REMINISCENCES OF OLD SHEFFIELD

CHAPTER IV.

THE OLD TOWN HALL, HIGH STREET.

Scene-The 'Beehive." Host, Mr. LEIGHTON. Period-1873.

Present-LEIGHTON, TWISS, LEONARD, EVERARD and WRAGG..

LEONARD: A very old gentleman of my acquaintance, aged 91, has given me
an interesting account of the old Town Hall, at the Church gates. " I
remember it," he said,	" very well. It was not a large building. On
the ground floor was the 'lobby,' or gaol, called Sam Hall's parlour.
There culprits used to be confined, and you could go and talk to them
through a round hole in the door, such as you may now see in the doors
of country pinfolds. Sam Hall	was the gaoler, and he also sold pots
and such like to make	out his living. Above the lobby was the hall
itself, approached by an external flight of steps facing down High
street. I remember Wilberforce coming to address the electors of
Yorkshire from those steps. A silly man, named Josiah, or 'Jesse,' from
Grenoside, was among the crowd, and somebody put him on a great wig.
This made a lot of fun, and caused some confusion; and Tom Smith , the
constable, who kept the 'Blue Boar,' down Westbar, 'nobbled' the
disorderly ones to keep them quiet."

TWISS: I have no doubt that speech of Wilberforce's was the one
delivered on the 9th of May, 1807, when he was accompanied by Mr.
Lascelles.

EVERARD : " Jesse," to whom Leonard refers, was a well known and popular
character in Sheffield in those days. His proper name was " Josiah," but
he generally went by the soubriquet of " Jesse;" and, from some of his
unreasonable doings, the remark is still current and applicable to a
person who has done any foolish thing, " What a Jesse he must needs be!
" He was a tall, well   -built, and powerful man, living at Grenoside,
near Greno wood. His visits to Sheffield were very frequent. At that
time the coaches to Hudders field and Halifax ran that way; and Jesse,
on an evening, when tired with his day's rambles in the town, decidedly
preferred riding home on the coach to walking. But then, there was the
"fare," which he neither could nor would pay; so the coachman, until he
learnt better, left him behind burn ing with indignation and threatening
revenge. After such altercation, it was not unfrequently found that in
the night time large stones had been placed on the road in the most
awkward places, with the evident design of upsetting the coach. The act
could never be traced to the perpetrator, but. so shrewd a suspicion was
entertained, that it was deemed a prudent thing to let Jesse ride home;
and as long as this was done, no large stones were found on the road,
and the passengers were amused by his talk. One of his peculiarities was
that he always carried a lengthy walking staff of some kind; but he more
especially preferred a long broom-handle. On coming to Sheffield without
a staff, he would walk into some house, look out the sweeping-brush, and
in an instant would be seen striding off at great pace with the "
brush-steale," a number of women and children raising the hue and cry at
his heels. Another of his eccentricities was his attendance on all the
funerals he heard of. He was very impartial in paying this mark of
respect, whether he happened to know the family or not. The attraction
was the custom of giving to those invited to the funeral a "burial
cake," being a large plum cake, before " biscuits " came into general
use. This privi lege of a "mourner" was always accorded to Jesse. One
day, after attending a funeral in the neighbourhood of Broad lane,
having one of these large cakes in each of his coat pockets, he asked a
carter, who had just been de livering a load of coals, to allow him to
ride in the cart. Jesse got in, and as he sat on the edge of the door,
the man slyly uncottered it, so that he had not ridden far before the
door came down, and Jesse fell on his back; and whilst he was gathering
up his cakes the man drove off. This little incident was related to me
by one who witnessed it. Another of Jesse's peculiarities was his
extreme fondness for singing and music. At that time the " oratorios "
were often held in the Parish Church, on which occasions he was sure to
put in an appearance and attempt to get into the place-of course without
payment. On being repulsed by the doorkeepers, he would walk about in
front of the church, and when the performance was fairly begun, with his
very powerful voice he struck up at the church doors the chorus, " Lift
up your heads, 0 ye gates ; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors ;
and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? The Lord
of Hosts; He is the King of Glory." This had the effect of disturbing
the audience and embarrassing the performers, so that the doorkeepers
soon received orders to let poor " Jesse " come in ; on which he at once
became silent and absorbed, and seemed to enjoy the musical treat with
great satisfaction. But I ought to apologise, my friends, for taking up
so much of your time.

LEIGHTON: That old Town Hall was built in 1700, and was pulled down in
1808. It stood slightly within the churchyard, and projected right out
into the middle of the way, where the open space at the entrance to East
Parade now is.

