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Local history - Cowes
HISTORIES COMING SOON . . . .
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Rosetta, Queen's Road, Cowes
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This is quick marker pen sketch of the beautiful Rosetta Cottage, right on the seafront at Queen’s Road, Cowes.
According to a leaflet Bricks and Mortar, Rosetta Cottage was once a works office for a local rope maker who built a 1,000 ft long rope walk which ran east along what is now Queens Road (a ropewalk is a long straight narrow pathway where strands of material are laid out to be twisted into rope)
The first known occupant for Rosetta House was Robert Dambrill, a retired master mariner from Newfoundland, Canada. Robert lived there with his wife Jane and daughters Louisa and Emily, all from Cheshire/Lancashire. The 1871 records the address as Solent Cottage, however various electoral roles 1866-75 record the Dambrills living at Rosetta, freehold house and land. Jane died in 1878, and Robert in 1880.
In 1873, Rosetta was rented for Cowes Week by Mr Leonard Jerome, the millionaire proprietor of the New York Times. The family were invited to an afternoon ball on the guard ship HMS Ariadne which was anchored off Cowes. Jennie, eldest daughter of Jerome, danced with Lord Randolph Churchill. Churchill proposed just 3 days later, they were married the next year and Winston Churchill was born later that year.
By 1881, Robert Dambrill’s son William W Dambrill, a retired silk thrower had moved down from Cheshire to live at Rosetta with his wife Marianne and daughter Amy. They remained at Rosetta until at least 1891, but when William died in 1895, Marianne and daughter Amy moved to Melville Street, Ryde to live with Marianne’s brother from at least 1901 to 1911.
In 1901 Rosetta Cottage was empty and ready to be let furnished. In 1908 it was occupied by General and Lady Barbara Chetwynd-Stapylton during regatta week.
By 1909 Captain Spencer de Horsey lived at Rosetta House with his wife Cecila Jane, and whilst living there they had two children. Spencer Victor York de Horsey, born in Cowes, was the son of Algernon de Horsey, a naval admiral and owner of nearby Melcombe House, Queens Road (now apartments). Admiral Sir Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey KCB was a notable Admiral in the Royal Nay and was ADC to Queen Victoria from 1871 to 1875, chairman of the Isle of Wight magistrates for many years and also Deputy Lieutenant of the Island in 1913. Algernon De Horsey was an early campaigner for a Cowes Harbour breakwater and published a booklet, ‘Proposed Breakwater for Cowes Harbour and and suggestions for the establishment of a Harbour Board,’ 1894.
Grace Adeline Rouse Hotham lived at Rosetta in the 1930s with her daughter Rachel, a theological tutor. Grace was the daughter of Admiral Sir Algernon, and having been married to a Naval Captain Algernon Hotham, she was a widow by 1939.
Rosetta is now split into Rosetta cottage and East Rosetta Rosetta and both are magnificent holiday rental cottages, available to rent through the National Trust.
This is quick marker pen sketch of the beautiful Rosetta Cottage, right on the seafront at Queen’s Road, Cowes.
According to a leaflet Bricks and Mortar, Rosetta Cottage was once a works office for a local rope maker who built a 1,000 ft long rope walk which ran east along what is now Queens Road (a ropewalk is a long straight narrow pathway where strands of material are laid out to be twisted into rope)
The first known occupant for Rosetta House was Robert Dambrill, a retired master mariner from Newfoundland, Canada. Robert lived there with his wife Jane and daughters Louisa and Emily, all from Cheshire/Lancashire. The 1871 records the address as Solent Cottage, however various electoral roles 1866-75 record the Dambrills living at Rosetta, freehold house and land. Jane died in 1878, and Robert in 1880.
In 1873, Rosetta was rented for Cowes Week by Mr Leonard Jerome, the millionaire proprietor of the New York Times. The family were invited to an afternoon ball on the guard ship HMS Ariadne which was anchored off Cowes. Jennie, eldest daughter of Jerome, danced with Lord Randolph Churchill. Churchill proposed just 3 days later, they were married the next year and Winston Churchill was born later that year.
By 1881, Robert Dambrill’s son William W Dambrill, a retired silk thrower had moved down from Cheshire to live at Rosetta with his wife Marianne and daughter Amy. They remained at Rosetta until at least 1891, but when William died in 1895, Marianne and daughter Amy moved to Melville Street, Ryde to live with Marianne’s brother from at least 1901 to 1911.
In 1901 Rosetta Cottage was empty and ready to be let furnished. In 1908 it was occupied by General and Lady Barbara Chetwynd-Stapylton during regatta week.
By 1909 Captain Spencer de Horsey lived at Rosetta House with his wife Cecila Jane, and whilst living there they had two children. Spencer Victor York de Horsey, born in Cowes, was the son of Algernon de Horsey, a naval admiral and owner of nearby Melcombe House, Queens Road (now apartments). Admiral Sir Algernon Frederick Rous de Horsey KCB was a notable Admiral in the Royal Nay and was ADC to Queen Victoria from 1871 to 1875, chairman of the Isle of Wight magistrates for many years and also Deputy Lieutenant of the Island in 1913. Algernon De Horsey was an early campaigner for a Cowes Harbour breakwater and published a booklet, ‘Proposed Breakwater for Cowes Harbour and and suggestions for the establishment of a Harbour Board,’ 1894.
Grace Adeline Rouse Hotham lived at Rosetta in the 1930s with her daughter Rachel, a theological tutor. Grace was the daughter of Admiral Sir Algernon, and having been married to a Naval Captain Algernon Hotham, she was a widow by 1939.
Rosetta is now split into Rosetta cottage and East Rosetta Rosetta and both are magnificent holiday rental cottages, available to rent through the National Trust.
The Boathouse, Queen's Road, Cowes
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This marker pen sketch is of the Boathouse, Queens Road, Cowes.
According to historian John Groves, the Boathouse was a cottage built to accommodate servants working at Stanhope House, as well as a boat! Censuses from 1901 and 1939 show that the house was inhabited by gardeners and maids, most probably working at Stanhope.
Mr Groves suggests that the house was owned jointly by Ladies Blanche and Frances Stanhope who lived at Stanhope. Apparently, at one time the Boathouse was rented out to a woman who kept a vey high class ‘disorderly house’ during Cowes Week! According to a newspaper article upon her death in 1939, Blanche and her sister Frances were ‘well known for the number of society people they entertained during Regatta Week’.
This marker pen sketch is of the Boathouse, Queens Road, Cowes.
According to historian John Groves, the Boathouse was a cottage built to accommodate servants working at Stanhope House, as well as a boat! Censuses from 1901 and 1939 show that the house was inhabited by gardeners and maids, most probably working at Stanhope.
Mr Groves suggests that the house was owned jointly by Ladies Blanche and Frances Stanhope who lived at Stanhope. Apparently, at one time the Boathouse was rented out to a woman who kept a vey high class ‘disorderly house’ during Cowes Week! According to a newspaper article upon her death in 1939, Blanche and her sister Frances were ‘well known for the number of society people they entertained during Regatta Week’.
