Category: People

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People

People who look down on others don’t end up being looked up to

A long time ago, I read a book containing John Gielgud’s letters and I seemed to remember that he called the people of Sheffield ‘peasants’. After that, I didn’t fancy watching his films anymore. Gielgud (1904-2000) was born in South Kensington, and as an actor and theatre director, he looked down on us poor northerners.

I recently came across a copy of the book in a second-hand bookshop and couldn’t resist flicking through to find that discriminatory paragraph again. It turns out that I did him a disservice, because he didn’t call us peasants after all, but certainly didn’t like Sheffield.

“This is an appalling place and just as I remembered it before – awful slums and poverty everywhere and the audiences sparse and unresponsive.”

He wrote these brusque words in a letter to his mother in October 1927, and even though he was probably right, I’ve never liked John Gielgud since.

The same feeling came across me when I read ‘Skip All That’ – the memoirs of Robert Robinson that was published in 1996. 

Robinson (1927-2011) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host, journalist and author. He presented Ask the Family for many years on the BBC. I was surprised to learn that in his younger days he worked as a journalist on the Weekly Telegraph, a satellite of the Sheffield Telegraph.

But his memoirs show that he regarded his stint on the Telegraph as a low point in his career. At that time, the Sheffield Telegraph was owned by Kemsley Newspapers, which also had The Sunday Times, The Daily Sketch and The Sunday Graphic amongst its titles.

“The Editorial Director explained the Weekly Telegraph was about to be relaunched as a big-time glossy and advertised on the eye-pieces of buses. I was to add my champagne to the editor’s brandy. A combination of which turned out to be more or less Tizer. 

“The woebegone mag was printed on thin blotting paper and sold for threepence to readers I imagined to be comprehensively deprived. Nothing in the Kemsley’s frowzy empire looked capable of anything but lining a cat litter, and shortly after I started forging the (readers’) letters no more was heard about advertising or glossiness. And it wasn’t even Fleet Street, it was only Gray’s Inn Road. Kemsley House was a heap of red brick in the wastes between Clerkenwell and King’s Cross, and had the dejected air of a building site where the money had run out.

“I wondered why they didn’t invite me to write a column for the leader page of the Sunday Times, and what I hacked out on two fingers filled the Weekly Telegraph to overflowing.

“We published in London, but I was allowed an occasional jaunt to Sheffield to see how they printed the thing. Behold, on one such trip I saw a man on the platform who actually held a copy of the magazine in his hand. I approached him: was he, I importantly enquired, a regular subscriber? Not really, he replied. And why was that, I asked, giving him to understand that on matters of policy, a word from me and the thing was done. ‘It’s a bit too instrooctional;.’ he said. I simply thought he’d caught a whiff of the intellectual seasoning I was adding to the mix. ‘Listen,’ I said, ‘we’re trying to get intelligent people like you to come up-market with us.’ ‘Then where are the pictures of scantily-clad women in bathing costumes?’ he asked. ‘And the crossword’s got too many big words.’ It wasn’t the length of the words, it was the necessity of having second sight. The crossword prize was a guinea, and the puzzle was rigged.

“Provincial papers are second division, but the Kemsley lot were second rate as well, the issue on sale any day in Sheffield, Manchester or Newcastle as stale in spirit as if it had been pulled from the musty files in the cuttings library.

“The pilotless hulk went down stern first, and clinging to a spar I was hauled aboard a ghost ship called the Sunday Graphic.”

Founded in 1855 as the Sheffield Daily Telegraph, it became known as the Sheffield Telegraph in 1938, and its sister, The Star, continues as a poor ancestor. 

I must admit that Robinson was an excellent writer, and he did get his wish to write the Atticus column in The Sunday Times, as well as becoming one of the presenters on Radio Four’s Today programme. But when you read his work now, there is that niggling belief that he looked down on those of us who lived and worked outside London, even though he was born in Liverpool. 

And so, as far as I am concerned, Robinson is shunted into the same cupboard as John Gielgud, and his book is on its way to a charity shop.

What would Robinson think about provincial newspapers now?

© 2024 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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People

“There was a tremendous explosion as a bomb landed outside the Stage Door.”

Henry Hall performed regularly on BBC Radio during the British dance band era of the 1920s and 1930s

If there had been radio DJs in the 1920s and 1930s, then Henry Hall would have been the equivalent of Terry Wogan, or Ken Bruce. But there were no such things as DJs, and the adoration that existed belonged to bandleaders like Henry Hall, who brought music to the BBC’s infant airwaves.

Henry Hall (1898 – 1989) was born in Peckham, South London, and had no connections with Sheffield. He played from the 1920s to the 1950s, and in 1932 recorded the song Teddy Bear’s Picnic which gained enormous popularity and sold over a million copies.

Hall became bandleader of the BBC Dance Orchestra, and from 5.15 each weekday he gathered a huge following with his signature tune ‘It’s Just the Time for Dancing’ and usually ended with ‘Here’s to the Next Time’.

In 1937, he left the BBC Dance Orchestra to tour with his band, and this brings us nicely to Thursday 12 December 1940. 

It was the Second World War, and Henry Hall and his Band were in Sheffield to play at the Empire Theatre on Charles Street at its corner with Union Street.

What follows next is an extraordinary account of wartime Sheffield that I stumbled upon while reading Hall’s autobiography – Here’s to the Next Time – that was published in 1955.

“On Wednesday evening I had supper after the show in the Grand Hotel (now the site of Fountain Precinct) with Jack Buchanan and Fred Emney, who were rehearsing for the forthcoming pantomime. We talked, I remember, of how Sheffield should be quite safe, as it was protected by having a decoy village built some distance outside the town.

