The Hewitts: a London artisan family

Thomas Hewitt was baptised on 24^th April 1796 at St Mary’s church in Lambeth and was one of 6 children born to William and Susanna Hewitt. Little is known about Thomas’s early years but at some point during his childhood he and his family moved from Lambeth to St Pancras, which at the time, was a rapidly developing new London suburb. The area around St Pancras went from sparsely populated countryside to a population of 46333 in 1811 and increasing to 71838 in 1821.

Thomas had grown up in a time when the threat of invasion was very real. In his early childhood Napoleon had conquered most of Europe. When he was just nine years old he would have learned of Admiral Nelson’s heroic death in the great naval battle at Trafalgar. Later, Napoleon escaped imprisonment on the island of Elba and led another great army. That army was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and peace returned to Europe.

Even before Napoleon came to power, the turmoil of the “Reign of Terror” in France led to many artisans escaping to England. Many of them settled in the cheap rented accommodation in Somers Town, which was the name of the area immediately to the south and west of St Pancras church. The refugees were skilled workers and with the opening of the canal the the borough became a major centre for the piano, organ and furniture industries, light engineering and scientific instruments. This was to be enhanced in the decades to come by the arrival of the railways.

Monday 11^th September 1820 was an important day in Thomas’s young life. It was his wedding day. He had known Mary Lansbury for at least 18 months and their love affair had resulted in the birth of a baby daughter named Mary the previous November. Baby Mary had been baptised at St Anne’s in Soho, presumably to conceal the fact that they were unmarried at the time. The church they were being married in, St Pancras Church, was one the oldest in London and stood on the banks of the River Fleet. At the time of his marriage, Thomas was twenty five years old and his new bride was three years his senior.

At the time the area was on the edge of London and it had a distinctly rural feel to it. There was a farm belonging to William Agar immediately behind the church. In 1820 his land had been bisected by the newly opened Regents Canal. Beyond that fields stretched away to the north and east as far as the eye could see.

The Fleet River, though barely more than a stream, was prone to severe flash flooding after periods of heavy rain. According to a local chronicler one of the most considerable overflows occurred in January, 1809. He wrote; "At this period, when the snow was lying very deep, a rapid thaw came on, and the arches not affording a sufficient passage for the increased current, the whole space between Pancras Church, Somers Town, and the bottom of the hill at Pentonville, was in a short time covered with water. The flood rose to a height of three feet from the middle of the highway; the lower rooms of all the houses within that space were completely inundated, and the inhabitants suffered considerable damage in their goods and furniture, which many of them had not time to remove. Two cart-horses were drowned, and for several days persons were obliged to be conveyed to and from their houses, and receive their provisions, &c., in at their windows by means of carts." ('St Pancras', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878))

Again, in 1818, there was a very alarming flood at Battle Bridge, which lies at the southern end of Pancras Road, of which the following account appears in the newspapers of that date: “In consequence of the quantity of rain that fell on Friday night, the river Fleet overflowed near Battle Bridge, where the water was soon several feet high, and ran into the lower apartments of every house from the 'Northumberland Arms' tea-gardens to the Small-pox Hospital, Somers Town, being a distance of about a mile. The torrent then forced its way into Field Street and Lyon Place, which are inhabited by poor people, and entered the kitchens, carrying with it everything that came within its reach. In the confusion, many persons in attempting to get through the water fell into the Fleet, but were most providentially saved. In the house of a person named Creek, the water forced itself into a room inhabited by a poor man and his family, and before they could be alarmed, their bed was floating about in near seven feet of water. They were, by the prompt conduct of the neighbours and night officers, got out safe. Damage to the extent of several thousand pounds was occasioned by the catastrophe." ('St Pancras', Old and New London: Volume 5 (1878))

The local industries provided ample opportunities for employment and soon people were flocking to the area. Thomas and Mary settled in Somers Town and their family grew. They had three sons and two more daughters (William Hewett Bp. 27/05/1822, Thomas Hewett Junior Bp. 9/06/1826, Charles Hewitt 4/06/1828, Susannah Hewett 1/06/1831 and Emma Hewett Bp. 28/03/1834). Sadly, Charles did not survive and was buried on 9th January 1831. At the time of his son's burial, Thomas and his family were living in Perry Street, St Pancras; but by the time his daughter Susannah was baptised, Thomas and his family moved the short distance to Brewer Street. A few years later, at the time of Emma's baptism, they were living in Brill Terrace.

