Mary Harrison’s toy warehouse

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toys

Street View: 10
Address: 31 Fleet Street

While writing the post on Henry Farley who had the toy shop at 31 Fleet Street in the 1847 Supplement to Tallis’s Street Views, it became apparent that, although Farley had lived at that address at least since 1838, he only became the proprietor of the shop sometime after the first lot of Street Views were published. Tallis lists Mary Harrison as the shopkeeper at number 31 in his 1839 booklet. Not much is known about this Mary Harrison, other than that she paid the Land Tax on the property from 1824 to 1839 and that she was the niece of Mary Pierce junior, also known as Mary Ann. I will use the name Mary Ann in this post to distinguish her from her mother, also Mary. Mary Ann left her niece her “estate, goods, and effects whatsoever and wheresoever” in her will, drawn up in 1818 and proved after her death in 1824.⁽¹⁾

signature on the will of Mary Ann Pearson (1818)

Contrary to most posts in this blog, I am going backwards, rather than forwards in time as the later history of the shop has already been written in the post on Farley (see here). From 1802 till 1824, the land tax was paid by Mary Ann Pearson and before that, by her mother Mary Pearson, the widow of John Pearson, a goldsmith who had died in 1765. When the widow first took over from her husband, she was described as jeweller and toy dealer, but the jewellery business seemed to have slacked off a little over time and toys became the mainstay of the shop. There is a 1768 Old Bailey case were two men were accused of stealing four gold rings from the shop and Mrs Pearson states that she buys all the rings she sells from a William Grafton.⁽²⁾ I assume that after her husband’s death, she bought in the jewellery rather than make it herself.

The court case also tells us that mother and daughter Pearson were in partnership, so daughter Mary Ann must at least have been an adult by then and born before 1750, which means that in 1808, she could have been considered an old lady. Why 1808 you may well ask, and the answer can be found in Mrs Leicester’s School. The history of several young ladies, related by themselves. The short stories in this collection were written in 1808 by Mary and Charles Lamb and first published in 1809. One of the stories is called ‘Emily Barton: Visit to the Cousins’ and in it little Emily is taken to London by her parents:

My papa stopped the coach opposite to St. Dunstan’s church, that I might see the great iron figures strike upon the bell, to give notice that it was a quarter of an hour past two. We waited some time that I might see this sight, but just at the moment they were striking, I happened to be looking at a toy-shop that was on the other side of the way, and unluckily missed it. Papa said, “Never mind: we will go into the toyshop, and I dare say we shall find something that will console you for your disappointment.” “Do,” said mamma, “for I knew Miss Pearson, that keeps this shop, at Weymouth, when I was a little girl, not much older than Emily. Take notice of her, she is a very intelligent old lady.” Mamma made herself known to Miss Pearson, and shewed me to her, but I did not much mind what they said; no more did papa, for we were busy among the toys. A large wax doll, a baby-house completely furnished, and several other beautiful toys, were bought for me. I sat and looked at them with an amazing deal of pleasure as we rode home. They quite filled up one side of the coach.

A toy shop by Anton Pieck (Source: Geheugen van Nederland)

So, Miss Pearson – it must be the daughter Mary Ann, as they would hardly call a widow Miss – must have lived in Weymouth for a while, unless fiction comes into it, but then why use an existing toy shop to set the scene? I have tried to find records which would prove the link to Weymouth, but to no avail. Even in London there is precious little definite biographical data to be found about the Pearsons and the Harrisons and their exact family relation, although perhaps I should not be surprised with names like that; it is amazing how many John and Mary Pearsons there were. Never mind, we will concentrate on other things.

Advertisement in The Harmonicon, December 1826

On the 4th of December 1760, Mary Ann gave evidence in an Old Bailey case about the theft of several spoons of which one had ended up in the Pearson shop.⁽³⁾ Mary Ann states, “my father keeps a silver-smith’s shop under St. Dunstan’s-church, Fleet-street” and a little further on it becomes clear that she was the one who bought the spoon of the prisoner, which would set back her year of birth to 1745 and probably earlier; she was indeed an old lady when encountered by the Bartons. What I did not know is whether “under St. Dunstan’s Church” could be considered the same as opposite, as number 31 was, or are we talking about two shops? Did they move? I tried to find out with the help of the land tax records, but there is more than one John Pearson in Fleet Street without any indication which one is the silversmith. From 1739, there is a John Pearson in a shop under St. Dunstan’s. From 1749 till 1763, there are two John Pearsons; one still under the church and one across the street, just around the corner from Falcon Court, which talleys with number 31. As Mary Ann said that the shop was under the church in 1760, I guess that the Pearsons had two properties. The shop under the church was apparently let go when John died as widow Mary only paid tax for the property across the street.

