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| This photograph was taken on 17th May 1970 and is part of the James Gray Collection. |
The earliest record of Upper St James Street in the Kemptown area of Brighton was on the side of the "The City of Hereford Inn", No. 29 on the corner with Upper Bedford Street. The sign proclaimed that it was established in 1810. J. Marchant's map of Brighthelmston of 1815 only shows a few buildings at the western end labelled "Crescent Buildings".
The date for the establishment of the butcher's business that became 26, Upper St. James Street given on the auction details in June 1928 is 1818.
The Stranger in Brighton and Baxter's New Brighton Directory on the My House My Street website records 10 businesses in Crescent Street, a street of 25 houses. No. 16 was trading as a butchers shop with Mr. D. Dark as the proprietor. There was a second butcher at no. 24, this must have been in a property on the south side of Upper St James Street as the City of Hereford is recorded as no. 19. The 1824 edition records that John Wood was the butcher at 24, Crescent Street.
The Streets of Brighton & Hove website states that Upper St James Street was called Crescent Street in 1822. The Wetton & Jarvis map of that year shows the row of terraced properties on the north side of the street as far as Bedford Street. The property at the eastern end of the row was the City of Hereford Inn shown the above photograph. The 1822 map also shows that George Street is fully developed.
The Brighton Directory of 1833 records that the street east of St James Street was still called Crescent Street.
Between 1833 and 1839 Crescent Street was renamed Upper St James Street.
In 1839 the Pigot's Directory of Sussex recorded a butchers shop at 23, Upper St James Street owned by Thomas Kenney (He was recorded in the 1837 electoral roll as living in Bedford Street, so took on the butchers business after this was compiled.
Pigot's Directory of Sussex 1840, Thos. Kenney, No. 23.
The 1841 Census records the presence of butchers shops in Upper St James Street. As the street numbers are not recorded it is not possible to identify the property that the business was operated from. The shop recorded nearest to The City of Hereford was recorded as Thomas Kenney, a man who was born in Brighton in 1816 as head of the household. He was married to Ann and they had two children both recorded as Ann.
Thomas Kenney died in 1845 leaving his wife with three young children. The 1851 Census records that she and her children were living at 24, Upper St James Street along with a servant and two employed butchers. There was a fishmonger trading from No. 25 run by Charles Brice.
Brighton 1845 Directory, Thos. Kenney, No. 24, there were three other butchers shops in USJS.
Unknown Directory 1846, Mrs Ann Kenney, No. 24, there were three other butchers shops in USJS.
Folthorps Directory 1848, Mrs Ann Kenney, No. 24, there were three other butchers shops in USJS.
Folthorps Directory 1850, Mrs A Kenny, No. 24.
Post Office Directory 1851, Mrs A Kenney, No. 24.
The Original Brighton Directory, 1854, Ann Kenney, No. 24.
Post Office Directory, 1859, Ann Kenney (Mrs.), No.24.
The 1861 Census reveals that the butchers business had moved two doors down the street to no. 26 with Ann Kenney as the head of the house and the butcher. The occupation of her 18-year-old son, Thomas is recorded as 'butcher'. The fishmonger's business that had been at no. 25 ten years before had gone.
Post Office Directory 1866, Ann Kenney at No. 26.
Post Office Directory 1867, Mrs A Kenney at No. 26.
(Is this evidence of renumbering of houses rather than the business moving property? The City of Hereford Inn is recorded as No.27 on the 1851 Census and in 1861 it is No. 29. This would seem to prove that the street was renumbered probably to accommodate new houses at the western end.)
By 1871 Mrs Kenney had sold the business as Absalom Strong is recorded at no. 26 with the occupation of butcher (Master). The Census for that year records her living with her daughter Francis who was a butcher at 37, Brunswick Place North in Brighton.
(Mrs Kenney is recorded as an Annuitant living with her daughter, Francis in Rock Street.)
On July 25th 1872 the butcher's shop changed hands again when John Goodridge paid £100 for fixtures and goodwill of the business at 26, Upper St James Street. The receipt for £100 covers the fixtures and goodwill of the business. The purchase or lease of the premises and accommodation would appear to have been a separate contract. (£100 in 1872 adjusted for historic CPI values would have been worth £10,746 today.) John is recorded as living in Bosses Gardens on the 1871 census.
Goodridge Butchers Shop was the first property to install electricity on Upper St James Street in 1896. Just electric lighting in the shop, this created less heat than the gas lights they replace so the meat kept longer. Refrigeration was installed in 1920, but electricity was not installed into the residential accommodation above the shop until after John Goodridge had died. John Povey Goodridge's wife to be insisted that the house be wired for electricity when they married. Mrs Emma Goodridge was reluctant to accept the need for electricity as she was used to gas lighting in the family home above the shop.
