Henry Richards, chemist

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chemist

Street View: 14
Address: 55 St. James’s Street

The chemist’s shop Tallis lists at 55, St. James’s Street had been there since 1829 when Henry Richards took over the property from John Lanman, a tailor. Richards had moved to number 55 from number 11, on the opposite side and further down the street. The move had all to do with the widening of Little King Street, the small passage that linked King Street to St. James’s Street (see Horwood’s map below). The widening had been set in motion by Statute 7 George IV C. 77 of 1826 (see here). Number 11 disappeared altogether and numbers 10 and 12 can now be found on either side of King Street. Number 10 was rebuilt as the grand, but unsuccessful St. James’s Bazaar. Richard’s new shop at number 55 was situated on the corner of Bennet(t) Street and was frequently referred to as 1 Bennet Street. In later years, the chemist’s shop was run by Daniel Rokely Harris and his name is still attached to the business, although it has since moved to 29 St. James’s Street via 30 King Street and 27 St. James’s Street. The accepted history of D.R. Harris & Co. (see their website) states that the business started in 1790, but as we shall see, not with a Harris in charge.

The Morning Chronicle, 24 April 1829

If we try to work backwards in time to get to the 1790 beginnings of the firm, we find a listing in Kent’s Directory of 1803 for Henry Richards, chemist & druggist at number 11. Although the Land Tax records at that time did not include house numbers, Richards was listed in the record for 1803 as occupying the 2nd property from Gloucester Court, which is number 11 St. James’s Street. Before Richards came on the scene in 1803, the tax records list a James Gent for the property. Where Richards himself had come from is as yet a bit of a mystery. We know he was born in Arminghall, Norfolk, but what he did before he took over from Gent is unclear. James Gent was, according to The General London Guide; or, Tradesman’s Directory of 1794 a ‘chymist and druggist’ at 11 St. James’s Street, so we are getting closer to the origins of D.R. Harris & Co., and we can take it back even further as Gent is also listed as a ‘chymist’ at number 11 in The Universal British Directory of 1791, close enough to substantiate the 1790 claim.⁽¹⁾

Entry in the 1791 Universal British Directory

Although the takeover from James Gent to Henry Richards appears to have taken place in 1803, it must have been the year before as James Gent died in early 1802. He wrote his will on 25 December 1801 and probate was granted to his executors on 2 March 1802. Gent bequeathed to “James Eades my nephew now living with me as an apprentice all the beneficial interest in the lease of the house which I at present occupy and in which my trade is at present carried on in St. James’s Street … together with all the stock in trade”. But, as James Eades was still an apprentice, Gent asked his executors to enlist the help of a “proper assistant” who could help run the business until Eades had attained the age of 21 or was “more fully and sufficiently competent to carry on the same”.⁽²⁾ There is, however, no mention of Eades in the tax records, so it is uncertain what happened. Did the executors make other arrangements? Was Eades reluctant to continue the business? Or was Henry Richards perhaps the “proper assistant” who carried on by himself when Eades for whatever reason bowed out? We may never know, but fact is that Richards continued the chemist’s shop.

Henry Richards was the proprietor when Tallis produced his Street View of St. James’s Street. In 1841, he is listed in the census as unmarried, 65 years old, and not born in the county. Living with him is Rotely Harris, 25 years old, a chemist’s shopman, and Eliza Mily (or Miles), a servant of the same age. The 1841 census was notoriously imprecise as regards ages, so we must not be too dependant on them to trace back the lives of these people. We will come back to Rotely Harris in a minute, but first the 1851 census in which Richards is listed as a 79 year old, so he was probably born in 1772. Also on the premises in 1851 is Henry Harris, a 34-year old surgeon, and servant Jane Miley (or Miles, probably a relation of the Eliza who was listed in the 1841 census). We will also come back to Henry Harris in a moment, but first the death of Henry Richards. He died somewhere in mid-1853 and probate was granted on 9 July, 1853, to solicitor Charles Steward, his nephew from Ipswich whom he had named sole executor and heir.⁽³⁾