“The following evening the warning went, and the German bombers missed the decoy completely and began to bomb the centre of Sheffield!

“One of the first incendiaries landed in front of the Empire just before we were due to appear. The manager, Fred Neate, dashed round and asked me to play one number, then announce that there was a fire and would the audience please leave as quietly as possible. 

“I walked on to the stage and said, ‘We should like to play you the popular song, Six Lessons from Madame Lazongo,’ and almost before we began there was a tremendous explosion as a bomb landed outside the Stage Door, wrecking the side of the theatre. 

“Luckily the stage itself stayed put, so we finished the number. I made the announcement as requested and we went into one of Freddie Mann’s comedy numbers, The Musical Typist, while the audience left in a hurry. It was a very fast number, but it had never been quite so fast as Freddie played it that night! 

“We stood in the safest looking corridor for some three hours until there was a lull, and then I made a dash for the Grand where I was staying, only a few hundred yards away. 

“Just before I reached the hotel the bombs began to fall again, and I was literally blown through the swing doors to land on the foyer carpet. When I had recovered sufficiently I joined the rest of the guests in the restaurant, which was thought to be directly under the main block of the hotel and consequently the safest place.

“As soon as the all clear sounded, about seven in the morning, I went to the theatre to try to make arrangements. It was out of commission, transport everywhere was disorganised and no trains were running. I left a notice asking all who could to meet outside The Sheffield Daily Telegraph Office at 10.30, when there would be transport to Chesterfield. Then I dashed back to the hotel to try to arrange it. 

“Because of the dislocation of communication, I had to do it by six ‘phone calls. I rang the stage manager on one exchange, he rang a friend, and so on, until someone got through to Chesterfield and brought a coach over. 

“With all my journeys between theatre and hotel, the orchestra had lost all trace of me, and were astounded when I arrived for the coach – my constant disappearances had led to me being ‘posted missing.’ 

“However, we got safely to Chesterfield, caught the midday train to Bristol and arrived at midnight just in time to hear their sirens beginning to blow!”

Empire Theatre, Charles Street. Opened 1895. Closed May 1959 and demolished the following year. Image: Picture Sheffield
Air raid damage at the Empire Theatre. Image: Picture Sheffield

How lucky most of us are to have never witnessed such scenes!

This story leads to one that my dad told me recently,  and would have taken place at the same time that Hall was desperately arranging his transport away from Sheffield.

He was eleven, and the morning after, walked with his Aunty Vera from Milton Street to Grimesthorpe to make sure that her boyfriend Jim’s family had survived. 

“At the top of The Moor, Woolworths was a sheet of fire, and there were bodies laying in the road, and that was a sobering sight. But I realised that they weren’t bodies after all,  but were actually mannequins that had been blown out of the shop.

“Pinstone Street was closed for access, and so we diverted along Union Street but found it blocked by rubble from the Empire Theatre that had collapsed into the road. We climbed up and over the debris before continuing along Norfolk Street, into Fitzalan Square, then down Haymarket and on to the Wicker. Most buildings were ruined and ablaze.

“At Wicker Arches, a bomb had gone straight through the railway line and through the bridge without exploding (the repairs still visible today), but we still managed to get through, and there was a place on Spital Hill that had wooden chairs piled high and had caught fire and were well ablaze.

“We walked all the way to Grimesthorpe and after finding that the Wells family was safe, walked all the way back again.”

Alas, for the Empire Theatre, it lost one of its two turrets which capped the towers on either side of the facade, and buildings on either side of the theatre were destroyed. It closed in May 1959 after being sold to a developer and was demolished two months later. 

The Grand Hotel, which fronted onto Balm Green in the city centre, is seen here in its early days from the Leopold Street side. Image: Charlie Smith
Former site of the Empire Theatre at corner of Union Street/Charles Street

© 2024 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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Buildings People

Johnson and Appleyards: “Excessive capital was taken out of the business to fund lavish lifestyles.”

Yorkshire House, Leopold Street, Sheffield. The building has failed to get listing from Historic England. Much of the original interior has been lost in modern redevelopment.

This post is about Johnson and Appleyards, not many people will have heard of it, but that shouldn’t have been the case. Life is full of what ifs. What if things had been done differently? If they had been, then we might have been fondly remembering Johnson and Appleyards as we do Cole Brothers and Walsh’s.

Our story starts on 10 February 1909 when Councillor Walter Appleyard received a cable from Kobe in Japan. It was from his brother, Frank, and informed him that their older brother, Joseph, had died. The fact that it happened in a foreign country was no surprise because Joseph had travelled extensively to Australia, South Africa, and South America, and this latest excursion which started five months previous, had taken in Egypt, India, Burma , and China. The next stop would have been Canada before heading home.

The news might have suggested that this was the first stage of failure for Johnson and Appleyards, cabinet designers and manufacturers, upholsterers, decorators, undertakers, carpet warehousemen, colonial merchants, and exporters, but the decline had already begun, not that anybody had realised it.

Joseph Appleyard (1848-1909)

The three Appleyard brothers, Joseph, Walter, and Frank were the sons of Joseph Appleyard, a Conisborough cabinet maker, who had a business until 1872, when he established J. Appleyard and Sons at Westgate and Main Street in Rotherham which the brothers ran.

In 1879, the brothers took over the Sheffield furniture-making business of William Johnson & Sons, with premises on Fargate, and renamed it Johnson and Appleyards. It was a bold move, but within a few years the business needed bigger premises to display its furniture.

