Garlick Hill

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Garlick Hill Street and Great St. Thomas (1961)

Garlick Hill , in German "Knoblauchhügel", refers to a street in the City of London and the district on this elevation. For more than 100 years the area was the center of one of the most important world trading places for fur skins ( tobacco products ), 23 years with the focus of the auction house Beaver House . The geographic area, bounded by the Thames to the south , extends to Bow Lane to the north, Basing Lane to the west and Turn Base Lane to the east.

The street

Garlick Hill, Corner of Great St. Thomas Apostle (2005)

The 156-meter-long Garlick Hill, located near the Thames, got its name from the "Garlick Hythe", a shipyard which, if the name is followed, was used to unload garlic to a large extent. In the north it extends to the five-way intersection with the underground station "Mansion House", in the south it ends at Skinners Lane. The street section Skinners Lane, formerly Maiden Lane, was renamed Skinners Lane, German Gerbergasse, at the suggestion of the tobacco shop resident there at the time, Francis Weiss (1893-1982). Like most of the alleys in the district, Garlick Hill Street is quite narrow and is only permitted for motor vehicles in the north-facing direction.

The English writer Geoffrey Chaucer (around 1343-1400) was born in the neighborhood. He grew up in an environment where English and French were spoken equally as many Bordeaux merchants lived here. In the 14th century they sold Gascony wines in the price range not over four pence a gallon, Rhine wines not over 6 pence.

Welsh writer Leslie Thomas ironically described the neighborhood in 1965:

“The romance of London isn't just in the past. There are heartwarming scenes in London today ...: "
“Garlick Hill pours down steeply from the city's new concrete facades and takes a whole waterfall away from old London. Courtyards, dimly lit by gas lanterns, cobbled streets, hazy hallways, pubs and crouched buildings slope down to the Thames. People look furtively around the corners and disappear into strange holes under the buildings, probably never to be seen again. Passages lead into other passages and these in turn nowhere - to a transverse wall. There is a church with a real skeleton in the shrine and memories of "Ye Late Dreadfull Fyer" carved in old stone. "[...]
“It's the smell of mink, beaver, arctic foxes, leopards, tigers and polar bears, the incense of millionaires that rises from the racks and shelves of the stained skins into the nose. “The smell?” Says Rubin in the Salt Beef Bar, biting into his sandwich, “I tell you it's the most unpleasant smell in the world. When we come home, our wives hate us, thank god, and all dogs follow us on the street. "
“Jews from Leipzig and Budapest, from Riga and Leningrad, from all the former big fur centers ended up here to work and do business in these narrow streets. Armenians and Germans and Lithuanians also run in and out of the other's shop or shop, gesticulating and threatening to die if the price goes up any further, they smoke cigars and complain in their fur-lined coats: "Believe me, I'm hot as I am in an oven "."

This gloss by Leslie Thomas prompted the otherwise humorous fur trader Jury Fränkel to write an outraged reply because of its “tasteless content”, among other things: “The more the skins smelled, the more beautiful they became and delighted many women, spurred them on to new family happiness and often glued broken feelings ”.

At the foot of Garlick Hill, on the corner of Skinners Lane and diagonally across from the Royal Bank Center, is the parish church of St. James Garlickhythe ”. The church was first mentioned around 1100, after the great fire in London it was rebuilt in 1682. Apart from " St Paul's Cathedral " it has the highest ceiling space in the city. The church has two plaques to commemorate employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, founded as a fur trading company, who lost their lives in the two world wars.

For several years, the embalmed, mummified body of a young man was shown in a coffin in the church, which was found during excavations in 1839. Since nobody really knew who it was, it was popularly referred to as "Old Jimmy Garlick" over the years.

In 1742 Keens & Sons opened London's first mustard factory on the street. Keens is now a brand of "McCormick Foods Australia Pty Ltd", the Australian subsidiary of the American, world-wide largest spice manufacturer " McCormick & Company ". House no. 20, formerly a focus of wine merchants, houses the hotel and restaurant "Vintry & Mercer". The hotel, restaurant and pub "Three Cranes" is located in the Georgian building at number 28.

The demolition of house numbers 21 and 26 began at the beginning of February 1988, "A delightful collection of old London architecture and not least the end of an era in central London".

The furriers

London furrier's fur salon (late 19th century)

In contrast to most of the world centers of the tobacco trade, such as formerly in the Leipzig Brühl or in the New York fur district and later in the fur center in Niddastrasse in Frankfurt am Main, the London furriers had not settled in the fur wholesalers' quarter. On the one hand, this may have been due to the fact that the furriers, who always primarily served local needs, were already active in the City of London before world wholesaling. Above all, however, Garlick Hill with its narrow streets is not primarily suitable for representative shops. The Skinner's market was on St. Mary Ax by St. Andrew Undershaft Church, near the current 30 St Mary Ax skyscraper . Another place with furriers was Budge Row, but also the later World Tobacco Center Garlick Hill. Anyway, in earlier times the London furriers were also tobacco merchants. As Francis Weiss remarked, those graciously referred to by the King as “the good men of our city of London called Skinner” were in any case only “a stone's throw” away from the modern fur trade center.

It is recorded from 1297 that 19 Skinners were present when a royal proclamation was made regarding charges to repair the city wall. Like other guilds, the furriers maintained a state barque, a barge for representation purposes during ship processions, including on a royal visit or after a new mayor was elected, often this was a furrier. The custom has been known since 1453, the first mention of the Skinner's own state barge being for 1655, the last being sold in 1858.

A directory from 1763 lists the names of 15 furriers and skinners, including Tobias Kleinert, Cannon Street, Holborn district, "Furrier of His Majesty's Robes" and Samuel West, also "His Majesty's furrier". Soon after this publication, companies were founded that still had a good reputation in the 20th century. In 1781 Peter Raymond Poland opened his skinning workshop; In 1928 the eighth generation worked in the fur wholesaler PR Poland & Son . George Smith gave up his job as a surveyor, trained as a furrier at Poland and opened his own business in 1794 on Old Bailey , the street on which the venerable courthouse of the same name stands.

In the old days the skinners, tanners and fur trimmers needed running water for their work. For centuries, the first known Skinner meeting room was the “Copped Hall”. It stood on the Walbrook Stream , which has been underground since the 17th century , probably in the same place as today's Skinners' Hall, near Cannon Street Station. The most important date for the guild was its sanctioning by Edward III. through the Royal Charter , which laid down the principles of their profession. This gave the London furriers the opportunity to enforce professional standards, not only in the city itself, but also in the surrounding markets. The district remained the home of the fur trade, even when people no longer relied on the water of the Walbrook for fur trimming.

The Great Fire of London also destroyed the Guildhall, the furriers' guild house on Dowgate Lane. The silver tabletop devices and the documents could be brought to safety. Around 1668-1669 a new guild hall was built on the same site. The pictures in the dining room, painted by Frank Brangwyn , mostly show scenes from the history of the furriers' guild.

During his visit to London's fur district in May 1925, the German fur commissioner Philipp Manes noticed the difference between the fur shops and those in Berlin:

“Basically, I would like to say that I have never seen such an artistically decorated shop window in my numerous corridors, as it is a matter of course in Berlin at the silk house Michels, V. Manheimer , Maassen or Gerson at any time of the year. Even the largest shops on Regents Street have beautiful shop windows, with distinctive backgrounds, high and bright, but none of the art can be seen in these windows. Only one of the oldest houses in London, Debenham & Freebody , in every way comparable to Gerson, founded in 1791, can claim to resemble Gerson outwardly. The fur clothing room is wonderfully furnished with dark oak paneling, you can hardly see any fur item, but when I asked the saleswoman what special items she had, I was shown a number of the finest mink coats , nutria , broadtail and above all feh in every possible shade . Extensive selection that can hardly be found anywhere, and yet the shop is in a quiet parallel street to Oxford Street , which looks rather old-fashioned and in which there is still little of modern England to be found. "

The fur refiners

Gateway to the former Alaska Factory CW Martin & Sons in 2006

In the 14th century, the “Tawyers”, the white tanners on Dowgate Hill on the banks of the River Walbrook, were already refining the skins for the “Skinners”, the furriers. With the beginning of modern fur clothing, the skinners finally specialized in fur tanning and finishing agents and in finishing furriers. The refiners, who recently settled in the City of London, were probably also regularly active in the fur trade.

