The Old William Adams Town Hall
Last year we were pleased again to have access to and digitise an engraving from Caroline Cross’s archives at Davies White & Perry. Here we have an engraving created and printed by Adnitt & Naunton whose business was based at The Square Shrewsbury. Newport History Society have come across versions of this picture but have not seen an original engraving before. We were therefore very pleased when Caroline agreed that we could copy it to our Newport SNAP Project, which for people who dont know is a project to digitise all images of Newport both past and present.
The engraving is by Adnitt & Naunton, whose names appear in the left hand corner. It seems their business started in 1872 and they were engravers and printers. Henry William Adnitt was very much involved with the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society being their librarian. The company survived until 1978 when at the retirement of the general manager, Frank Lycett, the business closed .
Newport old town hall was built as part of a bequest through the will of Newport’s William Adams, who also founded Haberdashers Adams Grammar School, and who gave £550 towards this town hall. Inside there was a corn market. A general market was held on Saturdays. Above was a large room which held petty session and county courts.
In this engraving we see to the left, in the distance, the Butter Cross market . This encapsulated a cross erected for the soul of Roger de Puleston who fought with king against the Welsh. The cross is still there today.
Here we see an image of the market in 1850s. The important people of the town decided that they wished the town hall and market be moved to the side of the High Street, with the market behind the town hall. You can see that on market day, the High Street became a quagmire of dirt, and it is no surpise that these peope decided to demolish both the town hall and the butter market.
The new town hall opened late in 1859, and we assume soon afterwards the town hall and butter market were demolished.
The Newport (Salop) Tradesmen’s Plate Glass Insurance Association 1935-1981
Documents consisting of minutes of meetings, correspondence, policy documents and savings books of the Association, which ran from 1934 to 1981, were given to the Newport History Society in March 1998 by Geoffrey Robinson of Lloyd and Robinson Solicitors.
The Association was formed at a meeting in the Literary Institute on Wednesday 28th March 1934. Tradesmen present were: W.G Hayward (grocer, 18 St Mary St.), J Tucker (ironmonger, 55 High St.), F. W Midgley (confectioner and grocer, 2-5 Lower Bar), T.W Hutchin (draper, 81 High St), J Elkes (baker, 66 High St. and 3 St Mary St.), J Scarratt (tailor, 31 High St.), C. E Plant who was represented by H Plant (draper, 79 High St.), R. H Turner (boot dealer, 27 High St.), F Bridge (Draper, 22 High St.), S. B Hayward. Also present was a solicitor J. R Elliott and W T Chamberlain.
The object of the Association was the insurance of the plate glass windows in commercial premises. Those present elected F W Midgley as the first chairman. In the Rules it was agreed that there would be a maximum of twenty members; the reasoning behind this decision is not recorded.
Plant’s drapers, 79 High Street.
The first policy was issued to Messrs Bridge and Doxon drapers of 22 to 24 High Street. They paid 10 shillings and a penny. Fifteen original 1934 policies exist in the archive. The bank they chose to deposit the funds into was the Salop and Welsh Counties Savings Bank and they started the Association with £204.18s3d. The entrance fee was 5% of the value of the glass insured. The yearly premium was set at 2.5%. This premium held for over twenty years.
Bridge and Doxon, 22-24 High Street.
In September, 1940 the association got into a dispute with the General Accident, Fire and Life Assurance Co Ltd. A van owned by Brookfields of Trentham Road, Longton and insured with GA collided with a window blind of the Ark Stores and broke a window. GA denied liability because the blind overhung the road by 18 inches thus absolving their driver of blame. The cost of repairing the window was £13 but the total income from premiums that year was only £15. The Association tried to persuade GA to contribute half the costs. This was denied but eventually GA wrote that they ‘would be prepared to contribute one-third of your loss, as an indication of our desire to settle the matter in an amicable spirit’. The Association tried again for the higher figure but agreed to ‘gratefully accept the smaller contribution’ and received a cheque on the 4th December.
In March 1944 the Association again went into battle with a most formidable enemy: the British Army. An army jeep from Aqualate Park travelling in convoy skidded on ice and broke the window of the grocer Messrs R Brittain of 58 High Street. The cost of repair was £24.10s0d. The Association wrote to the Director of Claims of Western Command in Chester asking for a reimbursement of the full amount. Lt. Arthur Jackson, assistant claims director wrote that ‘this accident was in no way due to the negligence of the War Department driver’. He attributed it to the icy conditions but offered an ex gratia payment of 2/3 of the cost. The Association did not give up and persisted in asking for the full cost.
The correspondence continued back and forth. Lt. Jackson wrote an exasperated letter expressing ‘regret that your committee do not yet feel able to accept the suggested recommendation mentioned in my last letter’. The Association pursued full reimbursement and on June 23rd they received a letter stating that the Army would pay £24.10s.0d ‘in full and final settlement of the claim’.
Included in the correspondence of the association is a letter written in March 1951 to Mrs Lawrence of 4 Chetwynd End concerning her son who was alleged to have broken the window of the Happy Days café which at that time was owned by T W Hutchins. They wrote again in April, this time to Mr Lawrence, threatening legal action if Mr and Mrs Lawrence did not pay for the damage caused by their son. The cost was £20.5s which, according to an online inflation calculator, equates to over £400 today. There is no further correspondence so it can be assumed that the Lawrence family paid.
Tucker’s 55, High Street.
