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Eaton & Wrighton, 121 Vyse Street, Hockley

Jayell

Jayell

master brummie
Can anyone tell me if the above company premises still exists? It was there in 1912. I would be interested in any information about it and what it was, and if a photo exists that would be brilliant. The premises once belonged to a member of my family - Robert Purdie and was called Gatehouse Cottage. He was a Draper and Tea Merchant and died in 1867.

Judy
 
hi judy mike would be able to confirm this but it looks like 121 was demolished along with a lot of other buildings from the junction of spencer st right down to warstone lane...at a guess it would have been about opposite warstone lane cem...pretty sure mike took photos of them either before or during demo in the 70s and they should be on the forum

lyn

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4882547,-1.9123609,3a,90y,212.33h,75.61t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipP4Zw0AqvyD2TZo-Cb30szDPnxtLXXXuV9VQ7DR!2e10!3e11!6shttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/p/AF1QipP4Zw0AqvyD2TZo-Cb30szDPnxtLXXXuV9VQ7DR=w203-h100-k-no-pi0.016359158-ya39.579865-ro6.46274-fo100!7i5376!8i2688
 
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judy this is dated 1963 taken by phyllis nickin...121 is the blue building and i am afraid as suspected everything in that photo was demolished..it did strike me judy that gatehouse cottage is an unusual name to call what looks to me to be a pretty ordinary looking building...click on the image then click on the arrow top right of the photo click again and it enlarges pretty well
..
lyn

vyse street 1963.jpg
 
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hi carolina apart from the date is there any other information about the photo please....such as the name of the company

thanks carolina

lyn
 
Hi Lyn and Carol. Thanks so much for your information and photos. I only found out the number of property yesterday and that the deeds eventually passed to Eaton and Wrighton in 1895, who I have since found out were gold ring makers. I am however wondering if I have read the deeds correctly! They were in a bundle of deeds for 121, 123 and 124 Vyse Street. Looking at them again I think I have the wrong property and I should be looking for 124 which would be the house just out of the photo to the right. I'm not sure about this and will have to re-read the information again. This is part of the information:

Envelope containing deeds; Assignment of leasehold premises at Vyse Street Birmingham. From Mrs Rebecca Purdie. Executrix of Mr Robert Purdie deceased to Mr Henty Payton. Dated 29 September 1884 (Extracted from a deed envelope labelled 'Eaton and Wrighton');

My ancestor Robert Purdie came from Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland hence the name given to his property - Gatehouse Cottage, which in the 1861 census was 124 Vyse Street. Robert was a Travelling Linen Draper and Tea Merchant. He and his first wife (my direct ancestor) are buried in Key Hill P84.

Back about three years ago I posted in the Vyse Street (Neighbours and Streets) as I saw a post by you Lyn #1 giving a comparison of the exact same spot as your above photo with a 1911 photo of the Transport Strike. Although I thought the address was 124, it was earlier given as 144. Mike Gee thought the property may have been near the Rose Villa Tavern as he was looking for No.144. At least now I can confirm that 124 (and even maybe 121 - 124) was the correct property.

Many thanks to you both for the great photos and help.

Judy
 
hi judy 123 is definately showing in the pic i posted...i remember posting the one of the transport strike...if you want it again just say so

lyn
 
mikejee said:
Judy
I think those houses were on the site of the edge of the Big Peg. From my photo on post 33 at https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/birmingham-1969-73.23229/page-2) which shows 125-127 immediately before demolition, this would certainly seem so (see below)

View attachment 127237
Click to expand...


Wonderful Mike. Thanks so much. It all adds to the bones of my family history. If only I had known about this as a child. I lived not far from here and we children used to play in all the bombed houses that were small jewellery factories, in the hope of finding "jewels". Forget health and safety! We used to climb over barbed wire and walk on floors that were barely there. Your photo shows me what "Gatehouse Cottage" at 124 would have looked like.
 
Judy
I have a 1965 receipt for for repair of my engagement ring giving address as 121 Vyse Street. To my knowledge E and W were still at that address in 1979.
 
Hi all, I have a few pictures I can post regarding Vyse Street - I have some great ones of The Big Peg and surrounding buildings so hopefully they may have Eaton & Wrighton as The Big Peg stands at 121 Vyse Street - Does anyone know anything about the 6 "Big Peg" buildings that were meant to go up in the Jewellery Quarter? Not sure if it was just a myth
 
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