154 people resided in Upper St James Street at the time of the 1901 Census.
So what did a Victorian/Edwardian butcher stock? John Povey Goodridge's post card collection reveals that they sold Beef, Veal, Mutton, Chicken and Pork.
John Goodridge's butchers' enterprise did not remain as a single shop. The 1890 Kellys Directory records a second shop had been bought at 1, Grand Parade that was run by his brother Harry. This was still the case in 1899. By 1901 Harry had opened his own butchers shop at 6, Richmond Street. In the Towners Diectory of 1899 W. Turner was a Boot and Shoe maker .
The 1890 Directory also records that Charles, one of the brothers of his first wife, Sarah Ann owned a butchers shop at 33, Trafalgar Street. It is plausible to think that the three businesses had a working relationship as their locations were sufficiently separated that none of them competed with the others.
John and Hester's daughter, Betty told her children that the family had three butchers shops in Brighton. There are two recorded in the census and directories trading as Goodridge, so the third was either the 1, Grand Parade that traded as John Goodridge subsequently moved to 6 Richmond Street or was the business run by Charles Hylden?
John also took on Ham Lane Farm at Lewes to produce animals for the two shops. Was Charles' shop supplied by the Goodridge farm? The Auction Catalogue of February 1916 indicates that he had a Sussex steer and cross bread cows. Some of these cows were in milk that was sold by a roundsman. John's father, William had been a dairyman in Horsham and no doubt he had been involved in the work of looking after the cows that they had.
The livestock sold as well as the cattle were porkers, chicken, and ducks as well as ponies and dogs. The reason for the farm sale was a lack of available labour to run the farm after John Povey volunteered for the army. The death of his brother Harry in 1915 may also have been a contributory factor.
It is know when the farm was sold, but not when John started farming. He would have had experience with cows when his parents, William and Jane ran their dairy business in Horsham. The most likely possibility is that the opportunity came up after his daughter Edith had married Percy King and they had set up home in Lewes in 1899.
John Povey told his younger daughter, Joan late in his life that he used to go and check on his father's sheep before going to school. One day he did it in a bit of a rush and was upset to discover that one of the sheep had died when he returned later in the day. This memory suggests that the sheep were bought for finishing from sheep farmers on the South Downs close by to Brighton.
Running the butchers shop and farming on two sites must have taken a great deal of organisation and skill. It also required a knowledge of animals and how to bring them to the condition required for sale in the shops.
A Municipal Abattoir was built on Hollingdean Road in 1894
A wholesale meat market opened in Russell Street in 1912; an article on My Brighton and Hove can be found here.
The business survived the Great War years and John continued to run it until his death in 1923. At this point it passed on to his son. John Povey married Hester Batten in 1923 when he was 33 years old. Hester's family owned a butchers shop in Cullompton and she came to Brighton to help in her aunt Bessie Biddlecome's nursing home that was at 21, St Georges Terrance, around two hundred yards from the Goodridge's shop.
After John Povey's mother died in 1926 he took two years to resolve her estate as she did not leave a will. When matters were settled in 1928 he sold the business and moved to Devon. It has not yet been possible to discover who ran the shop after the sale. The 1930 Kelly's Directory does not list 26, Upper St James Street in its list of butchers and the 1939 Register for 26, Upper St James Street indicates that there was one person in residence and that record is officially closed.
Catchment area for the shop. This may just be speculation now being 90 years after the sale of the shop, the location of butchers shops in the Kemptown area and further afield in Brighton does give some clues. The census records also are a record that indicates the people resident in the streets surrounding the eastern end of Upper St James Street. Up until the first decade of the 20th century, there was a butchers shop at 4 and 5 Upper St James Street. This had become a Fancy Draper by the time of the 1911 census. Prior to this the Goodridge's shop may have had just half of the residents of the street as their customers.
John Goodridge seems to have made a good investment as the business provided for him and his family until his death in 1923. His son then took over the shop selling it in 1928. Kelly's Directory of 1930 may hold information about the ownership after this date. but further search required. The Kelly's Directory for 1933 records that George Randall was the butcher at 26, Upper St James Street, and again in 1937. There was another butcher trading at no.12.
The Pikes Directory for 1929 reveals that the new owner of the butcher's shop at 26 USJS was Mrs E Chapman.
No 26 USJS is not recorded in the Kelly's Directory of 1947, in 1949 Randall of Brighton is listed in large type.
or in the 1960 edition. There was a butchers shop at no. 12 under the name of Owen Blaber. By 1966 the business at no 12 had changed and was trading as Francis (Butchers) Ltd. No 26 was recorded as a Greengrocer in 1966 and by 1969 had changed hands and was trading as A. Bush.
