The building
Historic Environment Record| Described as one of a row of Victorian shops retaining some fine decorative features, and contributing to the character, and consistency of the scale and rhythm of the streetscape, but the HER website repeats the detail of the entry for No 66
Occupiers
The first recorded occupant of No 68 was grocer John Le Ray, shown in a commercial directory in 1833.
By the time of the 1841 census, Peter Pilbot, 40-year-old grocer, is shown at the premises, as is Edward Romeril, a 55-year-old tailor, living with his wife Mary and daughter Esther, a dressmaker.
The Piddington family – Boot and shoemaker Thomas (34), his wife Eliza (34), nee Withall, and children Thomas (6), Eliza (3) and William (11 months) lived at No 68 in 1851. They appear to have lived in St Lawrence before, where the two children were born. Three further children, Anna, Samuel and James, would join the family between 1854 and 1857. However, there is no trace of the family in the 1861 census and 68 King Street also does not feature in the returns.
Multiple households
This is strange, because in 1851 there were six other households listed at this address: Labourer John Rogers and his wife Marina; Painter Henry Jones and his wife Elizabeth; carpenter William Ray and his wife Mary; French blacksmith Aimable Bourgoise, his wife Esther and their two sons; mariner George Downer and his wife June; and widowed laundress Elizabeth Renier, her son, daughter and son-in-law.
There are no census returns for No 68 in 1861, '71, '81, 91 or 1901, and the next record we have of an occupant is J T Egre, the baker, in 1905. This was John Tourgis Egre, the son of John Egre and Elizabeth Tourgis.
In 1930 Hewitt and Co occupied the premises, followed by La Grande Mademoiselle, Vivienne's, Louis and Cie, Ricki the jeweller and Hallmark Cards. We have virtually no information on any of these businesses.
Chronology [1]
- 1833- John Le Ray, grocer
- 1841 - Peter Pilbot, grocer; Edward Romeril, tailor
- 1851 - Thomas Piddington, bootmaker
- 1905-1920 - J T Egre
- 1930 - Hewitt and Co
- 1940 - La Grande Mademoiselle
- 1949 - Vivienne's
- 1949-1955 - Louis and Cie
- 1960-1990 - Ricki, jeweller
- 2000 - Hallmark Cards
Notes and references
- ↑ Many of the start and end dates given for businesses are approximate. As more business advertisements and other records are discovered the dates will be adjusted