They chose a prime site at the corner of Fargate and Leopold Street and employed architects Flockton and Gibb to design an impressive showroom built in Huddersfield stone with a mixture of giant ionic and stubby doric pilasters on its first and second floors.

The building was completed in 1883 and survives as Yorkshire House, where Barker’s Pool (then an extension of Fargate) turns the corner into Leopold Street. The only remaining trace of Johnson and Appleyards is a stone plaque, high up, that states ‘Cabinet makers to HRH The Prince of Wales’. For some reason, the building has failed to get listing from Historic England, and we now know it as home to jewellers H.L. Brown.

The only remaining clue that the building was built for Johnson and Appleyards, cabinet makers, in 1883-84. Designed by Flockton & Gibb.

Johnson and Appleyards were the only firm to supply the complete range of domestic furnishings, selling their own furniture as well as famous names like Chippendale, Sheraton, Louis Quatorze, and Louis Quinze. In the basement, were showrooms for carpets, linoleum, bedlinen, and blankets. The ground floor held wallpapers together with general goods, along with the counting house, and stables and carriage/van sheds at the back. The first floor was dedicated to furniture with workshops behind, and on the second floor, further showrooms with draughtsmen’s offices and decorators’ shops to the rear. The third floor housed gilders’ workshops, polishers, upholsterers and bedding makers.

The purpose-built premises of Johnson & Appleyards, Sheffield, showing the additional story that was added in 1892

Johnson and Appleyards became a limited company in 1891, and the following year the building was extended, with an attic story and mansard roof built to create more retail and workshop space. At the same time, manufacturing was moved to a four-storey building on Sidney Street.

Johnson and Appleyards achieved national and international recognition with a ‘Prize medal awarded for Superiority of Design and Workmanship’ (York, 1879) and a gold medal award at the Paris Exhibition (1900).

There is a clue that business at Johnson and Appleyards had dwindled, because in 1906 the firm had moved to smaller premises next door on Leopold Street. While retaining ownership of the showcase corner property, it was leased at a handsome price to A. Wilson Peck & Co, wholesale and retail dealers of pianos, organs, and musical goods. (Wilson Peck – Beethoven House – another fascinating story for another day).

Joseph Appleyard (1848–1909), as senior partner, was the only brother to remain active in the firm, and although he remained a director, Walter had other business interests and would become Lord Mayor, while Frank had left by 1905.

Joseph’s marriage to Sarah Flint Stokes had given him eight children, none of whom had much interest in the business. Only two of his four sons, Joseph (1881-1902) and Harry (1876-1954) showed any enthusiasm. Joseph Jnr was employed by Wallis & Co, linen drapers, in Holborn, but drowned aged twenty-one in a boating accident on the Thames, while Harry, who had trained at Harrods in London and Maple & Co in Paris, joined the firm but left shortly after his father’s death. His other two sons joined the services, to avoid joining the firm and collaborating with their father.

A biography of Joseph Appleyard states that he was a strong conservative but had no desire to enter politics. He was a member of the King Street and Athenaeum Clubs, as well as being an affiliate at the Wentworth Lodge of Freemasons.

Julie Banham’s ‘Johnson & Appleyards Ltd of Sheffield: A Victorian family business’ (2001) hints that Joseph Appleyard was prone to violence and regularly beat his sons, while his wife turned to drink and became an alcoholic.

Mr and Mrs Joseph Appleyard (Managing Director of Johnson and Appleyards Ltd.) and children, in the grounds of The Beeches, Park Grange, off Park Grange Road, Norfolk Park (1899). Most historical records refer to the family living at Park Grange, a nearby house. Image: Picture Sheffield
The Drawing Room at The Beeches, home to Joseph Appleyard. Shortly before his death, the family moved to Broombank House, 7 Clarkehouse Road, Sheffield. Image: Picture Sheffield

All these years later, it is difficult to determine the type of person that Joseph might have been. At that time, newspapers filled columns with obituaries of local dignitaries, often shown in positive light, but Joseph’s death had little mention. Is this an indication that there weren’t any kind things to say about him? He was cremated in Japan and his ashes interned at Fulwood Church.

Johnson and Appleyards had built its reputation on Victorian tastes that lingered into the Edwardian period. But the new century meant styles had changed. On hindsight, the firm seemed reluctant to evolve with the times, and while sales dwindled, excessive capital was still taken out of the business to fund lavish lifestyles. After Joseph Appleyard’s death, the management team struggled to find a long-term strategy, and two world wars did nothing to improve its fortunes.

Town Hall Square Rockery and Leopold Street premises in 1938, including Grand Hotel, Johnson and Appleyards in their smaller premises, and Wilson Peck (left) that occupied the cabinet maker’s former premises. The building occupied by Johnson and Appleyards was later demolished and replaced with a new block. It stands approximately where the Bessemer bar is now. Image: Picture Sheffield

The end of Johnson and Appleyards was inadvertently caused by German bombs that rained on Sheffield during 1940. One of them destroyed John Atkinson’s store on The Moor and it was forced to seek alternative premises in the city centre. It bought all the shares in Johnson and Appleyards, if only to secure the Leopold Street building, and would remain until its replacement store was built on The Moor. The old Johnson and Appleyards shop would eventually be swept away, along with the Grand Hotel, to build Fountain Precinct in the 1970s.

Here’s the surprise. Did you know that Johnson and Appleyards still exists, if only in name? Its shares are registered to Atkinsons on The Moor.