The West Cowes Sea Bathing Company, Queen's Road, Cowes
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This stunning building is the West Cowes Sea Bathing Company.
Sea water bathing was very popular in Victorian times, and to capture the market, The West Cowes Sea Bathing Company opened in the 1860s at Shore End, Queens Road. The building still stands, to the left of what is now the New Hollywood Hotel, although the veranda has been demolished.
Plans were concluded about 1868, and a tender went out for a steam engine, boiler and other parts for the proposed baths. A steam pump was sunk into a chamber about 9ft deep so they could get water at all times, including at low tide, to the swimming bath. The bath was warm and could be used in winter as well as summer.
The company was divided into 451 shares which initially performed well. Key shareholders were businessmen of Cowes including Mssrs Damant, Moore, Aktkey, Redfern, May, Dear and several others. By 1905 however, the company was in liquidation and The Baths, which included the house, the rights on the foreshore and the goodwill of the bathing business was auctioned by Marvins, who ‘knocked it down to £570’. All of the fittings including furniture, carpets, feather beds, bed and table linen, were also auctioned and later that year, the bathing equipment was also sold including 14 bathing machines, iron winches, weight machine a 12 ft boat and about 20 dozen towels. The Bathing Company had not been a paying concern, the establishment with hot-water swimming baths was expensive, ‘with costly appurtenances which nobody used or wanted’.
Sea bathing was still popular however, but Cowes was increasingly not welcoming to bathers. A letter by Algernon de Horsey to the County Press in 1905 urges the fellow residents of Cowes to take immediate steps to ‘reinstitute sea-bathing from the existing bathing machines’, otherwise ‘many will stay away who would otherwise be glad to reside at Cowes during the summer for the sake of the bathing’.
This stunning building is the West Cowes Sea Bathing Company.
Sea water bathing was very popular in Victorian times, and to capture the market, The West Cowes Sea Bathing Company opened in the 1860s at Shore End, Queens Road. The building still stands, to the left of what is now the New Hollywood Hotel, although the veranda has been demolished.
Plans were concluded about 1868, and a tender went out for a steam engine, boiler and other parts for the proposed baths. A steam pump was sunk into a chamber about 9ft deep so they could get water at all times, including at low tide, to the swimming bath. The bath was warm and could be used in winter as well as summer.
The company was divided into 451 shares which initially performed well. Key shareholders were businessmen of Cowes including Mssrs Damant, Moore, Aktkey, Redfern, May, Dear and several others. By 1905 however, the company was in liquidation and The Baths, which included the house, the rights on the foreshore and the goodwill of the bathing business was auctioned by Marvins, who ‘knocked it down to £570’. All of the fittings including furniture, carpets, feather beds, bed and table linen, were also auctioned and later that year, the bathing equipment was also sold including 14 bathing machines, iron winches, weight machine a 12 ft boat and about 20 dozen towels. The Bathing Company had not been a paying concern, the establishment with hot-water swimming baths was expensive, ‘with costly appurtenances which nobody used or wanted’.
Sea bathing was still popular however, but Cowes was increasingly not welcoming to bathers. A letter by Algernon de Horsey to the County Press in 1905 urges the fellow residents of Cowes to take immediate steps to ‘reinstitute sea-bathing from the existing bathing machines’, otherwise ‘many will stay away who would otherwise be glad to reside at Cowes during the summer for the sake of the bathing’.
St Mary the Virgin Church, Cowes
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This is St Mary the Virgin Church, Cowes near Northwood House.
The original church was built in 1657 and an additional chancel (area around the altar) was designed by Joseph Richards and added in 1811.
In 1816 the west tower was added which was designed by John Nash in of Greek style in Portland Stone, a style ‘so unlike Nash’ according to author Pevsner. The tower was given by George Ward of Northwood House, as the family mausoleum and the interior contains memorial tables to the Ward family.
John Nash was one of the foremost British architects of the era (and is famous for Brighton Pavilion, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace. In 1798, he purchased a plot of land of 30 acres in East Cowes on which he built East Cowes Castle where he retired to and later died in 1835. Nash is buried in the churchyard of St James’s Churchin East Cowes, which he built in 1831.
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In 1867 the whole of St Mary’s Church except for the west tower was rebuilt in Gothic Revival style by the architect Arthur Cates.
This is St Mary the Virgin Church, Cowes near Northwood House.
The original church was built in 1657 and an additional chancel (area around the altar) was designed by Joseph Richards and added in 1811.
In 1816 the west tower was added which was designed by John Nash in of Greek style in Portland Stone, a style ‘so unlike Nash’ according to author Pevsner. The tower was given by George Ward of Northwood House, as the family mausoleum and the interior contains memorial tables to the Ward family.
John Nash was one of the foremost British architects of the era (and is famous for Brighton Pavilion, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace. In 1798, he purchased a plot of land of 30 acres in East Cowes on which he built East Cowes Castle where he retired to and later died in 1835. Nash is buried in the churchyard of St James’s Churchin East Cowes, which he built in 1831.
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In 1867 the whole of St Mary’s Church except for the west tower was rebuilt in Gothic Revival style by the architect Arthur Cates.
The Terrace, The Parade, Cowes
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This elegant building once stood on the Parade (also called Victoria Parade) in Cowes. Often called the New Terrace on postcards, it appears to have consisted of at least 7 terraced houses, from at least the 1880s until the 1920s.
In 1924, the two houses on the left numbers 6 & 7 housed a boarding school, Solent House Boarding and Day School, run by Margaret H Caws and her sister Cecil. The school was established sometime after 1911, and by 1937, had moved to a large detached house, Cambridge House by Trinity Church in Queen’s Road. Margaret (1887-) and Cecil (1888-) were the daughters of Samuel Dawson Caws, a draper who also ran the Pier View Hotel in Cowes Town. Their step mother was Marion Helena (nee Ratsey), a school governess and daughter of Eliza Ratsey, principal of another ladies school in Cowes. Margaret was a Registered Teacher and Cecil was the house mistress of the Solent House School, which offered, ‘large and lofty classrooms with balconies facing the sea’. There was a large sheltered garden where classes were held during the summer terms. Individual attention was given to each pupil, and the school offered, ‘excellent diet, open-air life, modern education’.
Number 5 was the home of James Wasdale Hudson, a physician & surgeon.
Numbers 3 & 4 were the home of John B Aubrey.
On the right side of the terrace, houses number 1 & 2 were combined into the clubhouse for the Royal London Yacht Club. Established as the London Yacht Club on the Thames in 1845, the club moved to Cowes in 1882 and leased the two houses. This section of the Terrace has survived and continues to be the RLYC Clubhouse today.
By the 1930s, the Terrace, except numbers 1 & 2, the Royal London Yacht Club, were demolished. They were replaced by Osborne Court, a large Art Deco block of flats which was offered for rental in the late 1930s and featured Club facilities including a cocktail bar and gymnasium.
This elegant building once stood on the Parade (also called Victoria Parade) in Cowes. Often called the New Terrace on postcards, it appears to have consisted of at least 7 terraced houses, from at least the 1880s until the 1920s.
