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From 370 to 384 High Street, Old Brentford

On the northern side of the High Street, midway between St George's church to the west and the Waterworks to the east, this section contained the Hand & Flower and Fox & Hounds public houses, both in operation by the early 1800s (one possibly dating back to pre 1760) and the Eight Bells beer house. In 1891 a small enclave of Italian families lived in one of the alleys off this section.

By the time of the 1909/10 Valuation only numbers 370 and 384 are recorded; this area had been redeveloped by the Gas Light & Coke Company.

Properties

Notes prepared for numbers 370, 371, 372, 373, 374, 375, 376, 377, The Hand & Flower (378, later 379), 379, The Eight Bells at 380, 381, 382, 383 and The Fox and Hounds (384); also a list of photos, ephemera and maps

Number 370

Thomas Ball Senols was a grocer and cheesemonger in Old Brentford (Pigot’s directory of Middlesex, 1826). In 1830 the property recorded after the Marquis of Granby was owned and occupied by 'J' B 'Senolds'; it had a shop and garden (Land Tax record, Ancestry).

A PCC will for Thomas Ball Senols, grocer of Old Brentford, was written and proved in 1836. Pigot's 1839 directory includes Barton and Senols, grocers, Old Brentford. Going back to 1811, the census records a Robert Barton then three lines down a Thomas Senold, in Old Brentford.

The 1840 tithe apportionment records Mrs Senols, his widow (I), owner, and William Barton, occupier of a house and premises next to the Marquis of Granby. In the 1841 census Jane Senols'household included grocers William Barton, John Burbridge, William Wage and James Wright. LMA holds records for the Barton family, one of which includes reference to 'Two messuages: i.e. One on the North side of the street in Old Brentford in the occupation of William Barton and Jane Senols, with garden, etc., and the other situate near the One Tun in Old Brentford, with all household goods, furniture and effects.'

The 1845 Three Counties Directory includes William Barton, grocer & cheesemonger. By 1851 William had married Jane, he was a 'master grocer employing 1 man and 1 woman': the two employees lived in with their employers.

In 1861 24 year old William Morris, ironmonger & grocer lived and worked here. He was succeeded by George Knight, oil and color man and grocer (1871 - 1891 censuses). There is no reference to no. 370 in the 1901 census; the site was taken over by the Gas Light & Coke Company in 1903 (C61).

George Knight, 31 Sydenham Road, Sydenham, Kent is recorded as the owner at the time of the 1909/10 Valuation. The property was rented out for 42 years from 29 September 1901, the first 14 years rent being £10 p.a., the next 14 years £15 p.a. and the final 14 years £30 p.a. The frontage was 30' 0" and the property is described as a 'very large brick built & slated workshop and forge, ends of workshop chiefly composed of glass.' There was a way out at the rear to Chapel Lane.

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Number 371

The Ealing Land Tax for 1830 shows Samuel Clark owned a bakers' shop occupied by Jno Jones. The entry was recorded immediately after 'Senolds' and could be no. 371. Clark also owned 'cottages behind'; two of the occupants were late Blackburn and Mary Dewell. Samuel Clark may be part of the family of 80 High Street, researched by Janet McNamara.

Richard Clark owned this 'house and yard' and four nearby properties when the tithe apportionment took place in June 1840. William Gardiner, bricklayer lived here in 1841 & 1851, then Mrs Susannah Gardiner in 1861 and 1871 (she was 80 years old in 1871). Their son Richard started out in his father's trade of bricklaying and later ran coffee rooms at no. 36. Their granddaughter Louisa married Stephen Gomm, who later ran 'The Drum', in 1882.

Number 371 was not listed in 1891 or 1901 censuses and presumably was demolished between 1881 and 1891.

Number 372

William Draper owned and occupied this house and outbuildings in 1840 and in the census is recorded as an agricultural labourer, aged 70. He left a PCC will proved in 1849. In 1851 & 1861 William Sullivan, brickfields labourer lived here, sharing the property with William Davis or Davies, agricultural labourer. In 1871 William Sullivan remained here, working as a greengrocer, succeeded by Mrs Ann Sullivan in 1881. This property was not listed in 1891 or 1901 and presumably was demolished between 1881 and 1891 to make way for the Brentford Gas Co. showrooms, which are recorded here in 1913.