First floor showroom at Johnson and Appleyards c.1900
Showroom of Drawing Room furniture c.1900
The Oak Showroom. Johnson and Appleyards c.1900. The company was responsible for furnishing many of Sheffield’s notable buildings, including the Town Hall and Cutlers’ Hall.

© 2024 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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People

Over the Brooklyn Bridge

John Henry Andrew sat in the lounge of the steamship Montana feeling pleased with himself. He sipped his Old Forester bourbon and lit the cigar that he’d been given in New York. He was no stranger to travelling and calculated that this had been his thirtieth transatlantic trip.

He’d soon be back in Sheffield and would be able to tell his directors at the Toledo Works that he’d secured an important contract. It was a lucrative deal, supplying steel to Joseph Lloyd Haigh, a New York importer, and wire rope manufacturer, based at Brooklyn Wire Mills. More importantly, the steel would be used in the construction of the new bridge that would span the East River from Brooklyn.

Haigh had already taken a sample of steel from J. H. Henry and Company, drawing the rolled crucible steel rods into wire, and had presented a sample of it to the Brooklyn Bridge Company in 1876.

The ropes would be used to support the 486metre bridge, making it the longest in the world, and the sample had been enough to sway the directors that the Brooklyn Wire Mills was the ideal company to manufacture it. Haigh had beaten seven other companies for the contract, including one owned by the bridge’s architect, John Augustus Roebling.

Had John Henry Andrew known what lay ahead, then he might not have felt so pleased on that Atlantic crossing.

This had meant to be a positive post about the Brooklyn Bridge and the myth that it was constructed between 1869-1883 using Sheffield steel. Instead, this turned out to be an intriguing story of deceit, forgery, and monetary loss for the city’s steel manufacturers.

It was anticipated that English steel would be used in the Brooklyn Bridge’s construction, and the submitted bids came in cheaper than their American counterparts. However, the American steel companies put pressure on the US Treasury to increase import tariffs, effectively shutting down foreign competition.

A New York representative from the Sheffield Independent visited the Brooklyn Wire Mills in 1877 and found that only a small portion of steel for the four main cables had been supplied by Sheffield firms.

Haigh had reneged on his promise to J.H. Andrew, as well as the Hallamshire Steel and File Company, and had turned to Anderson and Parsevant of Pittsburgh to supply it instead.

Worse was to come.

Haigh struggled to meet deadlines for the wire rope, and this may have been the reason why he turned to deception to fulfil the contract.

In 1878, the Brooklyn Bridge Company discovered that Haigh had been supplying defective wire. Out of eighty rings evaluated, only five met standards, and it was estimated that Haigh had pocketed $300,000 from his dishonesty.

John Augustus Roebling thought that as much as 221 tons of rejected wire had been spun into cables and used, and so he demanded that another 150 wires were added to each cable as an additional safety factor. Had this not been detected, the consequences might have been catastrophic, and the sub-standard wires remain in place even today.

The Brooklyn Bridge Company decided to keep its discovery a secret and demanded that Haigh supply the extra high quality wire free-of-charge, but this led to his financial ruin.

Two years later, Haigh’s business failed, still owing approximately $20,000 to Sheffield companies, part of this for the Brooklyn Bridge, a figure that was never recovered.

Months later, Haigh was discovered to be a forger and had contributed to the collapse of America’s Grocer’s Bank, an action that led to his imprisonment in Sing Sing.

And so, we find out that the Brooklyn Bridge only has a small amount of Sheffield steel in its structure.

There is also another myth to dispel.

There are suggestions that Brooklyn Works at Kelham Island, once occupied by Alfred Beckett, saw maker, was named after the Brooklyn Bridge because steel from here was used.

We find that Beckett’s home was at Brook Hill, and he acquired his works in 1859 calling them Brooklyn Works, way before work on the bridge had ever started.

NOTE:-
J.H. Andrew and Company subsequently became Andrews Toledo, based at Toledo Works in Neepsend.

©2024 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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People

The forgotten face behind many of Sheffield’s buildings

Central Library and Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield

No matter where you look, there is evidence of William George Davies’ work in Sheffield. The Shropshire-born architect designed several landmark buildings, but his name remains unknown to most people. The few mentions he gets refer to him as W.G. Davies and it takes a bit of deep digging to discover his full name.

He’s best known for designing the Central Library and Graves Art Gallery on Surrey Street, built between 1929 and 1934, a building that is crumbling and currently languishing behind metal barriers to prevent injury to passers-by.

W.G. Davies was born in 1888, and educated at Wem Grammar School and Shrewsbury School, subsequently taking his degrees at the Liverpool University School of Architecture. After qualifying as an architect, he gained experience as the assistant architect at Bradford Corporation, before joining Essex County Council to design elementary and secondary schools, and oversee maintenance for about 474 schools, mainly within the London area.

In 1924, Davies became architect to Belfast Education Committee where he stayed  for two years. When Frederick Ernest Pearce Edwards stepped down as Sheffield Corporation’s city architect in 1926, Davies beat seven applicants to the post, and remained until his retirement in 1950.

It was a lucrative role for Davies because Sheffield Corporation designed its own public buildings and had embarked on a massive housebuilding programme to replace its slums.

One of his first jobs was to inspect housing estate construction at Wybourn and Manor, and by 1938-1939 the total number of new flats and houses handed over by his department was 2,928, an average of 56 new properties a week.