In June 1958 when the membership was down to twelve businesses an existential crisis arose and an extraordinary meeting was called for the 16th September. Present were H. O Hogben (chair), Messrs Midgeley, Tucker, Plant, Smith and Hitchin. During that year a large claim had arisen from G. H Austins, owners of Happy Days café, for £99.7s.8d. This meant that the association only had £79.5s.2d left in the bank and its future was in doubt. They agreed to levy an additional 2.5% premium on all members. The 5% premium stayed for the following year as members felt that they should aim for a reserve fund of between £125 and £150. At the AGM on 21st June 1960 the only claim was for £50.7s. paid to Darralls and Tucker but the financial situation was still precarious so the recommendation was carried to increase the premium again to 7.5%. The premium was increased again to 10% from 1961 to 1964 where they managed to accumulate £244.6.11 in the bank. Unfortunately, in 1965 they had yet another claim for Happy Days café and a significant claim for £139.9.8 for The London House department store and gentlemen’s outfitters owned by Plant. In 1967 Happy Days café (which over the years was a magnet attracting breakages) cancelled their policy as the café had closed. The building was demolished and replaced with a new building housing Woolworths. The Woolworths building is currently occupied by B&M.
In 1960 Dorothy Hartley of 29 High Street put in a claim when she said that vibration from traffic caused a set of shelves to fall and break a window in the property. The following year Dorothy cancelled the policy saying that she had taken out a new comprehensive insurance policy which included plate glass windows. This probably signalled the beginning of the end for the association as businesses realised they did not need separate cover for their plate glass. By 1973 they were down to seven members: H.E Tucker, T.B Plant, F.W Midgley, Hogbens Garage, L .M Browns Motors, Mr and Mrs Jones, R.W Wright.
In that year the policies rolled over with no premiums being paid. There is very little activity recorded for the rest of the decade. At a meeting held on 24th April 1981 a resolution was carried to dissolve the association. The money in the bank was distributed to H E Tucker, T. B Plant, F Midgley, L M Brown Motors, R W Wright and Mr and Mrs Jones.
Sources:
Newport History Society Archive NDHS 00087 00090 09.06
Kelly’s Business Directory 1934 NDHS 00644 07.06
Picken Papers Advertising Stamp
Picken Papers
This advertising stamp was found recently in the Picken Papers ( NHS01616) in one of his scrap books
In 1873, Picken glued this advertisement into his scrap book and wrote :
“Given by Mr Aston, grocer who succeeded T Collier in the shop called ‘The Lower Bar’. Stamp used by the present T Collier’s grandfather probably 150 years old.” He also noted that “BB” means “Best Broseley”
The image is an historical depiction of slaves or native American Indians with grass skirts and pipes . They are standing on tobacco barrels. Beside the barrels and on their lids, there are tobacco rolls.
In the 17th and early 18th century, the leaves were rolled, then spun into rope, which was wound into balls weighing as much as a hundred pounds . These balls were protected in canvas or barrels for the journey to Britain.
Thomas Collier is listed in an 1828 trade directory as a druggist, grocer, ironmonger and nail manufacturer. Quite a mixture of trades! His business was taken over in 1835 by Jones and Aston and he died in 1850.
On the 1851 census, which has been transcribed by our member Geoff Culshaw and is available for members to use, we see that Mr Jones and Mr Aston lived next to each other (respectively 1 and 3 Lower Bar). They are both described as ‘ Grocer and ironmonger’, although Mr Jones says that he employs 3 grocers and 10 blacksmiths. Mr Aston had no employees, so perhaps Mr Aston was a sleeping partner.
The image above shows Vernon’s ‘Canister’ store; see the canister above the door. This is two doors away from Jones and Aston ( 1 Lower Bar). The Canister, today, is James Dalloway hairdresser. Jones and Aston’s became Hogben’s garage in the mid 20th century and is now ‘Home Essentials’.
King Charles III Commemoration Tree Planting
On Monday 8th May, the Coronation Bank Holiday, members of various Newport organisations met in Victoria Park to plant fruit trees as part of a commemorative orchard celebrating the Coronation of King Charles III. These trees are to represent the ecological values of the King and provide free fruit to the residents of Newport. Members of NDHS met to plant our tree, which is an Apple tree still emblazoned with blossom, on a wet day, but missing the rain during the Ceremony. The event was organised by Newport Town Council and presided over by the Deputy Mayor. We were also honoured by the attendance of the Mr Anthony Morris-Eyton, Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire. The RDHS tree is clearly marked in the new orchard, so please take time to have a look when you are next passing.
Eddowes’s Shrewsbury Journal 1858
Here is a snippet from the Eddowes’s Shrewsbury Journal in 1858 that relates to events in Newport in those times:
Charge of Assault – Thos Marsh, junior, was charged by Geo Brian, a vendor of oranges, with having assaulted him on Wednesday evening, the 7th inst., at Chetwynd End. Prosecutor stated there was a dance in a tent, in a field at the back of the King’s Head Inn. He paid 3d for his ticket for admittance. When he was selling some oranges to a person, defendant came to him and told him that he must go out, and threw his money into his basket, and then dragged him out. He again got admittance, and the defendant a second time threw him out, and tore his clothes. Defendant stated this upset some of the dancers and some parties came to him and complained of plaintiff being allowed to be in the tent, as he was not considered to be of proper character. He then went to him, and told him he must go out. He refused to do so with oaths and curses, whereupon he gave him his money and put him out. He afterwards was allowed to fetch some money out from one of the customers and would no go out again. He again put him out. Case dismissed.
Eddowes’s Journal, and General Advertiser for Shropshire, and the Principality of Wales was a weekly newspaper published on Wednesdays. In its later issues, the title is printed as Eddowes’s Shrewsbury Journal and Salop, Stafford, Worcester, Hereford, Radnor, Brecon, North and Mid Wales and Cheshire County.
The newspaper was conservative in its politics. It began as a four-page paper and grew to between eight and ten pages. An issue in 1890 cost twopence.