Waine, William; W. M.

131-139 Newington Butts, Crampton Street, Frederick Place and Fraser Street, Newington Butts, London; cabinet maker, upholsterer, iron and brass bedstead maker, mattress maker and house furnisher (fl.1848-86)

The firm was listed in the London Post Office Directory 1871 and The Furniture Gazette Directory, 1873. 

The Furniture Gazette, 12 February 1876, recorded that the firm was stablished in 1848 as a single shop and by 1876 had six houses fronting onto Crampton Street, with workshops, a counting house, packing rooms and retail shops. The size of its house furnishing operation was compared to Shoolbred, Maples & Co. etc. The range of goods included drawing room, dining room, library & bedroom furniture, cabinet ware, tables and chairs. Cabinet, chair and bed makers, inlayers, mattress & chair stuffers polishers and artists and inlayers were employed by the firm and goods were sent throughout Great Britain, Ireland, the colonies and other parts of the world. Waine’s concern for the health of his staff and his business ethos was indicated by the placards stating ‘Cleanliness is next to Godliness’ and ‘Waste Not, Want Not’ displayed throughout the work rooms. 

Warne was listed in The Furniture Gazette Directory, 1876 & 1877 as bed, bedding & mattress manufacturers, metal bedstead makers and cabinet makers. He advertised as a furniture maker in The Furniture Gazette from the issue of 26 August 1876 onwards and he advertised for a sales person for his wholesale department in The Furniture Gazette, 19 May 1877. 

In 1877 a court case involving Mr William Andrews, who purporting to be a Metropolitan Police Officer, visited Waine’s premises in Newington Butts and made spurious claims.  Mr Warne & Mr John Adley, the manager, both acted as witnesses at the hearing.  Judgement was a fine of £5 for the accused.

By 1886 the firm had the telegraphic address of ‘Waine, London’ [The Furniture Gazette, 1 January 1886].