War aside, Davies’ tenure resulted in dozens of new public buildings. Some remain but many have been lost: –

Division Street Fire Station, Edward Street Flats, Firth Park Library, Norfolk Secondary School, High Storrs School, annexe to Mappin Art Gallery, Prince Edward School, the Maternity and Child Welfare Centre in Orchard Place, Niagara Recreation Ground and Pavilion for the City Police, Lodge Moor Hospital extensions, Tenter Street Tram and Bus Depot, Sharrow Lane Blind School and Workshops, Wisewood School, King Edward VII Swimming Pool, Arbourthorne School, Woodthorpe Baths, Shirecliffe School, the City General Hospital extensions and the restoration of Beauchief Abbey.

Former Division Street Fire Station, Sheffield

Two of his last jobs before retirement were the construction of Manor Library and the conversion of Totley Hall.

We must also thank Davies for saving the remains of Sheffield Castle which will hopefully see the light of day again soon. In 1930, he designed the new market at Castle Hill, allowing walling and timber beams, relics from the castle, to be preserved in its basement.

Another of his projects, Graves Park Pavilion in 1927, gained recent notoriety after the Rose Garden Café was closed due to its unsafe condition. It mirrors the fortunes of his best work at the Central Library, and while Sheffield was good at constructing public buildings it struggled to maintain them.

W.G. Davies was replaced as city architect by J. Lewis Womersley in 1953.

William George Davies

©2023 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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People

Freedom of the City – Sheffield’s highest honour

Richard Caborn is the latest person to be given Freedom of the City. Born in 1943, he became MEP for Sheffield, MP for Sheffield Central, and held three Ministerial portfolios. He is currently chair of Sheffield Olympic Legacy Park. Image/Sheffield City Council

It’s three years since the City of Sheffield last conferred the title of Freedom of the City. That was John Burkhill BEM, the man with the pram, for his tireless fundraising efforts, and probably the most popular choice.

But the city’s highest honour has now been awarded to Richard Caborn, former MP, and Minister, who joins his father, George, on a list of over seventy names.

He joins a selective group who have been given Freedom of the City, and includes the Duke of Norfolk, Viscount Kitchener, Field Marshall Douglas Haig, David Lloyd George, Ramsay MacDonald, Winston Churchill, Harold Wilson, and Nelson Mandella.

Lord Kitchener visited Sheffield and received the freedom of the city in September 1902. The drawing of the scene in the Town Hall was published in the Sheffield Telegraph. Image/PictureSheffield

And there have been Freedom of the City awards to local dignitaries such as Sir Frederick Mappin, Sir William Clegg, John George Graves, Harry Brearley, and Sir Stuart Goodwin.

More recently, the likes of Derek Dooley, Michael Vaughan, Lord Coe of Ranmore, and Jessica Ennis have also been granted the honour.

Freedom of the City isn’t confined to individuals and the armed services have received the title as well. These include HMS Sheffield; The Chestnut Troop, 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery; 38th Signal Regiment (Volunteers); 212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital (Volunteers) and The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) – subsequently conferred to the Yorkshire Regiment.

But the Freedom of the City can be taken away as well, as was the case with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Leader of National League for Democracy in Burma) who had it removed in 2017.

Harry Brearley being presented the Freedom of the City. While working in the Brown Firth Research Laboratories in 1913, Harry Brearley was testing low-carbon steels for gun barrels that contained only 12% chromium and found these steels had the abiliy to resist corrosion. He recognised the implication and suggested it could be used for cutlery. Image/PictureSheffield

The procedures for admitting Honorary Freemen originated in the Honorary Freedom of the Borough’s Act 1885 and were included in the Local Government Act 1972.  Certain Local Authorities are empowered to admit as Honorary Freemen persons of distinction and persons who have, in the opinion of the Council, rendered eminent services to the Authority.

Honorary Freemen do not enjoy any constitutional privileges but admission as an Honorary Freeman has the deeper significance of receiving the highest honour the city can bestow, and it is conferred sparingly.

The Freedom of Entry accorded to Armed Services gives a right on all ceremonial occasions of exercising the privilege of marching through the City “with colours flying, drums beating, and bayonets fixed.”

The Rt. Hon. Winston Spencer Churchill receiving the Freedom of the City of Sheffield. Image/PictureSheffield
John Burkhill, Sheffield’s most famous fundraiser broke down in tears at being awarded the Freedom of the City in 2019. Image/Sheffield City Council