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Number 373

Richard Clarke owned 4 High Street properties in this area at the time of the tithe return in 1839/40 and one was later numbered '373'. In the 1841 census Ann Herbert may have lived here, however the tithe enumeration suggests the occupier was either Thomas Hermitage or Henry Green.

By 1851 the occupancy is more certain, as the first of a number of bakers lived here; Samuel Purnell, who previously lived at no. 412 in 1841, was recorded here with his second wife Harriet. He was a master baker born Worton, Wiltshire.

In 1861 Isaac Powell, also a master baker, lived here with his wife Catharine (born Meriden, Warwickshire) and three young children. The family had recently moved to Brentford, their 2 year old was born in Meriden.

By 1871 Joseph Francis, 50, baker had moved here with his wife Catharine, 20. They had two lodgers, George & Sarah Armitage, who appear to be married, though only 15 and 18.

Ten years on, Thomas Allen, baker lived here with his wife, Eliza and four children aged up to 7; his brother William Allen and Charles Jones, both journeyman bakers, completed the household. All were Brentford born except Eliza (Heston). There is a marriage in 1872 in Brentford registration district which suggests Eliza was a Coombes; possibly she is related to the local confectioners, Clarke, Nicholls and Coombs who appear in the 1913 trade directory.

There are no references to no. 373 in 1890 (trade directory) or later censuses and it appears that the Brentford Gas Company showrooms were built here by 1913.

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Number 374

The last reference to occupancy I have found is the 1881 census: numbers 371 to 375 were taken over by the Brentford Gas Co. during the 1880s.

Number 373 was a bakery throughout the period 1851 - 1881 so assuming the next house covered in the census was number 374 the occupants were:

1851: the property next to the bakers was shared by five small households headed by: Samuel Burrows, labourer; William Burrows, labourer; William Childs, labourer; William Lambe, labourer; John Piercey, boot & shoemaker (14 people in total)

1861: Richard W Hughes, pork butcher; there were just three in the household, Richard (46) his wife Emma (45) and daughter Louisa J (18). It seems odd (but not impossible) that a property would accommodate 14 people in 1851 and just 3 in 1861

1871: Reuben Whittaker, age 25, pork butcher, wife Mary, 24, and daughter Sarah, age 1: the continuity of trade suggests this could be the same property as in 1861, Richard Hughes having moved to number 189

1881: the property was numbered by this date and was occupied by John Welch, woodcutter, 40, wife Charlotte (37), daughter Jane (11) and John (5). The children were born in Brentford.

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Number 375

The last reference to occupancy I have found is the 1881 census: numbers 371 to 375 were taken over by the Brentford Gas Co. during the 1880s.

Difficult to trace occupancy with any certainty as the occupants did not have any continuity in surname or trade, but working on the assumption this is next door but one to the bakers at no. 373:

1851: Edmund Tredaway, shoemaker and wife Rebecca both 67; plus a lodger, Elizabeth Hanesmith (?), a married charwoman aged 55

1861: Charles Young, carpenter, 30 headed a household of 11: his wife and three children, plus four unmarried lodgers, including Mart (Margaret?) Maburs a female tin worker, age 20, born Germany, and two married lodgers

1871: George Terries, a hawker, 36, wife Margaret and two small children age 1 and 3, neither born in Brentford

1881: the census enumerator listed first four lodgers, all male labourers at no. 375 (the property was numbered by this date) then the head of household as James Weatherley, 53, a labourer and his family (wife Elen, son Henry), then eight more lodgers including within this three small family units

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Number 376

Number 376 was on the western corner of Retort Alley (1881 census - straight from Harry Potter!), with a view of the gasometers from the back.

This property was owned by Mary Burb(r)idge when the Ealing tithe was prepared, and other documents confirm that 'Vaughan butcher' lived in the property adjoining the one occupied by Mary, see notes for no. 377.

The 1830 Land Tax includes Jno Burbridge, occupier of a butcher's shop owned by Jno Kendy (Kennedy?), recorded a few lines before the Hand and Flower.