In the history of fur clothing, the London furriers and fur finishers play a very special role. With a jacket made of plucked seal fur, a fashion began in which the fur was no longer just a warm lining and decorative trim, but was worn as a separate piece of clothing with the hair facing outwards. The jacket suddenly appeared in London around 1842 and, as the fur trader Francis Weiss put it, became “the greatest money spinner since the Stone Age” for furriers. It is no longer known who created this part. A major contributor to the success was Princess Alexandra of Denmark , who had an Alaska seal jacket in her trousseau.

Not only the first seal jacket, which established a new fur fashion and was copied worldwide, came from London. Here in 1796 Thomas Chapman succeeded for the first time in the western world in removing the firm awning hair from the seal skin while preserving the soft undercoat, a process that had been known in China for generations. Chapman himself could not benefit from his previous six months of experimental work. Before it was put on the market, it was already copied, and his attempt to obtain compensation at a hearing before a committee of the House of Lords failed. The seal fur was then mostly dyed black using an elaborate painting process. A look that was an essential part of fur fashion until the 1950s, also as an imitation of cheaper types of fur. Above all, the sheared and black- colored , so-called Sealkanin , was processed into all imaginable pieces of fur clothing thanks to its low price, from muffs to trimmings and in large quantities into jackets and coats.

Until the 1850s, the Leipzig fur traders usually had the goods they bought at the London auctions also dressed in London. Until then, the German dressers had almost exclusively dealt with local or European skins. Especially since the finishing was mainly in the hands of the furriers in Germany until the end of the 19th century. In particular, the high wages in London at the end of the 1850s led to a shift in orders from English and German wholesalers to the then flourishing fur processing industry around Leipzig.

After the invention of aniline dyes , the seal skins coming from America were all sent to France for dyeing from 1902 to 1912, where they were more advanced; in London they were only finished and mostly reimported to the USA. This inefficient procedure was noticed in America and they began to set up their own seal finishing.

The fur trade district

As in Germany, in England furs, at that time fur-lined and trimmed clothing, were part of the general equipment of the upper middle class, the nobility and the clergy. The wealthy guild of tanners and furriers was one of the oldest of those still in existence in the 20th century. When Cromwell distributed the land there to the nobility and the guilds after the conquest of Ireland, Irish Londonderry fell to the London Skinner and Furriers, who leased the town's houses and properties until around 1900.

The first public sale of fur skins at Garraway's coffee house

The importance of London as the center of the global fur trade, which continued until the end of the 20th century, was largely due to its maritime domination , its colonial economy , the Hudson's Bay Company and the London raw fur auctions. English tobacco merchants were the first intermediaries between trappers and processors, the first shippers, shippers, forwarders and commissioners in the fur trade. The skins came mainly from the Canadian colony, later also to a considerable extent from Australia and Asia. But even in earlier times, a not inconsiderable part of the skins delivered via Russia was traded via London to England and also further to mainland Europe. At least since the end of the 18th century, fur skins were not only imported for the English market, but also exported, even to the classic fur suppliers Russia and China. In the second half of the 18th century, London companies made, among other things, larger deliveries to Saint Petersburg , today Leningrad, and from there to Kiachta on the Russian-Chinese border for export to Beijing . Around 1900 Kamchatka sable skins of Russian origin were transported via America to London and on to Leipzig, where they were often bought by Russian dealers. While the most coveted and valuable furs initially came mainly from eastern Russia, the discovery of America and Australia opened up new suppliers of fur, some of which were previously unknown types of fur. Australia, which is actually not rich in fur animals, got considerable importance through the rabbits introduced there at the beginning of the 18th century, which reproduced en masse due to the lack of natural enemies. The foxes abandoned to fight them also became sought-after suppliers of fur after their prevalence.

At the time of its possession in Canada, France was the center of the fur trade through its large trading companies. With the founding of the English Muscovy Company in the mid-16th century, France became a strong competitor. Before the Cromwell Navigation Act was issued, the English fur trade was still primarily in the hands of the Hanseatic League , based in London's Stalhof , not far from the Garlick Hill fur district. Between 1501 and 1506, the Portuguese Bristol Company (London and Bristol Company, better known as the Newfoundland Company) brought American fur directly to England for the first time. The company soon dissolved, however, and for another 150 years American tobacco products came to England only through French mediation.

Inspection of the Chinese skins before the auction at Barber & Son (1899)

The first public London fur sale took place on January 24, 1672, on Exchange Alley, ten minutes' walk from Garlick Hill, at the Garraways coffee house that had existed for over 200 years. Garraways was quickly successful with this, as late as 1807, 600 auctions were held here annually for a wide variety of goods, from wine to indigo . At that time there were also auctions in other coffee houses, for example in "Vernons" in Temple Gate, in the locations of "Pensilvania" on Birchin Lane, "The New York" on Sweetings Alley in Cornhill and at " Lloyds " , Tower Street, later Lombard Street. At Lloyds, the Hudson's Bay Company made several sales when their overseas shipments arrived until they had their own commercial building on Fenchurch Street for nearly 200 years. Buyers from mainland Europe embarked on the journey to London, which at the time often lasted several weeks, the canal crossing initially on a sailing ship. The largest companies, CM Lampson & Cie. and Hudson's Bay Company, sold only for cash around 1900. But there were companies that took over the amount for less financially strong companies against commission.

Around 1900 a modern fur fashion emerged, in which coats and jackets were worn by the bourgeoisie with the hair facing outwards for the first time. Increasingly broader strata of the population dressed in fur and the demand increased so much that there was even a risk of extinction for some particularly popular types of fur. Fur farming emerged and the use of wild products lost a lot of importance in favor of farmed fur. Buyers in London were in particular tobacco products wholesalers from all fur-importing countries, wholesale furriers, companies in the clothing industry (fur manufacturers) and fabric clothing (for fur trimmings ).

London developed into the world's largest market for raw hides within two centuries . Due to the English colonies and the fur districts administered by Great Britain, England was still at the forefront of fur suppliers in the first half of the 20th century. Russia continued to be a key business partner for the London fur wholesalers. The Russian trade export associations received substantial advance financing from London for their goods. Prior to 1950, it was estimated that Russian fur skins worth 4½ million pounds were traded annually via London, with a total export value of 10 million. The trade in Chinese pelts, especially prefabricated fur boards, did not begin until around 1881. From the beginnings in the 1890s, a steadily growing import of fur products from China and Japan, Russia, India and Africa developed. Brokerage firms that were originally dedicated to the branch of semi-finished fur products, which is still very important today, were Alexander Towned & Company and Canny & Coulburn . These and E. Barber & Sohn , Anning Chadwick & Kiver and Eastwood & Holt did great business worldwide, both through auctions and in open trade. The warehouse for Chinese pelts was first located in Globe Yard and Cross Lane, just off Lower Thames Street, and was later moved to the tobacco district, to the warehouse at Brooks Wharf, Smith's Wharf and Dowgate Wharf. The Chinese auctions were first held in the London Commercial Sale Rooms in Mincing Lane, then in an auction room specially built by Brooks Wharf, and then for several years in the Lampson's auction room on Queen Street until they were finally together with the rest of the furs in Beaver House took place.

The supposedly first foreign man in the fur industry to settle in London is said to have been a Mr. Blatspiel in the early 1920s , founder of the famous clearing house Blatspiel, Stamp & Heacock , followed in 1923 by Moritz Oppenheim from Altona , who had a similar one Company opened in the financial center of the street Poultry, with branches in Hamburg and Leipzig. An initial increase in immigrants to London took place after the French-Prussian War of 1870/71 . There was poverty in Poland, pogroms took place in Russia and in Hungary and Romania the harvests largely failed. The immigrants' destination was actually America, but some stayed in London and some went back to their homeland after things improved. In addition, it was not only in the handicrafts that young professionals liked to go on the road to get to know other companies and working methods and did not return to their homeland. The fur industry companies that remained in London included the Politzer brothers from Hungary, Hirschl Meijer , Eysoldt & Pencil and Arthur Mendel from Germany, and the Swede Waldemar Bauer .