From 1855 onwards until the end of the century, the Land Tax of 1 Bennet Street is listed for Henry Harris, the surgeon we saw on the premises in the 1851 census. Henry Harris was the son of Daniel Harris and Juliet Susanna Rotely of Swansea, Glamorgan. He was baptised on 4 October 1815 at St. Mary’s, Swansea. His older brother Daniel Rotely Harris was baptised in the same church on 22 April 1814. The Rotely Harris in the 1841 census of 55 St. James’s Street was most likely this Daniel Rotely. He is, by the way, the one whose initials still grace the firm’s name: D.R. Harris & Co. The two brothers were both involved in the medical world: Henry as a surgeon – he became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1842 – and Daniel Rotely as a pharmaceutical chemist. While Henry seems to have stayed in London – the 1861 census still finds him at 55 St. James’s Street -, Daniel could be found as a chemist in Ware, Hertfordshire in the 1851 and 1861 censuses. He lived at 1 Baldock Street with his wife Susan, daughters Susan Powell, Mary Elizabeth, Julia Jane and son Daniel Rotely Philemon.⁽⁴⁾ In 1862, however, Kelly’s Directory finds him at Laurie (or Lawrie) Place, Sydenham.

Letter in The Morning Chronicle, 2 March 1861. Holroyd was most likely the 28-year old chemist William H. Holroyd who, according to the 1861 census, lived with his mother and younger brother at 22 Alexander Square, Kensington

The 1871 census still finds Daniel R., by then a widower, and two of his children, at Sydenham, but the electoral register of 1871 lists him for 55 St. James’s Street. From 1878 onwards, the rate books of Westminster also list him at number 55, and so does the 1881 census. But that does not mean that he had moved to London completely as Kelly’s Directory of 1882 lists him at 11 Kirkdale, Sydenham. And his probate record – he died in November 1888 – lists him as late of 55 St. James-street and of Kirkdale, Sydenham.⁽⁵⁾ He was buried on 4 December 1888 at Lewisham.

Goad’s 1889 insurance map overlaid on a Google map, showing in brown the porch that juts out; in the elevation at the top of this post it can be seen to extend to the first floor; the perfect place to watch the jubilee procession of 1897 and the coronation in 1902

The Times, 24 April 1897

The Times, 11 June 1902

And Daniel Rotely’s brother Henry? Well, there is a bit of an open end to his story, as I have not been able to find out exactly when he died. His name is still listed in the tax records for 1892 and in the Medical Register for 1899, but that is as far as I got. Henry Harris is not the easiest name to research as there were quite a number of them around at the time. The Post Office Directory of 1902 shows that D.R. Harris & Co. had moved to 30 King Street and at some point in the early 1920s D.R. Harris took over Hairsine’s, another chemist, who had been trading from the Haymarket.⁽⁶⁾ And due to an air raid in 1944 the firm had to abandon the King Street address and move back to St. James’s Street, first at number 27 and from 1963 onwards at number 29 where you can hopefully find them for a very long time to come.

Horwood’s 1799 map showing the five locations of the chemist’s shop. Red arrow 11 St. J’s; green 55 St. J’s; yellow 30 King St.; light blue 27 St. J’s; dark blue 29 St. J’s. Click to enlarge.

To sum up, the addresses and proprietors of the business were:
11, St. James’s Street
1791 – 1802 James Gent
1802 – 1829 Henry Richards

55, St. James’s Street / 1 Bennet Street
1829 – 1853 Henry Richards
1853 – c. 1900 Henry Harris
c. 1871 – 1888 Daniel Rokely Harris

30, King Street
c. 1900-1944 D.R. Harris & Co.

– in 1821 or thereabouts, Hairsine & Co. of 47 Haymarket were taken over by Harris’s

– in 1944, the so-called ‘Little Blitz’ caused heavy damage in the area, see here and here.

27, St. James’s Street
1944-1963 D.R. Harris & Co.

29, St. James’s Street
1963 – present D.R. Harris & Co.