In 1924, the two houses on the left numbers 6 & 7 housed a boarding school, Solent House Boarding and Day School, run by Margaret H Caws and her sister Cecil. The school was established sometime after 1911, and by 1937, had moved to a large detached house, Cambridge House by Trinity Church in Queen’s Road. Margaret (1887-) and Cecil (1888-) were the daughters of Samuel Dawson Caws, a draper who also ran the Pier View Hotel in Cowes Town. Their step mother was Marion Helena (nee Ratsey), a school governess and daughter of Eliza Ratsey, principal of another ladies school in Cowes. Margaret was a Registered Teacher and Cecil was the house mistress of the Solent House School, which offered, ‘large and lofty classrooms with balconies facing the sea’. There was a large sheltered garden where classes were held during the summer terms. Individual attention was given to each pupil, and the school offered, ‘excellent diet, open-air life, modern education’.
Number 5 was the home of James Wasdale Hudson, a physician & surgeon.
Numbers 3 & 4 were the home of John B Aubrey.
On the right side of the terrace, houses number 1 & 2 were combined into the clubhouse for the Royal London Yacht Club. Established as the London Yacht Club on the Thames in 1845, the club moved to Cowes in 1882 and leased the two houses. This section of the Terrace has survived and continues to be the RLYC Clubhouse today.
By the 1930s, the Terrace, except numbers 1 & 2, the Royal London Yacht Club, were demolished. They were replaced by Osborne Court, a large Art Deco block of flats which was offered for rental in the late 1930s and featured Club facilities including a cocktail bar and gymnasium.
The Royal Marine Hotel, The Parade, Cowes
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The Marine Hotel was reportedly one of the oldest hostelries on the Isle of Wight. The earliest mention of it in press is around 1809 when it held auctions for timber, but possible records suggest it was in existence as an inn as far back as the reign of Henry VIII. It was clearly a very prestigious hotel and the place to stay in Cowes. Fashionable Society travelled from all over the country to stay there, and their journeys were documented in newspapers at the time.
The hotel sat on the Parade (where Number 1 the Parade apartments now sit), opposite the then Victoria Pier, with an outlook over the harbour and across the Solent. Photographs of the hotel over the years show the hotel continually expanding sideways and upwards, eventually to be four floors high. In the late 1900s, it contained about one hundred rooms, spacious dining, drawing, smoking and other public rooms besides numerous bedrooms and private apartments ‘en suite’. The proprietress at the time, Miss Drover had commanded about a hundred rooms outside of the hotel, but during the Cowes season, the patronage was so large that even these extensive resources frequently proved insufficient for the accommodation for the many visitors. In the late 1900s it was the first hotel to have electric lights and an article of the time says that, ‘the large arc lamp suspended outside the hotel is, when lighted, a constant attraction to the purely local population’!
Notable clientele included HRH the Prince of Wales, Prince Louis Napoleon and Princess Eugenie, the Comte de Paris, the Duc de Chartre, the Crown Prince of Saxony, various dignitary from Foreign embassies and diplomatic representatives of almost every Continental country (for those of you who do not know Cowes, Queen Victoria had her palace Osbourne at nearby East Cowes).
Long standing proprietors included the Helmore family for about 30 years (around 1828-1851) and the Aris family for about 15 years (around 1855-70). Around 1871 James Drover took over the hotel and it was known as Drovers Marine Hotel, the Drover family stayed there until around 1898. By the 1880s the hotel was known as the Royal Marine Hotel.
The Marine Hotel was reportedly one of the oldest hostelries on the Isle of Wight. The earliest mention of it in press is around 1809 when it held auctions for timber, but possible records suggest it was in existence as an inn as far back as the reign of Henry VIII. It was clearly a very prestigious hotel and the place to stay in Cowes. Fashionable Society travelled from all over the country to stay there, and their journeys were documented in newspapers at the time.
The hotel sat on the Parade (where Number 1 the Parade apartments now sit), opposite the then Victoria Pier, with an outlook over the harbour and across the Solent. Photographs of the hotel over the years show the hotel continually expanding sideways and upwards, eventually to be four floors high. In the late 1900s, it contained about one hundred rooms, spacious dining, drawing, smoking and other public rooms besides numerous bedrooms and private apartments ‘en suite’. The proprietress at the time, Miss Drover had commanded about a hundred rooms outside of the hotel, but during the Cowes season, the patronage was so large that even these extensive resources frequently proved insufficient for the accommodation for the many visitors. In the late 1900s it was the first hotel to have electric lights and an article of the time says that, ‘the large arc lamp suspended outside the hotel is, when lighted, a constant attraction to the purely local population’!
Notable clientele included HRH the Prince of Wales, Prince Louis Napoleon and Princess Eugenie, the Comte de Paris, the Duc de Chartre, the Crown Prince of Saxony, various dignitary from Foreign embassies and diplomatic representatives of almost every Continental country (for those of you who do not know Cowes, Queen Victoria had her palace Osbourne at nearby East Cowes).
Long standing proprietors included the Helmore family for about 30 years (around 1828-1851) and the Aris family for about 15 years (around 1855-70). Around 1871 James Drover took over the hotel and it was known as Drovers Marine Hotel, the Drover family stayed there until around 1898. By the 1880s the hotel was known as the Royal Marine Hotel.
Prince's Building, Bath Road, Cowes
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Bath Road in Cowes takes its name from the bath house established in 1790 offering ‘hot plunging and salt water baths’.
The stone at the top of Prince’s Building has ‘AEM 1885’ carved into it. AEM are the initials of Albert Edward Marvin junior (born in 1871 Cowes) and his father Albert Edward Marvin senior (born 1848), both auctioneers. The Marvin family commissioned the building as an auction house for their expanding business selling houses, house contents, land and yachts. They appear to have had earlier premises in Bath road which may have been knocked down and replaced with the Prince’s Building.
For a while around 1901, AE junior lived in the building with his wife and young daughter, but they later moved to Avalon in Baring Road with their growing family.
By 1911 Marvins were also a Lloyd’s Agent and had Cowes Yacht Agency all running from the Bath Road building. They continued to run their auctioneers business there until at least the 1950s. The estate agency business Marvins continues to trade today and has premises in the High Street, Cowes as well as Ryde and Newport.
Prince’s Building is now a private residence.
Bath Road in Cowes takes its name from the bath house established in 1790 offering ‘hot plunging and salt water baths’.
The stone at the top of Prince’s Building has ‘AEM 1885’ carved into it. AEM are the initials of Albert Edward Marvin junior (born in 1871 Cowes) and his father Albert Edward Marvin senior (born 1848), both auctioneers. The Marvin family commissioned the building as an auction house for their expanding business selling houses, house contents, land and yachts. They appear to have had earlier premises in Bath road which may have been knocked down and replaced with the Prince’s Building.
For a while around 1901, AE junior lived in the building with his wife and young daughter, but they later moved to Avalon in Baring Road with their growing family.
By 1911 Marvins were also a Lloyd’s Agent and had Cowes Yacht Agency all running from the Bath Road building. They continued to run their auctioneers business there until at least the 1950s. The estate agency business Marvins continues to trade today and has premises in the High Street, Cowes as well as Ryde and Newport.