In the middle of the 18th century, Leipzig developed into a powerful competitor of the previous fur trading centers, especially with regard to prepared and finished hides. As a result of the First World War (1914 to 1918), Leipzig lost its importance for the world fur trade, and the Russian fur trade monopoly Sojuzpushnina no longer sent its fur to Brühl until 1921, but to the London auctions. After the war there were many new fur companies in London. These included traders from Russia, Turkey, India and especially from Europe, which contributed to the further internationalization of the fur trade. In relation to the generally positive development of the tobacco trade, the English fur processing industry took a particular boom, and the number of businesses also increased. The process of dehairing, dressing and dyeing Sealskin, the fur of the northern fur seal , was a leader in any case, and the quality was unsurpassed. With the centralization of the tobacco trade in London, the number of tobacco dealers, fur manufacturers and furriers had grown. In the middle of the 20th century, the number of such companies had increased tenfold compared to 100 years earlier. Most of the real estate agents and tobacco shops were in the neighborhood of Queen Street, Garlick Hill, Upper Thames Street, Great St. Thomas the Apostle and Queen Victoria Street. The actual decline of the Leipzig fur industry came with the departure and expulsion of several hundred Jewish companies after the National Socialists came to power in 1933. As far as their owners abroad were able to become independent again, this mainly happened in London and New York, business connections already existed with their fur centers. After the Second World War (1939 to 1945) many relocations were necessary within the Pelzviertel.

With the emergence of the Niddastrasse fur center in Frankfurt am Main after the Second World War and the subsequent decline in fur sales in Europe, the London fur trade lost its importance. The world trade in fur in Europe today takes place largely through the auctions of the Danish fur breeders' association Copenhagen Fur and through China. The decisive signal for the departure of the fur traders from Garlick Hill was probably the abandonment of the Beaver House auction house by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1982. The prices of land had meanwhile risen, but the sales of the London fur trade were falling, so that the fur companies withdrew. including in the district of Greenwich .

An article in a fur specialist newspaper entitled “London fur center now” described the situation in August 1989, when around 500 international visitors were still visiting the London fur auctions:

“Garlick Hill, which was once the focal point, is where the Beaver House was, now a barren stone facade. The construction of a bank is a betrayal of the purpose of the London Fur Quarter. Even the historic main entrance with the steps between two columns has been eliminated. What was instead built for it is an unimaginative building of mediocrity. Garlick Hills east side with its historic facades is almost complete. Gt. St. Thomas Apostle is now cleared of the fur industry. The fur trading house and buildings on the south side of the freeway and Queenshithe remain, except for Worcester House and the building of CW Martin. "

Simon Weiss , Honorary President of the World Fur Association IFTF, recalled: “In stark contrast to today's world of high-tech communication, sophisticated marketing and electronic transfer, London's fur trade took place in very dark offices, or in the“ ABC Coffee House ", or in the" Fur Club "of the Hudson's Bay Strathcona Room, or with a dozen dealers and commissioners around Garlic Hill and Upper Thames Street."

The British Fur Trade Association (BFTA) , spokeswoman for the English fur industry, was founded in 1919. In 2020 it will be based at 153 Wandsworth Road, three miles outside of Garlick Hill.

The International Fur Federation (IFF) , until October 2013 the International Fur Trade Federation (IFTF) , is the only organization that represents the fur industry internationally and regulates its practices and trade. The office of the predecessor of the association, founded in 1930 at the International Fur Exhibition , is now based in London, together with the BFTA. The members include all areas of the fur industry , including breeders , trappers , auction houses, brokers , fur traders , commission agents , finishers , garment manufacturers , furriers , retailers and designers.

Garlick Hill was declared a "Conservation Area" in 1980, which means that no building may be destroyed without the consent of the city planners. The Beaver House was approved for demolition in 1982, and the property was redeveloped in the mid-1980s by Markborough Properties , a real estate subsidiary of the Hudson's Bay Company. The new complex, now known as the Royal Bank of Canada Center , was completed in 1987 and now consists of two connected office buildings. A special feature is the atrium, which includes planted areas and lets light into the inward-facing offices. The original entrance facade of the Beaver House is also integrated into the atrium. A memorial plaque from 1987 and an old wind vane also commemorate the Hudson's Bay Company, which was located here.

The Fur Trader restaurant has been located on Dowgate Hill, across from Skinners Hall, since June 19, 2013.

Worshipful Company of Skinners

The cedar-paneled common room of the guild house (approx. 1902)

Today's Skinners Lane, barely 70 meters long, was the seat of the “Worshipful Company of Skinners”, also known as the “Skinners' Company”, for centuries. This, one of the Livery Company designated London professional associations, originally united the association of the hide and fur traders. In 1515 the Court of Aldermen, the assembly of councilors of the City of London, established a ranking for the then existing 48 Livery Companies, based on their economic and political power. The Merchant Taylors (tailors) and the Skinners have argued over this placement since their inception without reaching an agreement. Therefore it was decided in 1516 that both companies would switch between the 6th and 7th rank every Easter. According to a note, they ranked sixth in 1928, with an income of £ 66,700 annually.

The still existing, today no longer professional association was, or still is, closely associated with the schools "Tonbridge School", "Sir Andrew Judd's Commercial School" in Tonbridge and "Skinners' Company's Middle School" since the 19th century with donations through advisory boards for Boys, Turnbridge Wells ”. When the furriers received Richard II's letter of protection in 1327 , the brotherhood was opened to those outside the industry. Many London mayors and other historical figures were members of the community in the past.

By 1950 the London tobacco trade, in addition to the national associations, had two active professional associations, the London Fur Trade Association , founded in 1919, and the British Fur Trade Association , founded in 1923. In addition to safeguarding the interests of their members, they had golf, tennis and other clubs . The industry's Mercatores Cricket Club was founded in 1900.

Fur companies (selection of tobacco dressers, refiners and dealers)

In contrast to the fur trading centers of Leipzig and New York, where after the Second World War many large tobacco companies were affiliated with a department for fur clothing, the London wholesalers were mostly concerned with the fur trade. However, processing into semi-finished products has been of considerable importance for some companies since around the beginning of the 20th century. In particular, bars made from dyed and grooved marbles were outstanding in their quality. The tables made from Scottish mole skins, which are considered to be the best quality, were also in demand with the corresponding fashion. The processing industry in particular played a decisive role in the success of both products. Mole pelts could only be sold in an acceptable quality when it was possible to dye the previously translucent light leather black. The marble tablets in the length of the coat were dyed brown, then dark grubs were sprayed on in order to achieve the look of exuberantly processed mink .

Like the Hudson's Bay Company, most of the other companies specialized in skins from certain countries, such as North America, Australia, East Asia, India and the Soviet Union; for Persian skins to the Soviet Union, Afghanistan or South Africa. After the Second World War, the proportion of farm fur increased.

Hudson's Bay Company

Tobacconists in white coats, once traditional for the fur industry, in front of Beaver House (1964)

On May 2, 1670, the Canadian Hudson's Bay Company, originally active in the fur trade, was founded. This year also marked the beginning of the British fur trade in Canada. The later, ever-expanding London auctions of this company had a significant influence on Garlick Hill's growth as a central fur trading center with worldwide visitors. Until 1970, when the headquarters were relocated to Canada, the Hudson's Bay Company's main office was in London.

In the period from 1671 to 1682 the HBC events took place in various places, for example in Prince Ruprecht's house in Whitehall and the tax office on Old Broad Street in the City of London. From 1682 to 1696 the company rented the "Scriveners Hall". In 1694 she moved to larger premises across the street, 3 and 4 Fenchurch Street , where skins were stored and auctions were held. The following year, the warehouse was moved to Lime Street, which is where the offices followed. After the sale of the property on Fenchurch Street in 1870, the Company used the "London Commercial Sale Rooms" on Mincing Lane for their auctions. From January 1891 she enjoyed the hospitality of the now larger tobacco goods trading company Lampson & Co., until Hudson's Bay Lampson took over Lampson shortly before the Second World War. While Lampson's goods could be viewed in the surrounding buildings, Hudson's Bay had previously used the East India Company's old silk warehouse on Lime Street. On May 4, 1925, the first parts of the Company's newly built Beaver House in Great Trinity Lane were opened by then Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company Robert Kindersley , near the Bank of England, which is no longer there. The auction room with its "fine modern facilities" was released by Governor Charles V. Sale on January 30, 1928, and from 1929 onwards, all of the Company's auctions were held here. In 1940 the main office was moved here.