LEONARD : Before it was " Sam, Hall's parlour," it was Sam Wibberley's."
We get some idea of its limited dimensions from Nield's "Remarks on the
prisons of Yorkshire " (Gentleman's Mag. lxxv. 301), which say : " The
lobbies under the Town Hall are three dark cells, which open into a
narrow passage, the largest eight feet square by six feet high. Each
door has an aperture of six inches diameter. There is an offensive sewer
in the corner of each cell." Since Nield adds that, although it was
daylight when he went in, he needed a lighted candle, we may conclude
that these were not very pleasant places in which to be confined.

LEIGHTON: Adjoining the Town Hall, facing down High street, were the
stocks, afterwards removed to Paradise square; and the pillory.

TWISS : There was a curious illustration of the use of the stocks in
1790, when " nine men were put into them for tippling in a public-house
during church time; and two boys were made to do penance in the church
for playing at 'trip' during divine service, by standing in the midst of
the church with their 'trip sticks' erect."

LE0NARD : Well, we punish the former offence now, but in a different
way. I'm not quite sure that we are wise in winking at the playing that
goes off.

TWISS : There is another good story of the stocks, in connection with
old Justice Wilkinson. A little girl in the street was incited by some
mischievous fellow to go up to a w,alking along, and to say

They burnt his books, And sear'd hit; rooks,

And set his stacks on fire

the well-known doggrel relating to the rioters' attack on Broomhall. The
child innocently went in front of the gentleman and, bobbing a curtsey,
lisped out the lines. " What, my dear?" asked the Vicar-for it was none
other. The child repeated it. " Yes, my dear, " said he, " come along
with me;" and leading her by the hand, took her to the stocks, to her
great distress.

LEIGHTON: Justice Wilkinson had a patriotic sympathy with the fathers
and mothers of illegitimate children, from an idea that, considering the
drain of the war, it was a public benefit to add to the population. Some
sayings of his, a little too broad for reproduction in print, are yet
told by the choicest of our old story-tellers.

LEONARD : It was in 1791 that that attack on Broomhall was made. The
ringleader, one Bennett, was executed for it at York.

EVERARD: I have always understood that the individual executed was a
poor, half-witted young man, whom the mob purposely incited and pushed
forward through the library window, to commit the incendiary act of
setting the books and papers on fire. Had the event taken place now, the
unfortunate lad, instead of being hanged, would in all probability have
been sent to an asylum during her Majesty's pleasure. This case, I have
been told, produced at the time such an impression on the public mind as
led to the doing away with the law, or custom, of giving " blood-money."
1 say law or custom, because I have heard it denied that any such law
was ever enacted by the British Parliament. As matter of fact, however,
it must have possessed some shadow of legal authority, as it was a thing
practised in two instances, at least, in " Old Sheffield ;" and after
the Broomhall riot the practice ceased to exist. My father was one of
those who, out of curiosity, went as an on-looker to that scene of
outrage, but, believing that the military would soon put in an
appearance, he began to make his way homewards. In Black Lamb lane (now
Broomhall street, but then a narrow country road), his retreat was,
however, intercepted by the approach, at full speed, with noise of
jingling scabbards, mingled with oaths and curses, of a detachment of
cavalry. He jumped over the field wall and lay hidden until they had
passed. Then, concluding that there would certainly F be another troop
soon following, he decided to go down the lane (now Hanover street)
towards Sheffield moor, and by that roundabout way get home. He had not,
however, gone far ill that direction, before another party of soldiers
made their appearance, headed by the colonel and Justice Wilkinson
himself. He had then with agility again to perform the climbing and
hiding feat, and thus managed to escape the dangers of his nocturnal
ramble on that clear moonlight night.

LEONARD: It appears from the Sheffield Register's account of the affair
that the cavalry in question consisted of a detachment of Light
Dragoons, sent over from Nottingham "in consequence of an application to
Government for them ;" and it seems very probable that if the unwonted
arrival of the soldiery had not suggested rioting to the mob, none would
have taken place. At the Cutlers' Feast that year the guests " were
almost frantic in their expressions of approbation of Mr. Wilkinson's
conduct ;" and the Mistress Cutler's party oil the following day, " with
that rapturous joy which females only elate ill a cause worthy of their
sex call express, not only drank his health - - . but nothing less than
acclamations of applause would satisfy their ardour and zeal."

