Redferns, 41, 40 and 40a High Street, Cowes

This magnificent building is Victoria House, number 41 High Street Cowes, now the shop ‘Live Like This’. To the left are numbers 40 and 41a, now Marvins and Sailor Ted.

The sketch shows how the shops looked at the beginning of the last century when it was Redferns drapery business. From the look of the decorations (which include electrical strung coloured lights) and the history of the Redferns business, my guess is that it is decorated for Edward VII’s coronation in August 1902.

The writing on the windows reads:

By special appointment to HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN

SPECIALITIES

YACHTING & TRAVELLING GOWNS

BRANCHES

26 Conduit St London W

242 Rue do Rivoli, Paris

210 Fifth Avenue, Broadway, New York

Newport Rhode Island & Saratoga USA

Edinburgh, Nice and Manchester.

The earliest mention of Victoria House, is in 1847 when it was George Whites, a draper specialising in British and foreign silks, also operating at Union Street, Ryde. By 1851 John Redfern and his wife Harriet had moved into the shop, together with their 3 sons John, Stanley and Frank. Also living at Victoria House were 3 drapers assistants, 2 house servants and a nurse.

John Redfern had been born in 1820 in Chichester, and had married Harriett Beasley from Ryde in 1846. By 1861, they also had a daughter Annie and another son Ernest Arthur and also residing at Victoria House was Harriet’s sister in law, 4 drapers assistants, 1 dressmaker assistant, a milliner and 3 domestic servants.

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The Referns continued to live at the shop until at least 1881, when John, Harriet and sons Stanley and Ernest moved to Tinkers Lane, near the Travellers Joy in Northwood (now known as Pallance Road), possibly to a house known as Woodside. The Redferns shop in the High Street continued to run and in 1881 housed 12 girls working there as dressmakers, drapers assistants, clerk, milliner, nursemaid and kitchenmaid, in 1891 it accommodated 73 girls and in 1901 there were 40 girls. Hannah and John continued to live in Tinkers Lane until they both died, Hannah in 1883 aged 60, and John in 1895 aged 75.

John Redern was the founder of an international fashion house that shook the fashion world, see full story below.

Between 1926 and 1951, according to the book, ‘The History of Shops in Cowes’, Victoria House was occupied by HE Day and Sons, a building company, it then became the Westminster Bank for a time until 1957 and then various trades worked from there until its current occupants Live Like This in 2007.

Text below from the Friends of Northwood Cemetery:

JOHN REDFERN (1820-1895)

John Redfern was the founder of an international fashion house that shook the fashion world. He was one of the first to make tailoring fashionable for women and by 1892 had eleven branches across Europe and America, including London, Paris, Nice, New York, Edinburgh, Manchester and Cowes. Its clientele included Queen Victoria and her daughters, Lily Langtry and the wealthy socialites of Europe and America.

John Redfern started out as a draper in Cowes between 1847 and 1849. He then supplied Osborne house with materials and silks, listing John Redfern and Sons as ‘silk mercers to Her Majesty the Queen’.

Redfern’s drapery expanded to fill the demand for special yachting outfits during Cowes week. Cowes had become the headquarters of yachting for England By the 1870s Women were also participating in sports such as archery, fencing, shooting, tennis, golf, cycling and walking. Their designs were both stylish and practical and tailor made for variety of sports. By adapting these outfits to the very latest trends, Redfern made their creations fashionable.

1847-1849 – John Redfern establishes his drapery business at 41 High Street, Cowes.

1878 – The shop expands to 41 and 42 High Street and numbers 1-4 Sun Hill, Cowes.

1878 – London branch opens, 26 Conduit Street.

1881 – Paris branch opens, 242 Rue de Rivoli.

1884 – New York branch opens, 210 Fifth Avenue and 1123 Broadway. 1886 – Edinburgh branch opens.

1888 – Manchester branch opens.

1892 – John Redfern and Sons becomes Redfern Limited.

1895 – John Redfern dies and is buried in Northwood Cemetery.

1907 – The Cowes shop closed and the Paris house became the main branch.

http://www.friendsofnorthwoodcemetery.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/FASHION-banner.pdf

Please read more about the history of Cowes buildings with more illustrations on our page Cowes History.