The 1970 Kellys does not include no. 26. No 12 is a butcher trading as Delaney.
The 1972 directory only lists the south side of Upper St James Street.
The northern side of Upper St James Street was demolished in 1971 and redeveloped with flats. The Hand in Hand pub on the opposite side of the street from where no. 26 stood is still there and still trading as a beer house, in fact, there is a micro-brewery operating within the premises.
Sussex Cattle Society - Past
My Brighton and Hove, Upper St James Street.
Development of Kemp Town.
Brighton butchers in 1890 map
Pikes Directory entry for 1928
Kellys Directory 1938
1939 Register on Ancestry
The Streets of Brighton & Hove website states that Upper St James Street was called Crescent Street in 1822. The Wetton & Jarvis map of that year shows the row of terraced properties on the north side of the street as far as Bedford Street. The property at the eastern end of the row was the City of Hereford Inn shown the above photograph. The 1822 map also shows that George Street is fully developed.
The Brighton Directory of 1833 records that the street east of St James Street was still called Crescent Street.
Between 1833 and 1839 Crescent Street was renamed Upper St James Street.
In 1839 the Pigot's Directory of Sussex recorded a butchers shop at 23, Upper St James Street owned by Thomas Kenney (He was recorded in the 1837 electoral roll as living in Bedford Street, so took on the butchers business after this was compiled.
Pigot's Directory of Sussex 1840, Thos. Kenney, No. 23.
The 1841 Census records the presence of butchers shops in Upper St James Street. As the street numbers are not recorded it is not possible to identify the property that the business was operated from. The shop recorded nearest to The City of Hereford was recorded as Thomas Kenney, a man who was born in Brighton in 1816 as head of the household. He was married to Ann and they had two children both recorded as Ann.
Thomas Kenney died in 1845 leaving his wife with three young children. The 1851 Census records that she and her children were living at 24, Upper St James Street along with a servant and two employed butchers. There was a fishmonger trading from No. 25 run by Charles Brice.
Brighton 1845 Directory, Thos. Kenney, No. 24, there were three other butchers shops in USJS.
Unknown Directory 1846, Mrs Ann Kenney, No. 24, there were three other butchers shops in USJS.
Folthorps Directory 1848, Mrs Ann Kenney, No. 24, there were three other butchers shops in USJS.
Folthorps Directory 1850, Mrs A Kenny, No. 24.
Post Office Directory 1851, Mrs A Kenney, No. 24.
The Original Brighton Directory, 1854, Ann Kenney, No. 24.
Post Office Directory, 1859, Ann Kenney (Mrs.), No.24.
The 1861 Census reveals that the butchers business had moved two doors down the street to no. 26 with Ann Kenney as the head of the house and the butcher. The occupation of her 18-year-old son, Thomas is recorded as 'butcher'. The fishmonger's business that had been at no. 25 ten years before had gone.
Post Office Directory 1866, Ann Kenney at No. 26.
Post Office Directory 1867, Mrs A Kenney at No. 26.
(Is this evidence of renumbering of houses rather than the business moving property? The City of Hereford Inn is recorded as No.27 on the 1851 Census and in 1861 it is No. 29. This would seem to prove that the street was renumbered probably to accommodate new houses at the western end.)
By 1871 Mrs Kenney had sold the business as Absalom Strong is recorded at no. 26 with the occupation of butcher (Master). The Census for that year records her living with her daughter Francis who was a butcher at 37, Brunswick Place North in Brighton.
(Mrs Kenney is recorded as an Annuitant living with her daughter, Francis in Rock Street.)
On July 25th 1872 the butcher's shop changed hands again when John Goodridge paid £100 for fixtures and goodwill of the business at 26, Upper St James Street. The receipt for £100 covers the fixtures and goodwill of the business. The purchase or lease of the premises and accommodation would appear to have been a separate contract. (£100 in 1872 adjusted for historic CPI values would have been worth £10,746 today.) John is recorded as living in Bosses Gardens on the 1871 census.
Goodridge Butchers Shop was the first property to install electricity on Upper St James Street in 1896. Just electric lighting in the shop, this created less heat than the gas lights they replace so the meat kept longer. Refrigeration was installed in 1920, but electricity was not installed into the residential accommodation above the shop until after John Goodridge had died. John Povey Goodridge's wife to be insisted that the house be wired for electricity when they married. Mrs Emma Goodridge was reluctant to accept the need for electricity as she was used to gas lighting in the family home above the shop.
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| John and Emma Goodridge at 26, Upper St James Street |
So what did a Victorian/Edwardian butcher stock? John Povey Goodridge's post card collection reveals that they sold Beef, Veal, Mutton, Chicken and Pork.