TWISS : There are other anecdotes about Justice Wilkinson's doings as a
magistrate which may as well *be mentioned ill connection with the old
Town Hall. Being called upon oil one occasion to arbitrate between a
quarrelsome husband and wife, lie ordered that they should be locked up
together until they could agree. The discipline proved efficacious, for,
after a show of obstinacy, the refractory couple came to terms, and
announced their contrition by knocking upon the walls, as had been
arranged. Another is this: A lady, having quarrelled with her servant,
was required to appear before the Justice. She refused to go before "
Old Niddlety Nod " (a nickname given owing to a peculiar shaking of the
head caused by paralysis), and had to be fetched by a constable.. So you
refused to come before 'Old Niddlety Nod,' did you You are here now,
however, and 'Old Niddlety Nod ' orders you to pay the servant her wages
and the costs of the court."

LEONARD : That nickname reminds me of the description of Mr. Wilkinson
given by one living who remembers him. " He was, " said lie, "a fine,
venerable-looking old man ; very stately, but rather palsied when I saw
him. His head shook old family carriage with a pair of horses, and
Joshua Gregory, his clerk, used to stand behind like a footman. I was at
school at Chesterfield when the rioters went to Broomhall and ' burnt
his books, and scared his rooks, and set his stacks on fire.' My father
sent me word what mischief had been done at the Hall. After Justice
Wilkinson died, Joshua Gregory went into a tableknife concern. The firm
was Wostenholm and Gregory, but it did not continue long."

LEIGHTON: At the top of High street (now Pawson and Brailsford's,
stationers) was the confectionery shop of Mr. Benjamin Walker, who was
universally respected.

TWISS : You might go further back and speak of that corner when it was
in the occupation of the Heatons. The inscription on their gravestone
-which is the top slab of a tombstone-may still be read, near to the
Vicarage. The most prominent member of the family mentioned upon it is
"Thomas Heaton, late of this town, ironmonger, who died Dec. 19, 1734,
in the 48th year of his age. He was easy and agreeable in every path of
private life, and useful to the publick as a member of the three
governing bodyes of the Town, the Church, and the Free School, and died
generally lamented." Then follow the names of his wife and of a number
of their daughters, ending in " Hellen, the last survivor of this truly
Respectable Family, who departed this life, the 18th June, 1795." There
were formerly, ill front of the premises of which we ,ire speaking,
posts and chains, extending from below the church gates to the corner of
York street.

LEIGHTON: There is a tragic history connected with the daughter of
Benjamin Walker, of whom lie was exceedingly fond. She was admired by
all who knew her. It was " the old, old story "-she loved not wisely but
too well. At the time when the South Devon Militia was quartered in the
town the officers frequented the father's shop, and a broken heart was
the end.

On the premises next below, where Mr. Robinson and his  father  have
been established as watch and clock makers for  many years, was the
post-office, Nathaniel Lister being Post Master. I cannot fix the date
nearer than this-that it would be after 1810 and before 1815. At that
time London letters were brought by horse mail round by Worksop, and the
rider fired his pistol at the Market-place to notify his arrival. There
was then only one letter-carrier for the whole town-a female who lived
in Lee croft, and she carried the letters in a small hand basket,
covered with a white napkin. 		

WRAGG : I think her name was Taylor. We must not consider her duties to have been light simply from the smallness of the town. It was the price of the postage that was the cause.

LEONARD: I find recorded, on the 17th December, 1819, the death of
Thos. Taylor, of Lee croft, aged 74. " He had been for upwards of thirty
years the principal letter-carrier in this town ;" and the obituary
notice bestows on him a warm eulogy. I presume your female
letter-carrier would be his daughter.

TWISS : Taylor was the publisher of the " Antiquities of Sheffield," an
early attempt at topography, to which is added an account of the
ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Infirmary. The -imprint
is, " Sheffield, printed for and sold by T. Taylor, No. 7, Lee Croft,
and may be had at the Post Office; A. and E. Gales, in the Hart's-head ;
Slater, Bacon and Co., Snig Hill." It has no date, but it must have been
published about the end of the last century. Taylor was accustomed to go
into the country with a newsman's horn, selling newspapers.

WRAGG : At that time a letter to or from London cost tenpence. Supposing
the postage was to be raised to this sum now, we should not see the
present number of lettercarriers. In travelling now, a person can go to
London, or anywhere else, whenever he thinks proper, by railway ; not so
in coaching days. Then he would go to the coachoffice a few days or a
week `beforehand to bespeak a seat, and deposit a part or the whole of
the fare. When he went to London, some person or persons invariably
turned up to ask him, as a particular favour, to take a letter to drop
in the post-office at the place of his destination. Many people
discovered friends they did not know of but for this. One manufacturer
had letters enclosed in his to other manufacturers, to save the cost of
postage. About a century back nay, even less time ---it was considered
more dangerous to reach London than now Australia. At that time' " young
man just out of his time who bought a top coat would wear it as long as
he, lived, and then one of his sons would wear it for years. There was
then no old cloth worked up into new-the stuff was strong and durable.

