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Brentford Market 1922

In 2018 Claire Noble undertook an analysis of Brentford Market traders who lived outside the local area:
I've extracted all the 1922 Brentford market people coming in from further afield - loosely defined as outside the M25. The furthest afield is Honiton in Devon, but there's local family contact. One of the front shops was occupied by a Bristol couple: I'm sure they would have had employees in situ.

There's a heavy Fenland presence, just like the Twickenham farmer's market today where a Lincs farmer is there (or used to be) every week.

I notice the Bedfordshire men had adjacent covered pitching stands - protection from the elements if they've made the effort to come in. Either they or juniors (more probably as a matter of routine) would have made the trip, hence Ebenezer Little bringing his great-nephew on board. Plus, given the pitching stands were adjacent, it meant that the Beds group could take up as much or as little space as they wished depending on who was there - a real co-operative effort.

The voter qualification codes are taken from the electoral register, eg [BP/O]. It was perfectly legitimate for non-resident stall-holders to vote in local and parliamentary elections as long as they fulfilled the eligibility criteria. Of course, matters had only recently changed for the women, in 1918, but it wasn't until 1928 that their eligibility was equal to that of men. The codes follow:

Parliamentary/Local govt franchises

• BP: business premises qualification [parliamentary franchise code]
• O: occupational qualification [local government franchise code]
• HO: qualification through husband's occupation [parliamentary franchise code]

3 Front Shop: Bristol
Warehouses: Peterborough + local
Stalls: Cambs; Hants; Devon + local; Peterborough; Peterborough
Pitching Stands: Beds x 3 [together/adjacent]
Wagon Stands: Bucks x 6
Uncovered Wagon Stand: Surrey; Dartford
Uncovered Stalls: Peterborough
Uncovered Stands: Bucks

3 Front Shop: Charles [BP/O] & Fanny Griffiths [HO/-], Stoke Bishop, Bristol
Warehouses 5&6: James Sutton, 168 Park Rd, Peterborough [BP/O] + James Arthur Sutton, 97 Oxford Rd, Chiswick [BP/O]
Stalls 1, 2 & 3: John Thomas Heaps, Cambridge House, Doddington, Cambs [BP/O] + Mary Heaps, ditto [HO/-]
Stall 5: Annie Prior, Hill Farm, Ropley, Hants [HO/-] + Charles Prior, ditto, [BP/O]
Stall 29: Charles William Huntley, 'Clovelly', High Street, Honiton [BP/O] + Frederick Arthur Huntley, 17 Netheravon Rd, Chiswick [-/O]
Stands 57 to 60: Charles Edward Askew, 85 Lincoln Road, Peterborough [BP/O]
Stands 69 to 72: Robert Edward Sharpe, West Street, Crowlands, nr Peterborough [BP/O]
Pitching Stands 33 & 34: Harry George Compton, Ebstow [sic Elstow] Road, Kempston, nr Bedford [BP/O] + Ebenezer Little, Great Barford, Beds [BP/O]
Pitching Stands 35 & 36: William Brooksbanks, Roadside Farm, Biggleswade [BP/O]
Wagon Stand 13: James Blinco, George Green, Langley, Bucks [-/O]
Wagon Stand 17: Henry Wiggins, Poyle, Colnbrook, Bucks [-/O]
Wagon Stand 21: George Wright, Poyle Farm, Colnbrook, Bucks [-/O]
Wagon Stand 57: William George White, Little Sutton Farm, Langley, Bucks [-/O]
Wagon Stand 61: James Wicks, Mildridge Farm, Horton, Bucks [-/O]
Wagon Stands 71 & 72: Frank Purser, Tan House, Colnbrook, Bucks [BP/O]

BRENTFORD MARKET (Uncovered)
Wagon Stand 86: William Hill, St George's Farm, Ripley, Surrey [-/O]
Wagon Stands 124 & 125: Alfred Wingrove, Chalk Croft Farm, Pinden, Nr. Dartford [BP/O]
Stalls 9 to 12: Albert Ernest Collins, London Street, Wittlesea, near Peterborough [BP/O]
Stands 77, 78, 79 & 56: William George White, Little Sutton Farm, Langley, Bucks [BP/O]

Links

Read more about Ebenzer Little, who had a stall at Brentford Market by 1906. This page includes links to other market material.

The electoralregisters.org.uk site includes information about the electoral registers, electoral rolls, poll books from 1700 to the present day, how to access the registers online...

Janet McNamara has researched the history of Brentford Market.

Published January 2020; updated March 2023