All of Thomas's children were baptised at St Anne’s church in Wardour Street in London’s Soho. Wardour Street was a centre for the chair making industry and it strongly suggests that Thomas was working in the area. It must have been more convenient for the baptisms of his children to take place there rather than near his home in St Pancras.

Thomas's mother, had been living close to Thomas at 37 Brewer Street, St Pancras. On 19th August 1834 she made a will, probably because she knew she was gravely ill. Thomas and his brother William were named as the executors. As her health deteriorated, it seems likely that his mother came to live with him and his family in Brill Terrace. She passed away that autumn and was buried at St Pancras Cemetery on 6th October 1834.

According to the census taken on 6^th June 1841, Thomas and his family were living on Upper Seymour Street (now known as Eversholt Street). Thomas was working as an “appraiser and organ builder”.

The opening of Euston railway station in 1837 resulted in massive development of the area. The Agar family began leasing out the northern portion of their land (behind St Pancras church) from 1841 onwards. The southern portion of land had been sold off to the Imperial Gas, Light and Coke Company in 1822 and had been developed as a gas works. The leases were relatively short at 21 years and as a result, the houses built on the site were little better than a shanty town. The area, known as Agar Town, became one of the worst slums in London.

Neighbouring Somers Town was not quite the slum to the same degree as Agar Town. However, it was still described as being full of dark courts and alleys, gin palaces, cheap shops, patched shops and passages teeming with children.

By 30^th March 1851, the Hewetts had moved to 4 Church Terrace which was close to the old St Pancras Church where they had been married. Thomas and Mary were living at the address with their son Thomas and their two youngest daughters Susannah and Emma. Thomas, aged 54, was now working as a chair maker and his son was an organ builder.

Organ building was a growth industry. The Industrial Revolution led to an increase in the urban population. As the towns and cities grew, there was a demand for new churches to cater for God’s faithful and these churches all needed pipe organs. The area around St Pancras, with its skilled labourers and artisans, was a centre for the organ building industry.

On 7^th January 1854, the younger Thomas was married at St Pancras Church. His bride, Emma Pittock, was the daughter of a builder from Kersey in Suffolk. It is possible they met whilst working on a church with her father.

After the wedding, they continued living in Church Terrace. Emma quickly fell pregnant and towards the end of the pregnancy travelled back to be with her family in Suffolk. Charles Pittock Hewitt was born in the autumn of 1854 in Stoke-by-Nayland.

Emma returned to London with her baby son and during the remainder of the decade gave birth to two more sons and a daughter: Thomas Coventry in early 1857, Emma in around 1859 and Frederick Samuel on 2^nd April 1861. Both Frederick and Thomas were baptised at St Pancras Church on 16th March 1862. According to the 1861 census they were living next door to Thomas’s parents and sharing the house with the Bull and Pike families. There were a total of 13 people living under one roof and conditions must have been very cramped. Another daughter, Alice Ann, was born a few years later in 1864.

The opening of Kings Cross railway station in 1852 had led to an even greater influx of people to Somers Town and Agar Town. This was the height of “railway mania” and competing private railway companies shared the same lines and stations. In the 1850s the Midland railway company shared Kings Cross railway station with the Great Northern railway company but by the end of the decade plans were drawn up for a terminus of their own.