EVERARD : Yes, things are greatly changed.

WRAGG : The other part of Mr. Robinson's shop was Mr. Saunders' auction
mart, before he removed into the premises in East Parade now occupied
by Mr. Bush. Mr. Saunders lived at the corner of Wilkinson street until his flight to America. Then at the corner of York street, now Mr. Stacey's pianoforte warehouse, was Mr. Butcher's draper's shop. It would look strangely
old-fashioned with its bowed windows, small panes, and steps leading up
into it, now; but at that time it was the largest draper's shop in the
town.

LEIGHTON: In those days there was no " selling off at an immense
sacrifice;" no bankrupt stock amounting to " £2 320. 17s. 6 3/4d.;" in
fact, there was no humbug. Mr. Butcher know that if his customers did
not come one day they would another. He prospered, and died a rich man.

WRAGG : Mr. Vennor, one of the founders of Queen Street Chapel, and
particular friend of the Rev. Jehoiada Brewer, was Mr. Butcher's
predecessor in the shop.

LEONARD : I believe that, in 1828, the shops between East Parade and
York street were occupied in the following order: Benjamin Walker,
confectioner; Thomas Robinson, watchmaker; William Saxton, bookseller;
and John Butcher, linen draper. With the exception of Mr. Saxton they
had all been there many years before that. Mr. Saxton was succeeded by
the late Mr. Samuel Harrison; Mr. Walker (some time between 1833 and
1837) by John Clarbour, and Mr. Clarbour in turn by Samuel Thompson, so
that the shop remained in the confectionery business for many years. In
Mr. Thompson's time it was, however, divided, and the upper portion was
occupied by Mrs. Lewis, hosier and staymaker. She was a daughter of the
Mr. Outram, of whom we shall have to speak lower down.

TWISS : In a shop at the lower corner of York street, (on the site of
that now occupied by Mr. Tomlinson, ironmonger), was, in 1787, Ezra
Ridgard, the well-known bookseller. It was Ridgard and Bennet, in 1797.

LEIGHTON: Afterwards (in 1817) Mr. Polack, a jeweller, was there; but
his end was very different from Mr. Butcher's, as he died in great
poverty. Next below was a carver and gilder, named Robert Henderson, to
whom old Mr. George Eadon was apprenticed. Henderson had himself been a
fellow-apprentice with Chantrey, at Ramsay's, an earlier carver and
gilder in High street. Chantrey painted Henderson's portrait.. Ramsay's
shop was lower down, where Rimington and Younge's bank was afterwards
built; but subsequently he occupied one higher up oil the opposite side
of the street. During his apprenticeship Chantrey rented and used as a
studio a little chamber at the top of what is now Hutton's yard. Later
he had a room at a High street confectioner's, named Botham.

WRAGG: And about here, too, earlier, was the shop of Nathan Andrews, the
watchmaker, murdered by Frank Fearn in 1782. But I shall have more to
say of this murderer when we get to another part of the town. There is
some question, however, as to whether his victim's shop was in High
street or in Church street.

EVERARD : I had the impression that it was at the top of the 0ld
Haymarket, about the middle of the street by the new Post-office,
running down to Sheaf street.

TWISS: And I have the belief that it was in Fargate, opposite the Old
Red House.

LEIGHTON :	Another High street worthy, who had his shop here, close
to the thoroughfare into Hartshead, still called Hawksworth's yard, was
Mr. George Hawksworth, quite a gentleman in position and manners. He was
accustonied to lend his family plate for the adornment of the Cutlers'
feasts of those days. He was one of the founders, and for many years one
of the principal directors of the original The unlucky scheme for
erecting the Commercial Bulidings (now Messrs. Levy's) for a post-
office,newsroom, and offices was of his orgination. The building was
sold by the mortgagee, and the shareholders got about ls. 6d. for each
£25 share. Mr. Hawksworth had " The Hills " on the Grimesthorpe road for
his country house., and was distinguished for his successful gardening.

TWiss : Gosling's plan, 1736, is the chief authority for saying that
High street was formerly called Prior gate ; and it is probable that
hereabouts was the Priory. It was said in 1800, " There are no remains
of the Priory, and its existence can only be known from old deeds, and
the right side of High street, cowing from the market, still retaining
among the oldest inhabitants the name of Prior row."

LEONARD : Pretty nearly every yard branching out of High street has a
history of its own ; and there are, or have been, quaint old places in
thein little heeded by the passer-by. There is the Old " Grey Horse,,"
for instance, which one of our local traditions represents as having
been the resting place of King John when once he passed through
Sheffield.