(1) I am very grateful to Julian Moore of D.R. Harris & Co. for alerting me to the long history of the chemist’s and for providing the scans of some of the pictures that illustrate this post, and to both Julian and Alison Moore for generously making available the information they have on the history of the shop (their website: www.drharris.co.uk).
(2) PROB 11/1371/24.
(3) PROB 11/2176/72.
(4) The children were all baptised at Ware, Hertfordshire: Susan Powell, 29 August 1844; Daniel Rotely Philemon, 2 December 1846; Julia Jane and Mary Elisabeth, 26 March 1858.
(5) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1889. His effects are valued at just over £3,650, later resworn at just over £3,885.
(6) Hairsine and Co, 47 Haymarket, is listed in the telephone directory up till 1921. As an interesting aside, I noticed that from 1922 a W. Hairsine is listed at 52 Wardour Street. We have come across another W. Hairsine, chemist, in the post for John Christopher Addison, although this original W. Hairsine had died in 1916 and cannot have moved to Haymarket and back again to Wardour Street, so a bit of a mystery there.

two pictures of an 1825 Hairsine ledger in the Harris archive

20thC-recipe for Lettuce Shaving Cream from one of the books in the Harris archive. No lettuce involved I am happy to say, as I doubt anyone would have wanted to use it on his chin if it had.

Neighbours:

<– 56 St. James’s Street

54 St. James’s Street –>

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Bromley’s Auction Rooms

Tags

art, auctioneer

Street View: 14
Address: 26 St. James’s Street

The premises at number 26, St. James’s Street were, according to Tallis, used by Charles Jones, a gun maker, and by Bromley’s Auction Rooms. This joint occupation seems to have been a regular occurrence in the history of the building as at various times more than one name was registered in either a directory or, for instance, in the records of the Fire Office. The building does not look excessively large from the front, but if we look at Horwood’s 1799 map, we see, besides a re-numbering, that number 26 (was number 29), the fourth house from Ryder Street, seems to have a number of outhouses at the back, which may well explain the double occupancy. The front of the house shows two doors on either side of the window, presumably ensuring separate entrances to the different businesses.

The first time an auction room is mentioned at number 26 is in late 1824. While an advertisement in The Morning Chronicle of 26 June had announced that at number 26 a selection of pictures would be shown “at Mr. Hickman’s Gallery”, there is no suggestion that they were to be auctioned off. An advertisement in the same paper on 13 December of that year, however, specifically mentions “the auctioneer’s, 26 St. James’s St.”. It appears that one Mr. Cox is the auctioneer at that time who was to sell a house in Queen Square on behalf of the executors of the late owner. But an exhibition and auction room was not all that number 26 had on offer as on 19 January 1826, once again in The Morning Chronicle, the School for Fencing and Gymnastic Exercises, run by M. Hamon, is advertised as having been established some years since. In other words, number 26 was a multi-functional building.

But let’s turn to Mr. Bromley who announced a public sale of pictures at his “Auction Gallery” at 26 St. James’s in The Morning Chronicle of 19 December 1838. There is a problem identifying which Mr. Bromley was running the gallery cum auction room, as he did not put his first name in the advertisement. There was a Joseph Bromley, auctioneer at 17 Commercial Road, listed in the 1829 Post Office Directory, a business that was handed down to John Bromley & Son (Pigot’s Directory, 1839) and they may have extended their business to St. James’s Street, but it could just as well have been someone else of the same name. But whoever it was did not stay long, as on 18 March 1840, Henry Artaria “begs respectfully to inform the connoisseurs and amateurs of pictures” that he is selling, by auction, at his Gallery at number 26, a collection of pictures, among them works by Cuyp, Rubens, and Vande Velde. In this Morning Chronicle advertisement, Artaria also mentioned that he had for many years been the assistant of the late Mr. Harry Phillips of 73, New Bond Street. Phillips has been given his own post (here), but in this post we will follow his former assistant in his attempt to start his own auction house, although we will see later on that the Phillips-Artaria relationship was not just one of master and assistant.

Advertisement in The Art Journal, 1840

Henry Artaria, or to give him his full name, Henry Charles Ferdinand Artaria, frequently entered advertisements in the newspapers to announce the sale of various goods, such as, for instance, “velvet and tapestry carpets” which had been on show at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly⁽¹⁾, but he mainly dealt in pictures. It was not surprising that Henry specialised in paintings as his family ran an extensive publishing house / art dealers’ business in Vienna. The family originally came from the Lake Como district in Italy, but had moved to Vienna sometime before the year 1700 (see here). There was also an Artaria shop in Mainz and later in Mannheim, Germany, and after Henry’s death, it was said that he had worked in the Paris branch before coming to London. The immigration records show various Artarias coming over from either Germany or France to London. Unfortunately, first names or initials are frequently omitted in the records and all we learn from most of the entries is that one Artaria, merchant, came over on such and such a date. The most significant is probably the visit in October 1838 of Claudio Artaria, more or less coinciding with the moment Henry was setting up his own business after the death of Harry Phillips.

