Dovecot St newsagent Stockton on Tees

[suepan]

Mmmm, the answer to my rhetorical question is yes, I do have to pay and join Genes Reunited before I can send a message! However, I have done this and have now contacted you Donna. Who knows what other mysteries I might solve now. Regards, Suepan.

[Jomot]

One possible place to look is the files of Punch Robson Solicitors which are held at Teesside Archives and currently being catalogued:

http://teessidearchives.middlesbrough.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=U%2fPR

Something you may have already looked into regarding Henry York Medd is the address given on his 1892 marriage.  In 1891 a Watson Raper is living there and states that two of his children, aged 5 & 4, were born in Winnipeg, Canada.  An extremely long shot, but could that be where Henry was 'hiding'?  Watson's father was a surveyor & builder and it looks like he also owned a shop in Stockton. 

[suepan]

Many thanks Jomot for your thoughts- very interesting and an avenue I had not previously explored. I am now spending a very rainy afternoon researching Watson Raper (who married an Annie ATKINSON- there's that ATKINSON name again) to see if there could be any link. Some time ago I found a reference to a Henry MED of the right age, who travelled from Liverpool on the "Bothnia" to New York , arriving there on 5 May 1890, aged 20. At the moment I can't put my hand on the source of that info. If this 'my' Henry this may explain his absence in the 1891 census, but he still missing in the 1881. So you may be correct, he may well have been overseas for a while.

My short research on Watson Raper shows he was described variously as a painter (artist) and a painter and decorator. He became bankrupt in 1909, listing addresses in Edward Street and Grove Street, Stockton. In 1911 he is a steward on the ship ' SS Homewood' and in 1915 I find him aged 56 as a steward on the ship 'Kingswood'.

A work in progress- as it has been for the last 10 years or so!
Thank you once again
Suepan.

[Jomot]

Hope it leads you somewhere - but preferably not a blind alley 

I know the exact shop you're referring to as my very first house was a 2-up 2-down just behind Dovecot Street that was built about the same time as your family moved into the shop.   The council were wise enough to put a preservation order on the entire street years ago so the houses are still pretty much as they were then, with brown wooden doors & sash windows & even the street lighting and cobbles are still in keeping with the original.  It really feels like stepping back in time & I wish I'd understood back then just what a gem it was - I'd never have sold it. 

I still live in the area so if there's anything I can help with feel free to shout.

[WolfieSmith]

To answer one of your original questions, they rented it.

An article in the North East Daily Gazette, 30 Jan 1900.

TO BE SOLD BY AUCTION at the Vane Arms Hotel, Stockton on Tees, 7 Feb 1900.

LOT 1. All that Freehold Dwelling House and Shop being number 5 Mill Lane in Stockton on Tees, as now occupied by Mr Thomas Brown, Tobacconist and Newsagent, comprising useful shop with private entrance from Mill Lane, 7 other rooms, wash house,  and usual conveniences in the yard. This Lot adjoins the Post Office.
.....
…. All Lots are in excellent situations for letting, and are in first rate repair.
…. The respective tenants will show the premises.

Prior to being a newsagent, Mrs Brown ran a Dressmaking Shop and Dressmaking Teaching business from the same address, at least from 1889 to 1894, and prior to that she ran a Domestic Servants Agency (Register Office) from the same address, at least in 1883 (from numerous advertisements in the same Newspaper).

Alan.

[suepan]

Hello Wolfie Smith
Many, many thanks for your wonderful information. That answers a lot of questions for me and has told me some things I did not really know. I have been trawling around the internet for years now and pick it up again every few months to see if anything new has been added to Findmypast, Ancestry etc.
Your information now confirms that my Brown family lived in Mill Lane/ Dovecot St as tenants rather than owners. I know they were there from at least 1881 ( census) and were still there in 1911 ( census) and it is here that my father was born in 1911 also.
In the 1901 census ( presumably after the building had been sold), the Brown family are still newsagents etc so obviously continued to be tenants.
My next confirmed date is 1922 when Thomas Brown died in 1922 with an address given as Garbutt St. So they must have moved some time between 1911 and 1922.
Some time ago I was given information that the newsagents license had been taken over by a Mr W Taylor in 1904, but I'm not sure if this is correct, given that the Browns are described as newsagents/tobacconists in the 1911 census.
Thank you so much also for the information on Emma Brown's activities as a dressmaker and a domestic servants agency. This is interesting as Emma's sister Sarah, who came to live with them, was also a dressmaker. And in both the 1881 and 1891 census , there was a domestic servant living with the Browns. Perhaps as a result of the agency Emma was running?
Not only was Emma Brown a hard worker, her husband Thomas was variously described as a bricklayer and builder, and added to that he was a "collector of poor rates" in the local area.
It's rather ironic that I have held a romantic belief that their relative good fortune was the result of some form of remuneration for raising aristocratic children born on the wrong side of the bed. It seems, however, that any good fortune they had was as a result of their industrious hard work! Nothing wrong with that though.
Many thanks to all who have contributed your thoughts. Another leap forward!
Suepan.