TWISS : It is simply a tradition. The house was, perhaps is now the'
property of the family of the Grirdler's.

LEIGHTON : In  Wilson's tobacco shop was the circulating library kept by
Mr Wilson - low and gloomy-which gave Young Sheffield of those days the
opportunity of reading the ---Old English Baron," the " Mysteries of
Udolpho," and the " Castle of Otranto, " for free libraries were not.

TWISS: I have an idea that Hawksworth's yard was once called Trippet's
yard. James Woollen, the stationer, who died in 1814, married Ann
Trippet. His daughter, Mrs. Wade, afterwards had a circulating library
in West street.

LEIGHTON: Next door lived Mr. Candow, the last leatherbreeches maker.
Then there was Mr. Colquhoun, tinner and brazier, who afterwards became
engineer to the new Gas Company formed in 1834. Adjoining his workshops
was the malthouse of Mr. Thomas Wreaks, whose sister kept a toy shop in
front, which was then 35, High street. Opposite the end of George street
was Mr. Nowill's, once Kippax and Nowill. He was the merchant and
manufacturer who built the Freemasons' Hall in Paradise square; and he
erected for himself a house at East Bank, and planted the line of tall
poplar trees on each side the road still to be seen there. He was
succeeded in his shop by Mr. James Crawshaw, father of Mr. Crawshaw,
nosy registrar for the Sheffield West district.

LEIGHTON: The " Blue Bell " should not be passed without mentioning it
as one of the old public houses of the town.

WRAGG: In the shop of Miss Fishbourne was Mr. Owen, the draper, a
leading Wesleyan during many years. A daughter of his married the Rev.
J. Rattenbury, afterwards President of the Wesleyan Conference. One of
his sons was the first to attempt to trade as a merchant to Australia.

EVERARD: The jeweller's shop of Mr. Charles Younge was that above the
"Star" Inn gateway. It has been in' various hands lately, but its
present occupant is Mr. Hyam, tailor. On the other side of the gateway
was Younge and Rimington's bank. Then came the draper's shop of Cowen
and Dixon.

WRAGG: Mr. Thos. Cowen was one of the early teachers of the Wicker
Sunday School, afterwards in Andrew street; and Mr. Dixon married,
firstly, one of the sisters of the late Mr. Robert Waterhouse, and
secondly, Aline, daughter of Mr. Joseph Cowley, an eminent Wesleyan, who
was a manufacturer in Pinstone street. Mr. Cowley's daughters Anne,
Elizabeth and Sarah, are immortalised in many of the writings of Mr.
John Holland, bachelor poet, recently deceased (December, 1872).

LEONARD: Next below, now part of Mr. Wheelan's cloth shop (No. 41), were
the premises to which the Iris office was removed, in 1825, by Mr.
Blackwell, after he had purchased that paper from Mr. Montgomery. In
1832, the late Mr. Robt. Leader succeeded Mr. Blackwell in the
occupation, removing thither the office of the Independent from 30,
Angel street. The printing-office was afterwards in Mulberry street, in
the building that- origin ally a factor's warehouse- became the
preaching-room of the early Methodists, after their chapel in Pinstone
lane had been destroyed and their place of worship in Union street
abandoned.

EVERARD : Mr. Everitt, in his history of " Methodism in Sheffield,"
gives an account of the persistent and ruffianly persecution to which
the persons who attended that chapel were subjected. But that was a
hundred years ago.

WRAGG : At the bottom of the street was Mr. Robert Carver, woollen
draper, one of the six tall men of the town.

LEGHTON: Without touching the Market place for the present, we now cross
the street, and take the places of business oil the left-hand side,
going towards the Parish Church.There we strike another post-office
site, little changed since the days when Mr. William Todd, the founder
of the high Tory Sheffield	Mercury presided over the arrival and
despatch of mails.

LEONARD : He had removed from Market street (where he had begun the
Mercury in 1807) in 1811 ; and 'he was appointed Post-master, May,
1815.

