Hewetson, Thomas, William & John; Hewetson & Milner; Hewetson, Thexton & Milner (1825-1907)
Hewetson, Thomas, William & John; Hewetson & Milner; Hewetson, Thexton & Milner; Hewetson, Thexton & Peart
Ravenstonedale, Westmoreland and London; upholsterers and general house furnishers (fl. c.1825-1907)
The Hewetson, Milner and Thexton families originated from Ravenstonedale, a village and civil parish in Cumbria in the historic county of Westmoreland on the Scottish borders. Arriving in London over successive generations, they lived in each others' homes, apprenticed each others' children and relations, and mutually contributed to a thriving family-run business. Theirs is a classic example of generational relatives and friends from a small town or village, migrating to London for career opportunities and advancement in the English capital. A few members of the firm had second homes in Ravenstonedale, one moved back permanently and one couple retired to the village to live out the remainder of their lives. The only partner not from Cumbria was William Peart of Tottenham, north London, who entered the business as a sales assistant c. 1860.
Established by the brothers William and John Hewetson c. 1825, the firm was first located at two central London locations: Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. 185 Oxford Street was the site of their upholsterers' warehouse, described as a carpet & floor cloth factors and feather merchants with their interior decorating shop at 204 Tottenham Court Road. Over the years the company sold a range of cabinet and seat furniture, beds, upholstered goods (including bedding), carved oak dining room furniture and 'antique' furniture.
Illustrations of the Hewetson Brothers' shopfronts in Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, c. 1838-40. Tallis's London Street Views, 1838-1840 (London reprint, 1969), pp. 132 & 140.
Partnership members' family histories
Hewetson family
John Hewetson senior (1769-1839)
John was born on 16 April 1769 to Thomas and Isabel in Ravenstonedale. At the age of ten he was indentured for seven years to a London Citizen and Carpenter, Jonathan Hook of Canterbury Square, Southwark (7 December 1779). By 1798 he had returned to Ravenstonedale when marrying Mary Smith on the 16 December. The couple remained in the village and in the subsequent years had three sons: William, John and Thomas. John senior died in Wigton, Westmoreland, at seventy years of age in September 1839.
Sons
William Hewetson (1801-1864)
William was born on 11 October 1801 in Ravenstonedale and baptised by the end of that year at Presbyterian Chapel. There is no known record of an apprenticeship but presumably he trained as an upholsterer. In 1838 he was married (age 37) to Ann Bradberry. The couple were soon in London because by 1841 he was working as an upholsterer and he, Ann, and their two-year-old son, John (born in London), were living in Oxford Street with a group of upholsterers: Frederick Chadwick (age 25); Robert Hunter (age 20); and Thomas Hutchinson (age 15). These men were presumably working as William's upholsterers because William was listed as the head of household [1841 census].
By 1851 William, Ann and their son, John were living at 185 Oxford Street, where they remained for the rest of William's life. By 1861 there were several new journeymen upholsterers from Westmoreland living with them: Thomas Bradberry (age 31); Joseph H Shaw (age 21); and Michael Milner (age 17). They also had two servants in the household: Ann Kettle, described as a 'general servant' (age 26), and William Russell, a 68 year old 'waiting master' [1851 & 1861 census records].
William died on 7 Jul 1864 at his home in Oxford Street: 'The Will of William Hewetson late of 185 Oxford Street in the Parish of Marylebone in the County of Middlesex Upholsterer and Warehouseman deceased who died 7 July 1864 at 185 Oxford Street aforesaid was proved at the Principal Registry by the oath of John Hewetson of Oxford Street aforesaid Upholsterer the son one of the Executors. Effects under £10,000. Resworn at the Stamp Office December 1864 Under £8,000 [Index of Wills & Administrations, 29 July 1864].
There are no known records for William's and Ann's son, John after 1861.
John Hewetson (1806-1876)
Like his brother, William John was born and baptised in Ravenstonedale, born on 31 July 1806 and baptised at the Presbyterian Chapel on 31 August 1806. There is also no record of an apprenticeship. he may be the John Hewetson recorded in local directories as a cabinet maker at Basin, Pimlico, London in 1829. He married Harriet Blanch Newberry on 30 April 1844 at St George's Bloomsbury, London.
John appears to have been well-established in London when recorded in the 1851 census which records him as a 'house furnisher' employing twenty men. He and his wife, Harriet, were by then living at 17 Alfred Place with two children: Henrietta Bertha (age 4), and Henry Walter (age 2). They also had four 'shopmen' from Westmoreland living with them: William Workmen (age 31); Henry Fothergill (age 29); William Milner (age 29); and John Hampson (age 16). Two female servants were also living there [1851 census].
