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The High Road in Beeston - The Square (Part 1)
The overall layout of the Square can be seen in the photograph on the left, probably taken in the 1950s. The view is looking west from the High Road junction with Station Road and Wollaton Road. On the right are the shops which are part of Commercial Buildings and, though the occupants have changed, here the general appearance of the building remains unchanged today. But, this is certainly not the case for the remainder of the scene. In the centre of the picture can be seen the old Town Hall, built in 1897, but put to other use after 1938 when a new Town Hall was opened at the top of Foster Avenue. On its right, Chilwell Road can be seen vanishing into the distance and on its left can be seen the top of Church Street which opened into the Square until it was closed off as part of the development of the shopping centre. On the left of the picture, the National Provincial Bank stands on the corner of Station Road, there is a glimpse of Doar's grocery store and then the tall chimneys and profile of Boots the Chemists - probably the building most missed by older Beestonians. The bus shelters clustered around the top of Church Street remind us that the Square still had through traffic in both directions - the monument had been moved to Broadgate Recreation Ground two decades earlier to help handle the increase in traffic - but today this whole area is pedestrianised and all of the buildings in the background and on the left are now gone, replaced by the Shopping Centre. In this, the first section of an examination of the development of the High Road and the stories behind those who traded and lived there, we will take a look at the part that has changed the most - the south side of The Square. The South Side - this side of Beeston Square was completely cleared and rebuilt at the turn of the 1960s/1970s to form the shopping centre that, by about forty years later, had become dated and in need of the facelift that was carried out as part of the arrival of the tramline which now passes through Beeston. There will be many in Beeston who have no knowledge of the appearance of this area before 1970, an area which is still recalled with affection by many older residents. It certainly had an interesting history and our story will reveal some unexpected connections and some interesting lives amongst those who were involved.
The earliest definite knowledge we have of this block of properties is in 1888 when it was acquired by the Beeston lace manufacturer, John Pollard from the executors of Elizabeth Gamble of Newark 2. It seems probable, however, that it had existed in its then form ("four houses, three of which are saleshops") for some time - probably since before 1861 - as the transfer refers to the occupants "then" and those that "formerly" occupied the individual properties - and it was to remain essentially in that form for most of its subsequent life. John Pollard (1839-1903) represented the first member of this well-known family of Beeston lace manufacturers who really prospered, By the 1870s he had already begun to
invest his considerable earnings in property, first in factory buildings for the business, a few years later in a stylish residence and, in 1886, he built Swiss Mills, the substantial
building which stood in a conspicuous position opposite the Commercial pub until it burnt down in 1984. It seems therefore that his purchase, in 1888 for £1210
3,
of the Church Street block was another investment in a growing portfolio by an increasingly successful businessman. But, in this case, there may have been another factor as the
property appears to have been associated in earlier times with a house on Chapel Street, immediately to the rear of the block, occupied by John's grandfather but owned by John's father, Thomas.
This too may explain the involvement of Miss Gamble, the known owner by 1888. As the unmarried daughter of a Newark miller, she was perhaps an unlikely person to be involved in property in Beeston. It is however quite possible that she too lent money against a mortgage on the property, probably through Nottingham solicitors, which had had to be called, or who acquired it as an investment from one of the other known mortgagees. What is known is that her sister-in-law, Ann Gamble - a flour dealer - had previously occupied one of the properties and that, by 1851 another flour dealer with Newark connections, was operating in Beeston and was occupying one of the properties - probably 3 Church Street - by 1851 5. John Pollard may have been motivated by a wish to re-establish the family's reputation - while picking up a useful investment. The property stayed in the hands of John Pollard and of his executors 6 after his death in 1903, until the individual properties were sold to their respective tenants in 1921. During the whole of the Pollard ownership - some 33 years - and, indeed, before and after this time, we can trace the history of each of the four properties and something about the lives of those who lived and worked there : 1 Church Street : Horatio Henry Udall is the earliest tenant of this property that we can trace. Born in about 1817 1, he was the oldest of at least eleven children born to John Poyser Udall, a Mansfield travelling bookseller, and his wife Sarah, née Prestwood, who originated from Lincolnshire 2. Possibly because of the nature of their father's occupation - which is likely to have enabled him to form a network of connections and experience in a wide area - most of his children were able to establish themselves in their careers - some remarkably well. While we do not know what brought Horatio Udall to settle in Beeston, it was not untypical of others in his family to move to where the opportunities were. It is interesting to look first at some of the other Udall siblings:
