Stennett, John Holbrook(e)

London; cabinet maker (1818-1893)

John Holbrook(e) Stennett was born in Shoreditch in 1818. In 1841 he was living with his mother and siblings in the Parish of St Andrew, Holborn. By 1861 he was a freeman and salesman working in an upholsterers' shop at 18 Manchester Street, Marylebone (1841 & 1861 census).

Philip Webb's address book listed Mr Stennett of Wilmot Street, who made furniture for Morris & Co. about 1865, including furniture supplied to Edward Burne Jones. However, in 1867 the firm’s manager Warrington Taylor complained to Philip Webb about Stennetts’ prices, so his connection to Morris & Co was probably short lived.

By 1871 he was a master cabinet maker employing two men at 18 Manchester Street, and by 1881 he was operating the same sized business at 33 Calthorpe Street (1871 & 1881 census).

From 1890 he was listed at 18 Wharton Street as a cabinet maker and upholsterer. He died in 1893.      

Sources: Ellwood, ‘Three Tables by Philip Webb’, Furniture History (1996); ed. Mason, William Morris (2021).