Mr Henry Carr Booth of Spring Leigh Rundle Road

[tozzin]

Mr Henry Carr Booth of Spring Leigh Rundle Road

 

What was a magnificent entrance can be found at 47 Rundle Road, the house was originally named Spring Leigh, this was well before houses gained numbers and it was one of the first properties built if not the first on Rundle Road. The now dilapidated house which was built in 1881 by Sheffield cutlery manufacturer Mr Henry Carr Booth and it must have been fabulous when it was finished.
Henry was first mentioned in directories in 1851 as working out of Norfolk Lane premises, he was listed as a table knife manufacturer but prior to this he was in partnership with a Samuel Bocking but they parted company in 1850, in the 1851 census Henry Carr Booth & Company employed twenty workers and at that time he was living in 129 Fitzwilliam Street. By the year 1856 he’s listed as a maker of table knives, Bowie knives, daggers and razors, his business was on the up and up as by 1861 he was now employing thirty one men, nine boys and four girls, seems his Norfolk Lane shop had become to small for his growing business so in 1876 he had moved into the Norfolk Works at 109 Arundel Street, by this time he’s added table forks, spear point knives and butchers knives to his range of production, he was also exporting his goods around the world. His products and his workers made him a very wealthy man so much so he was able to buy a sizable a plot of land on Rundle Road and he built his dream house, Spring Leigh, no expense was spared, his front gate had a cast iron track set into the stone path to ensure the gate always opened correctly.
On November 1st 1882 Henrys wife Mary died aged 62, she was laid to rest in Ecclesall All Saints churchyard, her loss severely affected Henry after all those years together, I would only be speculating by saying that Mary’s death brought Henry to an early grave as he died just a few months later on the 27th of March 1883 and he joined his love of his life in the same grave in the All Saints churchyard. I couldn’t say that the building of Spring Leigh used up a sizable part of his fortune as in his will he only left £2,370 a great deal at that time but so much less than his counterparts had left, his business had ceased to be by the end of the 1890s as his address on Arundel street was taken over by  H. H. Vivian & Co. Limited, German silver, brass & copper manufacturers & nickel refiners. 
This area of Sheffield was just a collection of fields bounded by Psalter Lane, Abbeydale Road and Sharrow Lane, there was a bridleway which existed between Sharrow Lane and Cherry Tree Road, the man who was really responsible for the development of the area was Cutlery Manufacturer, George Wostenholm, while visiting Kenwood in America close to Oneida Lake in New York State, the views he saw fired him to create his own Kenwood in Sharrow, Robert Marnock drew up a plan for the area, the project took place between 1851 and 1853, Marnock was assisted by local builder Thomas Steade, Steade Road was named after him, he did live for a while in Chipping House, Marnock designed tree lined roads with Steade building houses along these roads, today you can see the result of these three men’s vision, sadly building outside of the town sent Steade into bankruptcy. Robert Marnock was born on the 12th of March 1800 in Kintore, Aberdeenshire, he was working as a gardener at Bretton Hall, Wakefield, in 1834 he entered a competition to design a Botanical Garden in Sheffield, his design won the competition and he duly supervised the setting out of the gardens on completion he was appointed its first curator, for a time after leaving Sheffield he had a business as a Nurseryman in Hackney but after laying out the garden of the Royal Botanical Garden in Regents Park, he was appointed curator in 1840. 
After his retirement in 1869, he returned to garden design. Among his later commissions were Weston Park, Sheffield; Alexandra Park, Hastings; Rousdon, Devon; and Warwick Castle. Robert Marnock died at the Oxford & Cambridge Mansions in London on the 16th of November 1889, he was cremated and his ashes were scattered at Kensal Green Cemetery London.
Spring Leigh, is now in a very sad state but you can see it was a beautiful house when it was first built, today the house is still occupied by the solitary owner, his mother died some years ago and left him the house, his family fortunes have declined and he doesn’t have the money to restore the house to what it should be, he is very concerned what will happen to it when he finally leaves the house, I’ve read that he doesn’t want it demolished or altered in any way. It contains many original features and is unusual in having that glass observation structure on top. The estate was formerly much larger but the present owner’s family had to sell off land for other housing as they finances declined. You can walk past any time day or night and you will see a single light bulb burning on what may be the landing of the house, this light  never goes out. A friend of mine, Phil Glew, who lives close to the house, told me that his elderly neighbour informed him that when Yorkshire Cricket team played matches at Bramall Lane, it was Spring Leigh where they came to practice as it was reported that it had a full size cricket pitch at the rear. For further information see Geoff Tweedale's Directory of Sheffield Cutlery Manufacturers 1740 / 2013 
 

