Catesby, Frederick jnr, Edward Joshua & Edward; Catesby’s Ltd

London; japanners, gilders, upholsterers, house furnishers etc. (fl. c.1825-1958)

Frederick Catesby (1790-1838), japanner & gilder, was the father of Frederick jnr (c.1810-71), Edward Joshua (1817-62) & William (1818-52) all of whom were involved in the interiors and furniture trade as japanners, gilders & decorators. Descendants of Edward Joshua were the three generations of Catesby connected with the firm of Edward Catesby and Catesby & Sons, later Catesby Ltd, who were major house furnishers of Tottenham Court Road.

Of particular note to the history of the firm were two of Edward Joshua’s sons namely Edward jnr. (1840-1903) and Henry (1848-86); followed by three of Edward jnr’s sons, William Edward (1864-1903), James Tarran (1869-1944) & Alfred George (1876-1958). Finally particularly one of William Edward’s sons, William Charles (1889-1975) & James Tarran’s sons, Reginald Charles (1904-1989).

1^st generation – sons of Frederick (1790-1838)

Frederick jnr (1810-71). In the census 1851 was described as master japanner, living at 14 Brown Street, Marylebone, with his wife, Annette, young family and his brother, William (b. 1818-d. 1852), a journeyman japanner. Frederick jnr was listed as decorator/gilder living in Hillingdon (1861) and finally as furniture japanner & maker at 20 Lisson Grove in the Kellys Directory, 1871. 

Edward Joshua (b. c. 1816-d. 1862), who was recorded in censuses as a blind maker at 26 Savile Street (1851) and 5 Charlton Street (1861).  

2^nd generation – sons of Edward Joshua

The firm of Catesbys was founded by Edward Joshua’s sons.

Edward jnr. (1840-1903/04) was the eldest son. He was recorded as a house painter in 1861 and in 1871 as furniture dealer at 11 Clipstone Street as furniture dealer. He had married Jane Tarran, a stone mason’s daughter, in Trinity Church, Marylebone in 1863 and they had 3 sons, William Edward (b. 1864), James Tarran (b. 1869) and Alfred George (b. 1876). In 1871, this address in Clipstone Street was a multi-household property also occupied by Frederick Smith (wood carver), Charles Foot (wood sawyer), George Ward (brass finisher) and ? Watts (white smith) and their families.

1873-1883 the family of Edward jnr. was living at 33 London Street, off Fitzroy Square. Both he and his eldest son, William Edward, were described as upholsterers in 1881. 1891By the same date Edward jnr. had moved to a family home in Willesden.  He died in 1903/04, leaving an estate valued at just over £40,000, executor James Tarran Catesby.

Henry (1848-1886). Recorded as a cabinet maker from 1871 and in 1881 living at 88 Warren Street with his own family including 9 children.

3^rd generation – sons of Edward jnr.

William Edward (1864-1925). The 1911 census records him as Chairman of Catesby’s Ltd (general furnishing store), with his two eldest sons William Charles (b. 1889-1975) as General Manger and Archibald C. (b. 1891) as Office Clerk of Catesby’s Ltd. The family address was Highfield, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. William Edward continued to live in Rickmansworth until his death in 1925. The executors of his estate, which was valued for probate at £50,274 19s 7d, were his wife, Elizabeth, and son, William Charles.

James Tarran (1869-1944). He married Emily Annie Huggins in 1890 and they had 2 daughters and a son, Reginald James (b. 1904). In 1911 the family were listed at Langleys, Woodside Avenue, North Finchley with James Tarran described as Manager, Furniture Store. He died in 1944, leaving an estate valued at £48,000.

Alfred George (1876-1958). He joined the family firm c. 1897 after education at the Archbishop Tennyson School, London. He married Mabel Gertrude Allridge in 1898 and the following year was initiated into Grove Park Lodge, Bushey (United Grand Lodge of England Freemasons Members Register). The 1911 census recorded him as a furniture dealer living at Elmleigh, Wealdstone, Harrow on the Hill, with his family including one son, Eric Archibald (b. 1907).  Notable Personalities, 1927, lists Alfred George Catesby, as Chairman and Managing Director of Catesbys Ltd, Linoleum Specialists and General Departmental Stores, of 64-67 Tottenham Court Road. This biography states that the firm had been established in 1863 by the late Edward Catesby. Alfred George died in Bournemouth, Dorset in 1958.

