Dolby’s Dining Rooms

Tags

book trade, catering, tobacco

Street View: 62
Address: 96 Wardour Street

In 1815, Ralph Rylance wrote in his Epicure’s Almanack that the York Chop-house could be found in Wardour Street, across from St. Anne’s Court. The proprietor at the time was a Mr. Clark, and, according to Rylance

the house is very neatly fitted up, and the handmaids are in general way neatly dressed, which circumstance, added to the goodness of the cheer, constitutes no small temptation to youth of sanguine temperament and vigorous digestive organs. The beef steaks and chops here are capitally cooked.⁽¹⁾

The chop-house has made it into online search results, not so much because of the neat dresses of the waitresses, but because some of its clientèle became famous; Washington Irving, Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Robert Leslie all dined there. The editor of the modern edition of Rylance’s guide tells us helpfully that Mr. Clark was Christopher Clark, and that leads us to a notice in The London Gazette of 26 October 1827, in which Christopher Clark is described as formerly a captain in the Cumberland militia, but afterwards of 1 Short Street, Finsbury Square, then of 384 Oxford Street, then of 96 Wardour Street, eating house keeper, and lately of 34 Carmarthen Street, Fitzroy Square, out of business. In 1809, Charles Turner, a builder of Hampstead Road insures 96 Wardour Street with the Sun Fire Office. The actual occupant of number 96 is one Pitt, a print seller. In 1828, the executors of Charles Turner once again insure 96 Wardour Street, but this time the Sun Fire Office record states that the property is used by Dolby, coffee house keeper. This is Samuel Dolby who is listed as chop house keeper when the baptism of his son George is registered in 1830 at St. James’s, Piccadilly. But Samuel had not always been a caterer, as earlier records show.

A leg-of-beef shop from George Cruikshank’s Omnibus (1842). Cruikshank did not depict Dolby’s establishment, but the York chop-house may very well have looked much the same (© Trustees of the British Museum)

The baptism record for son George also gives the mother’s name, Charlotte, which helps to find the other children of the couple. The eldest child seems to have been Charlotte Helen who was born on 17 May 1821, and baptised a little later at St. Anne, Soho.⁽²⁾ The family’s address is given as St. Anne’s Court and Dolby’s occupation as ‘tobacconist’. This matches the entry in the 1820 Poll Book for St. Paul and St. Ann, which lists him at number 7 St. Anne’s Court. The Poll Book must have been slightly behind with the current state of affairs, as Samuel’s brother Thomas wrote in his Memoirs that during his own trial for seditious libel in the summer of 1821, Samuel “had only about a year and a half been settled in Wardour Street”, which makes it early 1820.⁽³⁾ An 1824 Old Bailey case tells us a lot more about Samuel’s shop, which, by the way, was then still at number 95 Wardour Street. One William Ramsden Robinson is indicted for stealing 20 printed books valued at 10s from Dolby. Dolby explained the situation in his shop to the magistrates, “I keep a tobacco shop which communicates with my stationer’s shop, by two glass doors. I can see in one shop what is going on in the other”. While Samuel Dolby was in the tobacco department, his wife Charlotte sorted out the issues required by the accused of “Dolby’s Acting Plays”, which had been published by Samuel’s brother Thomas, and put them on the counter in front of her customer.⁽⁴⁾ When her back was turned to find some additional numbers the prisoner said he also wanted, he grabbed the books that were on the counter and ran. Mr. and Mrs. Dolby were certain of their identification and, despite an alibi provided by the prisoner’s brother, the jury found him guilty.⁽⁵⁾

But when and why did Samuel Dolby turn from a tobacconist cum stationer to a chop house keeper? In Pigot’s Directory of 1825 he is still listed at number 95 as a tobacconist, but the 1826 Land Tax records for St. James, Westminster, show him between Harrison and Vidall. Although the tax records do not give any house numbers, Harrison is the first name under the heading of ‘Wardour Street’ in that particular section, indicating that his shop was on a corner, and Tallis has Harrison, pawnbroker, at number 95, and Vidall, carver & gilder, at number 97. This certainly seems to indicate that Dolby took over Clark’s chop-house when the latter ‘lately’ removed himself to Carmarthen Street as The London Gazette of 1827 tells us. Does this mean that Dolby gave up his other business? No, it does not, as as late as 1843, The Post Office Directory lists Charlotte, by then a widow, as both tobacconist at number 95 and keeper of the York chop-house at number 96. But the Dolbys seem to have given up on the stationary side of their business in the late 1820s and this may very well have been a case of collateral damage of his brother Thomas’s bankruptcy in 1825. Samuel may have been more an outlet for Thomas’s publications rather than an independent stationer and the bankruptcy would have cut off his access to cheap editions. See the post on The Printshop Window blog for lots more information on Thomas Dolby’s fortunes and misfortunes.

When Samuel died is a bit of a mystery, but a Samuel Dolby was buried at St. Mary’s, Greenwich, on the 5th of December, 1831, and he is described as of St. James, Westminster. No will has been found for him, so I am not absolutely sure it is him and I cannot explain why he should be buried at Greenwich, but by 1835, the tax records were listing Charlotte and not Samuel, so he must have died before 1835. Although I have not found a marriage registration for Samuel and Charlotte which might have given an indication where he came from or who his father was, we do know that he came from Northamptonshire. The only other snippet we know is that Charlotte came from Oxfordshire as she gives that as her place of birth in the 1851 census and we can surmise that her last name was Niven as daughters Rebecca and Sarah were baptised as Rebecca Niven and Sarah Amy Niven, but that is as far as I got with their origins.

Detail of Horwood’s 1799 map

Charlotte continued to run the two businesses, but seems to have sold the tobacconist’s section in or before 1851 as in the 1851 Post Office Directory she is only listed with the chop-house. She did not continue to live above the shop after her husband’s death, as in the 1841 census she could be found in Newman Street, Marylebone, with her daughters Charlotte, Rebecca and Sarah. In the 1851 census, she is living in Hinde Street with daughters Charlotte, Eliza, Jane and Sarah. She made at least one more move, probably to live with her daughter (see below), as her burial and probate records give 5 Wimpole Street as the address where she died in July 1866.⁽⁶⁾ Two of Samuel and Charlotte’s children made a name for themselves, each in their own way. Son George became the manager of Charles Dickens’s reading tour in America, and daughter Charlotte Helen became a celebrated singer.

George was appointed manager of Dickens’s readings tour in 1866. The men probably already knew each other as Dickens was a friend of Charlotte Helen. Dickens and Dolby became great friends and frequently dined together. These tours in England were so successful that Dolby was also appointed manager of the American tour (1867-1868).⁽⁷⁾ In 1885, he wrote Charles Dickens as I Knew Him: the Story of the Readings Tour in Great Britain and America (1866-1870), which he “affectionately inscribed” to his sister Charlotte. George at some point went into partnership with Richard D’Oyly Carte, but that partnership as “opera and concert agents” was dissolved in 1876.⁽⁸⁾ Dolby also arranged the English tour of Mark Twain to whom he wrote a short note on 4 January 1874 with directions to his house at “2 Devonshire Terrace, Hyde Park, at foot of Craven Hill, one shilling cab fare from the Langham Hotel”. The note said that the Dolbys dined at six o’clock and that they were looking forward to seeing Twain and his friend Stoddard.⁽⁹⁾ Despite all these grand acquaintances, Dolby fell on hard times, it is said because of his personal extravagance, and the 1891 census found him at the Cleveland Street Asylum. He died in 1900 as a pauper in Fulham infirmary.

carte-de-visite for Charlotte (© National Portrait Gallery)

Charlotte Helen was listed as “musical” in the 1851 census, but she was more than just a bit musical. In 1832, she entered the Royal Academy of Music and received a scholarship in 1837. In 1845, she sang in Leipzig under the auspices of Mendelssohn, which was such a success that he even dedicated his Opus 57 to her. She subsequently went on a tour through the Netherlands and France and in 1860 married Prosper Philippe Sainton, a French violonist who had been living in London since 1844. Charlotte became a celebrated contralto vocalist with her own academy which she opened in 1872 after her retirement from professional singing. Charlotte did a lot better than her brother and when she died in 1885, she left almost £1,600.⁽¹⁰⁾ The probate registration gives her as formerly of 5 Wimpole Street, but lately of 71 Gloucester Place, Hyde Park.⁽¹¹⁾

Advertisement for Charlotte’s music academy in the 1874 London Illustrated News

And the York chop-house? In the 1849 Land Tax records, Charlotte Dolby is listed between Harrison (the pawnbroker at number 95) and Vidall (carver & gilder at number 97) who were the same neighbours as we saw in the 1826 tax record, but from 1850 onwards, the Land Tax records suddenly list a Mrs Niven. Can we assume a relation of Charlotte? It is unlikely that Charlotte suddenly reverted to her maiden name, as in other records she is still known as Mrs Dolby. The name of Niven has disappeared again in the 1856 Post Office Directory and is replaced by that of dining room keeper Charles Alexander Halfhide. His name, however, disappeared a year later, and various other proprietors can be found in the following years, although it is unclear whether they continued the chop-house, and that is as far as I can take the story of the York chop-house.

—————————-
(1) Ralph Rylance, The Epicure’s Almanack. Eating and Drinking in Regency London. The Original 1815 Guidebook, ed. by Janet Ing Freeman (2012), p. 117.
(2) The other children were: Samuel (1823-), Eliza (1825-), Jane (1826-), Rebecca Niven (1828-), George (1830-1900), and Sarah Amy Niven (1833-).
(3) Thomas Dolby, Memoirs of T. D. late Printer and Publisher, of Catherine Street, Strand, written by himself (London, 1827), p. 131. Thanks go to Mathew Crowther for sending me this information.
(4) From 1823 to 1825 Thomas Dolby issued his series of plays in paper wrappers at sixpence per number. Thomas Dolby, publisher and printer, had his business in the Strand and at 34 Wardour Street. Read more on Thomas Dolby here.
(5) Old Bailey case t18240715-101.
(6) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1866. Probate is granted to son George and the effects are gives as under £100.
(7) The Oxford Companion to Charles Dickens. You can also read more about Dolby here.
(8) The London Gazette, 4 February 1876.
(9) Mark Twain’s Letters, vol. 6: 1874-1875 (2002).
(10) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1885. Probate is granted to her husband.
(11) More information on Charlotte and Prosper can be found in the Oxford Dictionary of Biography.

Neighbours:

<– 95 Wardour Street

97 Wardour Street –>

Advertisement

Robert Faraday, brass founder

Tags

brazier, engineer

Street View: 62
Address: 114 Wardour Street

We all know Michael Faraday and his pioneering work into electromagnetics, but he was not the only technically-minded member of his family. His elder brother Robert ran a gasfitter’s and lighting company in Wardour Street. The land Tax records tell us that he had his business there at least since 1823 and in Pigot’s Directory of 1825, Robert is duly listed as brass manufacturer and founder at number 114. But laying gas pipes was not all Robert did, he was also heavily involved in the development and installation of more efficient lamps. In 1841, for instance, he installed new lighting at Tichborne Street School for the Paddington Schools Committee, and in 1843 he reacted to a report in the newspaper on a comparison made between the Bude and the Faraday lights. Bude lights had been invented by Goldsworthy Gurney and worked by introducing oxygen into the interior of the flame.

Morning Post, 8 November 1843

Morning Post, 10 November 1843

Please note that The Morning Post tried to blame the original report on the evening paper from which they had copied the article. Robert’s brother Michael had struck on the idea of ventilation in lamps when he worked with lighthouses, but he gave the invention to his brother, “I am most happy to give freely all my rights in it over to you”.⁽¹⁾ Robert received the patent for the improvements in ventilating gas- and oil-burners on 25 March 1843.⁽²⁾ Earlier that same year, Robert’s son James wrote a booklet about the issue, Description of a Mode of Obtaining the Perfect Ventilation of Lamp-burners, explaining the mechanics involved.

page from James’s Description. You can read the whole booklet here

A few years later, disaster struck when Robert drove his gig in Hampstead Road. The newspaper reports vary in the reason why he was thrown from the gig, hitting his head, and losing consciousness. One report said he hit a post, but another said the horse had bolted and one of the reins gave way when Faraday tried to regain control, overturning the gig. Whatever the cause, the unlucky man was taken to University College hospital, but the fracture in his skull was so severe that he died the next day. The verdict of the coroner was “accidental death” with no-one to blame, but the police were reprimanded for not acquainting the family of the injured man with his condition the moment he was brought to the hospital, despite the fact that a letter with his address had been found on him, but only thought to do so the next day.⁽³⁾

portrait of Robert Faraday by Ellen Sharples (Source: milesbartoncom)

After his father’s death, James continued the business in Wardour and after his own death in 1875, it was run by his son Harold.⁽⁴⁾ The firm became known as Messrs. Faraday & Sons and secured some prestigious commissions, for instance from John Campbell, Lord Breadalbane. In 1834, he inherited Breadalbane House in Park Lane from his father, the 1st marquess of Breadalbane, and renovated parts of the interior to be in keeping with his idea of what an ancestral home should look like. Furniture was supplied by a friend of Pugin, Edward Hull, who ran a warehouse of antique furniture in Wardour Street. For a ball given in 1854, with Queen Victoria and the King of Portugal as guests, Breadalbane had a temporary hall erected, which was kitted out as a ‘Baronial Hall’ by John Gregory Grace. Faraday & Son were responsible for the “admirable mode of lighting”.⁽⁵⁾
The firm’s entries for the Electric Light Fittings Exhibition in Edinburgh received a favourable review in The Art Journal of August 1890; their designs were qualified as “of a novel and artistic character”, and the design of a Cupid holding a lamp aloft was given as an example of “a good design”. The Colonies and India newspaper of 9 April 1892 reported on another exhibition and said that “the admirable, sometimes severe, taste of Mr. Harold Faraday in artistic design is proverbial, and had never had more effective demonstration than in the fine display made by his firm at this exhibition. Mr. Faraday’s object … appears to be to differentiate electric-light fittings as far as possible from gas fittings. … Mr. Faraday’s designs have a distinction of their own”. In 1919, another company, specialising in chandeliers and Faraday’s merged to become Osler and Faraday Ltd, working from Wardour Street until 1925. They also had a showroom in Berners Street and various other cities in the UK. More on the history of the Osler company and how they ended up as part of Wilkinson’s PLC can be found here.

Page from a 1913 brochure for Faraday & Son

Chandelier by Faraday & Son c.1910 (© Ebury Trading Ltd 2009)

(1) The Life and Letters of Faraday, ed. Bence Jones, vol. 2 (1870), p. 166″>(1) Robert received the p.
(2) Newton’s London Journal of Arts and Sciences, 1843.
(3) The Morning Post, 13 August 1846, and Daily News, 15 August 1846.
(4) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1875. Estate valued at under £6,000.
(5) See for a description of Breadalbane House: ‘Park Lane’ in the Survey of London, Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 – British History Online and for a picture of the ball room (fig. 68c) here.

Neighbours:

<– 113 Wardour Street

115 Wardour Street –>

Edward Brown, Oil & Italian Warehouse

Tags

grocer

Street View: 62
Address: 118 Wardour Street

In the 1810s, Francis Fourdin could be found at 11 Wardour Street. Although the 1822 Land Tax records for the parish of St. Anne, Westminster, do not give any house numbers, they list Fourdin three houses away from Noah Goetze, a stationer, listed by Tallis at number 8. The names of the other near neighbours of Fourdin cannot be found in the vicinity of number 11 in Tallis, so are no help in identifying the exact location of Fourdin’s shop. So far, so good, but an insurance record of the Sun Fire Office for 11 October 1821 has Fourdin as oilman of 11 Wardour Street with the remark “other property or occupiers: 118 Wardour Street”. It seems that Fourdin’s business was doing well and he went into property. Another insurance record, of May 1820, has him still at number 11, but with “other property or occupiers: 12 Wardour Street (printseller); 5 and 6 Junction Place Paddington”. Already in 1810 we see Fourdin paying insurance on number 12, although that particular record does not tell us who the occupant of that shop is. Never mind, we will sort number 12 out some other time. For now, back to number 118, the subject of this post. In the 1810s, one James White occupied number 118 as a cheesemonger. He is still there in September 1821 when his name and address are used as the correspondence address for an advertisement.⁽¹⁾ But, the land tax record for 1823 tells us that Fourdin had supplanted James White, and that the building is a new one and that Fourdin had to pay more tax than White.

As we can see from the vignette in the Tallis booklet, the building was quite substantial and it is no wonder that Fourdin had to pay more in tax than White had done. We also see from the vignette that it is no longer Fourdin who had his business there, but Brown, late Fourdin. Already in April 1825, the insurance on the property is paid by Sprigg Homewood, oilman. If we look back at the insurance records, we see that in October 1822, Fourdin is described as “gent” and one can wonder whether he actually used the property himself, or whether he was just the landlord. Fourdin died in 1828 in Watford, Hertfordshire, and from his will we learn that he originally came from France where his two brothers and a sister still resided. He did not have any (surviving) children, but he leaves money to various relatives on his wife’s side, as agreed with his late wife. He also leaves various sums to friends and servants, among whom two shopkeepers we come across in Tallis: Charles Legg of Wardour Street, and Alexander Williams of Wigmore Street.⁽²⁾ All very clear, except for the fact that Fourdin had bought property before he had acquired his letter of denization in May 1822 and had, as such, bought some if his properties illegally and the Crown objected to the property being sold to benefit the heirs abroad. The case came before the High Court of Chancery in the Easter term of 1834 and as far as I can understand the legalese, Fourdin was indeed entitled to bequeath the properties because the letter of denization implied that right. If I have misunderstood the juridical terms, please put me right. You can read the full report on the case here.

So now back to Mr. Homewood who paid the insurance in 1825. His business was not to last for very long and although the insurance records do not tell us what happened next, the Land tax records do. One Moses Brown, who, in 1821, had occupied 10 Wardour Street, so next door to Fourdin at no. 11, could be found at no. 118 in 1828. It appeared that he did not own the property, as his will of 1837 only mentions no. 122 as his freehold “let on lease to Mr. William Webb”. And indeed, in the 1828 tax record, we clearly see that Moses Brown occupies no. 118 which is owned by (the heirs of) F. Fourdin and no. 122 is occupied by Webb.⁽³⁾ In an advertisement of 1834, the shop at no. 118 is described as “Brown and Son’s Oil and Italian Warehouse”.

After his father’s death Edward Brown takes sole responsibility for the shop and pays the insurance on the property on 17 May 1837. He died in 1844 without issue and he leaves his goods to his mother and sister.⁽⁴⁾ As we saw in the 1834 advertisement, and indeed on the façade of number 118, the Browns ran an Oil and Italian warehouse. We have a description of an oilman from N. Wittock’s Complete Book of Trades (1837), where it is said that such a tradesman

deals in an infinite variety of articles for domestic use, as well as the main one where he derives his commercial cognomen. The oils sold by him are of several sorts, as, first, train oil for lamps, and soft soap; second, linseed oil, for house-painters and medical applications; and the “sweet oils”, as, third, Florence, salad or nut oil, for the table; fourth, rape oil, which obtains the term “droppings”, and is used for oiling the stones on which carpenters and other workers in wood sharpen their tools … . This, and a fifth kind, from the palm tree, for soap-making, as well as the first mentioned (derived from fish), are chiefly vended at wholesale to the cloth manufacturers, soap boilers, and lamp-contractors.

Judging by the advertisement Brown had in the Tallis Street View booklet, he specialized in the third kind of oil, the ‘sweet’ oil for the table: Florence and Lucca oil, presumably olive oil. That is not to say that he did not have the other kinds of oil available, he may very well have stocked those as well, but in the advertisement his shop very much appears to have been what we would now call a deli or delicatessen retailer.

Fourdin had also been referred to as an Italian warehouseman, for instance in an 1826 advertisement for a butler who is looking for new employment. Letters could be directed to Mr. Fourdin’s Italian Warehouse.⁽⁵⁾ A year earlier, a cook, who was also looking for a new place, intriguingly, has letters addressed to “the late Mrs. Vollam’s, Italian Warehouse, 118 Wardour-street”.⁽⁶⁾ It turns out that Mrs. Fourdin’s last name before her marriage was Vollam (or Vollum) and that one Joseph Vollam, oilman, insured a building in Wardour Street, corner Hollen Street – so possibly number 118, although I would have said that was on the corner of Noel Street – with the Sun Fire Office in 1790 and 1792. The marriage registration (1810) for Francis Fourdin and Mary Vollum lists her as a widow. Was she Joseph’s widow? Yes, most likely. Joseph mentions his wife Mary in his will⁽⁷⁾, and although there may of course have been two Mary Vollams, widows, it seems most probable that Joseph’s widow married Francis Fourdin. So in stead of going forward in time with this story after Edward Brown died in 1844, we have taken a U-turn and have come back to Fourdin again, and after this full circle, I will leave you with a shot of the property from Google Street View (July 2014).

(1) The Morning Post, 3 September 1821.
(2) PROB 11/1744/345. Charles Legg (17, 18 Wardour Street, oil and colour man) gets 15 pounds and Alexander Williams (35 Wigmore Street, fishmonger) 25 pounds.
(3) PROB 11/1882/361.
(4) PROB 11/1996/177.
(5) The Morning Post, 11 July 1826.
(6) The Morning Post, 15 August 1825.
(7) PROB 11/1367/126.

Neighbours:

<– 117 Wardour Street

119 Wardour Street –>

Metzler & Co, pianoforte manufacturers

Tags

music

Street View: 62
Address: 105 Wardour Street

In c. 1790, Valentine Metzler came to England from Bingen on the Rhine, Germany. He married an Englishwoman and their only son, George Richard (1797-1867) joined his father in the business, as did George’s son, George Thomas (1835-1879).⁽¹⁾ The earliest record I found is a July 1794 entry in the Sun Fire Office where Valentine insures premises at 344 Oxford Street. He describes himself as ‘wind musical instrument maker and dealer in iron and rags’. The next insurance record is for 1822 when Valentine and George can be found at 105 Wardour Street where they are ‘musical wind instrument makers and dealers in musical instruments’. An 1828 advertisement in The Harmonicon announces “New comic songs” that were published by the Metzlers and also the arrival of a shipment of Spanish guitars. In 1836, they advertise their improved seraphines in The Musical World which are “capable of giving effect to any organ music, at a price less than one fourth the cost of an organ of the same power and depth of tone”. In late 1839, George Richard registers a pianoforte damper for which he gets a one-year copyright.⁽²⁾ A few years later, Metzler & Co move to Great Marlborough Street, starting at number 37, but expanding over time to include the neighbouring properties.

As can be seen from the advert Metzler & Co had in the Street View booklet, they sold much more than just piano fortes. Not only did they sell all kinds of other musical instruments, such as flutes and drums, they also sold and published music. George Thomas was a gifted songwriter himself. And although the names in the advert suggest their publications were only of the highest classical sort consisting of sheet music by composers such as Mozart or Beethoven, they also published more popular music as can be seen from the picture below.

See-Saw (source: Wellcome Images), Music Man and Punch’s Wedding Polka (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum)

Metzler’s also published instruction manuals, such as Joseph R.W. Harding’s New and Complete Method for the German Concertina (1858), Metzler and Co.’s tutor for the viola or tenor (1920), and even a magazine, Exeter Hall: a monthly magazine of sacred music (1842-1881).
The Metzler instruments sometimes come up for auction and a number can be found in various museums around the world. Below two examples, but many more can be found by searching the Internet. The first picture is of a boxwood clarinet that I saw advertised on Ebay (Thomas Flatt Antiques) and the second one is of some sort of piano in the Royal Museums of Art and History, Brussels (they just describe it as a ‘musical instrument’). Note the name label on the inside of the lid.

When they resided in Great Marlborough Street, Metzler’s became the agent for Mason & Hamlin, the American organ builders. The Metzler firm, after a few more moves to Charing Cross Road and Rathbone Place, was eventually taken over by J.B. Cramer in the 1930s.

——————–
(1) Grove’s A Dictionary of Music and Musicians, volume 4 (1900).
(2) National Archives, Kew: BT 42/1/128.

Postscript: A reader (see comments) sent me pictures of a guitar, according to the label imported by Metzler. An additional label indicates that the guitar was later sold by Alday’s in Dublin.

Photographs guitar and label provided by Brian McMahon, for which my grateful thanks. Anyone with information for him, please leave a comment

Neighbours:

<– 104 Wardour Street

106 Wardour Street –>