Harriet Hewetson died in December 1855 and was buried in Hampstead on 15th of the month. Three years later, John was remarried to Adelaide Amelia Leslie French (a widower, age 27) on 15 March 1859 at St John, Hampstead.
By 1861 John was working as an upholsterer and employing fifteen men. He had then moved north from Alfred Place to 8 St James' Terrace, Regent's Park, where he lived with his wife, Adelaide, his sons Henry Walter (age 12) and Harold Isaac (age 1), along with three servants [1861 census].
John died on 18 April 1876 at Hwith House in Ravenstonedale: Will & probate granted 20 June 1876. The Will of John Hewetson formerly of Hampstead but late of 212 Tottenham Court Road of 17 Alfred Place Bedford Square and of 8 St James’ Terrace, Regent’s Park all in the County of Middlesex and of Hwith House Ravenstonedale in the County of Westmoreland Upholsterer who died 18 April 1876 at Hwith House was proved at the Principal Registry by Adelaide Amelia Hewetson of 8 St James’ Terrace Widow the Relect one of the surviving Executors. Effects under £40,0000. Resworn January 1878 under £45,000' [Index of Wills & Administration, 1876]. Adelaide was a widow for the following forty-four years, dying on 16 April 1920 at Hwith House.
Neither of the Hewetson's sons are known to have worked in the family business. Henry was recorded as a grocer living in Tangridge, Surrey with his wife, Effie (age 20), a servant and three business-related employees: a 'grocer's clerk' and two 'grocer's assistants. He died on 17 December 1887 and his will was probated on 2 January 1888. There is no known information for Harold Isaac.
Thomas Hewetson (1807-1881)
The third Hewetson son was also born and baptised in Ravenstonedale (9 May 1807). In 1828 he was listed as a joiner and builder in the village but further documentation of his early life is scant and unreliable. He may be the Thomas Hewetson recorded in local directories in 1839 as a wood carver and cabinet maker at 8 Robert Street, Bedford Row, near Charing Cross, London. By 1851 he was recorded as a house furnisher at 204 Tottenham Court Road with a foreman named Robert Thexton (age 30) and a housekeeper, Ann Udale (age 29) [1851 census]. Nine years later (7 June 1860) Thomas and Anne were married at St Mary, Islington.
The following year the couple was living in a house next door to the Globe Tavern in Highbury, Islington, with their one-year-old son, Thomas, and a servant called Mary Ann Fox (age 20).
The Globe Tavern, 204 Blackstock Road at the corner of Elwood Street, c. 1880. The pub is now named Gunners after the Arsenal football team around the corner. Photo provided by Vincent O'Loughlin.
Within ten years the family had moved to 199 Camden Road, St Pancras with their three children: Thomas (age 11); Mary (age 8); Anne (age 5); and a servant, Emma Attige (age 23). By 1861 Thomas was described as a cabinet maker [1861 & 1871 census].
A 1880 directory lists Thomas at two addresses: 199 Camden Road NW and The Lane in Ravenstonedale. The 1881 census shows the family living at 199 Camden Road; Thomas was then 72 years of age. The household also included his wife, Anne (age 59); his son, Thomas (age 21); and his two daughters: Mary (a cashier, age 18) and Anne (age 15), the two girls both described as 'scholars'; along with a servant girl from Westmoreland, Ruth Chamney (age 25) [1881 census]. Thomas Hewetson died that year, on the 25th of April. His probate notice stated: 'Thomas Hewetson, late of 200, 203 and 204 Tottenham Court Road and of 197 Camden Road, all in the county of Middlesex, Upholder who died 25 April 1881 at 197 Camden Road was proved at the Principal Registry by Thomas Hewetson of Tottenham Court Road Upholder the Son the other Executor. Sworn in May 1881 at £25,000 and again on 14 February 1882 with a personal estate of £15,918 16s' [[Index of Wills & Administration, 1882].
In 1891 Thomas junior (age 32) was recorded as living with his maternal uncle, Septimus Udale, a farmer (age 51), at 16 Dovecote Gill, Sedbergh, West Riding, Yorkshire [1891 census].