Prince’s Building is now a private residence.
Townshend House, Cowes
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This is Townshend House (sometimes known as Townsend House) which adjoins Slipway Cottage on Victoria Parade, West Cowes. See below for history.
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The house was possibly built in the early 18th century, and was often rented out to visitors. The earliest mention in newspapers was in 1850 when the Earl Fitzhardinge rented Townshend House, ‘for the yachting season’.
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In April 1881, Admiral William Cheselden Browne died at Townsend House, which was then owned by his son-in-law Dr William Hoffmeister, a local Cowes doctor.
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By 1890, George Drover, a shipping agent, lived in the house with his large family. In 1891, the census must have taken place just after his wife Blanche had given birth. As well as daughters Blanche, Fanny, Marian, Ellie, Clare, sons Alfred and Louis, there was a new baby, a surgeon, nurse and servant living there. The baby was later named as Barbara Emma, but died aged just 4 1/2 months old.
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In 1901 it was reported in a local newspaper that The Honourable Mrs Gage resided at Townsend House. In 1900, two children aged 3 and 9 from the Martin family of Cross Street were saved from drowning by Watch-house Quay, by Mr James Holman, a well-known Cowes waterman. The event was witnessed by Mrs Gage, who later influenced the Royal Humane Society to acknowledge the brave act, and thus Holman was presented with a certificate by HRH Princess Beatrice at the Town Hall, Cowes.
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Also that year, Blanche Hopkinson and her son Evelyn stayed in the house, whilst her husband, a banker, was documented on the 1901 census in London. After her tenancy expired in 1904, what seems to be the entire contents of the house were sold by auction.
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In 1938, Evelyn Dudley Bull, an antique dealer and his wife Annie Augusta Bull lived at Townsend House, but Annie collapsed and died there aged just 51. Evelyn continued to live in the house until his death in 1948 and it appears that he may have rented out rooms to local workers.
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More recently the house was owned by the Beken family.
This is Townshend House (sometimes known as Townsend House) which adjoins Slipway Cottage on Victoria Parade, West Cowes. See below for history.
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The house was possibly built in the early 18th century, and was often rented out to visitors. The earliest mention in newspapers was in 1850 when the Earl Fitzhardinge rented Townshend House, ‘for the yachting season’.
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In April 1881, Admiral William Cheselden Browne died at Townsend House, which was then owned by his son-in-law Dr William Hoffmeister, a local Cowes doctor.
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By 1890, George Drover, a shipping agent, lived in the house with his large family. In 1891, the census must have taken place just after his wife Blanche had given birth. As well as daughters Blanche, Fanny, Marian, Ellie, Clare, sons Alfred and Louis, there was a new baby, a surgeon, nurse and servant living there. The baby was later named as Barbara Emma, but died aged just 4 1/2 months old.
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In 1901 it was reported in a local newspaper that The Honourable Mrs Gage resided at Townsend House. In 1900, two children aged 3 and 9 from the Martin family of Cross Street were saved from drowning by Watch-house Quay, by Mr James Holman, a well-known Cowes waterman. The event was witnessed by Mrs Gage, who later influenced the Royal Humane Society to acknowledge the brave act, and thus Holman was presented with a certificate by HRH Princess Beatrice at the Town Hall, Cowes.
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Also that year, Blanche Hopkinson and her son Evelyn stayed in the house, whilst her husband, a banker, was documented on the 1901 census in London. After her tenancy expired in 1904, what seems to be the entire contents of the house were sold by auction.
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In 1938, Evelyn Dudley Bull, an antique dealer and his wife Annie Augusta Bull lived at Townsend House, but Annie collapsed and died there aged just 51. Evelyn continued to live in the house until his death in 1948 and it appears that he may have rented out rooms to local workers.
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More recently the house was owned by the Beken family.
109 High Street - Shorelines
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109 High Street Cowes is currently the fantastic Shorelines. I love Shorelines, they sell gifts, greeting cards, as well as offering picture framing, trophy engraving and key cutting. If you need a card and small gift, this is the place in Cowes to visit.
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Numbers 108 (now TM Taylors) and 109 were inhabited by the Taylor family for a great many years. Father Robert Taylor worked next door at number 108 as a grocer, builder, and coal merchant, son William as a carpenter and daughter Emily (Rowe) had a stationery business.
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Another of Robert’s sons, Thomas Mackford Taylor, born in 1857 took over this shop (number 109) around 1881 and ran a jewellery business. He lived at the shop with his wife and children until his death in 1915. From the 1880s, TM Taylor jewellers was noted for its ‘magnificent choice of gold and gem rings and keepers’, for being a ‘noted wedding ring shop’ and for being the ‘nearest jeweller to Pier and Railway Station’. In the early 1900s, they also offered free sight testing and were the only certified opticians in the town.
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The jewellery business TM Taylors eventually moved next door to number 108 at some point between the 1950s-80s (not sure when).
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109 High Street Cowes is currently the fantastic Shorelines. I love Shorelines, they sell gifts, greeting cards, as well as offering picture framing, trophy engraving and key cutting. If you need a card and small gift, this is the place in Cowes to visit.
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Numbers 108 (now TM Taylors) and 109 were inhabited by the Taylor family for a great many years. Father Robert Taylor worked next door at number 108 as a grocer, builder, and coal merchant, son William as a carpenter and daughter Emily (Rowe) had a stationery business.
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Another of Robert’s sons, Thomas Mackford Taylor, born in 1857 took over this shop (number 109) around 1881 and ran a jewellery business. He lived at the shop with his wife and children until his death in 1915. From the 1880s, TM Taylor jewellers was noted for its ‘magnificent choice of gold and gem rings and keepers’, for being a ‘noted wedding ring shop’ and for being the ‘nearest jeweller to Pier and Railway Station’. In the early 1900s, they also offered free sight testing and were the only certified opticians in the town.
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The jewellery business TM Taylors eventually moved next door to number 108 at some point between the 1950s-80s (not sure when).
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5 High Street - Solent Fisheries
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This shop is now Deckers Sandwich Bar in Cowes, but was once Solent Fisheries, which took the place of MacFisheries at nuumber 5 High Street.
MacFisheries was a branded retail chain of fishmongers and food centres set up around the time of WW1, but the company finally sold the Mac Food Centres and closed down the Mac Fisheries wet fish shops in 1979.
Before this, the building was once the White Hart pub.
This shop is now Deckers Sandwich Bar in Cowes, but was once Solent Fisheries, which took the place of MacFisheries at nuumber 5 High Street.
MacFisheries was a branded retail chain of fishmongers and food centres set up around the time of WW1, but the company finally sold the Mac Food Centres and closed down the Mac Fisheries wet fish shops in 1979.
Before this, the building was once the White Hart pub.
International Stores
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27 High Street - Caws Butchers
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For over 100 years, Number 27 High Street Cowes was a butcher’s shop. Originally a pub, the Kings Arms, William Caws set up a butcher’s shop there around the 1830s. Much later in the 1950s, the business was taken over by Tom Smith.