[Ponytail]

Doorway & window, Spring Leigh, 47 Rundle Road, June 1982. 

s26313

 

https://www.urbexforums.com/showthread.php/9568-Spring-Leigh-Nether-Edge-Sheffield

 

https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/3159622

 

[Lysanderix]

Some splendid buildings illustrating the gap between the rich, the moderately rich and the likes of many of my ancestors who lived in, and brought up large families ,in mean looking terraced houses…with no front door, rather a door on the passageway between them and the next house. No indoor bathroom, no indoor toilet but an attic in which my father and several of his brothers slept…sardine like…head to toe. The girls slept in a small bedroom….they needed more privacy!

There was no billiard room, no music room, no lounge, nor a drawing room but two downstairs rooms….one in which all the living was done…with access to the small kitchen and the cellar which was always cold and the other room in which stood a table and sideboard…entry to this room was strictly forbidden to Grannies very many grandchildren.!

The House stood on Skinnerthorpe Road, Firvale…a road in which many of the terraced houses longer exist….except in memory.

[tozzin]

The cast iron side gate was a work in its self, a curved arc guide is set in the footpath to ensure the gate opened and closed correctly.

[Heartshome]

5 hours ago, Lysanderix said:

Some splendid buildings illustrating the gap between the rich, the moderately rich and the likes of many of my ancestors who lived in, and brought up large families ,in mean looking terraced houses…with no front door, rather a door on the passageway between them and the next house. No indoor bathroom, no indoor toilet but an attic in which my father and several of his brothers slept…sardine like…head to toe. The girls slept in a small bedroom….they needed more privacy!

There was no billiard room, no music room, no lounge, nor a drawing room but two downstairs rooms….one in which all the living was done…with access to the small kitchen and the cellar which was always cold and the other room in which stood a table and sideboard…entry to this room was strictly forbidden to Grannies very many grandchildren.!

The House stood on Skinnerthorpe Road, Firvale…a road in which many of the terraced houses longer exist….except in memory.

Hia. Appreciate where your coming from, though thousands grew up the same. Mum & I were in a cottage, with a cold water tap that froze in Winter, no loo, no bathroom & no heating, other than the open fire with a side oven. Electric was put in when I was a baby, so we had lighting.  -  Having no choice at birth as to what level of society we're born into, we just get on with life as we know it. In times gone by, having large families being working class, was a key factor of many of their struggles, the women worked miracles bringing up children.    As well as industrial work, it's amazing though how proud the men were of their skills, even if life was hard.

It's thanks, to the employment of many such working class men & their skills by the upper classes, that these splendid houses were built. Builders, carpenters, decorators, drainage engineers, furnishers, glaziers, plasterers, plumbers, scaffolders, stone masons, tilers & later electricians, as well as carpet fitters & curtain makers etc:-   Even more employed for running everyday life in the houses. Butlers, carriage drivers, cooks, farrier, gardeners, groomsman, laundress, maids, nannies & later chauffeurs, as well as mechanics. 

(My Mum was a domestic cleaner for 3 upper class families for years, and she loved it! they all treated her & myself ever so well. My Gran was a Lady's Maid to a French Lady when she was young, she really looked after Gran. So much so, that as a mark of respect my Mum's middle name was the French Lady's.)

These houses were built to last with hard work & pride, historically honouring the lives of our working class ancestors.

                                                               Bless them all, Heartshome.

[Lysanderix]

Hi, I realise everything you say. The debate about privilege and wealth creation is not one, I suspect, we should embark upon on this forum nevertheless, the conditions under which those who helped make fortunes for others ,is as pertinent today as it was in our grandparents time!