Another company active in Canada with the collection of skins was the Northwest Company , founded in Montreal in 1785 , which also held auctions in London, probably for the first time in 1787. The company was later joined by London merchants. The London agents and auctioneers of the Canadian goods were Mac Gillery & Elice . Since 1821, the business continued together under the name of the much older Hudson's Bay Company.

In 1988 the Canadian company had an office at 67 Upper Thames Street , with the telegram address "Beaver London". The Beaver House was known beyond the industry for its remarkable hall with the large windows that let in the northern lights, which are particularly suitable for the important evaluation of goods. The hall was so impressive that the commercial building itself was often referred to as "Beaver Hall". During the preview of the goods, the buyers in their white coats were characteristic, and until the end of the 20th century they were still the typical clothing of the entire fur industry.

George Smith & Sons

The furriers George Smith & Sons , also "Smiths of Watling Street", operated their trade as a retail trade. In 1935 the company published a company history. The address was "George Smith & Sons Ltd., Watling Street 9, 10 & 11 London EC4".

George Smith had come to London from Louth in the last decade of the 18th century . He found a job in Peter Poland's skinning shop on Fleet Street for about three to five years . As early as 1797, he felt adequately prepared and opened his own business on Old Bailey Street. It was a time when fashion developed rapidly and changed rapidly, taking up an increasingly important place in the lives of citizens. This benefited the founders and the company flourished from the start. In 1803 he moved to Gough Square.

In 1808, the company first appears in the Hudson's Bay Company books. William Henry Smith, known in the industry exclusively as “Mr. William ”, bought 453 dozen rabbit skins , 608 kit fox skins, and 271 swan skins .

Smith & Sons fur exhibition at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace (1851)

When the founder George Smith retired from business life in 1846, he left his four sons with an already prosperous company with the help of his wife. In the same year the sons moved the company from Gough Square to Watling Street 11. From 1846 to 1884 the company was managed by Mr. George Knights Smith . A representation from his time has survived that shows the company stand in the then newly built Crystal Palace .

In July 1884, Ernest Rolls Sharpe joined the company, having married a daughter of George Knights Smith. In 1898 he became director and in 1914 chairman of the company, in 1926 he retired from active business. Also in 1898, the company was converted into a private company, with directors William Henry Smith (Chairman), Charles William Smith , Herbert Marshall Smith , George T. Smith and Ernest Rolls Sharpe .

During the First World War, three of Mr. Smith died, and two family members died shortly before they joined the company. The last of the Smith directors to succeed his father was Arthur Fenwick , son of Charles William , who died in 1924.

The fourth generation was represented by Sidney Charles Clapham , a grandson of George Knights Smith. His mother was married to Ernest R. Sharpe for the second time after the death of her first husband Douglas Clapham. After gaining initial experience in the fur trade, Mr. Clapham joined the company in 1902, became director and chairman in 1914, and also retired from active business in 1926. Charles Thornton Skilbeck , a member of the Smith family, took over the position of director from his father in 1926. In 1913 Charles Legh Morris joined and in 1928 became director. The fourth generation lasted until 1923 when the furrier company James Johnston Ltd. was integrated. The five directors were now Charles Clapham , James Johnston , Charles Legh Morris , Ernest Rolls Sharpe and Charles Thornton Skilbeck .

The new co-owner James Johnston had come to England from New Zealand in 1902. After trying his hand at fur wholesale and retail, he started his own fur production on Creed Lane. Growing rapidly, he moved the business to Paternoster Row in 1918, where he founded James Johnston (Furriers), Ltd. nine years later . registered. A branch was maintained in Glasgow, Scotland, and in 1935 it still existed under the name of a later director, Robert J. Whomes , and another branch was in Manchester .

Long before the fur trade organizations came into being, the directors of Smith & Sons had advocated the interests of their profession. In 1935 Mr. Clapham was chairman of the London Fur Trade Association .

CM Lampson & Co.

By 1822, fur auctions had become quite prominent. In addition to auctions by the Hudson's Bay Company, there have been other auctions by other fur brokers, the most important of which was by William Row .

In 1830, the CM Lampson company in London auctioned American tobacco products for the first time, initially only beaver pelts and beaver coats. The hair of these beaver cloaks worn by the Native Americans, which was very popular for hat making at the time, felt particularly good. Chinese skins have also been sold here at auctions since 1888. By 1900 Lampson was the largest of the London commission houses. The company's founder Curtis Miranda Lampson (1805-1885) came into the fur industry very young. At first he drove across the country in a horse-drawn cart in America and collected the skins for his boss, exchanging them for pots and pans. He was involved in several fur companies with the Astor family.

Settlement from CM Lampson & Co to the silver fox breeder Dalton (1910)

A later employer sent him to London in 1830, where he soon took over the fur sale instead of the previous partner. The newly appointed sales agent, "a man with a brilliant vision", soon discovered the opportunities that London offered as a world market thanks to its geographic location and excellent banks. Financed by the American philanthropist and millionaire George Peabody , who had also come to London in 1837, he started his own business and organized the tobacco auctions that finally cemented London's reputation as a fur trading center. In 1832 he chose the Goad family as auctioneers . Since taking in the three sons, the company traded as CM Lampson & Co. With the start of seal fur fashion , Lampson became the largest retailer of what was then the most important item for the London fur market. But they also traded in skunks and possums as well as goods from other countries, including Australia. There was a close connection with the tobacco finishing and dyeing company CW Martin & Sons Ltd. Tobacco retailer Emil Teichmann , then a partner in Lampson, had started working in the branch at Martin. He had developed a special system of fur preview bundles that remained in effect until later.

Curtis Mirande Lampson, temporarily lieutenant governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, turned to other business areas, he became a shareholder and member of the board of directors of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company , which laid the first transatlantic cable . He supplied the material for the Pacific Railway , after he had accepted the English citizenship, he received the title of baronet for his activities from Queen Victoria in 1866 . He died in 1885. The success of CM Lampson & Co. in particular led to the establishment of further companies.

Before the Second World War, Curtis Lampson and Colin Lampson , father and son, were known in the industry as "bearers of the most famous name in the world's tobacco trade". The business premises were on Queen Street for many years, where all auction companies were also auctioned, until the Hudson's Bay Company auction house was completed. It met “every day of the auction - that is, for 6 weeks - everything that has to do with the tobacco trade”. The letterhead for 1925 named the company as the owners: HL Goad , Alfred C. Lampson , Curtis W. Lampson , as well as AV Fraser and HW Fraser as being in the USA .

In 1911, Frederick Huth & Co. , previously respected bankers, started a fur auction business similar to that of Lampson. Their first warehouse was on the south side of Southwark Bridge, and a few years later they moved to the center of the fur trade, to larger premises on Cannon Street. During the Second World War, the company was shut down due to a lack of fur. After the war ended, Huth Fred'k & Co. and Fraser in New York merged, and the company was continued as Lampson, Fraser & Huth .

Goad, Rigg & Co.

Goad, Rigg & Co. was founded in 1730. At the time, anyone wishing to become a fur broker in London had to pay a deposit, initially it was £ 500, and he had to assure that he was not working for his own account and that he was to name his clients if requested. He had to keep records properly and was not allowed to trade in the street. If he wanted to meet a customer outside of his business premises, he had to go to the stock exchange, the Royal Exchange . The broker received a medal the size of a five shilling coin with the royal coat of arms on one side and his name and the coat of arms of the city on the other as proof of his profession.

An early member of the tobacco auctioneers and brokers was Samuel Robinson , Joseph Goad's father-in-law . He started out as a broker on Watling Street, a building owned by the Skinners Company . In 1779 Robinson moved to Little (or Upper) Gt. St. Thomas Apostle. His son-in-law Joseph Goad was an ancestor of the company Goad, Rigg & Co., which still existed there at the end of the 1980s. It is unclear whether Joseph Goad was a member of the company, he is not included in the list of sworn brokers. William Row trained with Robinson and became a sworn broker. Row became Freeman of the Skinners Company in April 1770, and in 1791 he was Master of the Company. The Row Company held auctions until about 1850 when it went out of business. The Rigg family was temporarily involved in the company through two members, the first a son-in-law of one of the former Goad family members, who joined in 1837. He was followed by his son Rigg , who retired from the management in 1886. In 1824 William Thomas Goad and a younger brother left the company and set up their own business at 10 Mark Lane. From 1830 Goad, Rigg & Co. auctioned the goods for CM Lampson until they were transferred to the Hudson's Bay Company. A few years before World War I, they also became Hudson's Bay auctioneers.