LEIGHTON: Ill the passage between Messrs. Cutts, Sutton and Soil's shop
and that until lately Jackson's toy shop, we used to wait for letters.
Mr. Todd was a gentlemanly-looking mail, wore breeches and black silk
stockings; but he got deeply into the books of Parker, Shore and
Company's Bank, and disappeared. Mr. George Ridge succeeded him in the
ownership of the Mercury, (1826) and removed it to his shop ill King
street, then the third from the Angel street corner, and _.Mr. Wreaks
was at the same time appointed to the postmastership, and the Postoffice
was removed to the lower corner of Norfolk street and Arundel street,
now a tinner and brazier's shop ; but thence it was in 1835 brought back
into ]High street, to the Commercial Buildings already mentioned. The
shop of Mr. Cooper, confectioner, was the next above Todd's, a curious
old gabled place, built with beams and baulks, the upper story
projecting right over the causeway. 1 have seen the time when a load
of hay has stuck fast and been unable to pass the projecting gable. Mr.
Cliff had a rope and twine shop above Cooper's. TWISS: His rope-walk was
up West street, by the Hallamshire Hotel public house, and on the post
of the yard adjoining that house might very recently be read the words "
Cliff's Rope Walk." His daughter married Mr. Wm. Outram, cabinet maker,
also of High street; and their daughters married into several well-known
Sheffield families.

LEIGHTON: The present glass-fronted " Clarence " Hotel and Turnell's
spirit stores have supplanted (for the worse, pictorially) the antique
premises so long occupied as a dram shop, up to 1839 by Ward and Bawer,
and then for many years by George Bawer alone. The enhanced rent
required of Mr. Bawer was too much for his resources, and he ended his
long tenancy unfortunately. It is a thousand pities that the frontage
was Dot set back to the level of the " Stone House," in this, the
narrowest part of the High street. It was not for want of efforts on the
part of the Town Trustees that this was not done.

TWISS: When we were talking about the Old Churchyard, mention was made
of the " alabaster" stone, or " t'alli, " as it used to be called, and
this part of High street reminds me of its history. There was,
hereabouts, an inn, to which one night an unknown traveller came. The
bedroom allotted to him had, besides the door communicating with the
landing, an unused door which had formerly opened upon the yard behind,
but at a considerable elevation above it. The traveller arose during the
night and sought to leave his room, but he got to the wrong door,
forced it open, stepped out, and falling to the ground was killed. All
attempts to ascertain his name or to communicate with his friends
failed; but hehad a considerable sum of money in his possession, so a
handsome tombstone was erected over his nameless grave- which unwritten
tombstone you may see to this day near the chancel door. The top marble
slab has, as you all know, been broken. It is a part of my story to add
that the fracture was done in an attempt   to rifle the tomb of the
treasures that were popularly believed to have been buried with the
unknown stranger.

WRAGG: The old Stone House, now occupied by Messrs. Prest, wine
merchants, and as offices, must have a history. I should like to know
it.

TWISS : It has a history, but who shall tell it ?  I, for one, have been
unable to recover the clue. On the hopper of the spout at the back of
the house are the initials and date 

      E
   I    M     What do these signify, and how are they to 
    1727 

be read? Elmsall? Marriott? I cannot tell. The house was at one time in
the possession of the Greaves family (of Page Hall). To them it came
through the Clays, who may have got it from the Elmsalls. Or one may
speculate on its being a Marriott, through a connection between them and
the Greaves family. Its builder must, however, remain a mystery until
some further light is thrown upon the subject. In later, but still
distant years, it was in the possession of the Watson family, who also
had a public house in Watson's walk. They put into it the grandfather
and grandmother of Mr. Stirling Howard, one of whom had, I think, been
in their service.

EVERARD: This brings the Stone House within reach of my personal memory.
When I was a little boy it was kept as a very respectable wine and
spirit merchant's store, with a large country trade, by Mrs. Howard, her
husband having died in 1785. Her son, the late Mr. Thomas Howard,
sueceeded his mother on her death in 1822. The other son, the late Mr.
William Howard, was brought up to the silver-plating business, and his
soli, Mr. Stirling Howard, in due time joined him, until they retired
from business. Mr. Thomas Howard will be remembered by you all in his
later clays, living in the little cottage near The Hills, and finishing
his career in the Stamp Office. After him Mr. John Porter (father to Mr.
John Taylor Porter, surgeon) took to the business in the old Stone
House. Mr. Prest joined him as partner, succeeded to the business, and
transferred it to his son, by whom it is now carried on.

LEONARD: Between Mulberry street and George street, but entered by a
passage from High street, is the " Victoria " inn, formerly the---Bay
Childers, " which was kept by Thomas Amory, who died in 1772, and by his
wife after him. There may be no better opportunity than this of noticing
the recent stoppage of the old thoroughfare across the yard at the back
of the " Victoria," leading from Mulberry street into George street. No
doubt the name of the inn was changed about the time of Her Majesty's
accession. There was a---Bay Childers" in Bridge street also, which
disappeared about the same time.