Today number 27 is a hairdressers, K&H Hairdressing
For over 100 years, Number 27 High Street Cowes was a butcher’s shop. Originally a pub, the Kings Arms, William Caws set up a butcher’s shop there around the 1830s. Much later in the 1950s, the business was taken over by Tom Smith.
Today number 27 is a hairdressers, K&H Hairdressing
28 High Street, Cowes - Wine Therapy
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The first illustration of Number 28 is of Wine Therapy, an independent boutique wine shop established in Cowes in 2011.
The first illustration of Number 28 is of Wine Therapy, an independent boutique wine shop established in Cowes in 2011.
28 High Street, Cowes - The Domestic Bazaar Company
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This sketch shows how number 28 looked around the 1930s when it was the Domestic Bazaar Company (around 1927-37). The shop front looks identical, other than the colour, though the top window has been changed. The Domestic Bazaar Company Limited was started in Southampton by AO Beavis in 1895. They expanded quickly to 200 branches selling household goods, but the arrival of Woolworths in the 1930s selling similar, led to the collapse of the DBC.
This sketch shows how number 28 looked around the 1930s when it was the Domestic Bazaar Company (around 1927-37). The shop front looks identical, other than the colour, though the top window has been changed. The Domestic Bazaar Company Limited was started in Southampton by AO Beavis in 1895. They expanded quickly to 200 branches selling household goods, but the arrival of Woolworths in the 1930s selling similar, led to the collapse of the DBC.
28 High Street, Cowes - Sibley Grocers
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This illustration suggests how Walter Sibley’s grocers business may have looked. Walter Sibley’s parents Thomas and Elizabeth appeared to be a perfumer and hairdresser in the High Street in the 1820s, occupying number 33 High Street Cowes in the 1840s. Son Walter started his business in the 1850s initially as a tea merchant and he lived over the shop at number 28 with his family. He died in 1892 and son Thomas took over the business. There are numerous newspaper articles featuring the Sibley family: petty theft from the shop, for selling non-weighed bread, for selling cocoa that didn’t quite fit the description, for keeping gun powder without a licence and for not transferring the wine licence from his father’s name.
It is clear from street photographs that the door was to the right of the building, with long rectangular windows on the left side of door. From the sign on the shop it would appear that they sold provisions and wine, especially to the yacht and shopping trade. There are numerous newspaper articles featuring the Sibley family: petty theft from the shop, for selling non-weighed bread, for selling cocoa that didn’t quite fit the description, for keeping gun powder without a licence and for not transferring the wine licence from his father’s name.
This illustration suggests how Walter Sibley’s grocers business may have looked. Walter Sibley’s parents Thomas and Elizabeth appeared to be a perfumer and hairdresser in the High Street in the 1820s, occupying number 33 High Street Cowes in the 1840s. Son Walter started his business in the 1850s initially as a tea merchant and he lived over the shop at number 28 with his family. He died in 1892 and son Thomas took over the business. There are numerous newspaper articles featuring the Sibley family: petty theft from the shop, for selling non-weighed bread, for selling cocoa that didn’t quite fit the description, for keeping gun powder without a licence and for not transferring the wine licence from his father’s name.
It is clear from street photographs that the door was to the right of the building, with long rectangular windows on the left side of door. From the sign on the shop it would appear that they sold provisions and wine, especially to the yacht and shopping trade. There are numerous newspaper articles featuring the Sibley family: petty theft from the shop, for selling non-weighed bread, for selling cocoa that didn’t quite fit the description, for keeping gun powder without a licence and for not transferring the wine licence from his father’s name.
130 High Street, Cowes
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This is how Sainsbury in Cowes used to look.
This main part of this building was originally known as Wilton House, number 130 Cowes High Street.
In 1852 a surgeon Dr William Hoffmeister lived there. Hoffmeister was the surgeon-apothecary-physician to Her Majesty (Queen Victoria) at Osborne and was knighted there. He later lived at Clifton House, Bath Road and died in 1890.
By 1865, John G Wheeler a photographer from Camberly lived there with his wife and family and ran his photography business Brown and Wheeler. Brown and Wheeler started the idea of the ‘Cowes Embankment Scheme’ – a proposed embankment and esplanade extending from the ferry to the RYS Castle, ‘to place Cowes at the head of all the watering-places in England’. However it was reported in the newspaper in 1869 that the proposed capital of 40,000+ would be too much to raise.
Around 1890 Charles Brown took over Wilton House and established a famous grocery, wine and spirit merchant business (see photo). Brown’s Stores had a royal warrant to Her Majesty the Queen and also had premises in Southampton. Advertisements from newspapers of the time mention their famous ‘Real Turtle Soup prepared from the genuine West Indian Green Turtle’, ‘gorgonzola, gruyere, camembert, stilton, parmesan and other cheese as supplied regularly to the Ocean Liners’ and claimed that they were, ‘purveyors to the Navies of the world, Ocean Liners, the Finest Yachts in the World, and the Mercantile Marine’. In 1898 Brown was taken to court by J and J Colman Ltd for selling ‘any mustard’ as Colman’s mustard, although it does not appear to have affected his reputation.
Brown Stores remained for many years until 1967 when International Food Store took over the premises followed by Gateways, Somerfield and finally Sainsbury.
This is how Sainsbury in Cowes used to look.
This main part of this building was originally known as Wilton House, number 130 Cowes High Street.
In 1852 a surgeon Dr William Hoffmeister lived there. Hoffmeister was the surgeon-apothecary-physician to Her Majesty (Queen Victoria) at Osborne and was knighted there. He later lived at Clifton House, Bath Road and died in 1890.
By 1865, John G Wheeler a photographer from Camberly lived there with his wife and family and ran his photography business Brown and Wheeler. Brown and Wheeler started the idea of the ‘Cowes Embankment Scheme’ – a proposed embankment and esplanade extending from the ferry to the RYS Castle, ‘to place Cowes at the head of all the watering-places in England’. However it was reported in the newspaper in 1869 that the proposed capital of 40,000+ would be too much to raise.
Around 1890 Charles Brown took over Wilton House and established a famous grocery, wine and spirit merchant business (see photo). Brown’s Stores had a royal warrant to Her Majesty the Queen and also had premises in Southampton. Advertisements from newspapers of the time mention their famous ‘Real Turtle Soup prepared from the genuine West Indian Green Turtle’, ‘gorgonzola, gruyere, camembert, stilton, parmesan and other cheese as supplied regularly to the Ocean Liners’ and claimed that they were, ‘purveyors to the Navies of the world, Ocean Liners, the Finest Yachts in the World, and the Mercantile Marine’. In 1898 Brown was taken to court by J and J Colman Ltd for selling ‘any mustard’ as Colman’s mustard, although it does not appear to have affected his reputation.
Brown Stores remained for many years until 1967 when International Food Store took over the premises followed by Gateways, Somerfield and finally Sainsbury.
Jolliffes, 11 Shooters Hill, Cowes
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Henry Jolliffe had a bootmaking business which he established in 1853 at these premises. By 1861 it is documented that he employed 4 men and 3 boys. Later ads claim it was ‘under royal and imperial patronage’ and that Jolliffe’s were sole makers of the ‘Cheapside’ yachting shoes’.