Full list of Honorary Freemen of Sheffield

YearNameDied
1899His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, EM, KG1917
1899Sir Frederick Thorpe Mappin, Bart, MP1910
1899Sir Henry Stephenson, Kt1904
1902General Viscount Kitchener of Khartoum, GCB, GCMG, OM1916
1903The Rt. Hon. Sir Marcus Samuel (Lord Mayor of the City of London)1927
1916The Rt. Hon. William Morris Hughes, MP, LLD (Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia )1952
1917Lt-Gen. The Rt. Hon. Jan Christian Smuts, KC (Prime Minister of South Africa)1950
1917Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, GCB, OM, GCVO1935
1919The Rt. Hon. David Lloyd George, OM, MP, DCL, PC (Prime Minister)1945
1919Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, KT, GCB, KCB, KCIE, GCVO, KCVO, CB, ADC1928
1919Admiral Sir David Beatty, GCB, GCVO, KCB, KCVO, DSO, MVO (Admiral of the Fleet)1936
1921The Rt. Hon. W F Massey, LLD (Prime Minister of New Zealand)1925
1922Alderman Sir William E Clegg, CBE, LLD1932
1923The Rt. Hon. W L MacKenzie King, CMG, MA, LLD (Prime Minister of Canada)1950
1923The Rt. Hon. S M Bruce, MC (Prime Minister of Australia)1967
1924The Rt. Hon. Sir Samuel Roberts, Bart, MA, JP, DL1926
1924Alderman Robert Styring, LLD, JP1944
1924Alderman William Farewell Wardley, JP1941
1926Doctor Henry Coward, Mus.Doc (Oxon), MA1944
1926The Hon. J G Coates, MC (Prime Minister of New Zealand)1943
1929The Rt. Hon. James Ramsay MacDonald, MP, LLD, JP (Prime Minister)1937
1929Alderman John George Graves, JP1945
1929Alderman Henry Kenyon Stephenson, DSO, VD, DL, JP, LLD1947
1929Mr Cecil Henry Wilson, MP, JP1945
1930The Rt. Hon. Richard Bedford Bennett, KC, MP, LLD, (Prime Minister of Canada)1947
1930The Rt. Hon. James Henry Scullin, MP (Prime Minister of Australia)1952
1939The Rt. Revd. Leonard Hedley Burrows, DD, D.Litt (First Bishop of the Diocese of Sheffield)1940
1939Sir Robert Abbott Hadfield, Bart, FRS, DSc, D.Met, JP1940
1939Mr Harry Brearley (the inventor of Stainless Steel)1948
1943The Rt. Hon. Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, CH, FRS, MP (Prime Minister, First Lord of the Treasury and Minister of Defence)1965
1945Alderman Frank Thraves, JP1952
1945Alderman Harold Warters Jackson, LLB1972
1945Alderman Alfred James Bailey, JP1948
1945Alderman Arthur James Blanchard, JP1957
1947The Rt. Hon. Albert Victor Alexander, PC, CH, LLD, MP (Minister of Defence1965
1949Mr Charles William Beardsley, OBE, JP1952
1949Mrs Ann Eliza Longden, JP1952
1959Alderman Charles William Gascoigne, CBE, BEM1967
1959Alderman Mrs Grace Tebbutt, JP1983
1959Alderman Percival John Mann Turner, CBE, JP1969
1962The Rt. Revd. Leslie Stannard Hunter, MA, DD, DCL, LLD (Lord Bishop of Sheffield)1983
1962Alderman Albert Smith1968
1965The Rt. Hon. Harold Wilson, OBE, MP (Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury)1995
1965Alderman Herbert Keeble Hawson1984
1965Alderman Samuel Hartley Marshall, JP1981
1965Alderman James Wilfred Sterland, OBE, JP1992
1965Dr. John Macnaghten Whittaker, FRS, (Vice-Chancellor, University of Sheffield)1984
1968Dr. Albert Ballard, CBE, LLD1968
1968Sir Stuart Goodwin, DL, LLD, JP1969
1970Mr John Burns Hynd, MP (MP for Attercliffe Division of City from 1944 to 1970)1971
1970Sir Peter Geoffrey Roberts, Bart, MA, MP (MP for Ecclesall Division of City from 1945 to 1950 and for Heeley Division of City from 1950 to 1966)1985
1978The Rt. Hon. James Callaghan, MP (Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury)2005
1978County Councillor Sir Charles Ronald Ironmonger1984
1978Councillor Isidore Lewis, LLD, JP1983
1978Mr Stanley Lester Speight, OBE, MIEx(Grad), FIM1998
1981Mr George Caborn1982
1981Prof. Ronald Stanley Illingworth, MD (Leeds) Hon. MD (Sheffield) Hon.D.Sc (Baghdad) FRCP, DPH, DCH, FRPS1990
1991Ms Helen Sharman BSc C.Chem (the first Briton to journey into space) 
1991Councillor William Owen, JP1992
1993Mr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (President of the African National Congress)2013
1993Mr Derek Dooley (footballer)2008
1998The Rt. Hon. Dr. Marjorie (Mo) Mowlam, MP (Secretary of State for Northern Ireland)2005
1998Dr. Peter Horton, Hon.LittD. BSc2005
1998H.M.S. SHEFFIELD 
2001The Chestnut Troop, 1st Regiment Royal Horse Artillery 
200138th Signal Regiment (Volunteers) 
2001212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital (Volunteers) 
2001The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) – subsequently conferred to the Yorkshire Regiment 
2002106 (West Riding) Field Squadron (Air Support) (Volunteers) 
2005Michael Paul Vaughan (Captain of England Cricket Team) 
2005Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (Leader of National League for Democracy in Burma) – The Freedom of the City was removed on 1 November 2017 
2005Sebastian Newbold Coe OBE, The Right Honourable The Lord Coe of Ranmore 
2006The Yorkshire Regiment (formed by an amalgamation of three historic County Regiments including the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment) 
2009The Lindsays (Ronald Birks, Peter Cropper, Bernard Gregor-Smith and Robin Ireland) 
2012Mrs. Tawakel Karman (Yemeni Human Rights Activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner) 
2012Ms. Jessica Ennis MBE (Olympic, World and European Heptathlon Champion) 
201464 Signal Squadron (transferring the Freedom from the 38 Signal Regiment owing to the 38 Regiment’s withdrawal from the Army’s Order of Battle.) 
2019John Burkhill BEM – fundraising 
2022Mr Richard Caborn 

©2022 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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People

Ella Fitzgerald – loneliness and a Sheffield hotel room

“Coming through the years, and finding that I not only have just the fans of my day, but the young ones of today — that’s what it means, it means it was worth all of it.” – Ella Fitzgerald (1917 – 1996)

“If you really wanna know what lonely is, ask an expert, I know!”

This line appeared in ‘Lonely is,’ sung by Ella Fitzgerald in 1968.