Milner family
William Milner (1826-1887)
William was born in Ravenstonedale in 1826 to John (age 45), a farmer, and Agnes (age 40). In 1841 he was fifteen years of age, living with his parents and younger siblings: Stephen (age 13); Ruth (age 11); John (age 4); Margaret (age 2); and Henry (age 1) [1841 census]. By 1851 he had made his way to London and was described as a 'shopman' living with John Hewetson at 17 Alfred Place.
Ten years on and William had established himself as an upholsterer, living at 33 Park Road, Camden Town with his wife, Annie (age 28) and four children: William (age 5); James (age 3); Charles (age 1); and Anna (1 month). There were also four servants in the household. The family remained in Park Road, moving to no. 47 by 1871. By this date they had more children although some were not listed: Charles; (age 11); Bertha ( (age 10); Camilla (age 8); HV (age 6); Amy (age 4); Lily (age 3); and Maude (age 1), along with three servants [1871 census]. The 1881 census shows the Milners at the same address with a few of their children and five servants.
William Milner died in 1887 at the age of sixty-five: 'The Will of William Milner late of 47 Park Road Haverstock Hill and of Tottenham Court Road both in the County of Middlesex Esquire who died on 9 April 1887 at 47 Park Road was proved at the Principal Registry by Annie Milner of 47 Park Road Widow the Relief and William Ernest Milner of Tottenham Court Road Upholsterer the Son two of the Executors. Personal estate £32,950 2s 2d' [Index of Wills and Administrations, 1887].
Michael Milner (1844-1880)
Michael was born about 1844, also in Ravenstonedale. The 1851 census records him living in the village with his mother, Agnes, described as a farmer and head of household, three brothers and two sisters. By 1861 he had moved to London and was working as an upholsterer journeyman for William Hewetson at 185 Oxford Street. This must have been a short-lived venture because by 1871 he had returned to Ravenstonedale to work as a farmer and was married to Marie [1851, 1861 & 1871 census].
Michael Milner died at the age of thirty-six in West Derby, Lancashire during the winter of 1880.
Robert Thexton (1821-1889)
Robert was born in 1821 to Thomas and Isabella at Fell End in Ravenstonedale. There is no known information to inform his early life; the first citing is the 1851 census showing living with the house furnisher, Thomas Hewetson at 204 Tottenham Court Road. Robert was established as a London upholsterer by 1861, the census describing him as the head of household at 203 & 204 Tottenham Court Road, along with three men described as assistant salesmen, the first two from Ravenstonedale: John Fawcett (age 29) and Richard Rnewstuble (age 19); William Peart from Tottenham and a housekeeper, Elizabeth Lowther from Shoreditch (age 29) [1851 & 1861 census].
By 1871 fifty-year-old Robert was working as a cabinet maker and upholsterer and employing twenty-eight people. His household at 203 & 204 Tottenham Court Road included a niece from Ravenstonedale, Elizabeth Thexton (age 35), who worked as a housekeeper; and three assistant salesmen, two who had remained with Robert: John Fawcett and William Perat; and a young man from Bedale, Yorkshire, George Whitton (age 23) [1871 census]. By 1875 he had moved to 17 Gordon Place in Kensington and by 1880 also had an address in Ravenstonedale at Sprint Gill. He was living in Kensington with two female servants in 1881: Ellen Barker and Ann Starling [1871 & 1881 census].
Robert never married. He died on 20 September 1889 in Kensington at 11 Argyll Road: 'Index of Wills & Administration; Robert Thexton 13 November 1889: The Will with a Codicil of Robert Thexton late of Tottenham Court Road and of 11 Argyll Road Kensington both in the County of Middlesex Upholsterer who died 20 September 1889 at 11 Argyll road was proved at the Principal Registry by William Thexton of Low Sprint Gill Ravenstonedale in the County of Westmoreland Farmer and Robert Thexton of 22 Bank Street Greenock in North Britain Schoolmaster the Nephews and Alfred James Shepheard and Beaumont Shepheard both of 31 and 32 Finsbury Circus in the City of London Solicitors the Executors. Personal Estate £20,787 13s 8d [Index of Wills and Administrations, 1889].
William Peart (1842-1912)
William was born in Tottenham, London in 1842 to Thomas and Hannah. By 1861 he was working as an assistant salesman for Robert Thexton at 203 & 204 Tottenham Court Road where he remained for at least another ten years [1861 & 1871 census]. By 1891 he was living at 10 Bruce Grove, Tottenham, described as 'living on his means', and was married to Alice Amelia (age 26) from Ramsgate, Kent. They had four children: Hannah Ruth (age 6); William Bruce (age 3); and twins, Margaret and Robert Eustace (age 1). The household also included his niece, Hannah Elizabeth Hadlow (age 34) and a servant, Jane Williams (age 21).