The original shop burned down and this Art Nouveau building was purpose built as a shoe shop on the site about 1917. The Joliffe’s shoe and boot business remained until 1991.
Around 2004 the shop housed Jolliffe Yacht Chandlers and after several years became Jolliffe’s Gallery and Coffee Shop and is now Jolliffes Eatery.
According to the Cowes Ghost Map, a little ghost named Ursula haunts some of the properties in Shooters Hill.
Henry Jolliffe had a bootmaking business which he established in 1853 at these premises. By 1861 it is documented that he employed 4 men and 3 boys. Later ads claim it was ‘under royal and imperial patronage’ and that Jolliffe’s were sole makers of the ‘Cheapside’ yachting shoes’.
The original shop burned down and this Art Nouveau building was purpose built as a shoe shop on the site about 1917. The Joliffe’s shoe and boot business remained until 1991.
Around 2004 the shop housed Jolliffe Yacht Chandlers and after several years became Jolliffe’s Gallery and Coffee Shop and is now Jolliffes Eatery.
According to the Cowes Ghost Map, a little ghost named Ursula haunts some of the properties in Shooters Hill.
Blenheim House, 9 Birmingham Road, Cowes
See previous entry for full history
Alexandra House, 19 Birmingham Road, Cowes
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The building was originally built as a Wesleyan Methodist church in 1831. As the congregation grew quickly, a year later in 1832, the church was enlarged with side galleries and a new organ, and in 1849, a large vestry was added. Sunday school was held in a large hall at the rear of the building.
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In 1901 a new Wesleyan church was built almost opposite this building, the Victoria Wesleyan Church (see older drawing on Instagram) and this church (Alexandra House) was sold privately. At first it became offices for Samuel Saunders, a boat builder who moved from Goring on Thames. By 1911 he had moved the business and his family to east Cowes. Saunders designed and built what may have been he first amphibious flying boat and built over 150 boats including 30 lifeboats for the RNLI, as well as building the speedboat ‘Miss England’ which was driven by Henry Seagrave in the world motorboat championships. Shortly after Saunders moved to Alexandra House, a, ‘daring robbery of jewellery occurred at Alexandra House’. Diamond bracelets, brooches, necklaces, pearls and ruby jewellery valuing £2,000 were stollen. It must have been a significant theft of the time as it was reported in newspapers nationwide.
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After Saunder’s departure, the building became Alexandra Hall, and up until WWII was used by Cowes Amateur Operatic and Dramatics Society which held operatic shows, recitals, concerts, horticultural shows, dances and professional boxing.
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From 1940 it was used by GS Whites and Ratseys boat builders principally for lofting.
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In 1985 Thomas Wilks of The Rover Car Company purchased the property and converted it into a dwelling. Having been sold a few years ago, it is currently being renovated.
The building was originally built as a Wesleyan Methodist church in 1831. As the congregation grew quickly, a year later in 1832, the church was enlarged with side galleries and a new organ, and in 1849, a large vestry was added. Sunday school was held in a large hall at the rear of the building.
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In 1901 a new Wesleyan church was built almost opposite this building, the Victoria Wesleyan Church (see older drawing on Instagram) and this church (Alexandra House) was sold privately. At first it became offices for Samuel Saunders, a boat builder who moved from Goring on Thames. By 1911 he had moved the business and his family to east Cowes. Saunders designed and built what may have been he first amphibious flying boat and built over 150 boats including 30 lifeboats for the RNLI, as well as building the speedboat ‘Miss England’ which was driven by Henry Seagrave in the world motorboat championships. Shortly after Saunders moved to Alexandra House, a, ‘daring robbery of jewellery occurred at Alexandra House’. Diamond bracelets, brooches, necklaces, pearls and ruby jewellery valuing £2,000 were stollen. It must have been a significant theft of the time as it was reported in newspapers nationwide.
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After Saunder’s departure, the building became Alexandra Hall, and up until WWII was used by Cowes Amateur Operatic and Dramatics Society which held operatic shows, recitals, concerts, horticultural shows, dances and professional boxing.
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From 1940 it was used by GS Whites and Ratseys boat builders principally for lofting.
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In 1985 Thomas Wilks of The Rover Car Company purchased the property and converted it into a dwelling. Having been sold a few years ago, it is currently being renovated.
Lallows, 3 Medina Road
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Clare Lallows was established in 1867 and has been running from Medina Road ever since. They have built many boats, from dinghies, scows, several Jolinas, SCODs, Dragons, Drumbeat and Britannia a double ended row boat designed by Uffa Fox that John Fairfax rowed across the Atlantic. In 1970 they were commissioned to build a yacht for the then Prime Minister Edward Heath. Morning Cloud II was launched in 1971 and was so successful that his next boat was also built by Lallows (nautipedia.it)
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Clare Lallow was born in 1843, the son of a shipwright Charles Clare Lallow and they lived at 4 Medina Terrace, West Cowes (which may have been in Brunswick Road). Charles died in 1866, and it appears that his wife (Clare’s mother) Jane continued to run the business, probably with other members of the Lallow extended family. By 1881 Clare then aged 28 was running the boatbuilding business employing 1 man and 2 boys, and lived with his wife Fanny, and sons Sidney C and Arthur W at Medina Road. His mother Jane died in 1892. By 1911 Sidney Lallow was living in Victoria Road with wife Mary and son Clare (born 1906) and also working as a boat builder.
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The Lallows business continued for many years and is now owned and run by Lawrence Boarer who took over the yard in 1996. They offer a wide range of services on most types of boats, including specialist restoration of classic wooden boats such as Ted Heath’s Morning Cloud (now ‘Opposition’) and a sister ship, Easy Glider. (lallowsboatyard.co.uk)
Clare Lallows was established in 1867 and has been running from Medina Road ever since. They have built many boats, from dinghies, scows, several Jolinas, SCODs, Dragons, Drumbeat and Britannia a double ended row boat designed by Uffa Fox that John Fairfax rowed across the Atlantic. In 1970 they were commissioned to build a yacht for the then Prime Minister Edward Heath. Morning Cloud II was launched in 1971 and was so successful that his next boat was also built by Lallows (nautipedia.it)
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Clare Lallow was born in 1843, the son of a shipwright Charles Clare Lallow and they lived at 4 Medina Terrace, West Cowes (which may have been in Brunswick Road). Charles died in 1866, and it appears that his wife (Clare’s mother) Jane continued to run the business, probably with other members of the Lallow extended family. By 1881 Clare then aged 28 was running the boatbuilding business employing 1 man and 2 boys, and lived with his wife Fanny, and sons Sidney C and Arthur W at Medina Road. His mother Jane died in 1892. By 1911 Sidney Lallow was living in Victoria Road with wife Mary and son Clare (born 1906) and also working as a boat builder.
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The Lallows business continued for many years and is now owned and run by Lawrence Boarer who took over the yard in 1996. They offer a wide range of services on most types of boats, including specialist restoration of classic wooden boats such as Ted Heath’s Morning Cloud (now ‘Opposition’) and a sister ship, Easy Glider. (lallowsboatyard.co.uk)
The Old Captain's House, Medina Road, Cowes
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Numbers 7, 9 and 11 Medina Road - how they looked 50 years ago (next to Lallows in Cowes).
