Monday 18 January 2010

Wine and spirits, Seven Sisters

Contrary to the Medway Coal Company, which did not list the places where it had offices and wharves, leaving people wondering where "Elsewhere" could be, the store below gave the addresses of all the chain's branches in the London area.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the name of the store yet (I've looked at all the addresses provided but found nothing on the web. I may have more luck with the history books of the local libraries). A picture taken in 1911 shows the premises were occupied by the Olympia Stores, which sold Hoare and Co.'s stout and ales, but the name wouldn't fit. Would the sign below have been painted before or after?


...a.
.nce.
Tea & Coffee
Importers
& Provision
Merchants
...avement
...
Branches
52 & 54 Broadway Stratford
885 & 887 High St. Stratford
175 Drury Lane Holborn
159 Drury Lane Strand
6 Brunswick St. Poplar
62 York Rd. Battersea
18 Broadway London Fields
Agents For
W & A Gilbey's
Wines & Spirits

Walter and Arthur Gilbey began their wine merchant business in 1857. From their first store at the corner of Berwick Street and Oxford Street they expanded rapidly across England through a network of grocers who acted as their agents. For more on the early years of W & A Gilbey, you can refer to Wine and the Vine: An Historical Geography of Viticulture and the Wine Trade by Tim Unwin, pp. 332-333.

Location: West Green Road / Picture Taken on: 04/06/2008

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