TWISS : I am not sure that you are correct in saying that Mr. Amory kept
the Bay Childers; I have always understood that it was the Blue Bell.
However, in front of what is now the Victoria, where are the shops of
Mr. Gray, saddler, and Mr. Travell, clothier, there was in the last
century a saddler named Heald. His daughter married in 1776 it workman
of her father's, Joseph Cecil, who afterwards, through some property
left to him, became Lord of the Manor of Dronfield.

WRAGG : The shop at the lower corner of George street was occupied in
1797 by Mr. Caesar Jones, druggist, a well known citizen of his day. Two
doors above George street, Thomas Hardcastle published the Sheffield
Chronicle in 1837-8. That shop was afterwards occupied by the late
Alderman Saunders when he dealt in music and musical instruments, and it
is now absorbed in the china shop of Messrs. Parkin, formerly for many
years kept Mr. Riley, who had before that been a grocer at the corner of
Meadow street and Allen street.

TWISS: Behind that was an old building where, in 1797, lived William
Lee, a cordwainer. The yard was in those days called " Truelove's yard,"
no doubt from the fact of the Trueloves keeping a locksmith's shop there
up to at least 1817, Maria Truelove being the last. `Mr. Lee was a
frequent visitor at the "Bay Childers " public house, and was much given
to betting-so inveterate indeed was the habit that when, on his way to
Doncaster races, lie saw a vehicle in front, in which were his wife and
only son, swaying violently, he called out " Five to four that our Jim's
killed." The late Mr. William Ibbitt made a sketch of a very old
fire-place in one of the buildings here-whether that in which Mr. Lee
lived or not I cannot say-but doubtless it was one of the old High
street houses, erected before uniformity of frontage was cared for. It
is a large open brick fire-place, with large carved stone front,
supported by pillars for jambs. I believe that in the old days there
was, behind this place, a croft, extending to what is now Norfolk
street, and that it belonged to the Waterhouses, who are buried in the
Parish Church (Gatty's " Hunter," p. 251). Miss Ann Waterhouse, who died
in 1787, was the last lady in the, town who wore the once fashionable
hoops. Her capacious skirts could not be steered into church without
some difficulty, and the hoops which expanded them were destined to be
the bender of the kite of Thomas Howard, then a boy. Her brother, the
Rev. Robert Waterhouse, who died in 1778, left a small legacy to
Marmaduke Wreaks, peruke maker, High street, and bequeathed some money
in trust for Barbara Wreaks, the mother of Mrs. Holland. The father of
the Ann and Robert Waterhouse mentioned was Henry Waterhouse, a
solicitor in - extensive  Practice in the town, who died in 1719.



LEIGHTON: A celebrated firm was that of Green and Pickslay, on the site
referred to just now as subsequently the post-office, and more recently
Levy's. They were, perhaps, the first and most extensive ironmongers in
Yorkshire, and were noted for a peculiarly excellent cast steel, which
they called " Peruvian." Mr. Green was a gentleman fond of field sports,
and having the entree of very good houses. But he had to give his great
friends long credit, and was not the man to ask for payment, so that the
inevitable end resulted, and Mr. Green came to poverty. He was a
finelooking man, and wore a wig. I remember him saying to me, " If ever
you should become bald, Mr. Leighton, never wear a wig; I have regretted
it ever since I began one." And well lie might; for when lie took off
his wig I never saw a more splendid head than lie displayed. The
business was afterwards (in 1828) carried on by Pickslay, Appleby and
Bertram. On the lower side of the entrance to Mr. Nicholson's (once
Bardwell's) auction room, is the shop of Mr. Harrison, hosier. it was,
in recent days, Mr. Joseph Pearce's, bookseller, and there he started
the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, in 1855, afterwards removing to the other
side of the street, where Littlewood's stay shop formerly was, and where
the paper is still published.

TWISS : Hereabouts, at the close of the last century, was Mr. Geo.
Brown, druggist, who was the owner of the premises in the Hartshead
occupied by Montgomery and the Misses Gales.

LEONARD: We learn from one of Montgomery's letters, written from York
Castle, that the annual rent of the premises was £27. 3s. ; and in
another letter (May 9, 1796,) the poet suggests that Mr. Brown should be
asked to fulfil a promise to paint the front of the shop and house
before Sheffield Fair; adding, " I think if Miss Bessy   'Gales] would
call upon Brown, she could wheedle him" into it.

TWISS: Mr. Brown was the great-grandson of the Rev. Cuthbert Browne,
curate of Attercliffe and assistant-minister it the Parish Church from
1662 to 1673. Mention is made of him by Hunter (Gatty's edition, p. 413)
as having come to great poverty. The family is related to that of Revel,
and its present representatives are claiming the Revel estates.