No picture of Artaria’s auction room has come to light, so instead this one from Ackermann’s Microcosm of London, 1808 (Source: British Museum)

In 1840 Henry married Elizabeth Cauty who had been Harry Phillips’s mistress and with whom she had at least four children. Whether Henry and Elizabeth lived at St. James’s Street is not clear as they do not appear in the 1841 census for that street and I have not found them anywhere else. In March 1843, Henry alerted his customers to his removal to 17, Golden Square, “in consequence of the expiration of his lease”, but he would “continue to effect the disposal of works of art, either by public or private treaty”.⁽²⁾ Henry seems to have done quite well for himself, but, according to Angelo C. Hayter, an artist, Artaria “was attacked by a brain fever” in the latter part of 1848 and was “since in a despondent state”. According to Hayter, Henry “was frequently in a distressed state of mind without any real cause, as his business was not at all complicated”.⁽³⁾ I am afraid that Henry’s ‘distressed state of mind’ led to his suicide. He pasted up every opening around the door and skylight in the room that was used to repair and varnish paintings at 33 George Street, Hanover Square, and lit a brazier with charcoal. His servant who had been told he need not come back after his lunch break on Thursday, found him on Friday morning, 25 January 1850, lying on his stomach with his hands under him. The jury returned the verdict: “that the deceased committed suicide by inhaling carbonic acid gas … whilst in a state of temporary insanity”.⁽⁴⁾

Although Angelo Hayter, who was, by the way, the son of artist George Hayter and his mistress Louisa Cauty, the sister of Henry Artaria’s wife, had already said that Henry Artaria’s family came from Como, Italy, and hence the link with the Artarias of Vienna could be deduced, Henry’s will proves this beyond doubt. He leaves all his interests in the family firm on the Kohlmarkt in Vienna and also his share in a freehold estate in Blevio (Lake Como), which he had inherited from his father, to his mother Nanette Artaria. After her decease, his share was to go to his brother Claudio and his sister Emma. All his possessions in England were to go to his wife Elizabeth. He named a friend Frederic Wilmet and his wife’s brother, Henry John Cauty, surgeon at Liverpool, as his executors for the English side of the business and his brother and sister for the Continental side of his affairs.⁽⁵⁾ Widow Elizabeth remarried later that year to John Smith, an art dealer and historian. She died in early 1853.

The Times, 24 April 1850. Click to enlarge image

On 23 April 1850, Henry’s collection of paintings was sold at the Phillips auction house in New Bond Street. The report on the sale in The Times said that the price realised was approaching £5,000. Quite a number of the pictures in the list given by the newspaper can still be traced as, for instance, lot 45: A landscape with an aquaduct over a narrow stream, sold for 78 guineas and recently sold at Bonhams (see here); also lot 82: Caspar Netscher’s Lady with a watch, sold for 70 guineas, now in the Wallace collection (see here); and one that was not mentioned in the newspaper report, but is now also in the Wallace Collection: Giovanni Bernardo Carbone’s Portrait of a Nobleman (see here). So, although Henry Artaria only worked as an independent auctioneer for ten years, his name is still frequently mentioned in the provenances of important paintings and as such his influence in the art world is greater than his short professional existence would perhaps suggest.

Adam Pynacker, Travellers on a bridge (Source: bonhams.com)

Caspar Netscher, Lady with a Watch (© Wallace Collection, London)

Giovanni Bernardo Carbone, Portrait of a Nobleman (© Wallace Collection, London)

(1) The Examiner, 25 July 1840.
(2) The Times, 17 March 1843.
(3) The Era, 3 February 1850.
(4) The Standard, 29 January 1850.
(5) PROB 11/2109/201.