With nobody in the family apparently interested in continuing the Beeston business, Udall had relinquished the tenancy of 1 Church Street and this had been taken up by Henry Pask, a fruiterer and seedsman. Henry Pask was born in Branston, Lincolnshire in 1844 and had married Eliza Duckering, from Ingham, Lincolnshire. Each of their fathers worked all their lives as agricultural labourers and their families would have had correspondingly lowly lives, and both Henry and Eliza were working as servants shortly before their marriage in 1872. 1. Nevertheless, certainly by 1874, when their first child was born, they had somehow managed to move to Beeston and, certainly by 1881, they had taken the tenancy of 1 Church Street and had opened the shop from where they were to continue to trade for over 30 years. 2. Henry died in 1919 followed in 1930 by his widow 3. Commendable as Henry and Eliza's achievement, built from humble beginnings, was, their real memorial lies with their children and grandchildren who, in some cases, went on to leave permanent places in history :
During that ten years, he had married a local girl, Kate Elliott they had two daughters and had settled at 24 Church Street, Beeston 3. At that stage, William was still working for an employer - probably Henry Pask. Sometime in the next few years, however, Pask retired and Torrence took over the business and the tenancy at 1 Church Street. Their time there, however, was to be a relatively short one. In 1917, Kate died, aged only 42 4 and, in 1919. William married Annie Elizabeth Burnham 5, the daughter of George Burnham, part of the well-known local family of joiners and undertakers and Mary his wife. (Click to see Burnham family details). Then, in October 1923, William also died, aged only 43 6. In 1921, John Pollard's executors sold each of the four properties at 1-7 Church Street and the freehold of number 1 was purchased at that time by William Torrance for £500. After his death, the property continued in the possession of his widow up until 1932 when she sold it to Victor Hugo Anderson and his younger brother and business partner, Donald Chambers Anderson who traded as estate agents from 80 High Road, Beeston. Eventually, in 1963, Donald Chambers Anderson - who had acquired sole ownership in 1949 as part of a settlement of his partnership interest - sold the freehold to Beeston & Stapleford Urban District Council as part of its assembly of land and redevelopment of the central Beeston area 7. In the intervening period there had been several tenants. By 1941, the shop was tenanted by Walter Bostock, a fruiterer 8 and, in 1954, it was leased to Greenway Reeve Ltd, a local builders' merchant, here catering to the retail DIY customer. They were the tenants at the time of the photograph shown on this page.So it was the redevelopment in about 1969/1970 saw the demolition of this little shop which had served Beeston for about 120 years and whose tenants had included families that produced early pioneers in the Isle of Man, a leading fruit wholesaler, a leader in the field of anaesthesia, a pioneer in the development of the modern life jacket, a Methodist minister and a world-renowned pioneer in the new science of cybernetics - as well as several generations of the less well-known who served their community and their families well. Who would have thought it ? 3 Church Street :As we have seen, in its earliest days, this property appears to have been occupied by Ann Gamble and possibly John Johnson, both flour dealers with Newark connections, but, by the time that John Pollard bought the property in 1888, it was occupied by a tenant with a surname of Martin, who is otherwise unidentified. From 1891 however, the identity of the occupants is much clearer. By that date, Arthur Theaker had commenced trading there as a watchmaker. Theaker, the son of Thomas, a Nottingham watchmaker was born in Nottingham in 1868. In July 1890, he married Katherine (Kate) Judd in Nottingham and set up home and in business at 3 Church Street, Beeston 1. His time there was, however, a short one; although their first child was born there in February 1891, by the time their second was born in March 1893, they had moved to Lenton, Nottinghamshire where Arthur continued to trade as a watchmaker 2.
For a time, the couple were able to concentrate on establishing themselves at the new shop, with the youngest of their three children already of school age. The photograph, left, probably dates from this period and shows William standing proudly at the door of his well-stocked shop. It is interesting that, according to the wording on the windowsill, he has found an additional line of business - that of optician. But, that settled life was to change when, in 1897, Louisa died, aged only 44 7 - although, with a business and a family to care for, William soon remarried. In the following year he married Charlotte Else from Ripley in Derbyshire 8 and, over the next ten years, the couple were to have five children and, by 1911, had moved to 38 Park Street, Beeston while retaining the shop at Church Street on a lock-up basis, with the living accommodation above the shop rented to others 9. William & Louisa's children:
In 1921, William was able to purchase the freehold of the shop from the John Pollard's executors for £400 and, by the time of his death in September 1928, William, Louisa and his unmarried children had moved to 4 Cavendish Place, Beeston, where the remaining family continued to live for many years.