By 1791 the company appears to have mainly been trading in raw and trimmed hides, and they were valued buyers of the Hudson's Bay Company. They organized “public sales” themselves, the end of which was ended when a candle burned down or a needle stuck in the candle fell, possibly in combination with a falling ring. In 1792 they published an advertisement in the Morning Chronicle:

FOR SALE BY THE CANDLE
IN THE NEW YORK COFFEE HOUSE
SWEETINGS ALLEY, CORNHILL,
MONDAY AND THURSDAY, 27th AND 28th JANUARY,
1782.
THE FOLLOWING GOODS FROM CANADA :
Skins
60,000 game, in the hair and shorn
8000 ditto
66,000 raccoons
6000 moose
6600 bear
16,700 otters
3900 fishing marten
Skins
46.00 marten
8300 wolf
400 raccoon dog
7000 cat
9000 ermine
14,000 fox
83.00 muskrat

Around 1800 William Thomas Goad joined the company as a partner. It now traded as Row, Newby, Row and Goad . The warehouses were in Aldermary Church Yard on Watling Street, Red Lion Court, and Old Change. You never employed a lot of staff, but you took pride in the fact that many had been employed here for their entire working life, many for 50 or more years. Around 1800 the sale took place from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. to a limited extent.

Goad, Rigg & Co. was the oldest of the fur brokerage firms still in existence. The owners around 1950 were successors to William Row , whose company changed the name several times.

PR Poland & Sons

  • Skinning PR Poland, 190 Oxford Street

  • Store

  • "Elegant Furs" (1802)

  • Fur loading, entrance to Knightrider Street (before 1929)

Poland was based on Bow Lane, the northern extension of Garlic Hill Street. The original success of PR Poland & Sons was based on the friendship between the company founder and the German-American fur trader and richest man of his time, Johann Jakob Astor , who, despite numerous other contacts with London, had entrusted him with representation for Europe in 1827.

Before the Second World War, the boss, F. Rexford Politzer , ran the largest assortment shop for fur skins in England. He was a member of the board of his association and worked hard to bring about the International Fur Exhibition and the World Fur Congress .

Phillips Politzer & Co.

The company Phillips Politzer & Co. was founded in the 1872nd In the period between the world wars, the main focus was on the fur assortment business, the tobacco company Eisenbach & Stern represented them in Leipzig.

Philipp Manes reported on a visit to the company at 35 Queen Street in 1925 : “When I wander through the rooms I see huge quantities of goods, one is sorting, bundling - an old master speaks to me in German, he has his beloved Leipzig dialect after many Decades not filed and is happy to hear from home. It is interesting to watch how the customers are served in the large ground floor room, how they are shown goods that are quickly ordered down from all floors. It is no different from ours - the business demands effort, but the great convenience that the fur trade lives in one neighborhood is unmistakable. "

As Phillips Politzer & Co. Ltd. the company is still registered in 1946 on Garlick Hill 24 in the technical directory.

Martin & Sons

CW Martin & Sons operations building (advertisement, 1896)

The story of Martin & Sons began in 1823 when the company JM Oppenheim was founded as a “fur trader, fur dresser and fur finisher” on Poultry 26. A German fur magazine even described this as the beginning of the history of English tobacco products. John Moritz Oppenheim came from Altona, Germany .

As business increased, Oppenheim soon moved to Basing Street near Bread Street, from there to Bow Lane, the neighborhood of the PR Poland tobacco company, and finally to other, improved premises. In 1853 the company and factory were a few hundred yards from the Walbrook River on Cannon Street near Bow Lane.

The world trade center in London expanded, and with it the fur trade there. The Oppenheim department store flourished, and a firm contract for sealskin finishing had been received from America . Oppenheim moved from Cannon Street to a newly built factory on Castle Yard in London Blackfriars . The founder quickly became a respected figure in the London tobacco shop. When he went blind, he withdrew from business life and devoted himself to the exhibition of his “famous” picture collection with the “aura of a second reputation as an art lover”.

The German FA Schroeter and his son Conrad had joined the company a few years earlier, shortly after Emil Teichmann († at the age of 82), Conrad Schroeter's son-in-law, joined the company. They took over the company and appointed Charles Walter Martin as their manager. Neither Conrad nor Emil Teichmann had been particularly familiar with the fur industry. The Alaskan seal skin business grew in such a way that they moved away from the traditional region on the Walbrook River, from Cornhill in Leadenhall and Budge Row to Bermondsey, with more space for much better expansion opportunities. In 1869 the factory opened on George Road. A fur seal adorns the end of the large entrance gate of the Alaska Factory, underneath the inscription "ALASKA FACTORY 1869". A text “This wall is the property of FA Schroeter” marked its border walls.

A few years later, however, the Schroeter family withdrew from the thriving company for personal reasons. In 1869 Charles Walter Martin and Emil Teichmann took over the management and in 1873 the company Martin & Teichmann was formally founded. In Germany, Philipp and Jacob Eschbacher gave up their own work and joined Martin & Teichmann. They brought their employee Appeld and his knowledge of the seal color, which is famous in the industry, with them. Many more German skilled workers followed.

In 1880 Teichmann left the company and joined the American Curtis H. Lampson , who had settled in London as a fur broker and later ran Curtis Miranda Lampson's auction house. Control of the sealskin trade, dressing and finishing went to Charles Walter Martin . He switched to Walter Edward Martin and his other son Vernon Moritz Martin , who entered into a notarized partnership with their father, and together they were now owners of the Alaska Factory on Grange Road.

When Charles Walter Martin died in 1889, Walter Edward Martin became a senior partner and took over management, while Vernon Moritz Martin took care of production. A general economic upswing lasted two decades. The company was extremely important in its branch. Steam propulsion and electric lights were introduced. The office workers still wore tails and top hats, in 1900 Martin bought the first typewriter for the executive floor.

Some companies in other countries entered into competition with Martin with the Sealskin preparation. In addition, the seal mode has steadily declined. Then it came at the right time when in 1892 Messrs. Horst and White gave up their own factory on Golden Lane and brought their knowledge of dressing and finishing of other types of fur to Martin, especially about the finishing of skins imported from China. In addition, they brought state contracts for the manufacture of bearskin hats for the Guards Division into the company - in the 1950s the orders for this went to CW Martin. Mr. Shands joined the company. He not only brought a concept for lambskin refinement, but also a horse and cart, the company's first own means of transport.

With the disappearance of the Sealfellmode, the previous main processing company entered the tobacco trade. This made them the first English company to prepare, refine and sell all types of fur. This happened at a time when London was becoming the world trading center for fur skins. In this era of Edward VII (1901-1914), many entrepreneurs were not yet aware of the major upheavals that would soon occur, especially as a result of the impending First World War. For centuries the fur refiners lived mainly on finishing and dressing methods that were guarded within the company, but now companies that could offer innovative products - lighter, soft fur, new fashionable colors, etc. - asserted themselves. CW Martin hired qualified chemist John Price Millington. Even a large part of the Leipzig tobacco shop with its many fur processing companies had their dyeing done here: “It took a long time for Brühl to realize that not only Martin & Sons could dye the wallaby properly and that Leipzig also used Leipzig to prepare the large quantities here at home and have it colored ”. The company continued to grow and a nine-story building was built on the Upper Thames for the administration, as well as for sorting, selling and dispatching the skins. A separate connection transported the goods from the factory to the new building.

CW Martin & Sons truck (1961)

In 1911, 31 years after the start of the partnership with the direct control of the Martin family, the partner CW Plante, who had previously managed the dye works, was paid off. He joined the board of directors of the two brothers Walter Martin and Vernon Martin, under the new name CW Martin & Sons Ltd.

During the First World War, most of the employees were in the military; women largely replaced them to deal with the incoming war-related government contracts for lambskin and goatskin clothing. The remaining German workers were given British citizenship. The newly employed refugees from Belgium received the night shift, where English language skills were less important. After the war there was a switch to cheaper types of fur, such as Russian rabbits, Tibetan lamb and Chinese goats.

