What was a "Company House"?

[SandraC]

Hi all

My very confusing Bowers family have again provided a surprising twist 

Whilst I am trying to convince myself which family group my 2xGgrandfather Thomas Bowers b 1834-6, Manchester belonged to, I was doing some following up of siblings & other relatives as you never know what you might find 

Anyway,
three maiden sisters Harriet, Jane & Helen Bowers b 1826-1840 in Stockport or Manchester are recorded as schoolmistresses in Stretford in 1871, but in 1881, they are at 20 Seabank Road, Southport where all three [Hattie is the eldest] are recorded as Company House Keeper.

Is this a fancy title for a boarding house keeper [it was the seaside] or does it imply that the house belonged to a Company & was for the lodging of the staff?

The other occupants are:
the Misses Lucy & Tryphena Crighton of Hulme [in their 20s]
Richard & Annie Armistead of Manchester [merchant of cotton goods] & their children Mary, William & Annie aged 16-11
James Ferguson of Scotland, secretary to the Hospital for Incurables [not very PC the Victorians  ]

The real twist for me is that I live in Southport & prior to moving here 10+ years ago I had no idea of any connection to the area.  It now turns out that 2 sets of direct ancestors lived here for centuries or down the road at Martin Mere & now I have the probable sisters of another relative turning up almost on my doorstep - weird or what?

Thanks for any thoughts
SandraC

[SheilaM]

Hi Sandra

Found this on someone's family tree whilst googling Company House.

1901 As ***** ******, married? 34? Company house keeper (lodging house), on own account, at home, born Manchester, living at ** **** Street, Blackpool (1901 census)

Looks like it was a hotel.

Regards ... Sheila

[SandraC]

Hi Sheila

Thanks!  I'll have to take a stroll round the corner from the office tomorrow to see what is there now & maybe pop in the Library to see if they are on the local Directories.

Cheers
SandraC

[shirclo]

I have ancestors living in Blackpool in the 1901 Census, they are listed as Company House Keepers.
I believe (from the addresses) that in later years they would be Boarding House Keepers, then later still Guest House Keepers.
I would imagine Company House Keeper  is a term used in seaside resorts etc.

[SandraC]

Hi

It must just be a terminology thing then - note to self to check at the Library 

SandraC

[shirclo]

I've lived in Blackpool all my life & spent 10 years of my childhood in my parent's Boarding House & I'd never heard of the term Company House Keeper until I looked at the 1901 Census and realised that the same property was then a Company House.

[Aulus]

I too lived in Blackpool for the first 20-odd years of my life and still live nearby, and parent lives there still after 70 years, and neither of us had heard the term Company House either!

I've just looked again at my 1901 census people in Blackpool.  One wife is lodging house keeper, and another is a Comp. House Keeper - I'd not noticed that before, though the scribbling on the census page adjusts Comp House to Lodge Ho. all down the page (Victoria St, Blackpool), and I'd actually put down Lodging House Keeper as the occupation.

Just browsing the pages, Company House Keepers are very common!

How strange I'd never heard of the term.

[Tickettyboo]

Though this is a very old thread, I found the same occupation listed for a twiglet who had originated in Dunston, Co. Durham and by 1939 was in Blackpool. There were others on the same page who had Company House Proprietor

I believe I have found the answer, though its taken a fair bit of firkling round the web, and it may be of interest to others.

from this page:
https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/blackpools-seaside-heritage/blackpools-seaside-heritage/


Catering for visitors in the late 19th century
The immodestly titled guidebook Blackpool: the unrivalled seaside resort for health and leisure claimed in 1897 that the resort had 10,000 places for visitors to stay, presumably rooms rather than premises, at a time when the town’s population was around 45,000 and the larger Parliamentary Division only contained 22,000 buildings  The guidebook classified accommodation into three categories:
1 Hotels, Hydros and Boarding Houses, offering inclusive rates for meals
and room
2 Private Apartments, where the rate quoted was for a room, with meals
cooked by a landlord or landlady using ingredients provided by the guests
3 Company Houses, lodging houses where guests rented a room or bed and could either buy their own food to be cooked and served in their rooms or in a dining room, or dine out.

I haven't yet found anything to say if the classification, or terms for the various types had changed by 1939, but the above is a start:-)

Boo

[Simon62]

Was my search question too! I've just googled company house keeper 1900s and this thread appeared.

1901 Census. Mary Amelia Craston. Lodge Ho. Company house keeper. 51 Promenade, Southport

Cleared that up.

Thanks Boo and all

Simon