The family remained at the address in Tottenham, the 1901 census describing William's occupation as 'Independent'. There were three servants working for the family: A cook, Jenny Biggs (age 23); a housemaid, Mary A. Inssey (age 17); and a coachman, Frederick Manville (age 34). In 1911 William was sixty-nine years of age and described as living on 'private means'. His four children were still living at home with their parents, their eldest son, William Bruce also described as of 'private means', and one of their twins, Robert Eustace (age 21) was working as a 'solicitor's articled clerk'. William was perhaps unwell by this time because there was a nurse living in the house, Jane Reid (age 34), along with a housemaid, Ethel Olive (age 20) and a cook, Louisa Sargeant (age 46).
William died at seventy years of age on 5 April 1912: 'Peart, William of 10 Bruce-grove Tottenham Middlesex died 5 April 1912. probate London August to Charles Esau Burrows solicitor William Bruce Peart of no occupation and Robert Eustace Peart articled clerk. Effects £44,280 18s 11d [Index of Wills and Administrations, 1912].
The firm
Newspaper advertisements state that the firm was established in 1825, however, the first known documentary records of the business are insurance policies purchased in 1840 from Sun Fire Office on the two premises setup by William and John Hewetson. The Oxford Street property was apparently William's home as the insurance policy simply described it as a dwelling house with offices, stables and loft, with no cabinet work done on the premises, insured for £1350 with an additional entry for the plate glass in the shop front, valued at £50. The total premium came to 2l. 3s. The Tottenham Court Road property with adjacent premises behind in Alfred News was listed for Thomas and insured for £1100 (premium £1/8/6).
Advertisement in The Tablet, Saturday 7 June 1890, p. 910
Over the years the brothers' occupations were listed in various ways: as bed and mattress makers at the two properties {Kelly's Directory, 1845] and as upholsterers and bedding manufacturers with Thomas at an additional address in Wardour Street as a cabinet inlayer [1851 London Post Office Directory].
By 1871 Thomas Thexton and Michael Milner had joined the firm, then listed as Hewetson (Thomas) & Thexton, bed and mattress makers, bedstead makers, upholsterers and cabinet makers and Hewetson & Milner, with addresses across north Soho and Bloomsbury: 200, 203 & 204 Tottenham Court Road; 3 & 4 North Crescent, Bedford Square, 4, 5, 15, 16, 19 & 20 Alfred Mews, Tottenham Court Road; 13 & 14 Chenies Street, with store rooms at 237 Euston Road [1871 Kellys' Directory]. In 1882 there were two partnerships listed at the same addresses as above and providing the same services: Hewetson & Milner and Hewetson, Thexton & Peart. It may be that William Peart retired from the partnership in the 1880s because he was no longer included in directory listings.
Advertisement for Hewetson, Milner & Thexton at 200-215 Tottenham Court Road. The Furniture Gazette, 15 January 1884.
In the 1890s Hewetson, Milner & Thexton Ltd continued to trade as cabinet makers and upholsterers as well as house furnishers, carpet warehousemen and decorators. Advertisements promoted bedroom suites and carved oak furniture manufactured by the firm and noted that they were also dealers and collectors of antique furniture. Cabinet Maker & Art Furnisher, February 1893, recorded the commission of furnishings for one of the palaces for the Emperor of Siam in Bangkok. This was a large order of 'elaborately carved mahogany'.
During the early years of the 20th century the City of London Corporation Estate, landlords for many of the firm’s buildings, planned improvements in the area necessitating a move of factories from Alfred Mews and North Crescent to additional premises in Tottenham Court Road and rents were increased.
In February and March 1907 Hewetson, Milner & Thexton Ltd. held several clearance sales and The London Gazette of 19 March 1907 announced the forced sale of their premises after its bankruptcy. The firm’s leasehold properties at this date comprised ‘numbers 209, 210, 211, and 212 Tottenham Court Road, numbers 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10, Chenies Street, numbers 15, 16, 17, and 18 Alfred Place. It was a vast space covering a ground area of upwards of eleven thousand square feet. The firm also occupied two dwelling houses and engineering works in the rear thereof, known as number 44, 46, and 44A, Whitfield Street, with a ground area of about three thousand four hundred square feet’.
Sources: DEFM; Agius, British Furniture 1880-1915 (1978); Barty-King, Maples Fine Furnishers, A Household Name for 150 Years (1992).