Neighbours:

<– 27 St. James’s Street

25 St. James’s Street –>

Charles and William Eley, patent wire cartridge warehouse

Tags

guns

Street View: 14
Address: 36 St. James’s Street

In July 1828, Charles Ely, patent shot cartridge manufacturer, of 11 Kirby Street, Hatton Garden, took out a fire insurance. Later that year, on 17 December, he and his brother William took out another policy with the Sun Fire Office for their premises at 14 Charlotte Street, Rathbone Place. They are listed as “patent shot cartridge manufacturers”. On the face of it, they entered into a partnership somewhere in the second half of 1828. However, at the end of December 1828, their partnership is already dissolved.⁽¹⁾ They are then described as “of Lovell’s-Court, Paternoster-Row, London, Silversmiths, and of Charlotte-Street, Fitzroy-Square […] Patent Shot Cartridge Manufacturers”.

trade card (Source: British Museum)

By 1837, they, or perhaps just William, must have moved to 36 St. James’s Street where Tallis was to find them, because in the insurance entry for Robert Thomas, bootmaker and dealer in spurs, they are mentioned as the other occupiers of the premises. As you can see from the elevation at the top of this post, number 36 was a large property on the corner of Jermyn Street, which the Eleys shared with Robert Thomas. Whether Charles was actively involved in the shop, or whether he remained in the background, just having a financial stake, is not entirely clear, but on the 1st of January 1840, the brothers once again dissolve a partnership. The St. James’s Street address is given, but Old Bond Street is also mentioned. They apparently did not live above the shop as the 1841 census locates William and his family in Chelsea, and Charles with his family in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.

Advert in Street View 14

Charles and William had developed a cartridge which looks as if they wrapped chicken wire around the shot, but apparently you could shoot further with them than with loose shot, the idea being that the wire came off somewhere between the gun and the target. The wire was wrapped in thin paper and also contained the wadding, so it was a lot easier to load your gun with one of those than with loose shot. Sorry animals, I am just repeating their brochure, not condoning the use of their ammunition. One of their advertorial brochures, explaining the product in detail, can be found online here. An instruction paper on how to load your gun with the wire cartridges and more technical information can be found here.

But, as we all know, guns, gunpowder and accessory chemicals are dangerous things to handle and it went drastically wrong in June 1841. Below the report found in several newspapers.

Dreadful explosion in Old Bond Street – On Friday evening, between the hours of six and seven o’clock, a tremendous explosion, similar to a discharge of cannon, was heard to proceed from the extensive manufactory of Messrs. Eley and Company, cartridge and percussion cap manufacturers, of Emmatt’s Mews, Old Bond-street. A vast number of persons immediately proceeded to the premises, accompanied by a number of the police on duty near the spot, when they found that great destruction had taken place. It was very shortly discovered that Mr. Eley, the proprietor of the manufactory, and who carries on his business in St. James’s, at the corner of Jermyn-street, had perished. On search being made through the dilapidated premises he was discovered stretched on the floor of the counting house, a frightful spectacle. His left arm and hand were blown off, his right thigh was nearly severed, both his feet were blown to pieces, his person in other respects was mutilated and blackened, and scarcely a remnant of his apparel was left about him. Information of the awful catastrophe was immediately forwarded to Mr. Gell, coroner for Westminster, who appointed Saturday afternoon for the holding of the inquest. After the jury had viewed the body of the deceased, the following evidence was produced. Mr. Charles Eley, of Cheshunt, said that deceased was in the habit of using detonating or fulminating mercury, a composition of most combustable and dangerous nature. He had no doubt that deceased was stirring the composition when it exploded. A soliciter stated, on behalf of Mr. Emmatt, the proprietor of the premises, that he had not been aware of any combustable matter being used by the deceased; that had the fact been known to the neighbours deceased would have been indicted. Ann Stubbins, servant to the deceased, stated that the whole of the partition and roof of the room in which the composition was made had been more or less carried away and injured, and all the windows destroyed. Joseph Long and James Price, both in the deceased’s employ, stated that the detonating mercury was obtained at Mr. Diamond’s, on Holborn-hill. After other evidence had been heard, the jury returned a verdict of “accidental death.” The deceased, who has left a large family, was much respected.⁽²⁾

Despite this fatal warning, the Eleys continued producing their dangerous products and are, in fact, still in business. You can read the later history of the firm here or on their own website here.

Advert in The Bradford Observer; and Halifax, Huddersfield, and Keighley Reporter, 25 September 1845

(1) The London Gazette, 30 January 1829.
(2) The Morning Post, 28 June 1841. Most of the other London newspapers carried a similar report.

Neighbours:

<– 38 St. James’s Street

36 St. James’s Street –>