The 1841 census shows John Vaughan, butcher, heading a household including two apprentice butchers. Occupancy is unclear in the 1851 and 1861 censuses: the Vaughan family had moved to no. 385 by 1851.

In 1871 a lodging house is recorded between numbers 373 (bakers) and 378 (Hand & Flower), occupied by 15 people, mainly hawkers: this could be no. 376. The head of household was William Lilley.

Alternatively, two houses away from Lilley in 1871 John Rogers, coal merchant, headed a household of 11, including 7 lodgers. In 1861 Thomas Rogers, a coal dealer with a son John aged 13 was in this area - it seems likely to be the same family and property in both censuses and could be no. 376.

In 1881 David Mortell, a costermonger, lived here with his wife and 7 lodging labourers: 6 men and one woman. All occupants of the house were born in Ireland. In an 1890 trade directory David Mortell is recorded as a greengrocer at this address. The 1891 census records him as a coal dealer, with his wife, 6 lodgers, all male, all agricultural labourers, three (maybe four) of the labourers were born in Ireland.

There is no reference to no. 376 in the 1901 census, suggesting the building had been demolished by this date.

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Number 377

The Ealing tithe shows a Mary Burbridge owned four houses and premises in this area, occupying one of them, and the map shows two of her properties fronted the High Street. It is not possible to say which property she lived in exactly, but the 1841 census for this part of the High Street includes a Mary Burbridge, age 65 and a burial at St George's, Old Brentford in December 1844 of Mary Burbridge, age 73, seems likely to be the same person.

Mary Burbridge left a PCC will to which administration was granted in 1845, she is described as a widow of Ealing, Middlesex (Old Brentford being part of Ealing parish at the time).

Digging further, The National Archives includes in its catalogue reference to a 'Copy of court roll, manor of Ealing otherwise Zealing'. ACC/1396/025 1846 30 Jan held at London Metropolitan Archives.

"Admission of John Gardner and of Henry Gardner of Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmoreland, respectively husband and youngest son and heir of Frances Catharine Holden Gardner, deceased. Premises: as in admission 27 March 1826 [see ACC/1396/018], now better described as messuage with butcher's shop, slaughterhouse, stable, in Pipe Makers Alley, Old Brentford, fronting south on High Road from London to Staines, in occupation of Vaughan, butcher; messuage adjoining on east, late in occupation of Mary Burbidge and now unoccupied; three cottages in Pipe Makers Alley, lying at rear of aforementioned messuages; all of which leased to Mary Burbidge [as in ACC/1396/023-024].
Deputy steward: John Benjamin Lee, gent."

ACC/1396/023 confirms the relationship: 'Mary Burbidge of Brentford, widow of Thomas Burbidge, butcher'.

Occupancy until the High Street was numbered is not clear. In 1881 John Green, an annuitant lived here with Mary Richardson, also an annuitant, both were in their 70s.

The 1891 census shows the Guarinire (or Guainiere) family (headed by Joseph, labourer, born Italy) and the West family (headed by Charles, an Acton born labourer) sharing 377, occupying 4 and 2 rooms respectively. The property was uninhabited in 1901 and was later developed by the Gas Light & Coke Company.

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The Hand & Flower (Number 378, later 379)

LMA holds a 21 year lease between John Newton, brewer of Old Brentford and Douglas and Henry Thompson of Chiswick, brewers, dated 1816 for the messuage or tenement and public house known as Hand and Flower (formerly Wilkes's Head) in Old Brentford, with yard, garden etc. (I)

Messrs Thompson owned the Hand and Flower in 1830 (Land Tax records: Ancestry) and the occupier was William Taylor.

In the 1840 tithe apportionment the owner of the Hand & Flower is Joseph Jennings, the occupier John Fisher. The 1841 census shows John Fisher, brickmaker living here, no indication it is a public house, but the 1839 & 1845 trade directories list John Fisher at The Hand & Flower. Living with John Fisher in 1841 was a 20 year old Henry Taylor. There were two Taylor /Tayler families who ran public houses in Brentford, fortunately descendants of both families have been in touch and it has been possible to establish which line ran which pub.