[middlesbrough]

Article from Daily Gazette Middlesbrough 8 June 1914
Upon his own petition and adjudication the affairs of Thomas Brown, a jobbing bricklayer and tobacconist, of 68 Dovecot St Stockton, will be examined at Stockton Bankruptcy Court.

Middlesbrough Gazette 24 June 1914
Thomas Brown Bricklayer and tobacconist, Dovecot St Stockton, appeared for his public examination at the local bankruptcy court today. He stated that between 1901 and 1907 he lost money in farming, and went to money lenders and secured financial help, which he could not repay. His liabilities amounted to 246 pounds 9s and he was deficient 212 pounds 11s and 6d. The examination was adjourned for a week. The debtor was represented by Mr. T. Downey

[suepan]

Absolutely fantastic information, thank you so very much!!
I'm not sure whether to feel sorry or pleased for my Brown family but this information is helping so much in piecing together what went on just around that time.
I had no idea Thomas Brown became involved in farming, and I would imagine £246 was a lot of money in those days. But I knew 'something ' had happened in those years.
This might explain why he and Emma, and also their son Percy and family ended up in Garbutt st, which I believe was a little less salubrious than their relatively large house in Dovecot St.
As a very young girl in about 1953 I can remember visiting my grandparents Percy and Elizabeth Brown (son and daughter of Thomas and Emma) who, I believe, resided in Garbutt St as well. Even though only about 7 years old, I can remember vividly their impoverished circumstances. The family story was that certain racehorses had a lot to do with the poverty, but no doubt a World War and a depression played its part. Who am I to judge from my warm and cosy home in prosperous and safe West Australia.
My thanks to everyone
Suepan

[WolfieSmith]

Detail of Mrs Browns business activities to give a fuller picture :

Northern Echo, 11 Jan 1883, under Classified Ads - Registry Offices.
WANTED – A few good General Servants. Apply to Mrs Browns Registry, 5 Mill Lane, Stockton.

Daily Gazette, 11 May 1889, under Public Notices.
EUROPEAN SYSTEM OF DRESS MAKING – Mrs Brown, Dressmaker, 5 Mill Lane Stockton, has been appointed Agent to Teach this valuable system in Middlesbrough and Redcar.

Daily Gazette, 18 May 1889, under Public Notices.
THE EUROPEAN SYSTEM OF DRESS CUTTING – Perfect fit guaranteed. Mrs Brown, Dressmaker, 5 Mill Lane, Stockton, will hold a class for teaching the above system every Monday from 2 to 6 pm, at No. 7 Station Road, Redcar, and every Thursday from 2 to 6 pm at No 4 Dunning Road, Middlesbrough. Ladies attended privately if required. Patterns cut to fit, perfect measure. 2s. Only agent for Middlesbrough, South Bank, Coatham, Marske and Redcar.

Same advert on a daily basis for next 3 months.

Daily Gazette, 29 Jan 1891, under Public Notices.
MRS BROWN, 5 Mill Lane, Stockton, Dress and Mantle Maker, only Certified Teacher of the European System of Dress Cutting by Measurement. Perfect fit guaranteed. No fitting required, Ball and Evening Dresses in all the latest styles.

Same advert 3 times a week for the next 3 months.

Daily Gazette, 25 May 1891, under Public Notices.
DRESSMAKING in all its branches, a choice selection of patterns. If required, Mrs Brown will wait upon ladies with patterns and take measurements. Apprentices wanted. 5 Mill Lane Stockton.

Same advert 3 times a week for the next 3 months.

Daily Gazette, 4 June 1892, under Public Notices.
MRS BROWN, 5 Mill Lane, Stockton, only Certified Teacher of the European System of Dress Cutting. Summer dress patterns now to hand, combining every novelty. No fitting required, ladies send a well fitting bodice, or call to be measured. Our specialite, 5 guinea Black or Coloured Silk Costume. Apprentices wanted.

Same advert 3 times a week for the next 2 months.

Daily Gazette, 27 April 1893, under Clerks, Assistants Wanted.
Young Lady wanted as Apprentice to Dressmaking and to Assist in Shop. Apply to Mrs Brown, Agent for European Dress Cutting, 5 Mill Lane Stockton.

Mrs Browns last general dressmaking advert is 14 August 1894.

Alan.