These expressive words came to mind after receiving the following story from Ian Bright, whose family lineage goes back to Sir John Bright (1619-1688), a Parliamentarian of Carbrook and Badsworth.

“I spent nearly fifty years in the now nearly defunct cutlery and silverware industry.

“During the 1970s, our then company secretary asked me to take a telephone call from a foreign lady he couldn’t understand.

“I said hello, to which the response came, ‘Hi, this is Ella Fitzgerald. I’m staying at the Grosvenor House Hotel, and have seen some cutlery in your showcase, and could someone come and see me.’

“It was one of the quickest responses to a sales request ever, and minutes later I was knocking on the door of her suite.

“She made me very welcome, and explained she’d spotted some imitation bone white handle cutlery that she thought would be ideal for breakfast use. Business was concluded very quickly, but it was only the start.

“Ella was tired and lonely and obviously wanted company. In the centre of the room was a table full of pills, potions, and fruit. She wore glasses with thick lenses and explained that singing in smoke-filled clubs with glaring lights had taken its toll on her, and the constant travelling made her want to be back home with her family.

“I asked her why she still did it, and she replied with conviction. ‘FOR THE FANS.’

“We chatted about families and life for ages, and I left feeling humbled and lucky to have spent quality time with the best lady jazz singer the world has ever seen.”

Ian believes that this was Ella Fitzgerald’s last UK tour, and at this time, she began to experience serious health problems, but continued to perform periodically, even after heart surgery in 1986.

In 1993, however, her career was curtailed following complications stemming from diabetes, which resulted in the amputation of both her legs below the knees. She died three years later.

I can trace this story to 1974, when she headlined at the Fiesta on Arundel Gate (now Odeon Luxe).

The Grosvenor House Hotel, once Sheffield’s finest, fell on hard times, and was demolished in 2017, replaced with the office block called Grosvenor House, occupied by HSBC, as part of the Heart of the City redevelopment.

Ella Fitzgerald at the Fiesta in 1974. Image: Stuart Penney/Twitter
Opened in 1966 the Grosvenor House Hotel was a familiar landmark of the Sheffield city skyline. Image: Sheffield Star

©2022 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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Companies People

Harris Leon Brown – a Polish refugee who made Sheffield his home

Harris Leon Brown came to England from Poland with an introduction to Alfred Beckett & Sons. He started by travelling around as a watch maker. Image: H.L. Brown

This is a story of an Eastern European fleeing from Russia, and the tale of a refugee who ended up in Sheffield.

Harris Leon Brown, jeweller, diamond merchant, and horologist, was born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1843, the son of a Russian government contractor, Baruch Brown.

He received his education at Warsaw Seminary Schools, and became an apprentice to Moses Neufeld, one of the largest firms in Warsaw engaged in the Sheffield trades.

When only 17, he was a revolutionary in Poland, one of the many who could not tolerate the oppression which Russia sought to impose upon his country. His part in the insurrection was of short duration, for he saw too many of his friends either shot by the military or hanged in the streets, so he determined to seek refuge in England. This was no easy task, for in those days the passage of Poles through Germany was fraught with the danger of being caught by the Germans with the inevitably painful process of being pushed back to Poland.

But sleeping during the day and the friendly conveyance of market carts during the night enabled him to make progress to Hamburg, then a ‘free’ port, where he took a boat to Hull.

Harris Leon Brown (1843-1917), diamond merchant, jeweller and horologist of Poland and Sheffield. Image: Picture Sheffield

Sheffield was his destination, and with no money to his name, and a ‘stranger in a strange city’ he was introduced to Alfred Beckett and Sons (with whom Moses Neufeld did extensive business) and Burys Ltd. These firms, especially the former, treated him in a paternal manner, and through their guidance he remained in Sheffield.

With his instinct for trading, and by strictly honourable dealing, he founded a lucrative business in 1861 as a watchmaker; he began trading from 29 Gower Street in 1867; by 1876 H.L. Brown was situated at 24 Angel Street and in 1877 connected directly to Greenwich, with the introduction of the 1.00pm clock time signal.

H.L. Brown, 71 Market Place, Sheffield. Image: H.L. Brown

Around 1888, the firm moved to 71 Market Place (where the earliest known image of the premises exists).

In 1896 the firm moved again to 65 Market Place and by 1906 he had opened a branch on Regent Street.

In 1896, H.L. Brown moved to 65 Market Place, Sheffield. Image: H.L. Brown
In the 1930s, H.L. Brown was modernised. Image: H.L. Brown
While searching for photographs of London’s Regent Street, this image from 1910 appeared and shows H.L. Brown at 90 and 90A. Image: Getty Images

Harris Brown married a Sheffield woman, Ann Kirby (daughter of Charles Kirby, Cutler) at St Mary’s Church, Bramall Lane, in 1865. Instead of giving a dinner for his golden wedding anniversary, he sent a cheque for £100 to the Lord Mayor to distribute among various war charities.

During his early years in Sheffield, unable to speak English, he saw a review of troops at Wardsend, and feeling grateful to his new homeland, joined the Hallamshire Rifles, and took pride in doing ambulance work with the local corps. It was characteristic of him that he presented to the St John Ambulance Association a silver shield for competition.

He became the oldest member of Sheffield’s Jewish community, and for many years was Chairman of the Sheffield Jewish Board of Guardians and served as President of the Sheffield Hebrew congregation. He was a prime mover in building a Synagogue in North Church Street, as well as a new place of worship at Lee Croft. He also helped secure a Hebrew burial ground at Ecclesfield. In 1910, he was elected a member of the Jewish Board of Deputies, the first occasion on which a Sheffield Jew had been so honoured.