Trade card for George Carroll, listing Mrs Pearson as one of his outlets (Source: British Museum)

A trade card for one George Carroll seems to suggest that Mary Pearson already had a toy shop when her husband was still alive. According to a hand-written note, the card must be dated to 1762, but if we look closer at the names mentioned, that cannot be true; it must be later. With the help of the British Book Trade Index, I traced Mr. Southern who did not start work until 1770, Mr. Shiercliff, not before 1775; and Mr. Hall, not before 1766. Now, I will be the last person to say that these dates must be considered rock solid, but it would be unlikely for all of them to be so far out. Pity, but we still cannot prove that Mary started the toy shop before her husband’s death (but do look at the 1743 bill below). The trade card does, however, give us the name of the Pearson shop, “The Seven Stars”, and that gives us another clue to continue the research.

trade card Pearson (Source: British Museum)

1743 bill for one of the alderman, giving Pearson as toyman, hosier and glove seller (Source: British Museum)

In the collection of Ambrose Heal in the British Library, we find a bilingual trade card for John Pearson with a note by Heal that there is an earlier identical one for G. Markham with just the name altered. Heal refers to Hilton-Price, who in his Signs of Fleet Street tells us that in 1658, John Field, a law bookseller, was at the Seven Stars under St. Dunstan’s, after him came a Mrs Cole and then the Markham family which seems to have been the same sort of set-up as the Pearsons with Mr. Markham selling silverware and Mrs. Markham toys and patent medicine. According to Hilton-Price, from 1737 to 1742, one Edward Withers, a booksellers occupied the Seven Stars.⁽⁴⁾ Well, sort of. Yes, Withers used the sign of the Seven Stars, but a trade card for him shows him “over against Chancery Lane’, so on the opposite side of the Church, further along than number 31. The tax records confirm this. And Pearson and the widow Markham both had a shop under the church in the period 1739 to 1741, so Pearson did not take over her shop, but he may, of course, have taken over the sign when she stopped trading. A complicated story, and no doubt lots more out there to find if one is to dig deeper, but I will leave it for now and end with the text of Pearson’s trade card as it is quite hard to read from the picture (as far as I can make it out that is – corrections welcome):

I. Pearson, at the Seven Stars against St. Dunstans Church, Fleet Street, London, sells curiosities of all sorts & of the newest fashion in gold, silver & other metals, mother of pearl, agate, amber, tortoise shell, ivory & fine wood. As snuff boxes, cases of knives, forks & spoons. Tweezer cases, equipages, burses, rings, seals, essence bottles, necklaces, earrings, gold & silver chains & strings, pocket books, travellers cases, sword belts, knots, Cxxx whips, spurs, flasks, pinchers, pistol tinder boxes, buckles, buttons, combs & all sorts of Calters/Carlton(?) wares as cheap as any publick shop or private workman can pretend to sell any of these particulars. Wholesale or retail.

Advertisement in The Courier and Evening Gazette, 25 October 1794, with Mrs Pearson’s address as the place to buy patent medicine, so not just toys and silverware!

(1) LMA DL/C/488; Will Number: 66
(2) Old Bailey case t17680706-11.
(3) Old Bailey case t17601204-30.
(4) F. G. Hilton Price, “The Signs of Old Fleet Street to the end of the Eighteenth Century” in The Archaeological Journal, vol. 52 (1895), p. 374-375.

You may also like to read the post on Henry Farley who had the toyshop at number 31 after Mary Harrison.

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Henry Farley, toy dealer

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toys

Street View: 12 Suppl
Address: 31 Fleet Street

We made a pause at the toy-shop in Fleet-Street,
to see the giants of St. Dunstan’s strike upon the bells⁽¹⁾

On 4 May 1841, Henry William Alphonsus Farley received the freedom of the City of London by redemption (that is: by paying a fine) via the Company of Cordwainers. On the documents, he is described as a ‘toy dealer’, the son of George Farley, a painter from Maidstone, Kent and he had been a member of the Cordwainers since 3 October, 1838. His address on the 1838 document is already 31 Fleet Street, but Tallis, in the original set of Street Views, tells us that one Harrison, a toy dealer, lived at that address. The Land Tax Records for 1838 give us the name of Mary Harrison and she can be found at the 31 Fleet Street address from 1824 onwards. The property, opposite St. Dunstan’s Church, belonged to the Cordwainers Company, so it is not really surprising that Farley became a member of that Company. In 1547, The Cordwainers had been left several houses in Fleet Street and Falcon Court by John Fisher and hence the area is known as Fisher’s Charity.⁽²⁾

Farley’s freedom of the Cordwainers’ Company

Henry Farley placed an advertisement in The Morning Post of 5 January 1839 in which he advertised a new drawing-room game, called The queen and her defenders. Farley explains the rules of the game in the advert and it appears to be a game played on a specially designed board, involving a spinning-top and fifteen chessmen. The chessmen are supposed to ‘defend’ the queen from the attack by the spinning-top. Don’t know if it was fun, but it does not seem to have survived, unlike Russian bagatelle⁽³⁾, also announced in the advertisement as “new and delightful”. But, if buying board games and toys was not what you were after, Farley could also arrange for a clown to come round to your party, or provide the fireworks “from one pound and upwards”. Later that year, he advertised his shop as “Toy and Fancy Repository, and City Conjuring Depot” where magic lanterns, rocking horses and “an extensive assortment of amusing and popular games” were to be had.⁽⁴⁾ A few years later, he mentioned “evening parties attended with magic lantern and mechanical tricks”.⁽⁵⁾