In 1925, more than 500 people were employed in the dye works, and Martin's dyeing on marten skins was considered unequaled for years after that. Bernhard Brunton from CW Martin & Sons kept up the lively business relationship with the Leipzig tobacco trade after the First World War : "He had nothing of the stiff English about him and moved freely in our circle as if he had always been one of them".

In 1880, George Rice , a director of Martin & Sons, founded Potter & Rice with his friend . Later came the sons George jun. and Sidney as George Rice Ltd. added. The company soon moved from Prescot Street to the Hudson's Bay Works in Stratford . 80 years later, the Rice and Martin companies reunited.

At least after 1970, the Martin and Sons with the specialty " Sheepskin " was still active at Garlick Hill 26, now as CW Martin & Sons Ltd. operating.

Blatspiel, Stamp & Heacock

The Blatspiel company was founded by a man from Leipzig who came to London in 1826. The house quickly gained in prestige and importance. With the entry of the partners, the company continued to develop. She took over the " clearing " for all larger companies in Leipzig, Paris, New York, Sweden and Denmark. The name Stamp was known all over the world, its oldest bearer died in 1912. He was followed by his son William Blatspiel Stamp , who suddenly died at the age of 52. As a limited company, the company was continued by the son, Clive Blatspiel Stamp , who resumed the clearing business and ran the tobacco trade on a large scale.

After the First World War, Clive Blatspiel Stamp made great contributions to the initiation of normal and then friendly relationships with the fur trade center in Leipzig. A considerable number of members of the industry had emigrated from Leipzig to London long before the sudden, great exodus occurred with the Nazis' persecution of the Jews.

Frederick Huth & Co.

In the beginning, Frederick Huth & Co. , founded in 1860, first owner Frederick Huth , was active as a banking house and importer. Exceptionally successful, a tobacco department was added before the First World War. In 1925, the auction house sold Russian goods for about $ 5 million. Around 1930 the owner changed. After a few years of business as usual, the tobacco shop was handed over to CM Lampson & Co. For most of its existence, the tobacco department was headed by George P. Pitts († before 1961).

Anning, Chadwick & Kiver Ltd.

The Anning, Chadwick & Kiver Ltd. emerged from the following companies:

  • Anning & Cobb started out as a broker for hides and skins in 1830. They were later known for their catalog of Australian goods and rabbit fur from New Zealand.
  • the holders of Chadwick and Hollebone were originally at A. & W. Nesbitt Ltd. , Garlick Hill 5-10 in the hides trade. They later founded their own company for hides and skins.
  • Anning, Chadwick & Kiver Ltd. , after a merger of the companies Anning & Cobb and Chadwick and Hollebone , also took over the tobacco products department of Henry Kiver & Co. , which before the First World War specialized as a broker mainly in Chinese goods.

The new company Anning, Chadwick & Kiver Ltd. mainly organized auctions of Russian goods for the account of the Soviet Sojuzpushnina .

Edward Barber & Co.

Barber family

The Edward Barber & Co. company was family-owned for a long time, and in 1960 the senior partner came from the family. The company's founder Henry Barber (* 1783) initially worked as a paymaster as an East Indiaman. At the time the officers of the East India Company were allowed to supplement their income on the side through a small private subsidiary trade. The East India Company had passed its prime in 1814 and recognizing the signs of the times, Henry Barber moved to the mainland in 1822 and began trading in groceries at 2 Birchin Lane. Over the years, he and his descendants entered into various business partnerships, in 1830 the company was named, for example, now on Fenchurch Street, Barber, Neate & Co. then, Barber, Nephew & Co . Mainly cotton was traded.

In the company succession, in addition to various partners, descendants of Henry Barber followed. Many products were traded; tobacco products were not mentioned in the company chronicle of the company's centenary. Philip S. Barber joined the company in 1919, the fourth generation. Around 1920 Edward Barber & Co. traded in a wide range of products, which now includes Chinese tobacco products, blankets and skins, bristles, horsehair, pig hair, rubber, preserved ginger and Chinese carpets; and at Edward Barber & Son, Chinese feathers, isinglass and egg products. The main business area was the hair and bristle trade.

The next most important article of trade, however, had now become the hide and skin trade. In the company chronicle it is noted that when China started exporting skins and fur to England in 1887, the first parcel went to Barber Brothers for marketing . Herbert Barber was praised as the "brilliant auctioneer" of the sale in the Mincing Lane premises. The turnover in the auctions was, however, significantly lower than that made by the company in the rest of the time. Herbert Barber was Chairman of the Furs and Skins Department of the London Chamber of Commerce. He also chaired the brokerage division of the London Fur Trade Association.

The company gave up the tobacco shop in the 1950s.

Eastwood & Holt Ltd.

Eastwood & Holt was founded as Alexander Townend in 1858 as the commission house for the China spice and food trade. The trade also included Chinese and Japanese fur goods, which were also auctioned and made up an increasing share of sales over time. The company on Upper Thames Street 66 also dealt to a considerable extent with the import of Persians from South West Africa, today's Namibia. In 1961, Chinese goods had not been auctioned for some time. Shortly before, the owners had also changed, the Eastwood and Holt families had left. When the Hudson's Bay Company closed their auctions in May 1989, Eastwood & Holt indicated that they would continue to hold Persian auctions in London. The last Swakara Persian fur sale by the company took place at the Frankfurt fur fair the following year, and the company was abandoned.

A. & W. Nesbitt

A. & W. Nesbitt started out mainly with a hide trade. Shortly before 1914 fur skins were added, which were initially used to generate large sales after the First World War. As a result of the price drop in 1921 ("big slump"), the company ran into financial difficulties and was liquidated. Some employees remained active in the tobacco trade on their own account.

HH Murley

SH Murlitt was initially an employee of Nesbitt. When Nesbitt closed, he opened his own business as a tobacco goods importer and broker, initially under the company Monjo Murley & Hennessy , later as SH Murley and Co. Ltd. When the Hudson's Bay Company took over CM Lampson & Co., he closed his business and took on the position of director. He later represented for some time for his employer in New York.

Dyster Nalder & Co.

Also Dyster Nalder & Co. acted first with skins and with tanned Indian goat and sheep skins. Tobacco auctions were also held on a smaller scale. The company was probably closed in the 1950s, due to the poor sales situation for tanned skins.

Culverwell Brooks

Culverwell Brooks specialty items were also hides. Around 1930 they also auctioned fur skins in small quantities, including goods commissioned by the Murovian Mission of the Moravian Brethren in Labrador . There the company bought from hunting population especially the blue fox skins on. A few years before the Second World War, the auctions were stopped, a few years after the war the company was shut down.

Allalemdjian

The name Allalemdjian of the old fur trading company, located in 1988 on Great St. Thomas Apostle 5, indicates that it came from Armenia . After the Turkish occupation of Armenia, the prosperous trade there ended. During the massacre of 1894 and the following year , many were killed and the survivors, along with many Greeks, dispersed. The fur traders used their knowledge in Leipzig, the USA and Great Britain, some in South Africa and Australia. A number of them became significant in the industry. The Allalemdjian family was active worldwide not only from London but also from New York.

In 1946, Kevork Allalemdjian Ltd. their headquarters are still at 21 Garlick Hill, Cannon Street. Kevork Allalemdjian died in New York at the age of 92. He founded the London company under his name after taking over his father's company in Leipzig in 1920. With the outbreak of World War II, he moved to New York. The London company ran Peter Chaldian until he went to Australia, around the early 1980s. Since then, Kekvork's nephew Mihran Allalemdjian has headed the London company. In May 1986, Kevork Allalemdjian Ltd. the closure of their London office.

Mihran Allalemdjian moved to the Fur Trade House on Little Trinity Lane in April 1990.

The New York branch was headed by Souren Allalemdjian (* 1911 in Leipzig; † December 2, 1976 in New York), continued by his son Pat .

Ariowitsch & Jacob Fur Ltd.

Ariowitsch & Jacob Fur Ltd. , founded in 1925 in Garlick Hill 15-16, the “royal house” of the fur companies, was one of the last companies to leave the fur district. The first directors were the Briton Max Ariowitsch from Leipzig and the Pole Hermann Halverstam , as well as the London Siegmund Jacob .

In 2003 the company was dissolved. Ariowitsch & Jacob Fur Ltd., St. Paul House on Warwick Lane was last run by Moore Stephens .

Arthur Bartfeld

Arthur Bartfeld (* 1908; † July 26, 2001), resident in Worcester House, Vintners'-Place in 1946, was a native of Leipzig. He had come to London in the early 1930s. Here he built one of the leading fur trading companies, especially known for Chinese goods, with offices at all international tobacco shops.

In April 1990 the company was placed in receivership due to financial problems, often the first step in bankruptcy. In the same year the Frankfurt fur trading company Rosenberg & Lenhart is registered for the management. In June 1991, it announced, now as Rosenberg & Lenhart Ltd. , Company address 32-36 Great Portland Street, that 18 fur companies have been registered as directors. In April 1995 the address was Bellside House, 4 Elthorne Road.

Infelber (Exports) Ltd.

The registration of Infelber Ltd. took place in October 1953 as furriers, rawhide and fur importers, exporters, dealers, brokers, commission agents, dressers, dyers, repairers and restorers involved in manufacturing, retail and wholesale. Trading in coats, carpets, blankets, clothing, shoes and all articles of women's and men's clothing and equipment for tailors, costume tailors, ladies' tailors, cleaning makers, cloth dealers, hosiery dealers, hat makers, glove makers, haberdashery dealers, cloth makers, washers, cleaners, Dyers, tanners, finishers and leather dressers, leather processors, goldsmiths and silversmiths, jewelers, fashion goods dealers, furniture dealers, dealers of housewares and shop items, and general outfitters.

At least from 2007 to 2018, the company as a fur trader featured prominently on the back of "News", the mostly monthly information brochure of what is now the world's largest auction house for tobacco products, Copenhagen Fur . In addition to a look into a fur store, the owners David Morgan , Aaron Michael Lepsky and Jack Harry Felber were shown. The company's London address was Bellside House, 4 Elthorne Road, 4½ miles north of Garlick Hill.

In 2018, the office address moved from the second floor at 167-169 Great Portland Street (since 2012) to 64 New Cavendish Street. In February of that year, the resignation of all three directors was announced, and in February 2019 they were leaving the company. The new directors were Neville Jonathan Newman and Russel Morley Selwyn . Wholesale of clothing and footwear was specified as a business area in 2019. 75 or more percent of the company shares were owned by Jack Spencer Ltd.

Hurwitz Exports Ltd.

Hurwitz Exports Ltd. , Hallswelle Road 1 in the district of Barnet, an international brokerage company for raw and trimmed skins, was founded by Josef Hurwitz during the Second World War in December 1941 as Hurwitz Furs Ltd. registered. The scope of business registered at the time was similarly extensive, apparently due to the legal situation, alongside others such as that of Infelber (Exports) Ltd.

In 1977 Anthony Paul Dunn (born December 12, 1947) and the Dane Jesper Kollgaard as directors. In addition to existing tobacco goods stores , Hurwitz Furs opened his own fur store in Copenhagen-Glostrup, Denmark at the end of 1989 . In 1995 there was a change of director, Joseph Hurwitz (born June 30, 1910) and Steven Jacob Hurwitz were registered. In April 1996 the company name was changed to Hurwitz Export Ltd. changed. In June 1996 there was another change, the directors were now Anthony Richard Jessop (born January 30, 1943) and again Anthony Paul Dunn . At the end of 2003, Joseph Hurwitz resigned as president; Mrs. Candice Hurwitz (born August 16, 1955) was added in 2008; 2010 Pierre Michael Lipsky (born April 15, 1965) and in 2017 the television journalist Summer Lee Hurwitz Samuel (born June 1982). Due to the sharp fall in fur prices in the past two years and the associated losses, it was announced in 2019 that in future it would largely withdraw to commission business without having its own warehouse or goods financing.

Around 2020, the company mainly sells mink, fox, sable and wild goods. On the fur market in Hong Kong, the company has a subsidiary company Pencil & Co. Ltd. , at the Scandinavian breeding associations Copenhagen Fur and Saga Furs offices.

Other companies

Others found worth mentioning in a fur lexicon from 1950 when older fur trading companies were still listed as existing

  • Flack Chandler & Company .
  • Dyster Nadler & Company made most of its sales in hides.

In the same work, the following tobacco merchants are highlighted who, among others, were guild masters:

  • William Goad 1789, William Row 1791, William Row jun. 1802, William J. Goad 1807, J. Row 1825, Edwin L. Poland 1866, WC Blatspiel Stamp 1890, FH Morris 1892, W. Blatspiel Stamp 1917.

In London before 1950, according to the size of the fur industry there at the time:

  • 23 collectors, auction companies and fur commissioners
  • 35 dressing and dyeing works
  • 708 fur, tobacco and fur traders
  • 761 fur manufacturers and wholesalers
  • 14 fur board and fur blanket producers
  • 44 fur repair and fur modernization companies
  • 535 Detail Skinner
  • 118 fur salons.

