PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Messrs HOOPER, MARTIN AND TRUSCOTT Ltd
The Plymouth business house of Messrs Hooper, Martin & Truscott Ltd, coal merchants, were based at Bayly's Wharf, Sutton Harbour, Plymouth, with a main office at 1 Tavistock Road before the Second World War. It would seem that the senior partner in this business was Mr Alfred Frederick Hooper. He was born in 1848 to Mr Alfred Hooper, gardener, and his wife, Mrs Rebecca Hooper. In the census for 1851 they were shown as living in a cottage behind number 13 Gasking Street and both Alfred, then only 2 years 6 months old, his sister Miss Jessy Ellen Hooper, and 8-years-old Master William Hooper were 'Scholars at Home'. The only non-family person in the household was 15-years-old apprentice gardener, Master Thomas Ecclestone, from East Stonehouse, so it seems likely that Mrs Hooper was doing the teaching. [1] There was no mention of Alfred in the census returns for 1861 and 1871 so it is more than likely that he went to sea. But he was in Plymouth in 1877 for he married Miss Sarah Anne Prigg in that year. [2] In the census for 1881 Mr Hooper is listed as a coal merchant living at number 5 Laira Terrace. He and Sarah had two young children, Ada and Arthur. [3] Mr Hooper was still working on his own at the time of the 1891 census but had now moved to the Ridgeway at Plympton Saint Mary. [4] It would appear that his first partner was Mr Charles Stephen Martin, a joiner originally from Tavistock, Devon, but in 1891 living at number 7 Thorngate Road, Paddington, London [5]. He had settled in Plymouth by 1897, where he had joined with Mr Hooper to form Messrs Hooper, Martin & Company. Their coal yard was on North Quay and they had an office at 31 Westwell Street, just a short walk from the Plymouth Guildhall and the General Post Office. [6] The partnership did not last very long, however, as Mr Alfred Frederick Hooper died on March 5th 1900 at the very young age of 51 years. [7] Quite how Mr Sidney James Truscott got involved with the business is not clear. He was the son of Mr Richard Bate Truscott, a refreshment house proprietor, originally from Looe, in Cornwall. Something might be gleaned from the fact that his dining rooms were at numbers 48 and 49 Bedford Street, a prestigious location in the Town. In the 1901 census, when the family were living at number 2 Oakleigh Villas, Thorn Park Road, 20-years-old Sidney was listed as a confectioner. [8] Mr Truscott must have acquired the business, or bought into the firm, shortly after the death of Mr Hooper. On December 24th 1906 the partnership between him and Mr Martin was dissolved and Mr Truscott continued on his own but retained the name of Messrs Hooper, Martin & Company. [9] By the 1930s Messrs Hooper, Martin & Truscott Ltd, as it now was, had its yard at Bayly's Wharf, and offices at 1 Tavistock Road; 16 Edgcumbe Street, East Stonehouse, and at "Trelawney", Crownhill, where Mr Truscott lived. His telephone number in 1935 was Plymouth 71730. [10] Mr Sidney James Truscott died on Wednesday March 11th 1936 at the age of 55 years, not that much older than Mr Hooper was when he passed away. A memorial service was held at Emmanuel Church on Friday March 13th 1936 while Mr Truscott's ashes were being scattered at sea off Looe. Aboard the motor boat "Our Susie", with its Red Ensign at half-mast, were Mr G M Dixon and Mr J Challen, representatives of Messrs Truscott & Company; the Reverend H M Hyde Lees, the vicar of Looe; Doctor Jamieson; Mr A M B Jarmain; Mr B Middleton, a cousin of the deceased; and Mr & Mrs Edward Prynne, of Looe. After a short service the ashes were scattered and bunches of violets thrown into the choppy sea afterwards. The memorial service in Plymouth was attended by the business and sporting fiends of Mr Truscott, who was a director of the Plymouth Argyle Football Club. [11] Mr Charles Stephen Martin seems to have benefitted from his retirement as he lived until 1943, when he was 82 years of age. [7] At some as yet unidentified point Messrs Hooper, Martin & Truscott Ltd was acquired by the Plymouth Coal Company Ltd although they still operated independently into the 1950s. [12]
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