The Business

The Post Office Directory, 1882 listed the business of Edward Catesby as furniture brokers and dealers of 28a Howland Street and E. Catesby also as the Secretary for the Hire System Furnishing Co., upholsterers at 224 Tottenham Court Road.

Business expanded in the late 1880s and by 1891 the firm of Edward Catesby was recorded as upholsterers, house furnishers and carpet warehouseman at 55 Howland Street, 65 & 66 Tottenham Court Road; and as bed & mattress makers at 490 Harrow Road and 2 & 4 Cleveland Mews.

On Edward jnr.’s death in 1903, William Edward & James Tarran took over the firm and in 1904 rebuilt the Tottenham Court Road store, in a Renaissance meets Arts & Crafts style designed by the architect, Henry A Whitburn. Catesby’s was incorporated on 27 May 1910, at which time William Edward was appointed Chairman. The Memorandum of Association noted William Edward, James Tarran and Alfred George as Managing Directors. Other directors were William Charles Catesby, Edwin Mann, Robert Ernest Tippins, James Munt & Miss Annie G. King (secretary). All three brothers and their wives, and William Charles were recorded as the holders of Preference Shares.  

In 1914 Catesby’s Ltd, house furnishers, were listed at 64, 65, 66 & 67 Tottenham Court Road; 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 Goodge Street and 30 & 32 Whitfield Street. In 1934 only the Tottenham Court Road addresses were recorded.

In the first decades of the 20^th century the shop stock included old carpets, furniture, linens, hardware and pottery.  One of its core trades was also a new cork lino flooring, run as an associated business, Corbulin Ltd based at 64 Tottenham Court Road. This new product was advertised widely from 1897 and seems to have been a major income stream in the early decades of the 20^th century. The People, 26 December 1897, carried an advertisement in which the firm claimed ‘that thousands of women today, through having cork lino laid on their floors have no need to use a scrubbing brush, because the room is cleaned in half the time with half the labour with plain soap and water’. The price for an area of 4 yards square cost from £1 3s 0d.

In 1908 a sizeable proportion of the firm’s advertising and promotional expenditure was spent on the cork lino business; other departments of the firm noted in these records were furniture, clothing, carpets, plate/hardware & music. The figures spent on furniture for 1910 were £10-15 approximately per calendar month on advertising and £323-480 p.c.m. on catalogues. From 1910 Catesby’s participated in the Ideal Homes Exhibition. The total expenditure for advertising, press, leaflets, stationery, window displays etc. was £21,828-£25,000 for the pre-1^st World War period dropping to under £15,000 during the War, picking up again to £33,682 in 1919 and £37,649 in 1920.  

After William Edward’s death in 1925, Alfred George took over as Chairman until 1937 when James Tarran was appointed to the role with William Charles as Deputy Chairman. In the mid-1940s Reginald James, James Tarran’s son, was appointed managing director.   

Agreements of 1937 & 1938 show that family members received the following renumeration; as Managing Directors both William Charles (of Southwood, Woodhall, Pinner, Middx) £1,500 p.a. and James Tarran (of 15 St Mary’s Avenue, Church End, Finchley) £950 p.a.; Assistant Manager Reginald James (of Chastleton, The Ridgeway, Church End, Finchley) £550 p.a. In addition William Charles & James Tarran received a percentage of the net profits; under £10,000 the figure was 2.5%, £10,000-15,000 3.25% and over £15,000 5%. A renumeration agreement of 1945 records that A. King, departmental manager of Corbulin, was paid £100 p.a.

Catesby’s 1904-built building was prominent in Tottenham Court Road with its wooden figure head of a Scotsman dressed in a kilt, who was sometimes called Phineas McLino in reference to Catesby’s lino business. From 1900 the local students at University College London used to ‘borrow’ the Scotsman and although returned, he became a treasured mascot and the subject of raids by rival colleges. Alfred George Catesby finally gave him to the UCL in 1932.   

The company archives, 1910-1958, were deposited at the London Metropolitan Archives by the family in 1965.

Sources: DEFM; London Metropolitan Archives (ref. B/CAT/1-57).