Holland and Coombs

From The London Gazette 30th September 1904:

NOTICE is hereby given, that the Partnership heretofore subsisting between Robert Coombs, Herbert Edwin Chattock, Joseph Barkla, and Walter Brown Vowles, carrying on business as Corn and Cake Merchants and Compound Cake Manufacturers, at Penner Cake Mills, Nos. 141, 142, 143, and 144, Redcliff- street, in the city of Bristol, under the style or firm of HOLLAND AND COOMBS, has been dissolved by mutual consent so far as regards the said Robert Coombs, who retires from the firm, as and from the 30th day of June, 1904. All debts due to and owing by the said late firm will be received and paid by the said Herbert Edwin Ohattock, Joseph Barkla, and Walter Brown Vowles, who will continue the said business under the present style or firm of Holland and Coombs.

—Dated twenty-sixth day of September, 1904.

HERBERT E. CHATTOCK,

In the name and on behalf of himself, the said Herbert Edwin Chattock, and the said Robert Coombs, Joseph Barkla, and Walter Brown Vowles.

From The London Gazette 16th January 1920:

Penner Cake Mills, 141, 142, 143, and 144, Redcliff-street, in the city and county of Bristol, under the style or firm of HOLLAND & COOMBS, has been dissolved by mutual consent as and from the 27th day of June, 1910.

—Dated the 10th day of January, 1920. HERBERT E. CHATTOCK. JOSEPH BARKLA. WALTER B. VOWLES.

by Paul Green

Thomas Wallis & Co. Limited

 Wallis's began as a linen drapery in 1826 and moved to No 7 Holborn Circus, which covered an acre of land in 1869. By this time Wallis’s described themselves as 'General Drapers and Complete House Furnishers'; they also had a reputation as a supplier of quality linens.

The building was struck by incendiary bombs at 2.30am on 17 April 1941, the night that became known as 'The Wednesday' of the Blitz. Over 1,000 civilians were killed in the attack, which targeted mainly central and south London. Gamages, which stood opposite, survived. Police Constables Arthur Cross and Fred Tibbs took this photo the following morning.

In 1961, the Daily Mirror built its premises on the former Wallis site.

by Paul Green

Drayton Paper Works

The Drayton Paper Works opened in Sullivan Road Fulham near what is now South Park in 1910, occupying a 3-acre site on former market-garden land and was one of the area's main employers until the mid 1980s.

Founded in 1856 and trading as G.W.Dray and Sons, the Company soon built a reputation for manufacturing toilet paper in a "curled" or rolled form rather than the single sheets as was the norm at that time.

It also produced a range of papers, printed items, paper carrier bags, and high-quality envelopes.

The company closed its doors for the last time in 1986 and since then the buildings have been demolished.

by Paul Green

George Henry Lee & Co., Ltd.

 Founded in 1853 by Henry Boswell Lee, George Henry Lee started life as a bonnet warehouse at 12 Basnett Street on the corner of Leigh Street Liverpool. The shop prospered and grew, gradually developing into a department store.

In 1874, the last of the Lee sons retired and control passed to Thomas Oakshott, who, in 1887, became the first tradesman to become Lord Mayor of Liverpool, an appointment which added to the prestige of the enterprise.

In 1910, the year Thomas Oakshott died, the company had over 1,200 employees and the Basnett Street frontage was rebuilt with elegant Edwardian marble pillars.

Shortly after the First World War, the Oakshott family sold the shop to an American, H. Gordon Selfridge, who in turn sold the business, together with the other 14 stores in his Provincial Stores Group, to the John Lewis Partnership in 1940.

by Paul Green

Thames Conservancy

The Corporation of London administered the lower River Tames from Staines to the estuary for 660 years, but in the 1850's, a financial crisis arose. Income fell dramatically (£16,000 in 1839 to £8,000 in 1849) as railways became established and took over the transport of many goods. The river was becoming heavily polluted from the increase in industry, and the wash from the modern steamboats was eroding the banks of the river. The corporation was also failing to raise enough income to properly fund its responsibilities, and so a dramatic solution was found.
In 1857 the Corporation of London handed over the management of the river from Staines to the estuary to the newly formed Thames Conservancy. The Thames Commission was now also in financial difficulties due to the competition of transport by rail. In 1866, the upper river was also handed over, resulting in the Thames Conservancy being responsible for the whole of the river Thames from its source near Cricklade, Wiltshire to the estuary at Yantlet Creek on the Isle of Grain a distance of 177 miles.

During its long period of control the Thames Conservancy:

• Built / refurbished 49 locks
• Introduced tolls + speed limits
• Prevented the water companies from dumping sewage in the river
• Passed The Thames Preservation Act in 1885 to enshrine the preservation of river for public recreation.
• Constructed the Desborough Cut between 1930 and 1935. (The 3/4/mile cut took the river on a straight course between Weybridge and Walton on Thames, and avoiding a meandering stretch past Shepperton and Lower Halliford.)

Responsibilities were reduced when the Tideway was transferred to the Port of London Authority in 1909 and in 1974 the Conservancy was taken into the Thames Water Authority.

by Paul Green

W. N. Froy and Sons Limited

W. N. Froy and Sons Limited was founded in 1850 by William Nathaniel Froy as a builders' merchant, concentrating its efforts on selling fittings, sanitary appliances, baths, stoves and many other items for the home.


During the Edwardian period, the first designs of bathrooms products and taps as we know them today were produced.

W. N. Froy and Sons was, in its heyday, one of the largest merchants in England, with the main premises in Hammersmith--still remembered by many--called the Brunswick Works. The company was so large that it had its own warehouses adjoining both Twyford Bathrooms and Trent Bathrooms in Stoke-on-Trent.

by Paul Green

J. & R. Smith

J. & R. Smith was a carpet wholesaling company established in 1838 at South Castle Street in Liverpool. The firm moved to new premises in Williamson Square in 1868.

Kelly's 1947 Directory of Liverpool describes J. & R. Smith as "suppliers and fitters of carpets and linoleum" and "importers of Oriental carpets."

The company traded from the Williamson Square premises until at least 1962.

by Mark Matlach