See also

Web links

Commons : Garlick Hill  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edward Pugh: London, by David Hughson . J. Stratford, London. 1806. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Streetlist.co: Garlick Hill in The City . Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  3. ^ Gillian Bebbington: Street Names of London . Batsford, London, 1972, p. 139 (English). ISBN 978-0-333-28649-4
  4. ^ Johanna Kroll: June 1st, 1974: 100 years of the Max Weiss & Son company, London . In: Pelz-International No. 6, June 1974, p. 47 ff.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Francis Weiss : From Adam to Madam . From the original manuscript part 1 (of 2), (approx. 1980 / 1990s), in the manuscript pp. 102, 105-109 (English).
  6. ↑ Leslie Thomas: Street of Mink . In Evening News , undated newspaper clipping, dating (1965) and assignment based on a letter to the editor from Jury Fränkel dated November 19, 1965 (copy) ( C. & G. Franke collection) (English).
  7. ↑ letter to: Mr. Leslie Thomas, c / o Evening Neva, Carmelite House, London EC4 19 November 1965 ( Collection C. & G. Franke) .
  8. ^ A b c d Hudon's Bay Company: Beaver House Last accessed October 7, 2019.
  9. ^ Peter Underwood: Haunted London . Amberley Publishing, Gloucestershire, 2009, ISBN 9781848682627 (English). Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  10. ↑ Wayback Machine: Shaw, H (1992). Thomas Keen, Bull Croydon Nat Hist Sci Soc, 93: 3. Thomas Keen . Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  11. ↑ Homepage Vintry & Mercer . Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  12. ^ Homepage Three Cranes , (English). Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  13. ^ Garlick Hill has come down . In: Winckelmann International - Fur Bulletin 2114 , Winckelmann Publications Ltd. London, February 5, 1988, p. III.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f James Foster Wadmore: Some Account of The Worshipful Company of Skinners of London, Being the Guild of Fraternity of Corpus Christi . Blades, East & Blades, London, 1902, pp. 4, 137-143 (English).
  15. ↑ a b c d e f Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and Rough Goods, Volume XIX . Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1950, p. 134–137 , keyword “London furriers” .
  16. ^ The Genealogical Tree of the Fur Trade Family of Poland .
  17. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Francis Weiss : From Adam to Madam . From the original manuscript part 2 (of 2), (approx. 1980 / 1990s), in the manuscript pp. 179-180 [183-184], 185 [189], 189-193 [193-197], 231-234 ( English).
  18. ^ George Smith & Sons Ltd.
  19. ↑ Skinners' Hall . knowyourlondon.wordpress.com, November 27, 2017 (English). Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  20. ^ A b c Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 2. Copy of the original manuscript, pp. 71–73.
  21. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k 'Under Eight Monarchs' - CW Martin & Sons, Ltd. - 1823-1953 . Company publication, London 1953 (English).
  22. ^ Jean Heinrich Heiderich: The Leipziger Kürschnergewerbe . Inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate from the high philosophical faculty of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität zu Heidelberg, Heidelberg 1897, pp. 50-51.
  23. ^ A b Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 1st edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1911, p.  12, 223 f., 226 f .
  24. ^ Paul Schöps: London - world market for raw hides . Manuscript, G. & C. Franke collection, red flat file. Primary source: Gerhard Heinrich Buse: The whole of the action, or a complete manual of the excellent action knowledge for prospective merchants in a systematic order. 1st part , 4th volume.
  25. ^ A b c Jean Heinrich Heiderich: The Leipziger Kürschnergewerbe . Inaugural dissertation to obtain a doctorate from the high philosophical faculty of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität zu Heidelberg, Heidelberg 1897, pp. 69–70.
  26. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Alexander Tuma: Pelz-Lexikon. Fur and Rough Goods, Volume XVII . Alexander Tuma, Vienna 1949, p. 151–163 , keyword “English rough goods and fur industry” .
  27. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 2nd improved edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925, p. 275 .
  28. ^ Kurt Nestler: Tobacco and fur trade . 1st edition. Max Jänecke Verlagbuchhandlung, Leipzig 1929, p. 70-74 .
  29. ^ A b Henning Zeumer: The international position of the German tobacco industry with special consideration of the Frankfurt-Main location . Diploma thesis, University of Mannheim, self-published 1985, p. 20 (→ table of contents) .
  30. ^ Moving to Greenwich In: Winckelmann International Fur Bulletin No. 2108, London, December 11, 1987 (English).
  31. ^ For Center London now . In: Winckelmann International Fur Bulletin No. 2179, London, August 4, 1989 (English).
  32. ↑ Simon Weiss: IFTF's Honorary President Mr Simon Reiss looks back on his career in the fur industry. In: IFTF News , 35th edition, Fall 2005, p. 2. (English).
  33. ^ Homepage of the International Fur Federation (IFF) . Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  34. ↑ www.wearefur.com . Homepage of the International Fur Federation. Last accessed on July 15, 2019.
  35. ^ Deidre Simmons: Keepers of the Record: The History of the Hudson's Bay Company Archives . Mc'Gill-Queens University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7735-3291-5 . Last accessed on November 12, 2019.
  36. ↑ Homepage for Traders . Retrieved June 18, 2020.
  37. ↑ -AV-t-: The private coins of English furriers of the 17th century . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 11, Verlag Alexander Duncker, Leipzig, April 11, 1928, page c.
  38. ^ The dispute between the Skinners and the Merchant Taylors . The Skinners' Company, 2007-2014. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  39. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Paul Schöps, John Goad, Kurt Häse, Richard König sen., Franz Weiss: Die Rauchwaren-Auctions , 1st continuation. In: Das Pelzgewerbe No. 5, 1961, Hermelin-Verlag, Berlin et al., Pp. 208–212.
  40. ^ Francis Weiss: Mutatis mutandis . In: Winckelmann Pelzmarkt No. 346, July 23, 1976, Winckelmann Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, pp. 1-5.
  41. ↑ Emil Brass : From the realm of fur . 2nd improved edition. Publishing house of the "Neue Pelzwaren-Zeitung and Kürschner-Zeitung", Berlin 1925, p.  91 .
  42. ^ Winckelmann Fur Trade Directory of Gt. Britain 1946 , 37th edition, p. 7.
  43. ↑ Winckelmann Fur Directory of Great Britain 1988 , 75th edition, p. 30 (English).
  44. ↑ a b c d e f g h Smiths of Watling Street 1797-1935 - A Short History of the Firm of Old Bailey, Gough Square & Watling Street, Wholesale Furriers . George Smith & Sons, London (English).
  45. ^ On the history of auctioning in the tobacco trade - auction sites in Europe . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 94, November 21, 1933.
  46. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 368 ( → table of contents ).
  47. ^ John FE Goad, Robert F. Goad: Some facts from The History of Goad, Rigg & Company, British fur wholesale dealers. 1951.
  48. ^ Winckelmann Fur Directory of Great Britain . 75th edition, p. 28 (English).
  49. ^ A b John FE Goad, Robert F. Goad: Some facts from The History of Goad, Rigg & Company, British fur wholesale dealers. 1951. Morning Chronicle, January 17, 1782. Copy in the British Museum.
  50. ↑ London Parishes . W. Jeffery, London, 1824, p. 81 (English). Retrieved June 15, 2020
  51. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 369 ( → table of contents ).
  52. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 2. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 70.
  53. ^ Winckelmann Fur Trade Directory of Gt. Britain , 37th Edition, 1946, p. 62 (English).
  54. ↑ England's coronation and tradition colors on fur . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 29, July 23, 1937, p. 3. Primary source a commemorative publication by CW Martin & Sons, London.
  55. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 2. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 1.
  56. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 2. Copy of the original manuscript, pp. 68–69.
  57. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 4. Copy of the original manuscript, pp. 364-365 ( → table of contents ).
  58. ^ Advertisement in: Winckelmann Fur Directory of Great Britain 1971/1972 . Winckelmann Publications Ltd., London, p. 45 (English).
  59. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 2. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 70.
  60. ^ Philipp Manes : The German fur industry and its associations 1900-1940, attempt at a story . Berlin 1941 Volume 2. Copy of the original manuscript, p. 364.
  61. ↑ J. Adler: Shift of focus in the tobacco trade in Leipzig and New York . In: Wiener Kürscher-Zeitung , No. 14, July 25, 1926, p. 7.
  62. ^ The results of the London tobacco sales in January 1922 . In: Der Rauchwarenmarkt No. 42, February 23, 1922, Berlin, p. 2 ( Chinese etc. furs. Sale of the companies Eastwood and Holt, Kiver and Co., Barber & Son. ).
  63. ^ A b c Archibald Williams: The Story of a Hundred Years - 1828-1927. Edward Barber & Son. H. Jenold Marthan (eds.), The Biographical Publishing Co., London. Company publication, 1927 (English).
  64. ↑ a b Eastwood & Holt Ltd. to be liquidated . In: Winckelmann International Fur Bulletin No. 2202, Winckelmann Publications Ltd., Frankfurt, London, May 3, 1990, p. 5 (English).
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  66. ↑ Auction catalog Eastwood & Holt Ltd. "For Public Sale at the Fur Trade Sale Room, Garlick Hill", 1966 (English).
  67. ^ Eastwood & Holt auctions to continue . In: Winckelmann International Fur Bulletin No. 2172, Winckelmann Publications Ltd., London, May 19, 1989, p. 1; Empire Building , p. 4. (English).
  68. ^ Francis Weiss : From Adam to Madam . From the original manuscript part 2 (of 2), (approx. 1980 / 1990s), in the manuscript p. 206 [210]. (English).
  69. ↑ Kevork Allalemdjian . In: Winckelmann International - Fur Bulletin 2137 , August 19, 1988, p. 2 (English).
  70. ↑ Kevork Allalemdjian Announcement . In: Winckelmann International Fur Bulletin No. 2035, May 23, 1986, Winckelmann Publications Ltd., London, p. 2 (English)
  71. ↑ Mihran Allalemdjian in Fur Trade House . In: Winckelmann International - Fur Bulletin 2201 - Sales Report 332 , April 17, 1990, Winckelmann Verlag, Frankfurt, London, p. 5 (English).
  72. ↑ Death of Souren Allalemdjian . In: Winckelmann Sales Report No. 42 , December 11, 1976, Winckelmann Verlag, Copenhagen, p. 10 (English).
  73. ^ A b Companies House: Ariowitsch & Jacob Fur Ltd. . Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  74. ^ Ariowitsch & Jacob Fur Ltd. In: Winckelmann International - Sales Report 732 - Fur Bulletin 2603 , Winckelmann Communication Frankfurt, September 19, 2003. p. 3 (English).
  75. ^ For Empire Builders and Others . In: Winckelmann International - Fur Bulletin 2109 , Winckelmann Publications Ltd., London, December 18, 1987 (English).
  76. ↑ Arthur Bartfeld . In: Winckelmann International - Fur Bulletin 2543 - Sales Report 672 , Winckelmann Communication Frankfurt, August 7, 2001 (English).
  77. ↑ Arthur Bartfeld in Receivership . In: Winckelmann International - Fur Bulletin 2202 , May 3, 1950, p. 4 (English)
  78. ↑ Companies House: Bartfield Trading Ltd. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
  79. ↑ a b Companies House: Infelber (Exports) Limited. Company number 00525221 . Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  80. ^ Hurwitz Furs opens new warehouse in Copenhagen-Glostrup. In: Winckelmann International - Fur Bulletin 2186 - Sales Report 317 , Winckelmann Verlag, Glostrup, December 14, 1989, p. 2.
  81. ^ Company House: Hurwitz Exports Limited, Company number 00371291 . Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  82. ↑ Homepage of Hurwitz Exports Ltd. . Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  83. ^ Winckelmann Fur Trade Directory of Gt. Britain , Ralph Winckelmann, London, 1946.