nos 1-28 Also Clarke's Place nos 1-45
  • 84 Cockspur Street nos 16-23 and Charing Cross nos 9-48 and Pall Mall East nos 1-18
  • 85 Soho Square nos 1-37
  • 86 Cornhill nos 7-84
  • 87 Wood Street division 2 nos 37-93 and Cripplegate Buildings nos 1-12
  • 88 Moorgate Street nos 1-63
  • Suppl. 01 Regent Street Division 1 nos 1-22 and Waterloo Place nos 1-17
  • Suppl. 02 Regent Street Division 2 nos 32-119
  • Suppl. 03 Regent Street Division 3 nos 116-210
  • Suppl. 04 Regent Street Division 4 nos 207-286
  • Suppl. 05 Regent Street Division V nos 273-326 and Langham Place nos 1-25
  • Suppl. 06 Haymarket nos 1-71
  • Suppl. 07 Cornhill nos 1-82 and Royal Exchange Buildiings nos 1-11
  • Suppl. 08 Strand Division I nos 1-65 and 421-458
  • Suppl. 09 Strand Division 2 nos 67-112 and 366-420
  • Suppl. 10 Strand Division 3 nos 113-163 and nos 309-359
  • Suppl. 11 Strand Division 4 nos 164-203 and nos 252-302
  • Suppl. 12 Strand Division 5 nos 212-251 and Fleet Street Division 1 nos 1-37 and nos 184-207
  • Suppl. 13 Fleet Street Division 2 nos 40-82 and nos 127-183
  • Suppl. 14 Fleet Street Division 3 nos 83-126 and Ludgate Hill Division 1 nos 1-42
  • Suppl. 15 Ludgate Hill Division 2 nos 15-33 and Ludgate Street nos 1-42
  • Suppl. 16 St. Paul's Churchyard nos 1-79
  • Suppl. 17 Cheapside nos 33-131
  • Suppl. 18 King William Street nos 7-82 and Adelaide Place nos 1-5

Tags

architecture art artificial flowers auctioneer bank book trade brazier canes carpet catering chandler charities chemist china circus clocks and watches clothing copying machine cork currier cutler decorator dentist dressing case education engineer engraver food and drink footwear fringe maker fuel fur furniture games glass grocer guns hairdresser hats horticulture indigo instrument maker ironmonger ivory jeweller lace law library maps medicine merchant metal military mourning music optician pawnbroker perfumer photography playing cards plumber rubber seal engraver shaving silk staymaker theatre tobacco tools toys transport travel turner umbrellas vet

Blogs and Sites I like

  • London Details
  • Chetham’s Library Blog
  • Marsh’s Library, Dublin
  • Caroline’s Miscellany
  • London Unveiled
  • London Historians’ Blog
  • Medieval London
  • Discovering London
  • IanVisits
  • Faded London
  • Ornamental Passions
  • Charles Ricketts & Charles Shannon
  • Jane Austen’s World
  • London Life with Bradshaw’s Hand Book
  • Georgian Gentleman
  • Flickering Lamps
  • On Pavement Grey – Irish connections
  • Aunt Kate

Creative Commons Licence

Creative Commons License
London Street Views by Baldwin Hamey is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • London Street Views
    • Join 274 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • London Street Views
    • Customise
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: