Henry Mills, silversmith

Tags

clocks and watches, jeweller

Street View: 48
Address: 172 Oxford Street

We saw in the post on Henry Fricker, shoemaker, at 171 Oxford Street, that at some point in time his neighbour at number 172, Henry Mills, extended his own property to include number 171. That is not to say that the two buildings very physically merged into one; they were not, but Mills apparently thought it advantageous to spread his shop over two properties. It appears from the 1841 census that the shops were already combined in or before that year as there is only one entry between the occupants of numbers 170 and 173, listing Mills and his family. The next census, of 1851, however, reverted to two entries with Benjamin Burchett, watchmaker, two shop assistants and a general servant at number 172 and John Finlayson, jeweller’s assistant at number 171. Also at number 171 could be found a house decorator with his wife and a lodger. It would appear that the decorator just rented part of the house as we still find Mills as “Mills, Henry, silversmith & goldsmith, watchmaker & jeweller, importer of foreign clocks & watches” at 171 & 172 Oxford Street in the 1856 Post Office Directory, without any mention of anyone else trading from either property. Mills himself, by the way, was by then living at Turnham Green, Chiswick.

advertisement in The Nottinghamshire Guardian, 3 January 1856

Not surprisingly perhaps, over the years the jeweller’s shop fell victim to a number of thefts and swindles. In March 1843, for instance, a woman came into the shop who wanted to look at a gold watch. According to the newspaper article about the case, she indeed bought a watch, but could only pay with a 50l. bank note. She said that if Mills could change the note she would be happy to buy other items from him and she told Mills that she had been given the note by Mr. Wyatt of Oxford Street. Mills said he could not change the note, but would give her a cheque. After some hesitation she agreed. Mills did not quite trust her and sent one of his apprentices to follow her to see if she went to the address she had given. No, she did not. The apprentice was heard as a witness and he said that the lady had appeared “in the family way”, wore spectacles, a straw hat, a veil and a black silk dress. A lodger at the house the accused went to testified that she did indeed have a room there and had been wearing a black silk dress on the day in question. When a policeman searched the room of the accused, he found various items that were “apparently the result of habitual pilfering”. He also found a black dress and straw bonnet, but no trace of the watch or cheque. The woman declined to say anything in her defence and was committed to be tried at the Old Bailey.⁽¹⁾

From the proceedings of the Old Bailey case a few months later, we learn that the woman’s name was Harriet Oakley and that she was accused of stealing the 50l. note from Edward Wyatt, a carver and gilder of 360 Oxford Street. When Mills sent his apprentice to follow the prisoner, he also sent his other apprentice to Mr. Wyatt to inquire about the woman and the bank note. It turned out that the accused had been employed as a seamstress and domestic servant by Mrs. Wyatt and that Mr. Wyatt had given his wife the 50l. note, which she kept in an unlocked drawer. Wyatt went to Oakley’s address after he heard from Mills, but went away again and only involved the police the next day, giving her every opportunity to hide or dispose of the goods acquired with the stolen money. During the hearing at the Old Bailey, the various witnesses were rather hesitant when it came to identifying the woman, the dress or the straw bonnet and frequently contradicted their own story. Mills, for instance, could not recollect exactly whether he had been shown the bonnet: “I think I saw a bonnet, since that time, at the police-office — I have been shown a bonnet since than by the police-officer — perhaps it might be twice — I do not think he showed it me at all — he might have shown me the bonnet in Court — it might be there — he did not show it to me — he did show it, I believe”. Although it seems most likely that Harriet Oakley had pilfered the note from the Wyatts, there was not enough conclusive evidence against her and she was found ‘not guilty’.⁽¹⁾

advertisement in Greenwich Hospital. The Park and Picture Gallery. A Hand-Book for Visitors, 1860

By 1861, sons William James and Henry junior were living at 171 Oxford Street, although Henry senior was still involved. At least, the census for Turnham Green lists him as jeweller, not as retired jeweller. In 1864 a newspaper report saw William testifying in a case of “obtaining goods by false pretences”. William described himself as assistant to his father, certainly suggesting that Henry senior was still in charge. The case, by the way, revolved around a Thomas Godfrey, auctioneer and house agent, who bought silver tea spoons from Mills’s and paid with what turned out to be a bad cheque. Mills was not the only victim of Mr. Godfrey who seemed to have made a habit of shopping in this way.⁽³⁾

Henry senior died in April 1868 and the burial and probate records still gave Oxford Street as his abode, so he apparently never officially retired.⁽⁴⁾ Son William James was to follow him to the grave two years later, just 31 years old.⁽⁵⁾ Louisa, William’s widow, was listed as watchmaker and jeweller at 172 Oxford Street in the 1871 census, and Henry junior with the same profession at number 171. By 1881, however, Henry had disappeared from Oxford Street and numbers 170 & 171 are occupied by James Moore, upholsterer and carman. Louisa is still at number 172, though. A little after the census was taken, the house numbering in Oxford Street changed and 172 became 394.

1886 Goad’s insurance map with number 394 as the second house from Duke Street (click to enlarge)

It is not clear how long Louisa remained at number 172 after the 1881 census was taken, but in 1891 and 1901, number 394 was occupied by Frederick Dixon, a jeweller originally from Lincoln. In the 1911 census he is still described as a jeweller and his son Leslie Frederick as an assistant jeweller, although they were no longer living at Oxford Street, but at Gayton Road, Harrow. In 1909, Leslie had acquired the freedom of the City through the Company of Spectacle Makers by redemption. On the Company’s documents he was described as an optician. The Dixons may have continued trading as jewellers while sharing the premises with others, but it is clear that totally different things were available from number 172/394 in 1913 and 1919.

1895 pocket watch by Dixon (source: antiques-atlas.com)

advertisement in The Bystander, 10 December 1913

advertisement in The Tatler and Bystander, 27 August 1919

(1) The Morning Post, 22 March 1843.
(2) Old Bailey case t18430508-1499. Online here.
(3) Daily News, 15 September 1864.
(4) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1868. Estate valued at under £7,000.
(5) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1870. Estate valued at under £2,000

Neighbours:

<– 173 Oxford Street

171 Oxford Street –>

Thomas Collingridge, watch maker

Tags

clocks and watches

Street View: 55
Address: 136 Aldersgate Street

On the 4th of January, 1835, three Collingridge children (Sophia Sarah, Thomas and Henry) were baptised at St. Andrew Holborn. The parents were Thomas and Phoebe Collingridge and the family lived on Regent Street, City Road (now Thoresby Street). But when, a little over a year later, their next child, Phoebe Eliza was baptised, their address was Aldersgate Street. At least four more children were to follow: William, Kate Mary, Elizabeth Ann and Clara Jane. Tallis (who mistakenly calls him Collinridge) tells us that Collingridge was a watch maker at 136 Aldersgate Street. In early 1840, Collingridge purchased the freedom of the City by redemption and at the time of the 1841 census, we see him listed with one apprentice, Charles Cross. That the life of an apprentice watchmaker could be dangerous, can be seen from an Old Bailey case in which someone tried to steal from the Collingridge shop.⁽¹⁾ Charles Cross gave the following evidence:

In the 1843 Post Office Directory something interesting is listed. We find Thomas Collingridge, as we would expect, as watchmaker at 136 Aldersgate Street, but also as the proprietor of the Yorkshire Coffee House of the same address. If we turn back to Tallis, we see one Hawkrigg listed as having coffee rooms at number 136. You can read about Mr. Hawkrigg in another post, but it seems clear that at some point Collingridge took over the coffee rooms and ran it besides his watch shop. He is still listed as having the coffee house in the 1848 Post Office Directory, but no longer in the 1851 Directory.

Clocks and watches produced by Collingridge do turn up from time to time at auction:

Source: Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers

Source: Christies

The census of 1851 tells us that son Thomas has taken up the profession of his father, but despite this help in the business, things did not go well. In 1852, Thomas senior is incarcerated in the Debtor’s Prison for London and Middlesex. He is said to be “formerly residing and carrying on business as a watch and clock maker, at no. 136, Aldersgate-street, London, then of the same place, watch and clock maker, and coffee-shop keeper, next of no. 2, Shacklewell-green, Middlesex, and of no. 136, Aldersgate-street aforesaid, watch and clock maker, and then of no. 12, Osnaburgh-place, New Road, Middlesex”.⁽²⁾ He somehow manages to regain his freedom and at the time of the 1861 census we find him and his son at 36 Lower Street, Islington, still working as watch and clock makers. But – here we go again – in 1864, he is once again declared a bankrupt. In 1871, he and Phoebe can be found at 61 Warren Street, but the census record has a blank space for occupation, so we do not know whether he still worked as a watch maker, although an 1874 Old Bailey case mentions a Thomas Collingridge who is found guilty, but not punished, for fraudulently having a name engraved on a watch (see here), but as no address is given, I do not know whether it is the Thomas Collingridge who used to work from 136 Aldersgate.

T.H. Shepherd, An old House called the Half Moon Tavern (1852)

The picture above shows Collingridge’s shop next to Half Moon Alley, the entrance of which can be seen in the centre of the picture behind the man with the dog, but that would mean the watchmaker moved next door and I have found no evidence for that. I think it was a mistake on Shephard’s part as Collingridge is consistently listed at number 136, which is the house on the very left, and the Land tax record always show one other name between Collingridge and the alley.

(1) Old Bailey case t18411025-2541.
(2) The London Gazette, 8 June and 22 June 1852.

Neighbours:

<– 138 Aldersgate Street

135 Aldersgate Street –>

William Snoswell, musical clock & watchmaker

Tags

clocks and watches

Street View: 18
Address: 24 Farringdon Street

On the “second day of May in the forty third year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third”, that is, in 1803, William Snoswell, son of Ambrose Snoswell, carpenter of Newbury, Berkshire, put himself apprentice to Thomas Udall, clockmaker of London. His apprenticeship was to be for the customary seven years, but on the back of the indenture a note by the then warden of the Clockmakers’ Company states that William only received his freedom of that Company in 1818. Either William stayed on as a journeyman after his apprenticeship and saw no need to pay for the privilege of the freedom, or he set up shop by himself outside the jurisdiction of the City and did not need the freedom to be allowed to start his own business.

William’s signature on his indenture

Whatever the reason, he only claimed his right on 12 October 1818. A week later, he married Elizabeth Hundtrodts at St. Bride’s. An insurance record with the Sun Fire Office tells us that on 3 February 1819, Snoswell insured premises at 29 Shoe Lane, giving us his first address. Fortunately for us historians, the person who entered the baptisms for St. Bride’s church also included the addresses of the parents. Not all churches did that, so we are lucky here. On 13 June 1820, son William is baptised and 6 Little New Street is given as the address. When the next child, George, is baptised on 17 February 1822, the family lives at Waterloo Street. On 28 December 1823, William Henry is baptised from 68 Fetter Lane, and on 11 March 1827, Elizabeth Ann from 64 Grays Inn Lane. These four children were all baptised at St. Bride’s, but the last child, Charles, was baptised on 4 November 1832 at St. Andrew’s, Holborn, still with the 64 Grays Inn Lane address.

Watchmaker from volume 3 of Tabart’s Book of Trades

If we turn to the Land Tax records, we see that Snoswell was listed in Waterloo Street (St. Luke, Old Street) from 1821 to 1824 and from 1835 to 1842 in Farringdon Street (Farringdon Without). From 1835 to 1840 the Land Tax recorders consistently called the section of the street where he lived Market Side, but in 1841 and 1842, it is just called Farringdon Street. As we know from the Tallis Street View, he had his shop at number 24 which was between Fleet Lane and Bear Alley, that is on the right-hand side of the street if you are coming from Ludgate Circus and going towards Holborn Viaduct, opposite the Hoop & Grapes which was Gurney’s wine vaults in Snoswell’s time. At some point, Snoswell must have moved to 1 Farringdon Street as he is listed at that address as a gas consumer in “Who’s Who”. Being a schedule to the deed of settlement of the Great Central Gas Consumers’ Company. 31st December, 1849. Number 24 became the residence of Jordan Roche Lynch, a medical practitioner, possibly in 1846.⁽¹⁾

In 1844, son William Henry obtained his freedom from the Clockmakers Company by patrimony. Whether he remained working in his father’s shop or went elsewhere, I do not know. An amusing reference to one of the Snoswell boys, no first name mentioned, is made by Sir Edward Clarke who in his youth was introduced by his father to a Mr. Selfe, a clerk to one of the City Churches, who held a Bible class for young men at Salisbury Square in connection with the Church of England Young Men’s Society. The debating class, as Clarke called it, was at one time involved in discussing Cardinal Wiseman’s Appeal to the People of England which had been “lately published”, so Clarke is talking about 1850 or 1851.

At each meeting a chapter was read and then the members in turn tried to answer it. The chief combatant on the Protestant side was a supercilious young watch-maker in Farringdon Street named Snoswell. One night I ventured to suggest that he had not the best of the argument, and thenceforward I was looked upon with some suspicion. Again, I found that the library did not contain a copy of Shakespeare’s works. So in the suggestion book I proposed that one should be bought. Snoswell was shocked, and his name headed the list of those who protested against the purchase.⁽²⁾

Snoswell senior died on 5 March, 1859, and probate was granted to his widow Elizabeth, still living at 1 Farringdon Street. The estate was valued at less than £300.⁽³⁾ Maybe the widow continued the shop for a while, but at the end of 1861, an advertisement appeared in the newspaper to say that the whole stock and effects of the late Mr. Snoswell were to be auctioned off. And that finally gives us the first indication of what Snoswell had for sale in his shop. I have not found any advertisements for him, nor any watches or clocks that bear his name, and certainly no musical ones. All I have are a few mentions of him when things got stolen from his shop.⁽⁴⁾ Perhaps I have been looking in the wrong places and if you can enlighten me any further, please leave a comment. The advertisement for the sale certainly suggests he manufactured his own goods, so perhaps there are still some clocks or watches out there with his name on.

The Times, 17 December 1861.

(1) Lynch is given the address of 24 Farringdon Street in The London Medical Directory of 1846.
(2) Sir Edward Clarke, The Story of My Life (1918), pp. 27-28.
(3) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1859.
(4) The Morning Post, 17 October 1839, a gold watch stolen. Jackson’s Oxford Journal, 3 March 1849, attempt to steal some rings.

John Bennett, clock and watchmaker

Tags

clocks and watches

Street View: 17 Supplement
Address: 65 Cheapside

John (from 1872, Sir John) Bennett started his career in Cheapside between 1839 when the shop at number 65 was still occupied by Rigge & Co, perfumers and cutlers, and 1847 when the Tallis Supplements came out. Before that, he had a shop in Stockwell Street. According to the ODNB, he was born in 1814 in Greenwich, the son of John and Elizabeth Bennett.⁽¹⁾ Father John was a watchmaker and John junior continued in that line of business, first in Greenwich where he assisted his mother after she became a widow, but later on his own account in Cheapside. He married Agnes Willson in 1843 and the couple had three children, Alice, John and Juliet, as we can see from the 1851 census. In 1861, the family no longer lives above the shop, but in Camberwell. Son John has unaccountably been given the name of Thomas, but we’ll assume that is a mistake by the census recorder. In 1871, Agnes and Juliet are still living in Camberwell, in the appropriately named Pendulum Cottage. Agnes is still called ‘wife of watchmaker’, but John is not there.

Portrait J. Bennett (Source: British Museum)

He is back, however, in the 1881 census; Agnes and John are then living at Glen Druid, Park Road, Chislehurst. Agnes dies in 1889 and in 1891, John is found as a widowed and retired watchmaker boarding in Rotherfield, Sussex. So far an ordinary family history, but for the fact that John is boarding with the ‘widow’ Aimée (also called Annie) Guilbert, originally from Guernsey, his long-time mistress with whom he had seven children: Lillie, Lionel, Violet, Rose, Horace, Gerald Munro and Douglas Thurlow. They all took the surname Guilbert [thanks goes to Margaret Burns for help with the names of the children, see comments to this post]. There are two probate records, the first one in 1898 for Sir John Bennett of 135 London-road St. Leonards-on-Sea who died 3 July 1897. Probate is granted 1 February to Henry Hewitt Bridgman, architect, and the estate is valued at £463 19s. 6d. A year and a half later, however, a second probate record can be found for Sir John (no mistake it is him; same address, same date of death), but now probate is granted to Edward Jones Trustram, solicitor, the attorney of Aimée Guilbert, spinster. The estate has dwindled to £88 9s. 6d.⁽²⁾ A notice in the London Gazette of 29 September 1899 asking all creditors of the estate to contact Trustram declares that Aimée Guilbert was named executrix in the will. I bet that did not go down very well with the children from his marriage with Agnes.

