Wright, Marshall & Co Curriers 117 - 19 West Bar

[tozzin]

Wright, Marshall & Co Curriers 117 - 19 West Bar

 

This date stone can be found on No 119 West Bar, it’s a very rare survivor of what was a original domestic development,  this heavily populated area that was home to immigrants from Ireland and Europe. As can be seen, its date stone cites 1794, it was built as a pair of three storey houses with the lower floor converted into a shop, It did look slightly lost without an occupant last time I saw it. This area was a busy, thriving part of Town but  the crofts and tenements gave its occupants a terrible cross to bear with the lack of clean water, disease and filth was the order of the day, why do we complain when people survived these harsh times without a Social Worker. 
In the year 1879 a certain Mr Edward Wright, a currier and leather seller, was doing quite well selling his products, his place of business was, 141 West Bar, by 1893 Edward had acquired a partner, George Watson Marshall, the two partners moved into 117 - 119  West Bar, a Mr John Redington Popplewell  is also listed at the same address in the 1879 directory, he’s listed as a carrier, but this is a misprint as further into the directory he’s listed as a currier and leather dealer, Johns father was working just a few yards away as a shoemaker at 10 Bower Spring, I cant say if Mr Popplewell sold up or whether he died but I cant find anymore information on him but his brothers or sons are all listed as boot makers in the city, Albert, Arthur, George and Joseph. No 117-119 saw another business  sharing? the address, this was  Barton’s Vaults, run by Mr John Cooke, undoubtedly some kind of public house.
In 1905 Edward Wright & Sons are still at 119 but no mention of Mr Popplewell, had they just parted company or had he died I couldn’t say, 1911 saw a further properties being used by the sons of Mr Wright, 276 London Road was the two brothers residential address and 315 London Road was the business address, they are now in business as saddlers, a dying trade with the onset of the motor car. In directories between 1905 & 1925 George Watson Marshall, leather factor is recorded at 831 Attercliffe Road.
From Bower Spring to Corporation Street, less than 500 yards, there stood ten public houses, the Sun, Clockmakers Arms, London House, Gaiety Palace, the Tankard which may have been our building in this article, London Apprentice and the Prince of Wales, just behind the Gaiety Palace stood the Gaiety Music Hall, the small triangle of land that sits at the side of the old Hostel and Corporation Street is where  the Gaiety Pub, the London House and the Gaiety Music Hall all stood. The Gaiety Music hall was demolished in 1996 despite opposition from conservationist and even today 17 years later its still a home to brambles and weeds, thanks Sheffield City Council another brilliant stratagem. One of the stars of the Gaiety was “Lucy” the tame singing Pig who wandered among the clientele of the hall, Lucy had a strong liking for a pint of Old & Mild and it wasn’t unusual to see her laid down sleeping it off. To the left side of 119 stood the Britannia Music Hall, the oldest Music Hall in the country, circa 1855 to 1895, the famous Clog Dancer Dan Leno appeared here as a child and was seen by Charles Dickens, who told him he would go far which he did.
The trade of currying was a vital part of the early leather industry. Currying was the name given to the process of stretching and finishing tanned leather, thus, rendering it supple and strong for the use of a saddler or cobbler. The name currier is believed to be taken from the Latin term "corium". The corium is the central skin layer between the outer epidermis and the flesh underneath, made up of a complex series of fibres. The make up of this layer dictates the difference in texture between leathers. Traditionally, animal skins were cured by treating them with animal fat. This stage was followed by leaving them stretched out to dry, either in the sun or before a fire. In Britain, due to the climate, the skin was normally dried in front of a fire. This basic system was in use thousands of years before Christ and was still used on buffalo skins by North American Indians in the late 1800’s. Medieval Europeans improved upon these methods and those tradesmen skilled in the methods of making skins into a flexible, durable material, grew in importance.
To understand the role performed by the currier, it is necessary to look at the earlier stages in the leather-making process. An animal skin was first delivered to a tannery, generally located in a town. The skin then underwent the "liming" procedure, where it was repeatedly washed and left in a solution of quick lime to increase absorbency. After being cut to a suitable size, the skin was placed in successive tanks of progressively stronger tanning solution. The art of currying leather was hard manual labour, needing great skill and a range of special hand tools. The currier worked on a variety of hides, principally ox, cow, calf, goat, sheep, pig and deer.  For centuries he crafted the buff jerkin worn by soldiers from the hide of the European Buffalo - hence the term "Buff".

 

 

[Heartshome]

Also, see post:-

117/119 Westbar by Stuart0742   January 23, 2009 in Sheffield History Chat

                                                       Regards Heartshome.

[tozzin]

7 minutes ago, Heartshome said:

Also, see post:-

117/119 Westbar by Stuart0742   January 23, 2009 in Sheffield History Chat

                                                       Regards Heartshome.

Can't find it.

[Edmund]

Lucy the pig belonged to Louis Metzger, a pork butcher who owned the butchers premises next door, as well as the Gaiety.  He had leased the music hall to Frederick Mould, who had run it badly for two years.  When the licence renewal was refused in 1883 Metzger threw out Mould and took on the management himself. A condition of Metzger being granted a music and singing licence was that the proprietor paid for a policeman to be kept on the premises every night. At this point Fred Mould left his wife and ran away with a female vocalist....

[Heartshome]

1 hour ago, tozzin said:

Can't find it.

Strange! just try typing on Google!  John R Popplewell  West Bar  Sheffield   post should show on there Ok H

[tozzin]

49 minutes ago, Heartshome said:

Strange! just try typing on Google!  John R Popplewell  West Bar  Sheffield   post should show on there Ok H

I stayed on Sheffield History

[tozzin]

In the photo shown on Google an alarm box jumps out at you, on mine I just had to remove it.

 

[SteveHB]

4 hours ago, Heartshome said:

Strange! just try typing on Google!  John R Popplewell  West Bar  Sheffield   post should show on there Ok H

 

[Heartshome]

3 hours ago, tozzin said:

In the photo shown on Google an alarm box jumps out at you, on mine I just had to remove it.

 

Will try to send from my PC.

 

[Heartshome]

4 minutes ago, SteveHB said:

 

Thanks Steve. Click on this photo tozzin and it should come up Hearshome.