On 9 April 1847 a rather brisk notice appeared in the Morning Advertiser:
Wanted a respectable middle-aged WOMAN, for a small public house, to manage the household affairs - she will have nothing to do with the business.Those with good characters may apply to Mr Tayler, Hand and Flower, Brentford.

In the 1851 census Henry J Tayler, 29, headed a household of four including his brother William Tayler, age 25. Jane Neill, age 38 and unmarried, may be the respectable middle-aged WOMAN appointed as their housekeeper. All three were Brentford-born. Joseph Patten (possibly Pall...), potboy aged 16, born Braintree, Essex, completed the household.

Henry Tayler was succeeded by his younger brother William, also a licensed victualler, who is recorded here in every census from 1861 to 1901, by which time he was 75. In the 1881 & 1891 censuses the Hand & Flower was recorded at no. 378 High Street, in 1901 at 379 High Street. It is not clear if this is a genuine re-numbering or a mistake by the enumerator.

LMA has records of Lapsed licences and magisterial certificates including one for 'The Hand and Flower, Brentford 1901/2'. Numbers 371 to 378 are not referred to in a 1913 trade directory, Brentford Gas Co. showrooms being recorded in this part of the High Street.

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Number 379

In 1851 David Odell, 35, hairdresser, lived in the property between the Hand and Flower and the Eight Bells. David's wife was Sarah, 45 and their nephew Cyrus S Lewis 19, hairdresser lived with them. They were born in Warwick, London and Monmouth respectively, an indication of mid-19th century mobility.

David and Sarah Odell remained here in 1861, aged 45 and 54. In 181 David was recorded as Daniel, age 55, Sarah 65.

In 1881 No. 379 was a hairdresser's run by Mary Ann Morgan, unmarried, 42, born Hereford; she had a lodger Harry Wiseworld or Wisewould or similar, accountant, a widower of 62, born Surrey. A family shared the property: Richard Daws (Dawes) labourer, 48, wife Sarah Ellen 37 a dressmaker, and children Richard 10 and Maria 7. Richard and the children were born in Langley, Sarah Ellen in Surrey.

Another change by 1891: William George Hancock, coffee house keeper, age 44, born in Essex. With him his wife Fanny 43 born Sevenoaks Kent, daughter Lucy 22 (general servant), Jenny 5, Walter 3 and two lodgers - William Hobbs, 35 and Henry George Prior, 46, both labourers born in Brentford. The youngest Hancock child was born in Walthamstow so the family had been here for no more than 3 years.

The Eight Bells (Number 380)

The property - recorded in the Ealing tithe of 1840 as a house and yard, area 4 perch or around 120 square yards - was owned by John Hazard, probably the same individual as owned the Royal Brewery, across the road and a little way to the west.

Little is known of this property prior to 1836, when it was first recorded as a beerhouse. Read Vic Rosewarne's history of the Eight Bells from 1836 to closure in 1885.

After its time as a beerhouse, the next sighting of no. 380 is the 1888 Brentford Directory which has the following entry for 380 High Street: H. Emmerson, Fishmonger. Two years later the 1890 trade directory recorded Benjamin Grant, greengrocer at this address.

The 1891 census provides more information about Ben Grant: he was a fishmonger age 45, born Turnham Green and hiis wife was 44, born Chiswick. Just the initials of the family were recorded: daughter E, 14, an assistant; and sons B & C ages 12 and 11. The three children were born in Gunnersbury.

No. 380 was not recorded in the 1901 census. After no. 379 was Hales Yard, then two properties in Fox and Hounds Yard, followed by no. 385.

There are no references to no. 380 in trade directories from 1909 to 1920/1. By 1928 the Gas Light & Coke Co. show rooms had been built on this site. The same description appears in the 1933 street directory. In 1938: Gas Light & Coke Co. (valve houses).

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Number 381

The 1839/41 tithe return records John Janaway as owner and James Janaway as occupier of a house and garden here.

In 1841 Jonathan Janaway, 24, a bootmaker and his wife Elizabeth, 22 lived here. Both were born in Middlesex.