In 1859, the Midland Railway company purchased 27 acres of land from the ecclesiastical commissioners (including St Giles’s graveyard to the north of St Pancras Church) and purchased the rest of Agar Town in 1860.

After unsuccessful petitions against the company’s plans by the St. Pancras Vestry, The Regent’s Canal, and the Imperial Gas Light & Coke Company; the Midland Railway (St. Pancras Branch) Bill was passed by Parliamentary powers and became law in 1866. It gave the company complete power to purchase necessary lands and houses “by compulsion or agreement.” While the company had to compensate those who had taken out 99-year leases with the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, weekly tenants could be evicted without compensation. Some of them fought strenuously to obtain remuneration for being displaced, but were unsuccessful. The official number of displaced “labouring classes” by the Midland Railway Company put the number at a mere 1,180 persons. However, more realistic estimates indicate that the extension of the Midland Rail line into its own station at St. Pancras demolished 4,000 houses in Somers, Camden, and Agar Towns, displacing perhaps as many as 32,000 people.

The stress of fighting the Midland Railway company must have taken its toll. Thomas senior became ill with bronchitis towards the end of 1862 and died alone at home on 1^st February 1863. The cause of his death was pulmonary consumption. Thomas senior was buried at St Pancras Cemetery at 3pm on 7th February 1863. His wife, Mary, who must have been away from home at the time of his death, lived on for another 5¹/₂ years. The construction of St Pancras railway station forced the family to leave their home. Mary moved the short distance to 7 Aldenham Street, where she died on 9^th September 1868. The rest of the family moved across London to St John’s Wood where they started a new life. Thomas and Emma had another daughter, Ellen May, on 4^th January 1870.

According to the census taken on 4^th April 1871, the family were living at 26 Townsend Cottages in the working-class enclave of Portland Town, St John’s Wood. They appear to have settled in well. Whilst Thomas and his eldest son Charles were both working as organ builders, his wife Emma was working as a shop keeper. Even though Thomas and Emma were by this time well into their 40s, they produced another son. Herbert Arthur Hewitt was born on 20^th May 1872 in St John’s Wood.

The turmoil of their time in St Pancras was behind them and life in St John’s Wood appears to have been much more stable. So much so, they were able to get their children Herbert, Alice and Ellen baptised. This took place on 1st November 1874 at the church of St Stephen the Martyr in Avenue Road.

The census taken on 3^rd April 1881 showed the family were still living at 26 Townsend Cottages, although the eldest son Charles had apparently flown the nest and Alice was absent. Thomas, Thomas Coventry and Frederick were all working as organ builders which suggests that Thomas was self-employed and that business was so good he needed to employ his sons. Thomas’s daughter Emma was working as a dress maker and Herbert was at school.

By the 1891 census, the family were still living at 26 Townsend Cottages. Thomas Coventry had left the family business but Thomas and Frederick were still working together. Alice was working as a shop assistant and Mary was a linen draper’s assistant. Herbert was apparently not home.

Ten years on and according to the 1901 census they were still living at 26 Townsend Cottages. Although Thomas (elder) was 75 years old, he was still working as an organ builder with his son Frederick. His daughter Alice was still working as a shop assistant.

At some point during the first decade of the 20^th century, Thomas retired and after around 40 years living at the same address, he decided to leave St John’s Wood. By the next census on 2^nd April 1911, Thomas, his wife Emma and their grown up children Frederick and Alice, had moved to 5 Sutherland Road, Bow. At 85 years, Thomas (elder) was an old age pensioner but his son, Frederick, was still working as an organ builder.

By this time, Thomas (elder) was becoming frail. In the years immediately following the census Thomas (elder) and his wife moved to 4 Wedmore Gardens, Upper Holloway. His daughter-in-law, Ada, nursed him until his death on 19^th January 1913. His wife, Emma, lived on for another 19 years. She passed away with her daughter Mary at her side on 13^th December 1931 having reached the grand old age of 102.