Numbers 7 on the left and 9 in the middle still stand, but number 11 on the right, once a shop, has gone leaving a gap between this building and the next.
Today, Medina Road is unrecognisable to the street of yesteryear. A hundred years ago, the street consisted of terraced houses such as these, shops, marine business premises,at least 6 pubs and the offices of JS Whites. In close proximity to Whites shipyard on both sides of the River Medina, Medina Road was bombed in WW2, and as houses deteriorated over the years, they were demolished and replaced with office blocks, a marina and several apartment block.
The building in the middle is now known as The Old Captain’s House, and has a plaque that reads, ‘Captain Charles Bishop, born 25.1.1829 Master Mariner and Yacht Broker resided here 1892, 9 children with wife Sarah Hickman, ticket no 345971 dated 7 March 1851’.
Research shows that Charles Ford Bishop was Master of a Yacht and later a Yacht Insurance Agent. Originally from Greenwich where he completed his Master’s Certificate of Service in 1829, with his wife Sarah, they had moved to Cowes, and had lived in Princes Street (around 1861), Newport Road (around 1865), Mill Hill Road (around 1871) and The Lawn, Worsely Road from 1875 until his death in 1895. He had moved offices from Bath Road (around 1885) to Medina Road (around 1889) where he worked as a shipping agent and agent to underwriters’ association of Glasgow.
Numbers 7, 9 and 11 Medina Road - how they looked 50 years ago (next to Lallows in Cowes).
Numbers 7 on the left and 9 in the middle still stand, but number 11 on the right, once a shop, has gone leaving a gap between this building and the next.
Today, Medina Road is unrecognisable to the street of yesteryear. A hundred years ago, the street consisted of terraced houses such as these, shops, marine business premises,at least 6 pubs and the offices of JS Whites. In close proximity to Whites shipyard on both sides of the River Medina, Medina Road was bombed in WW2, and as houses deteriorated over the years, they were demolished and replaced with office blocks, a marina and several apartment block.
The building in the middle is now known as The Old Captain’s House, and has a plaque that reads, ‘Captain Charles Bishop, born 25.1.1829 Master Mariner and Yacht Broker resided here 1892, 9 children with wife Sarah Hickman, ticket no 345971 dated 7 March 1851’.
Research shows that Charles Ford Bishop was Master of a Yacht and later a Yacht Insurance Agent. Originally from Greenwich where he completed his Master’s Certificate of Service in 1829, with his wife Sarah, they had moved to Cowes, and had lived in Princes Street (around 1861), Newport Road (around 1865), Mill Hill Road (around 1871) and The Lawn, Worsely Road from 1875 until his death in 1895. He had moved offices from Bath Road (around 1885) to Medina Road (around 1889) where he worked as a shipping agent and agent to underwriters’ association of Glasgow.
Mill Hill Road, Cowes
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Mill Hill Road, Cowes
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Steinberg House, (The Caledon), Mill Hill Road, Cowes
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This magnificent building is The Calendon in Cowes, now a guest house (the-caledon.co.uk), was once the home of Mr Alfred Fennings, a chemist with a patent for medicines.
Alfred Fennings (sometime written as Fenning) was born in 1815 in Stepney, London to parents William and Eliza (Tyler) Fennings. It is unclear when he moved to the Isle of Wight, but the Alfred Fenning medicines business dated back to 1834 in Hammersmith. Having moved to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, Alfred married Angelina Steinberg in 1851. The census records show that Alfred and Angelina lived at 4 Victoria Road in 1861, and he was listed as a ‘Patent medicine proprietor’. When the next census was taken in 1871, Angelina lived at Steinberg House, Mill Hill Road. The house was possibly newly built, bought or rented by the Fennings and named after Angelina’s family name. This is the building we now know as The Caledon. At times throughout the years, Steinberg House was split into two residential houses, but it is unclear back in 1871 whether they lived in part or the whole house. On the day that the census was taken, Alfred was in Peckham with his mother Eliza, brother William and possibly sister Maria.
Alfred’s firm produced products that were claimed to cure ‘sore throats, or bowel complaints with one dose, typhus fever with two doses, diphtheria with three doses, scarlet fever with four doses, cholera with five and influenza with six doses’! A newspaper article from 1979 suggests that the medicine was simply a weak solution of nitric acid with peppermint flavour! As well as medicine, the published the Fennings’ Every Mother’s Book which contains everything you needed to know about children’s health and the Fenning’s Everybody’s Doctor which told you how to cure quickly, safely and surely almost every type of killer disease!
Angelina died in 1875, and Alfred’s mother Eliza died in 1877. Alfred continued to live at Steinberg House and on the 1881 census, the house was split into two dwellings with James E Fennings, wife Rebecca and 4 children living on the other side.
James Edward Fenning, born 1844, was the son of Alfred’s sister Sarah Fenning and James Tyler. He moved from London to the Island and worked as an ‘almoner’, distributing Alfred’s money to charities. Newspapers at the time reported that James, ‘searched out cases of real want, and they were at once relived…he gave entertainments to the Sunday schools of every denomination, when not only the scholars, but the adults, were much gratified. He was one who would do good to anyone, and was beloved by all who knew him’. James died in 1884 whilst living at Steinberg House, aged just 39 years.
In 1891, Alfred lived at Steinberg House with Rebecca and her children. He died in 1900 aged 84 years. Newspaper articles at the time reported that he had, ‘dispensed his benefactions with a most generous hand’ and during his life, some of his anonymous contributions to societies had amounted to more than £85,000. His will made provision for ongoing funds to continue.
After his death, the business continued to deal with patent medicines and ran under the name Alfred Fennings from Veness Villa, Victoria Road until at least 1946. Mrs Fennings (probably James’ widow Rebecca) lived at Sydney House, Mill Hill Road until around 1920, she died in 1930 whilst living with her son in Gurnard. Their son, Alfred Edward Fennings lived in Gurnard with his family, and was a commercial clerk for patent medicines, presumably for the family business.
By 1904, Steinberg House was occupied by Clara Jane Southin, her mother in law and two sons. Her husband John Stride Southin whom she had married in 1897 was listed as working on the Steam Yacht Fauvette as second engineer. In 1901, Clara had lived at Dimona in Mill Hill Road, and in 1891 she had lived and worked at Redferns, the outfitters in the High Street. John Stride Southin was listed as living at Caledon, Mill Hill Road (the same house) in 1920, and he died in 1939. In 1939 Clara lived in Scarrotts Lane, Newport, and died in 1945 whilst in Buckinghamshire.
This magnificent building is The Calendon in Cowes, now a guest house (the-caledon.co.uk), was once the home of Mr Alfred Fennings, a chemist with a patent for medicines.