The Janaway family remained here in 1851:

• Jonathan Janaway, 33, boot and shoemaker, born Brentford
• Elizabeth 32, born Chiswick
• William 9, born Brentford
• Mary Ann R 6, born Brentford
• Caroline 4, born Brentford
• Louisa E. 2, born Brentford
  also
• William Tibble, 'wife's father', widower, 83, carpenter, Witham, Essex

In 1861 Jonathan Janaway, bootmaker, reamined here, age 43, heading a household of six. His eldest daughter, Mary, was a pupil teacher and there was an addition to the family, Laura age 2. William, who would have been around 19, was no longer at home.

The Janaway family had moved on and in 1871 Alfred Warner, labourer, 30, born Warwick and his wife Frances, general dealer, 29, born Surrey lived here.

In 1881 William G Russell, confectioner, headed a household of five. He was 48, his wife Harriett 42 and their children at home were John 21, Emma 11 and Edith 7; all Brentford-born. A trade directory of 1890 gives his full name: William George Russell. He remained here in 1891, his daughter Edith the only child at home, she also a confectioner. He and Edith were recorded as 'Employed' whereas if it was WGR's business I think he would have been 'Employer'. His birth place is unclear but in 1861, when he was on Drum Lane, it was Brompton, Kensington.

There are no references to no. 381 in trade directories from 1909 to 1920/1. By 1928 the Gas Light & Coke Co. show rooms had been built on this site. The same description appears in the 1933 street directory. In 1938: Gas Light & Coke Co. (valve houses).

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Number 382

A pork butchers for over 50 years: James Hughes owned the property in 1840 (tithe apportionment) and is recorded here in the 1841 census; then Richard W Hughes (1851); George Day (1861); Charles Bantock from Lavenham Suffolk (1871, 1881 & 1891) who moved his business to number 362 by 1901.

Number 383

Wedged between long standing butchers and the Fox and Hounds, it is possible to work out who lived at number 383 in the censuses from 1851 to 1871 before the High Street was numbered.

In 1851 Mrs Ellen Smith, dressmaker, headed a household of five including 2 lodgers. Thereafter there is more continuity of trade: in 1861 Mrs Elizabeth Holms, 46, whose (not at home) husband was a beer retailer and grocer;she had a live-in servant. Then in 1871, Samuel Archer, grocer age 45.

The trade directory for 1878 records Henry Peters, provision dealer at this address, but he had moved on by the 1881 census, when Mrs Mary J Coulston, grocer, lived and worked here. She had gone by 1890 when Henry Ruff, greengrocer was recorded in the trade directoy. In the 1891 census he was a 'fruiterer', age 28, born Brentford.

There are no references to no. 383 in trade directories from 1909 to 1920/1. By 1928 the Gas Light & Coke Co. show rooms had been built on this site. The same description appears in the 1933 street directory. In 1938: Gas Light & Coke Co. (valve houses).

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Fox and Hounds (384)

LMA has records of the North Thames Gas Board for the Fox & Hounds Old Brentford (I) and the earliest of these (dated 1780 and referring back to 1758) indicate the Fox and Hounds was originally called the Queens Head. In 1807 and 1824 there are references to an adjoining blacksmiths and in 1824 the right of way from the street through the gateway of the Fox and Hounds.

A news item from 1810 (below) refers to John Dickins of the Fox and Hounds.

The 1830 Land Tax shows the 'Fox and Dogs' was owned by William Dickins, occupier Jno Knight.

In 1839 the publican was James Gascoine. The 1840 tithe apportionment records the owner as GB Cole, presumably George Beauchamp Cole (I), and the occupier as John Gascoine, who also appears here in the 1841 census heading a household of 10 including 7 boarders and lodgers. By 1845 he had been succeeded by Mrs Mary Ann Dale, and there may have been a marriage between the Gascoine and Dale families as a John Gascogne Dale lived at number 61 in 1890 / 1891, a corn & coal merchant.

William Grover was running the Fox and Hounds in 1861. As well as being a licensed victualler he was also a master carpenter & undertaker employing 3 men. By 1861 71 year old Mrs Sarah Monk headed a household of 14 including 10 lodgers. She was followed by Thomas Rogers (1871 and 1881) and Joseph Bryden or Bridgen in 1890 and 1891. In 1891 there were 18 lodgers at the Fox & Hounds including Richard Osborne, rat catcher from Essex.