In 1929, the year after her husband's death, Louisa Kitch sold the business, including the freehold of the shop, to Archibald Richard Kingstone who, in turn, sold it to his brother, Francis Leonard Kingstone in 1946. These brothers were the sons of Richard Arthur Kingstone and his wife Emily (née Newton)
who had lived originally in London but had moved, first to Sandy in Bedfordshire and then to Hitchin in Hertfordshire, trading as a watchmaker and jeweller in each or these places. Their oldest son, Archibald Richard - known as Archie - and their second son, Francis Leonard each followed their father's trade. Archie
By 1952, the business had been sold to George Bateman who was to trade there until the property was sold to the Council by Francis Kingstone - who had retained the freehold - for redevelopment in 1963. His advertisement, dating from 1951 is shown left. 5 Church Street : this property, can be seen in the photograph (left), behind the Boer War memorial, then in the Square, in about 1905. For most of its life, as can be seen in the picture, it remained largely in the form of a private house which was the base for a plumbing business, advertised by a wall board and a simple sign at the door 1. This then would have been the exception when, in 1888, John Pollard acquired the block of four properties then described as "four houses, three of which are saleshops" - and what evidence there is suggests that was the case prior to that date. Earlier, it had been occupied by the Talbot family 2 and, by 1871 it seems to have been occupied by Martha Chambers, then a widow 3. By 1881 however, the property was occupied by William and Jane Heard and their family and they were to continue in their respective occupation there until shortly after William's death in 1925 and in family ownership for several years beyond that. William had been born in Beeston in 1852, the eldest son of William Heard (b. c1828, Beeston, Notts. d. 1913, probably in Beeston 4) and his wife Alice (née Hazzledine, b. c1832, Beeston, Notts, d. 1917, probably in Beeston 5). William senior was, in turn, the eldest son of Thomas Heard (b. c1804, Beeston, Notts. d. Mar 1885, probably in Beeston 6) and his wife Ann (née Greasley, b. Beeston, Notts c1806, d. 1897, probably in Beeston 7). Both of these two earlier generations were based on Nether Street, Beeston where Thomas worked as a cottager (that is, a smallholder) and sometimes as a lacemaker 8. His surviving memorial in Beeston Churchyard, though now badly worn, records another long-time interest - for 50 of his 81 years, he was Secretary of The Greyhound Club 9. In his earlier years, William senior worked at the local silk mill, then as a lacemaker, before establishing himself as a coal dealer, from the Nether Street location 10. Both he and his wife continued the family tendancy of longevity, each reaching the then extreme age of 85; they were married for over 63 years. William and Alice had ten children although four died young. Those who survived to adulthood included :
The family were active members of the United Methodist Free Church on Willoughby Street, Beeston 18. This lifelong association was undoubtably reflected throughout their wider family connections - including those with the Lowe family which is known to have been stalwart supporters of the chapel from its origins in 1853. Their connection with this strand of Methodism - which appealed to working people - would have associated the family in a wide social network within the community, embracing the then fashionable and powerful doctrine of 'self-help' - and reflected in at least two generations of the family giving dedicated and longtime service to local Sick Benefit Clubs - then a useful form of social welfare. In William's case, he served for 40 years - up until two years before he died - as Secretary and was a Trustee of the Beeston Gravel Pit Sick Club 19. When, in 1921, John Pollard's executors sold the individual Church Street properties to their respective tenants, William Heard was able to purchase number 3 for £350. It was around this time, however, that William's health began to deteriorate and, in February 1925, he died, while sitting in his chair at his home at 5 Church Street. Although he died intestate, a formal family arrangement was agreed, which passed ownership of this particular property to his son, William Arthur Heard, subject to his widow Jane's life interest. His widow died in February 1937. 20. As well as the base for the family plumbing business, 5 Church Street was where William and Jane raised their family :
7 Church Street :This property, positioned on the corner of Chapel Street, appears to have been first occupied by Joseph Humphreys. He and his family were certainly there in 1861, probably before, and appear to have remained there until about 1878. Joseph was born in Leicester in 1803, married Sarah Dudson in 1829, settled in Beeston, and worked as a lace maker, at least by 1841 1. By 1851, however, he and his son William were working as lace machine fitters 2, a change that was to become an important move for the family. When, in 1854, William married Elizabeth Wyer, it was part of a partnership between two families - joined by a third - with the firm of Humphrey, Botham & Wyer becoming a leading player as a lace machine builder for much of the next seventy years - more of that later. But while he no doubt retained an interest in the growing success of William and his partners, Joseph was by then an older man and happier with a less manual occupation. It was about that time that he transferred his attention to becoming a watchmaker - an occupation he conducted from the premises at 7 Church Street until his retirement in about 1878, soon after his wife's death in June 1876. After a few years of retirement, living just around the corner in Chapel Street, he died at William's home in Nottingham in August 1883. Sarah and Joseph were buried in Beeston Churchyard where a memorial survives today 3. They had three children:
By about 1883, William Tipton had moved his business to 92 High Road, Beeston (and later, by 1901, to 36 High Road) and lived at 29 Burroughs Street, Beeston. But, by 1911, following the death of his wife Annie in 1908, he had retired and was living with his eldest daughter Jenny's family in Queens Drive, Nottingham. He apparently died in Skegness - probably at his daughter's home there, in 1917. The couple had six children, five surviving infancy :
After William Tipton had moved, the next occupant of 7 Church Street was another baker (and grocer), Joseph Pears. Joseph was born in Hose, Leicestershire where his parents, James & Hannah (née Harby) had kept the Black Horse pub. Joseph moved to Nottingham and married Sarah Blasdale in 1879. Sarah, then a National School Mistress in Beeston was the daughter of Samuel Blasdale, by then trading as a grocer in Beeston, and his first wife Catherine (née Freeman). Joseph and Sarah settled first at 51 Cross Street, Nottingham where they traded in groceries but soon after Samuel's death in 1881, they appear to have moved back to the Beeston area, first to Chilwell where their second child was born in December 1881, and then, by September 1883, took over at 7 Church Street. By 1888, however, he had moved to 24 Church Street, on the corner of Church Lane, next to the entrance to Church Street School. This was the grocer's premises, shown here that were later taken over by the Lanes family. During this period, specifically in 1898, that their son Joseph Blasdale Pears, died aged 10, a tragedy that may have led them to dispose of the business to Lanes', Whatever the cause, by 1901, Joseph and Sarah had moved to 85 Robin Hood Chase, Nottingham and Joseph was working as a clerk. In 1903, further tragedy hit the family when Sarah died, aged only 48. The couple had a family of six children:
It appears likely that Mabel, Joseph's eldest daughter, took over the household duties and the care of the younger children - and, it seems, continued to do so after Joseph married again in 1909, even though Mabel herself had married in 1908. Joseph's second wife was Jane Ann Lee, then aged 49 and previously unmarried having worked as a schoolmistress and stayed at home. with her widowed father at their home in Sneinton. Now, her life was changed from that relatively gentile existence particularly, one would expect when, by 1911, the couple were running a grocery and provisions shop at 362 Radford Rd, Nottingham. Joseph died in 1921 followed by his wife Jane in the following year. In 1888, when John Pollard purchased 7 Church Street and the rest of the block, the tenant was Amos Bowley, a local tinsmith and ironmonger. This business had evolved from one started by Thomas Hudston (1818-1877) on Beeston High Road in the first half of the 19th century. Amos had been apprenticed to Thomas and, in 1872, had married Thomas' daughter, Mary Eleanor Hudston.
After the completion of his apprenticeship, the young Amos Bowley continued to work for Thomas Hudston and married his eldest daughter, Mary Eleanor Hudston, in 1872. After Thomas' tragic death in 1877, Amos continued the tinsmith and ironmongery business and, by 1888, had been able to move his business to 7 Church Street. Amos is shown left, in about 1890, with his wife Mary Eleanor, his son Walter Ernest, daughter Emily ('Totty') on the right and younger daughter Eleanor on the left. In 1903, after several years of failing health, Mary Eleanor died and, in 1905, daughter Eleanor married, following which Emily ('Totty') Bowley kept house for her father and increasingly ran the business. Amos died in 1912 and, after a while, Thomas Stone Hall, Eleanor's husband joined the firm which then became known as 'Bowley & Hall'.
This completes the first stage of our look into the story of Beeston High Road - a study that has already revealed several remarkable individuals amongst the many who simply lived as part of the community - but nevertheless played their part. We look forward to finding more of interest as we continue our journey along the High Road. or Return to Top of This Page or Return to Top of This Page © David Hallam - 2010-2011 |
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Beeston Square - at the western end of the High Road is the area which is now known as The Square. Early in the 20th century it was known
as Post Office Square - because of the presence on its northern side, of the first purpose-built Post Office in the town - but prior to that
it had been simply part of the High Road. This transition reflected its growing importance and status as the commercial and administrative centre of
the changing community, accelerated by the construction there of Beeston's first Town Hall, a stylish monument to the dead of the Boer War and a growing
number of the more substantial retail buildings.