Alfred Fennings (sometime written as Fenning) was born in 1815 in Stepney, London to parents William and Eliza (Tyler) Fennings. It is unclear when he moved to the Isle of Wight, but the Alfred Fenning medicines business dated back to 1834 in Hammersmith. Having moved to Cowes on the Isle of Wight, Alfred married Angelina Steinberg in 1851. The census records show that Alfred and Angelina lived at 4 Victoria Road in 1861, and he was listed as a ‘Patent medicine proprietor’. When the next census was taken in 1871, Angelina lived at Steinberg House, Mill Hill Road. The house was possibly newly built, bought or rented by the Fennings and named after Angelina’s family name. This is the building we now know as The Caledon. At times throughout the years, Steinberg House was split into two residential houses, but it is unclear back in 1871 whether they lived in part or the whole house. On the day that the census was taken, Alfred was in Peckham with his mother Eliza, brother William and possibly sister Maria.
Alfred’s firm produced products that were claimed to cure ‘sore throats, or bowel complaints with one dose, typhus fever with two doses, diphtheria with three doses, scarlet fever with four doses, cholera with five and influenza with six doses’! A newspaper article from 1979 suggests that the medicine was simply a weak solution of nitric acid with peppermint flavour! As well as medicine, the published the Fennings’ Every Mother’s Book which contains everything you needed to know about children’s health and the Fenning’s Everybody’s Doctor which told you how to cure quickly, safely and surely almost every type of killer disease!
Angelina died in 1875, and Alfred’s mother Eliza died in 1877. Alfred continued to live at Steinberg House and on the 1881 census, the house was split into two dwellings with James E Fennings, wife Rebecca and 4 children living on the other side.
James Edward Fenning, born 1844, was the son of Alfred’s sister Sarah Fenning and James Tyler. He moved from London to the Island and worked as an ‘almoner’, distributing Alfred’s money to charities. Newspapers at the time reported that James, ‘searched out cases of real want, and they were at once relived…he gave entertainments to the Sunday schools of every denomination, when not only the scholars, but the adults, were much gratified. He was one who would do good to anyone, and was beloved by all who knew him’. James died in 1884 whilst living at Steinberg House, aged just 39 years.
In 1891, Alfred lived at Steinberg House with Rebecca and her children. He died in 1900 aged 84 years. Newspaper articles at the time reported that he had, ‘dispensed his benefactions with a most generous hand’ and during his life, some of his anonymous contributions to societies had amounted to more than £85,000. His will made provision for ongoing funds to continue.
After his death, the business continued to deal with patent medicines and ran under the name Alfred Fennings from Veness Villa, Victoria Road until at least 1946. Mrs Fennings (probably James’ widow Rebecca) lived at Sydney House, Mill Hill Road until around 1920, she died in 1930 whilst living with her son in Gurnard. Their son, Alfred Edward Fennings lived in Gurnard with his family, and was a commercial clerk for patent medicines, presumably for the family business.
By 1904, Steinberg House was occupied by Clara Jane Southin, her mother in law and two sons. Her husband John Stride Southin whom she had married in 1897 was listed as working on the Steam Yacht Fauvette as second engineer. In 1901, Clara had lived at Dimona in Mill Hill Road, and in 1891 she had lived and worked at Redferns, the outfitters in the High Street. John Stride Southin was listed as living at Caledon, Mill Hill Road (the same house) in 1920, and he died in 1939. In 1939 Clara lived in Scarrotts Lane, Newport, and died in 1945 whilst in Buckinghamshire.
Windsor House, 2 Castle Road, Cowes
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This is Windsor House, Castle Road, Cowes. There were several Cowes houses known Windsor House in the 20thC, one in Prospect Road, one in Newport Road, and this one, number 2 Castle Road built in the 1750s.
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Windsor House is currently up for sale and property websites notes: ‘The current Isle of Wight volume of Pevsner's The Buildings of England describes this part of Castle Road as 'one the pleasantest pieces of townscape in Cowes', and references Windsor House as 'the nicest' in the group, praising its exceptional mid-Georgian features: 'the weatherboarding on the main frontage is a rare survival in Cowes.' system. (www.spencewillard.co.uk/property/cowes-isle-of-wight-2/)
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Little is actually known about the house as for some reason it doesn't appear on many of the censuses, however there are a few snippets of history.
In 1895, William Leonard Redston Warner died at Windsor House, aged just 33. William had been born in Scotland but lived with his wife Rosa and children in Kingston. He was the only surviving son of the late Captain Redston Warner, 3rd Dragoon Guards.
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In 1911 John William Cooke, a master mariner lived at Windsor House with his Swedish wife Hildgartte Eugenia, and 11 year old daughter Vera Eugenia. Tragically, by this time they had lost both their sons. Older son John Gustaf George Cicero, born 1883 died at the age of 2, and their younger son Victor William Cooke had been accidentally killed at sea on 16 September 1903 aged just 18 years. Victor had been appointed as a Midshipman (Probationary) with the Royal Navy and on 16 Jan 1904 (posthumously), died as a result of a 'fall from aloft and drowned' serving on a vessel named 'Galena'.
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By 1935 Mr W Summers lived at Windsor House. It is unclear who else lived in the house with him, but a newspaper article of the time reports that whilst walking along the Newport Cowes Road one evening in February 1935, he was knocked won by a motorcycle and broke both legs.
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By 1939 William H Attfield, a riveter on aircrafts lived at Windsor House with his wife Winifred and daughter Freda.
This is Windsor House, Castle Road, Cowes. There were several Cowes houses known Windsor House in the 20thC, one in Prospect Road, one in Newport Road, and this one, number 2 Castle Road built in the 1750s.
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Windsor House is currently up for sale and property websites notes: ‘The current Isle of Wight volume of Pevsner's The Buildings of England describes this part of Castle Road as 'one the pleasantest pieces of townscape in Cowes', and references Windsor House as 'the nicest' in the group, praising its exceptional mid-Georgian features: 'the weatherboarding on the main frontage is a rare survival in Cowes.' system. (www.spencewillard.co.uk/property/cowes-isle-of-wight-2/)
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Little is actually known about the house as for some reason it doesn't appear on many of the censuses, however there are a few snippets of history.
In 1895, William Leonard Redston Warner died at Windsor House, aged just 33. William had been born in Scotland but lived with his wife Rosa and children in Kingston. He was the only surviving son of the late Captain Redston Warner, 3rd Dragoon Guards.
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In 1911 John William Cooke, a master mariner lived at Windsor House with his Swedish wife Hildgartte Eugenia, and 11 year old daughter Vera Eugenia. Tragically, by this time they had lost both their sons. Older son John Gustaf George Cicero, born 1883 died at the age of 2, and their younger son Victor William Cooke had been accidentally killed at sea on 16 September 1903 aged just 18 years. Victor had been appointed as a Midshipman (Probationary) with the Royal Navy and on 16 Jan 1904 (posthumously), died as a result of a 'fall from aloft and drowned' serving on a vessel named 'Galena'.
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By 1935 Mr W Summers lived at Windsor House. It is unclear who else lived in the house with him, but a newspaper article of the time reports that whilst walking along the Newport Cowes Road one evening in February 1935, he was knocked won by a motorcycle and broke both legs.
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By 1939 William H Attfield, a riveter on aircrafts lived at Windsor House with his wife Winifred and daughter Freda.
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