School of William Squire - 1: Wardour Street and after

It is well-known that William Squire was explicitly succeeded in his saw-making business at 102 Wardour Street, Soho by John Peters - recent research aided by Westminster rate-books has tightened the dates of Squire trading from Wardour Street to 1758-1781; & Peters to 1781-circa 1792 (his death).


(copyright (c) The Trustees of the British Museum)

Peters is first explicitly covered as a saw-maker at #102 in a Sun Insurance Policy ref: MS11936/298/453227 taken out by Squire in December 1781; there are several trade-directory listings for Peters, within the next decade; which illustrate the qualitative strengths - & weaknesses - of data from this kind of source; notoriously, there was a great deal of copying between competing publications:

The earliest trade directory listings appear to be from the 1784 Bailey's British Directory (previous 1781 & 1783 Bailey's Directories had not listed Peters, or Squire) - which 4-volume most-of-England Directory was an immense effort of compilation for its time:



. . . & a very similar entry in the 1784 then in the 1785 Kent London Directory (previous Kent Directories had not listed Peters, or Squire):



Later, there are similar listings in the 1789 Wakefield's London Directory, & 1791 Universal British Directory (volume 1); but . . . .

After John Peters' death; while it was in name George Stevens who took out a Sun Insurance Policy ref: MS 11936/389/600540 for #102 in the Spring of 1792; it explicitly named: Mrs Peters saw maker suggesting she continued her late husband's business; as supported by the phrasing of this entry in Wakefield's Directory of 1794 (which contained no entry for Stevens):



So we can assume in this instance that Roger Wakefield's agents were aware of this change in ownership, rather than casually re-listing without checking.

In any event, George Stevens took out a Sun Insurance ref: MS 11936/401/626105 on #102 for himself alone in February 1794, yet left for George Yard (adjacent #22 Crown Street, at the Soho/St. Giles boundary) within a few months; on or before June 1794 . . . then half a dozen years later returned adjacent Wardour Street to #25 Berwick Street on or between September 1800 & Spring of 1801; trading there as a saw-maker until 1812; with an earliest Trade Directory listing in Holdens 1802:



This section below, of Horwood's invaluable 1790s London survey, with Berwick Street S/N to the West, & Wardour Street to the East; shows how these addresses backed onto each other, across Wardour mews.



An 1819 Sun Insurance Policy ref: MS 11936/482/958775 for Thomas Wildey, the next tenant after Stevens at #25 Berwick Street, explicitly covered 2 mews-workshops behind #102 Wardour Street (see also Edward Williams, below).

As an aside, Thomas Sheraton - yes THE Thomas Sheraton - occupied between 1796 & 1798 a sort of mews-cottage at #98 Wardour Street, in notably meagre circumstances, located behind & between #25 Berwick Street & #102 Wardour Street: it was from this address that Sheraton published (& distributed) the 1796 2nd edition of his: Appendix to: The Cabinet-maker & Upholsterer's Drawing-book - having moved there from his earlier 1790s address of #106 Wardour Street.



Following Mrs Peters/Peters & Co./George Stevens; #102 Wardour Street was the address from which Edward Williams & his son Robert conducted their saw-making business from around May 1794 - the first date of being named in a Sun Insurance Policy ref: MS 11936/401/628281 - until 1800, when they took the place of George Stevens in George Yard, Soho . . . but as can be seen in this page of the 1801 London Land Tax Register for #s 102-111 Wardour Street; Edward Williams had shifted from #102 & its "two setts back shops" (presumably workshops in Wardour mews) to move - at least his shopfront - briefly to #105 Wardour Street:



. . . . this move is reflected in Williams' entry in Holden's Directory for 1802:



Research continues into the intriguing tale of Messrs Williams . . .




. . . above is a presumed & apparently unique survivor of their 1800-1808 George Yard/Crown Street works (just South of Oxford Street).

(part 2 of this piece will cover 2 of William Squire's apprentices)