The south side consisted, essentially of two sections - the main part, to the left when viewed from the road (now, of course, pedestrianised) and running up
to Station Road on its eastern limit, is shown in this photograph, probably dating from 1964. By this date, the properties were already in the process of being acquired by
the local Council, in preparation for clearance and the development of the Shopping Centre and several of the properties had temporary occupancies, following the
departure of their previous occupants. Dominating the centre of the picture is the much loved Boots the Chemist building, then temporarily occupied by a domestic
appliance store. The bank is still in its position on the corner of Station Road and in between the two, is the lower profile building previous occupied for many
decades by Doars grocery shop, Trevor Nelson, selling second-hand furniture, is then the temporary occupant. Tucked at the right side of the Boots building is the
sweet and tobacconist shop, still being operated by Mrs Bond.
The other section of the south side was technically part of Church Street (numbers 1-7) but was essentially always part of the Square. Set slightly
back from the frontages of the first section, it can be seen in the photograph on the right. It consisted of four properties in a block that extended on the left to Mrs Bond's
sweet shop (shown again on the photograph) and as far as the opening of Chapel Street on the right. This is the section that we will look at in detail first. Position your mouse
on any of the properties to identify it.
Although the evidence available to us is confusing, it does appear that Thomas' ownership dated from about 1830 when his house was built, the property as a whole being described as 'bounded on the NW by Town
Street' (presumably High Road/Church Street) and took in an area to the rear on which the house was actually built, fronting on Chapel Street. On present evidence it appears that his house to the rear
was financed with the help of a mortgage for £240 dated 1830. In 1836, he conveyed part of the land, a piece furthest from Church Street, to the Trustees of the Methodist New Connexion on which they built a
chapel in that year. By 1844, when he took another mortgage, this time for £300, the remaining piece was described as have 5 houses, including ' four messuages or tenements with their respective
appurtenances there erected by the said Thomas Pollard upon part of the said garden', with the 1830 house being the fifth. However, these four houses are likely to be four cottages which were were
situated between the Chapel and the piece of land on which 1-7 Church Street were built (see picture, left, from about 1950, about 10 years before all the property shown was demolished. Position your mouse to
indicate each of the properties). This leaves the question of how, when and by whom the four Church Street properties were built. The absolute evidence is not presently available but the consensus is that
Thomas probably sold the land, or lost it after being stretched financially, and the development of these four properties was by others.
By 1875, Job and Hannah Kitch had brought their family to Beeston and were looking for better times. In Broadway, Somerset where they had been bringing up a family of six, Job had worked as an agricultural labourer, a hard and low paid occupation which would have been the future for their family as well
had married and had moved to Nottinghamshire by the time their first child was born in 1920 and, by 1932, his brother Francis had followed, after first marrying and moving to Lancashire, and was then living and trading at 3 Church Street. His advertisement, which was featured in a Beeston street directory from about
1932, claims that he was then the oldest established jeweller in the district - it would then be about 40 years since Arthur Theaker started trading there - and pointed out the present owner's 35 years of experience - that would be from his early days as an apprentice.
Amos Bowley himself was born in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire in 1843, the eldest child of Amos and Mary (née Clewley) Bowley. Members of the wider Bowley family had worked as framework knitters in the Chilwell area after their arrival there from the Gotham area, south of the River Trent, towards the end of the 18th Century. The poverty suffered by many within this trade are well documented so it is not surprising that other careers
were sought wherever possible. One of Amos senior's brothers had left for America and others had diversified into the relatively stable and fashionable lace making trade. When Amos junior was able to secure an apprenticeship as a tinsmith with Thomas Hudston of Beeston, it would have been seen as a fortunate opportunity - and that is certainly how it turned out.
In 1921, Thomas purchased the freehold of 7 Church Street from the Pollard Executors and, in 1941, bought 5 Church Street from the Heard family. In
1951, both properties were sold to A E Hawley & Co Ltd (which became Sketchley Ltd) after Thomas Hall retired and Bowley & Hall was closed down. Number 7 then opened as a dry cleaners shop and continued as such until the property was sold to the Council for redevelopment in 1964.