On 28 October, 1844, the new Royal Exchange was opened in grand style by Queen Victoria. The houses in the streets through which the Royal party was to ride towards the Exchange (that is: Pall Mall, the Strand and Fleet Street) were lavishly decorated and Mr. Farley’s was one of the properties mentioned in a newspaper report of the event. He had covered his shop with “laurels, evergreens and dahlias, tastefully interspersed with various coloured flags” and for that he “obtained general admiration”.⁽⁶⁾

A toy shop by Anton Pieck (Source: Geheugen van Nederland)

1847 was not a very good year for Farley, but, as is so often the case when things go wrong, the circumstances were reported in the papers and we therefore now know that Farley also ran a Post Office in his toy shop. An investigation by the Crown Commission found Farley indebted to the Crown for 331l, 17s, 4d in money and stamps. A writ had been issued to recover that sum more speedily than normal because Farley was insolvent.⁽⁷⁾ Two weeks later, one of Farley’s employees, John Martin, was found guilty of stealing from the till. Various sums of money had gone missing and one day Farley charged Martin with it and asked him to empty his pockets. Martin flung some money in the fire and was taken into custody. The case was heard before the City authorities and Farley had to admit that more than 300l was missing from the Post Office account, but that more people in the shop had access to the till. Alderman Musgrove considered Farley to blame for the neglectful way in which he conducted his business and although Farley was ready to forgive Martin, the alderman thought that Martin ought to be punished and committed the case to trial.⁽⁸⁾

Surprisingly enough, at the Old Bailey, Martin was charged with taking a work-box, “a lady’s companion”. Farley had not missed the box from his shop, but it was brought in by an officer who had searched Martin’s room after he had been arrested for the stolen money. When Farley was cross-examined, little details about the everyday running of the shop came out. Martin was given 6s 6d a week, presents, clothes and food. Farley and his wife and “one or two others” attended to the post office. All the people working in the shop handled and received money which they were supposed to put in the till. Farley also states that he is now in trouble for “mistakes in the account” and that his property will be confiscated in lieu of the deficiency. Although the report of the Old Bailey does not state it, the theft of money by Martin could not be fully lain at his door, because others had the opportunity as well, but he was found guilty of stealing the work-box and confined for six months.⁽⁹⁾

Paper dolls (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum)

Despite the insolvency and the missing Post Office money in 1847, Farley continued to ply his business from 31 Fleet Street and in 1851 advertises for model ships and boats besides the usual games and toys.⁽¹⁰⁾ That same year, he once again decorates his shop to celebrate the Queen’s visit to the City by hanging up a transparency with a medallion portrait of Nelson with the model of a frigate in front of it and miniature flags surrounding it.⁽¹¹⁾

Farley died, 48 years old, in late September or early October 1854 and was buried at Abney Park on 7 October. From his will, which was dated 23 March 1835, we learn that at that time, he lived at 25 Ludgate Street, which may very well indicate that he learned his trade from Payne who ran a “Repository for English and Foreign Toys” at that address at the time Tallis produced his Street Views. In his – very short – will, Farley leaves everything he has to his wife Mary Ann who is also named executrix, and he apparently never saw a reason to change the will. It was proved on 2 November 1854. On 8 March 1855, the lease with goodwill, stock and household furniture was auctioned “at the Mart, opposite the Bank of England”.⁽¹²⁾ In the advertisement about the auction, Farley’s business is described as “comprising that of a naval modelist, and flag manufacturer, toy and fancy repository, carried on by the late Mr. Farley, and his predecessors […] for nearly a century and a half”. More on the earlier history of the shop in the post on Mary Harrison, the proprietor mentioned by Tallis in his early Street View and the direct predecessor of Farley.

children playing with a kite from J.M. Voltz, Kinderspiele, 1828

(1) Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield (1850), p. 245.
(2) The Endowed Charities of the City of London (1829), p. 210 and the website of the Cordwainers’ Company
(3) For the history of (Russian) bagatelle and the later pinball, see here.
(4) The Morning Post, 17 December 1839.
(5) The Morning Post, 5 January 1843.
(6) Berrow’s Worcester Journal, 31 October 1844.
(7) Daily News, 24 September 1847.
(8) Daily News, 6 October 1847.
(9) Old Bailey case t18471025-2296.
(10) The Morning Post, 7 May 1851.
(11) The Morning Post, 10 July 1851.
(12) Hampshire Advertiser & Salisbury Guardian, 3 March 1855.