LYSDON HOUSE
In the late eighteenth century a small cottage stood on the site now occupied by the Co-op. The site was purchased by Francis Hall, a merchant from Hull, in the 1790s and he had a grand house built, which he called Lysdon House.
Francis Hall (1746-1831) married Mary (1750-1824) and they had at least three children: Isabella (1772-1824), Francis (1786-1843) and Mary (1789-1806). There is a memorial to the family in Hessle Church. When Hall died the house passed to his son Francis Hall jnr who sold the house to William Burstall (who may have been his brother in law).
Burstall is recorded here in 1851, 1861 and 1871. He was another Hull merchant, dealing in timber, and later shipping and insurance broking. He married Jane and they had at least three children: Ann (1834), John and William (d 1852 on the way to Melbourne).
By 1881 Elizabeth Schofield and her three daughters were using Lysdon House as a boarding school for girls. The school enjoyed some success as it took scholars from across the country and operated into the 1890s. Elizabeth seems to have died in the 1890s but the daughters continued to run the school.
By 1901 the three daughters were no longer teaching but operating a boarding house for professional gentlemen, such as architects and engineers, on the site. The daughters were still living in Hessle in 1911 in a house of fifteen rooms which may well be the same property.
By the 1920s the building had become a store and, by 1937 it had become one of the many grocery shops run by William Jackson and Son of Hull.
A serious fire occurred during building work which caused damage to the store. It was later run by Grandways (Jackson’s supermarket marque) and Somerfield.
Though there is a suggestion that Lysdon House was demolished some of the remaining brickwork and features are definitely very old and it may be that parts of the original house still exist in the present building, whilst there have been many alterations.
If you look at the photos and compare them to the present structure you can pick out examples of the old building such as windows and doors.
The house originally faced east (as can be seen in some photographs) with the entrance featuring a splendid porch to provide protection from the weather and its shape can still be traced in the brickwork. On the south face the bay windows on the upper floors have been removed. The chimneys have also been removed and the roof simplified.
Hull Co-operative Society opened its first store in Hessle on Gladstone Street in 1921 but by 1926 had moved to larger premises on Swinegate. This shop closed in the early 1980s. In recent years the Co-op took over the site in The Square.