There is no reference to the Fox and Hounds in the 1901 census but it must have continued operating as it is recorded in a 1913 trade directory as run by John Butler. The building was described in the 1909/10 Valuation (date 20 August 1914) as a 'Public House & premises, frontage including passageway 55' 6"'. It was owned by Brandons Putney Brewery Ltd and was a brick built and slated PH on 3 floors. By 1928 no. 384 was the Gas Light & Coke Company's Social Club (Thomas Rickerby, secretary) and in later directories the 'Staff Dining Club'.

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Photos/Ephemera/Maps

Links are included below to some photos, ephemera and maps. There may be additional photos on the site - suggest you check the Properties - photos link (the navigation area to the left).

As at 2023 there are no photos showing this area pre-1960; just a glimpse of the Gas Works' offices in the 1960s. If you can supply an old photo or postcard please get in touch.

References such as '1899 (X11)' indicate the date of a photo (1899) and where it is published (X11). Details of 'X' are available: see Mainly paper sources page; '11' refers to the page no, or photo no. in the publication.

Photos

370 Pre 1903 (C61)

383 1900 (C63); 1900 & 2006 (S18)

384 1900 (C63); 1900 & 2006 (S18); London Saltglaze Spirit Flasks has a photo of an 1820's flask produced at Mortlake for Tayler at the Hand & Flower

Maps

1839/41 Tithe Map modern numbers 370 - 373 have tithe property refs 207 - 204

1839/41 Tithe Map modern numbers 373 - 384 have tithe property refs 204 - 190

1894 Ordnance Survey Map annotated with house numbers

Roads Off

Pipemakers or Pipe Maker's Alley, later Retort Alley, between numbers 376 and 377
The British Newspaper Archive includes over 20 references to Retort Alley from 1874 until 1900, mostly reports of drunkenness, vagrancy and assaults; also a fire in a cotttage and a theft from no. 7. Two others were a little different.

Middlesex Chronicle, 5 January 1889:
In Retort Alley the owner of some cottages (Mrs Cooper of Southfields) had been served with a notice to unstop a drain.

On a jollier notes, theMiddlesex Independent, 29 April 1896 reported on a BARREL ORGAN NUISANCE perpetrated by Cecil Domisk and Morris Augustin, both of 4 Retort Alley, charged with persistently playing an organ to the annoyance of Mr Parker Smith of Argyle Road Ealing and noted evidence was interpreted to the prisoners by an Italian.

The 1891 census includes Retort Alley between numbers 376 and 377 and a number of Italians lived here then, the men employed as labourers. The 1893-6 OS map, 5 feet to the mile scale, shows Retort Alley. It appears to be a renaming of Pipe Maker's or Pipemaker's Alley, which is referred to above in the notes for no. 377 and was near to numbers 376/7. This name was used in 1826, 1846 and 1868 (the latter a birth certificate).

Fox and Hounds Yard, Hales Yard, Hales Cottages between numbers 384 and 385

The only reference to Fox and Hounds yard in the British Newspaper Archive is from 1810, as at April 2023.

Morning Advertiser, 3 September 1810
STRAYED into the Fox and Hounds Yard, Old Brentford, on the 21st August, a Dun-coloured HORSE, rising 14 hands, with a white spot in his face. Whoever had lost the same may have him again, by paying for his keep and all expences. Apply to John Dickins, at the Fox and Hounds, Old Brentford. - NB if not owned within 14 days of the date hereof, he will be sold to defray expences.
Sept. 1, 1810.

The 1839 tithe map shows a passage way on the eastern side of the Fox and Hounds, which led to Hales Cottages and Fox and Hounds Yard and then on to Back Lane.

There are references to Hales Yard in the British Newspaper Archive in 1881, 1896 and 1911 and to Hales Cottage in 1912. In 1913 both Hales Cottages and Yard were recorded in the Valuation Record for no. 385 High Street: 'a pair of semi-detached 4 roomed cottages' which were 'old, dilapidated and closed up' and lay at the rear of no. 385.

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Published 2006; last updated June 2023