Grocers & Merchants

London merchants of 1775-1825

During the years 1775 - 1825, dealing in provisions, was one of the more common retail trades in London. Insurance records now make it difficult to distinguish between retail, and wholesale provisioner businesses, unless it shows the warehouse distinction and / or quantities of stock. There were in fact three overlapping groups of trades carried out by retailer grocers ¹:- Firstly. grocers and cheesemongers; secondly, chandlers and other provisions including tea dealers; thirdly, the oilmen. In practice many individual businesses were involved in more than one of these activities. The distinction between the chandler and the grocer, cheesemonger, tea dealer or oilman was mostly about the scale of the business and the degree of specialisation.

Campbell's (London Tradesmen) ² dismissive description in 1747 would be echoed for the next century and more:

"The Chandler's-Shop deals in all Things necessary for the Kitchen in small Quantities. He is partly Cheesemonger, Oil-Man, Grocer, Distiller, Etc. This last article brings him the Greatest Profit, and at the same time renders him the most obnoxious dealer in and about London." Campbell is rather more flattering towards the cheese maker, if dismissive again of the oilman. The Cheesemonger (is) a Retailer of Cheese, Butter, Eggs, Bacon and Ham. His Skill consists in the Knowledge of the Prices and Properties of these Kind of Goods… The Oil-Shop is furnished with Oils, Pickles, Soap, Salt, Hams...he is a mere Retailer"

Wikipedia: For traditional sailing ships, items that could be found in a chandlery might include: rosin, turpentine, tar, pitch (resin), linseed oil, whale oil, tallow, lard, varnish, twine, rope and cordage, hemp, oakum, tools (hatchet, axe, hammer, chisel, planes,lantern, nail, spike, boat hook, caulking iron, hand pump, marlinspike), brooms, mops, galley supplies, leather goods, andpaper. Wikipedia "Ship Chandler"

The grocer's shop could be described as an overlap which can be seen from Campbell's description of the grocer as one who deals in "Tea, Sugar, Coffee, Currants, Prunes, Figs, Almonds, Soap, Starch, Blues...Oils, Chocolate, Pickles.....

London merchants of 1780s named Carver

In 1787, Benjamin Carver, at 20 years of age either ran a grocer shop (or stall) or assisted in the store in Pitt Street, St Pancras, Marylebone. When this shop in St Pancras failed, Ben either established or joined another grocery store in Carnaby Street (or market), about 1500 metres away in Soho. This business also failed.

We learn from writings of this period that:

1. An individual’s access to finances was reflected in the area in which they took up residence: the richest lived in areas like Marylebone and Richmond, whilst the less fortunate were drawn to the squalid slums and suburbs of St Pancras and St Georges Fields.^[1]

2. Ignatius Sancho^[2] ran a little grocery shop in Westminster, London in 1773. The "city had about 20,000 such shops at the time, selling such staples as sugar, tea and tobacco" and the grocer tended to "counter and customers - taking tea with favoured clients" and possibly a partner "in the background, breaking down the sugar loaves into the smaller parcels and packets required for everyday use".

3. Carnaby market lay behind buildings on the East side of the street and was accessible via laneways. This can be seen in Horwood's map of London, 1792-1799. Was the established marketplace adversly affecting the street traders? Did Benjamin set up a market stall there and trade only on market days? If so where did he store the grocers products for sale at other times?

Further investigation is required as to issues which may have been relevant to his business failures.

[1] “La Généreuse Nation!” Britain and the French Emigration 1792–1802” By Callum Whittaker

[2] Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) as stated by Rehann King - refer book website

Other merchant families of the Carver name

• Thomas Allen of Sheffield, grocer : A document dated 1793 records Rev. John Carver and his wife Sarah (daughter of Thomas Allen of Sheffield, grocer and wife Elizabeth Middleton) of Morthen^{3 (Yorkshire)} as a life tenant of property in Morthen, under the will of his grandfather Marmaduke Carver of Chesterfield. John and Sarah had 2 children: Sarah of Chesterfield, and Marmaduke M. of Leam (changed his name to Marmaduke M. Middleton). Through the failure of the male line the Middleton estates at Eyam descended to Jonathan Oxley of Sheffield. On the death of his son in 1783 they passed to the Rev. Carver, who inherited the estates through his mother.

• Mr. Carver grocer in Olde-Street Road, London, January, 1773; (General Evening Post (London, England), January 12, 1773 - January 14, 1773; Issue 6125)

• Mr. Carver grocer in Thames Street, London, September, 1775; (Public Advertiser (London, England), Tuesday, September 5, 1775; Issue 14328)

• Charles Carver, grocer

• William Carver, Grocer

• Edward Carver, merchant.

• John Carver - Source: Carolyn (ccgibson77@outlook.com): https://convictrecords.com.au/#.XtWTJ-ifm-s.mailto? In the ‘Community Contributions’ notes - below: (Jennifer Saxby, 2016) ack. Ben’s Father as the Rev. John Carver (No proof however, as a grocer he was signed as a supplier and on a register of duties paid for Apprentices’ Indentured - (1910 - 1811) it is on Ancestry but it was through ‘Carver family surrey Jamaica’ (lead). As an MP in Middlesex London John Carver’s (1) home was in the Parish of Pancras, Middlesex.

History of Soho (extract)

• 16th century:, the Carnaby area was open fields used by the Court as a hunting ground. The huntsman used the cry “Soho” rather like Tally o and the area became known as Soho Fields.

• 17th century: Maps of 1647 show a few buildings along Swallow Street, a windmill and a gaming house. An area known as Six Acre Close was owned by Sir William Poultney. Following the plaques of the mid 17th century and the Great Fire of 1666, the pressure to build increased, land to the east was used as Pest Houses and plaque pits.

• Building leases were granted to Richard Tyler and William Lowndes; Tyler built a large house in 1683 on the east side of what is now Carnaby Street, and for reasons unknown called it Karnaby House. The later street adopted the name.

• Development continued after Sir William Poultney’s death in 1691 and the freehold passed to William Lowndes.

• Lowndes continued the development of the area and built Lowndes, later Karnaby Market

• The original houses built in the 17th century were rebuilt about 1720s and some of these buildings still stand.

• The market was redeveloped in the 1820s to provide the present Newburgh Street, Marshall Street and 2/8 Ganton Street block.

Research

1. The Structure of Industry in London 1775-1825 ` by David Barnett, MA (May, 19, 1996 - Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy) - the chandler and the grocer, cheesemonger, tea dealer or oilman.

2. R. Campbell's London Tradesmen, printed in 1747 - "Being a Compendious View of All the Trades, Professions, Arts, Both Liberal and Mechanic, Now Practised in the Cities of London and Westminster. Calculated for the Information of Parents, and Instruction of Youth in Their Choice of Business. ... By R. Campbell, Esq," (Google eBook).

3. Morthen is a hamlet in South Yorkshire in England, lying between Brampton-en-le-Morthen and Laughton-en-le-Morthen. Morthen lay in the Viking district also named "Morthen". Wikipedia