H.L. Brown and Son had contracts with the Government’s Admiralty and India offices  for their watches, and had obtained, for excellence in workmanship, several Kew (Class A) certificates. In their goldsmith’s workshops they manufactured the jewelled key which was presented to King Edward when he opened the University of Sheffield in 1905.

The jewelled key presented to King Edward VII at the opening of the University of Sheffield. Image: Picture Sheffield
Newspaper advertisement from 1907. Image: British Newspaper Archive

In 1914, he was on holiday with his wife in Germany when war was declared. After eight nerve-racking days, they made their way home, avoiding the gauntlet of military patrols, before escaping back to England.

When in Sheffield, he resided at Kenyon House, 10 Brincliffe Crescent. He died, aged 74, following a seizure at his London residence, 23 Briardale Gardens, West Hampstead, in 1917.  He was survived by his wife, three sons, and four daughters. One of his sons, Bernard Brown, succeeded him in the business.

At the time of his death, it was said that “he took pride in recognising all the obligations which the adoption of English nationality should entail.”

His interment was at the Jewish Cemetery, Edmonton, London. He had great aversion to any kind of display, and by his own expressed wish, the funeral ceremony was simple. No flowers were sent, the coffin was covered in plain black, and the obsequies were conducted with the strictly simple solemnities of the Jewish ritual. In accordance with the custom of that ritual, no ladies were present.

He left property of the value of £29,785 and gave £100 each to the Jewish congregation in North Church Street, the Central Synagogue, and the Talmud Terah School, as well as donations to the Sheffield Royal Infirmary, Sheffield Royal Hospital, Jessop Hospital for Women, and the Sheffield Hospital for Sick Children.

In the 1920s and 1930s, H.L. Brown opened branches in Doncaster and Derby, with Bell brothers of Doncaster joining the family business.

In 1940, the Sheffield shop was destroyed in the Blitz and business moved to 70 Fargate. Image: H.L. Brown

During the Sheffield Blitz (1940) H.L. Brown’s was bombed and business moved to 70 Fargate, at the corner with Leopold Street. The firm moved to its current location of 2 Barker’s Pool when Orchard Square was built in 1986. To this day, the 1,00pm time signal still sounds daily.

Town Hall Square in 1967 looking towards Fargate and Leopold Street, Goodwin Fountain, foreground, and No 70, H.L. Brown and Son Ltd. Image: Picture Sheffield

James Frampton (Harris Brown’s great great grandson) joined the business in 1989 after qualifying as a gemologist and training in the jewellery trade in Switzerland and London. He became MD from 2001 onwards.

In 2020, the store was modernised, and a Rolex showroom introduced.

Today,  H.L. Brown operates in Sheffield and Doncaster (still using the Bell Brothers name), as well as Barbara Cattle (York), James Usher (Lincoln) and Bright and Sons (Scarborough).

H.L. Brown at 2 Barker’s Pool, Sheffield, in 2022. Image: DJP/2022

©2022 David Poole. All Rights Reserved.

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People

The Chinese in Sheffield

New Era Square. Sheffield’s Chinatown. Image: DJP/2022

According to the South China Morning Post there are at least 8,000 Chinese students in Sheffield, as well as other sizeable groups from Hong Kong. The University of Sheffield is said to earn £85m from them, and is one of nine UK universities that rely on Chinese income for a fifth of their revenue.

It hasn’t always been this way. When did the Chinese come to Sheffield?

It seems that Chinese people have been settling in Britain for over 200 years, coming via trading routes such as between Liverpool and Shanghai. Outside of London, the largest Chinese communities are in Manchester, Birmingham, and Liverpool.

With a rise in demand for Chinese cuisine from the late 1950s, and the collapse of the agriculture sector in rural Hong Kong, many more Chinese came to the UK.

The earliest reference to Chinese settlers in Sheffield can be found in the burial register for St Paul’s churchyard (now the Peace Gardens) for 1855, when A. Chow, son of Too Ki (a magician), was buried.

The next reference isn’t until 1910 – a laundry proprietor named Yun Wong with a business on Abbeydale Road is listed in a trade directory for that year. However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that many more Chinese came to settle in the city.

The 2001 census recorded 2,200 Chinese people in Sheffield, with an additional 1,000 students of Chinese origin. By 2011, this figure had increased to 7,400. The highest concentrations of Chinese are found in Highfield, Sharrow, Broomhill, and Broomhall. They have come from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, as well as other parts of Britain.

Now we have New Era Square, dubbed Sheffield’s Chinatown, conceived by UK-Chinese Sheffield businessman Jerry Cheung, and designed by architects Hadfield Cawkwell Davidson.

Categories
People

Johnny Moran – The first voice on Radio Hallam

The death is being reported of Johnny Moran, one of the original BBC Radio One DJs, and the first voice heard on Radio Hallam in October 1974.

His mother was born in Sheffield, and the family emigrated to Australia where he was born.

Johnny Moran began his career on Australian radio before joining Radio Luxembourg in 1964. He worked there for two years until moving to the UK in 1966. At the BBC, he presented Radio One Club, Housewives’ Choice, What’s New, and the pop magazine programme Scene and Heard, which ran for almost six years.

In 1974, while working for British Forces and recording a series of shows syndicated in North America, he met Keith Skues at a party given for singer Barry White, and first heard about the plans for Radio Hallam, the commercial station based at Hartshead in Sheffield.

He came ‘home’ to Sheffield and became a voice of a generation, presenting the breakfast show until the late-1980s.