Interesting as his private life may be, I will now go back to his shop in Cheapside. As can be seen on the vignette on the left, Bennett was “watch maker to the Queen”, “clock maker to the Royal Observatory”, and sold “foreign clocks French Swiss and American”, besides chronometers and Sheffield plate. He went into advertising in a big way; no opportunity was overlooked to promote his business. A large number of his advertisements included pictures of the various watches and clocks he sold. The 1851 Exhibition warranted a page-long advert in the official catalogue. Please note the illustration of the shop front.

1851 advert Exhibition catalogue (Source: Grace’s Guide)

Advertisement from The Illustrated London news, 1898

Advertisement in Bradshaw’s Illustrated Handbook to France, n.d

Minute-repeating, grande-sonnerie clock-watch by J. Bennett for which he received a medal at the Paris exhibition of 1878 (©British Museum)

But making watches and selling them in the shop was not the only activity of Bennett. He gave lectures, for instance in Leeds, where in 1856, he not only treated his audience to an explanation of how watches were made, but also to his opinion why Switzerland was so far ahead of England in producing good watches. He ascribed their success to the education of the people, the subdivision of labour and the extensive employment of women who were particularly well-suited for the delicate work of watch-making.⁽³⁾ In an interview with The Pall Mall Budget, quoted in The New York Times of 5 January, 1887, Bennett is asked about this Swiss supremacy and he alleges that even when watches are called ‘English’, they frequently contain Swiss movements. He also claims that the value of the Swiss export of watches to England amounts to one million pounds per year. He was also in favour of the adoption of the metric system where, once again, Switzerland is quoted as an example of its convenience in manufacturing.⁽⁴⁾
His career in politics started with election as councilman for the Cheap ward in 1860. In 1871, he became sheriff of London and Middlesex, but he was, however, thwarted in his attempts to become an alderman and he stood unsuccessfully for parliament three times as a Liberal. Some of the failures were undoubtedly due to his flamboyant personality which showed not only in his outspoken ideas but also in his dress and public appearance. In the Lord Mayor’s show he tended to appear in a velvet jacket and a broad-rimmed hat, seated on a white horse, and receiving more applause than the Lord Mayor himself.⁽¹⁾
The business became a limited company in 1889 and that was also the year in which Bennett’s involvement in the business ceased. The shop was put up for sale in the late 1920s and the shop front decoration, including the Gog and Magog figures, was carefully removed and taken to America where part of it now graces the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.⁽⁵⁾

shop front in the late 1920s (Source: Henry Ford Museum)

demolition of Bennett’s shop (Source: Henry Ford Museum)

Gog and Magog at the Henry Ford Museum (Source: Henry Ford Museum). More on Gog and Magog in London here.

(1) Richard Harvey, ‘Bennett, Sir John (1814–1897)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2125, accessed 3 April 2013]. See for more information on the Bennett family here.
(2) England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1898 and 1899.
(3) W.H.J. Traice, “Education of the artisan, and employment of women” in Journal of the Society of Arts, 4 April, 1856, p.349-351.
(4) Journal of the Society of Arts, 11 March, 1864, p. 277; and idem, 13 may, 1870, p. 581.
(5) See here for photographs of the restoration project.

You may also like to read the post on Eddels and Kerby at 64 Cheapside, which gives information on Bennett extending his 65 Cheapside shop with number 64, or the post on Crown Court where information is given on a burglary from Bennett’s shop.

Neighbours:

<– 66 Cheapside

64 Cheapside –>