John Goodridge's butchers' enterprise did not remain as a single shop. The 1890 Kellys Directory records a second shop had been bought at 1, Grand Parade that was run by his brother Harry. This was still the case in 1899. By 1901 Harry had opened his own butchers shop at 6, Richmond Street. In the Towners Diectory of 1899 W. Turner was a Boot and Shoe maker .
The 1890 Directory also records that Charles, one of the brothers of his first wife, Sarah Ann owned a butchers shop at 33, Trafalgar Street. It is plausible to think that the three businesses had a working relationship as their locations were sufficiently separated that none of them competed with the others.
John and Hester's daughter, Betty told her children that the family had three butchers shops in Brighton. There are two recorded in the census and directories trading as Goodridge, so the third was either the 1, Grand Parade that traded as John Goodridge subsequently moved to 6 Richmond Street or was the business run by Charles Hylden?
John also took on Ham Lane Farm at Lewes to produce animals for the two shops. Was Charles' shop supplied by the Goodridge farm? The Auction Catalogue of February 1916 indicates that he had a Sussex steer and cross bread cows. Some of these cows were in milk that was sold by a roundsman. John's father, William had been a dairyman in Horsham and no doubt he had been involved in the work of looking after the cows that they had.
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It is know when the farm was sold, but not when John started farming. He would have had experience with cows when his parents, William and Jane ran their dairy business in Horsham. The most likely possibility is that the opportunity came up after his daughter Edith had married Percy King and they had set up home in Lewes in 1899.
John Povey told his younger daughter, Joan late in his life that he used to go and check on his father's sheep before going to school. One day he did it in a bit of a rush and was upset to discover that one of the sheep had died when he returned later in the day. This memory suggests that the sheep were bought for finishing from sheep farmers on the South Downs close by to Brighton.
Running the butchers shop and farming on two sites must have taken a great deal of organisation and skill. It also required a knowledge of animals and how to bring them to the condition required for sale in the shops.
A Municipal Abattoir was built on Hollingdean Road in 1894
A wholesale meat market opened in Russell Street in 1912; an article on My Brighton and Hove can be found here.
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| The Goodridge Brand. |
After John Povey's mother died in 1926 he took two years to resolve her estate as she did not leave a will. When matters were settled in 1928 he sold the business and moved to Devon. It has not yet been possible to discover who ran the shop after the sale. The 1930 Kelly's Directory does not list 26, Upper St James Street in its list of butchers and the 1939 Register for 26, Upper St James Street indicates that there was one person in residence and that record is officially closed.
Catchment area for the shop. This may just be speculation now being 90 years after the sale of the shop, the location of butchers shops in the Kemptown area and further afield in Brighton does give some clues. The census records also are a record that indicates the people resident in the streets surrounding the eastern end of Upper St James Street. Up until the first decade of the 20th century, there was a butchers shop at 4 and 5 Upper St James Street. This had become a Fancy Draper by the time of the 1911 census. Prior to this the Goodridge's shop may have had just half of the residents of the street as their customers.
John Goodridge seems to have made a good investment as the business provided for him and his family until his death in 1923. His son then took over the shop selling it in 1928. Kelly's Directory of 1930 may hold information about the ownership after this date. but further search required. The Kelly's Directory for 1933 records that George Randall was the butcher at 26, Upper St James Street, and again in 1937. There was another butcher trading at no.12.
The Pikes Directory for 1929 reveals that the new owner of the butcher's shop at 26 USJS was Mrs E Chapman.
No 26 USJS is not recorded in the Kelly's Directory of 1947, in 1949 Randall of Brighton is listed in large type.
or in the 1960 edition. There was a butchers shop at no. 12 under the name of Owen Blaber. By 1966 the business at no 12 had changed and was trading as Francis (Butchers) Ltd. No 26 was recorded as a Greengrocer in 1966 and by 1969 had changed hands and was trading as A. Bush.
The 1970 Kellys does not include no. 26. No 12 is a butcher trading as Delaney.
The 1972 directory only lists the south side of Upper St James Street.
The northern side of Upper St James Street was demolished in 1971 and redeveloped with flats. The Hand in Hand pub on the opposite side of the street from where no. 26 stood is still there and still trading as a beer house, in fact, there is a micro-brewery operating within the premises.
Sussex Cattle Society - Past
My Brighton and Hove, Upper St James Street.
Development of Kemp Town.
Brighton butchers in 1890 map
Pikes Directory entry for 1928
Kellys Directory 1938
1939 Register on Ancestry
Priced auction catalogue for the sale of Ham Lane Farm
in Lewes that was held on 18th February 1916:
from the Goodridge family collection.
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| 26 Upper St James Street in 1971. |