LEIGHTON : Above Bardwell's passage was Snidall, the watch-maker, well
known not only in the town, but on the rout streams of Derbyshire. Then
came Thos. Cooper, grocer, L Quaker, and the father of Mr. Cooper, of
Neepsend, tanner.

WRAGG: He was specially celebrated for making the best candles in the
town.

LEIGHTON : I have paid at his shop 41d. for a pound of salt. There is an
amusing story told of Mr. Cooper aria Mr. Wm. Hoyland, a druggist in
Church street. They both dealt in nutmegs, and Thos. Cooper getting to
know that there was about to be a great advance in price, and that Mr.
Hoyland had a large stock, paid a friendly visit to his neighbour. 11 1
know thou hast a large stock of nutmegs, friend William " said he, " and
1 have art opportunity of selling them. if thou wilt let me have them,
we can do business." Hoyland fell into the trap, and, discovering
afterwards that he had been " done," he stood at Cooper's door and
called to him in his shop, " Thomas, thou'rt a rogue." Thomas, in
return, passing by Hoyland's shop, remarked to his friend from the door,
" William, thou'rt a fool." The premises of Mr. Tinker were, many years
since, a public-house, the 11 Spread Eagle." When I know it, about 1821,
it was kept by Thomas Pattinson, a nephew of Sam Turner, in Watson Walk.

WRAGG: After that William Clifton had it, but it was the lower shop of
Messrs. Foster, tailors, not the shop of Mr. Tinker. When Mr. Foster,
wished to enlarge his shop Clifton bought the "  Sportsman's Group," at
the top of Chapel walk, displacing one Roberts, and lie carried the "
Spread Eagle" sign with him. I cannot say how long the Fosters have had
a tailor's shop in High street, but I believe the grandfather opened the
first ready-made clothes shop in the town.

LEIGHTON : I believe there is now a George Foster of the fourth
generation. Old Mr. Foster was a real man of business. At the close of
the great French war, the Government advertised for sale a vast stock of
old equipments, given up by the soldiers when disbanded. Mr. Foster went
up to London ,and bought large quantities of soldiers' jackets and
belts, and I remember big crates of them standing in front of his door.
There was hardly a grinder in Sheffield but bought one of the jackets,
for they just suited their trade, and the wheels all looked as if a
regiment of soldiers were at work. The belts were made of excellent
leather, and they were largely used by the cutlers for buffing and for
similar purposes. Mr. Foster realised a large sum of money by that
transaction. He left his family wealthy. He was afflicted with a disease
whose chief symptom was falling instantaneously asleep. I went once to
him, as a boy, to be measured for a jacket. Standing behind, he made me
hold my arm horizontally, with the elbow bent, and I thought he seemed
very long in measuring it. A person on the other side of the street, at
York street corner, was watching the operation, and, seeing him
laughing, I looked round, and found that the old man had fallen fast
asleep.

EVERARD : I, too, have seen Mr. Foster, who was a very stout man, fall
asleep whilst seated on the hampers of soldiers' clothes. They stood on
the edge of the pavement, and there Mr. Foster sold their contents, so
long as he could keep awake.

WRAGG:   There are various points about High street that need
elucidating, if only some one could do it. Where, for instance, was the
" Crooked Billet yard," said to have been the residence of Thos. Wild,
who was credited with having made the knife which stabbed the Duke of
Buckingham ? (Gatty's Hunter's Hallamshire, p. 166.)

TWISS : There can I believe  no doubt that the yard so called was that
at the top of High street, running between Messrs. Cubley and Preston's
druggist's shop and the Thatched House Tavern." It is now called
Foster's Court.

LEONARD: And where was the sign of the Cock, opposite which was the
printing office of Revil Homfray, publisher of that early Sheffield
newspaper, Homfray's Sheffield Weekly Journal? " Francis Lister, who
began the Sheffield hekly Journal, April 28, 1754, described his office
as " near the Shambles," and---opposite the Cross Daggers," and we know
that the Cross Daggers was on the site of or behind Mr. Colley's shop,
in the Market place. In August, 1755, Revil Homfray, who in the previous
year had circulated in Sheffield a newspaper printed in Doncaster and
called the Sheffield Weekly Register, or Doncaster Flying Post,
advertised that he had bought the Journal of Lister's widow; and lie
continued to issue it from " his printing office opposite to the Cock in
the High street. Where was this ?

TWISS : I do not know where the "Cock" was, but I think I can throw some
light on the Mr. Simmons, bookseller, one- of the persons of whom it is
announced the Journal can be bought; but that must be when we speak of
the Market place

EVERARD: Which let us postpone until our next meeting.