PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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Messrs VICKERY & COMPANY
The Plymouth business house of Messrs Vickery & Company, drapers and outfitters, was situated at numbers 26 Bedford Street and 8 Cornwall Street, Plymouth. It is understood that the business was actually founded in 1880 by Mr Walter Vickery, of Burrington, in Somerset. Walter was the youngest son of Mr Richard Vickery. [1] However, in 1882 Walter moved away from Plymouth to Shrewsbury, where he became Sheriff of the County and Mayor of the Town, and sold the business to his older brother, Mr William James Vickery [8]. He had gained a great deal of experience as a commercial traveller for a large company before arriving in Plymouth. [1] The 1891 census shows William and his Exeter-born wife, Eliza, living over the shop with their five children, an assistant and a 17-years-old domestic servant by the name of Miss Emily R Hardy. The eldest son, Mr Albert William Vickery, also assisted his father. [2] Keen to take part in local politics, he stood as a candidate for Frankfort Ward in 1897 and he defeated Mr John Goad by only one vote. However at the next Council election in 1900 he was defeated by Captain F S Willies and the same happened again in 1903, after which he no longer took an active part in politics. He was, however, co-opted on to the Museum and Free Library Committee. [1] At the time of the 1901 census, he had moved to number 38 Whiteford Road and left his eldest son, Mr Albert William Vickery, in charge. [3] The premises were completely rebuilt in 1911 and in 1915 the shop next door was acquired. [8] Mr William John Vickery died at number 11 Polworth Road, Streatham, London, on Saturday April 12th 1924, at the age of 81 [4]. During his life Mr Vickery had been treasurer of the Plymouth Liberal Association, a Justice of the Peace for Devon County, and had been a churchwarden of the Church of Saint Augustine at Lipson Vale until he moved to Elburton to live. [1] The business was left in the hands of Mr Albert William Vickery and his younger brother, Mr Walter Carter Vickery, neither of whom lived over the shop in 1911. [5] Mr Albert William Vickery retired from the business in 1935 and handed it over to his two sons, Mr S A Vickery and Mr R E Vickery. [7] Messrs E Dingle & Company Ltd acquired the business premises in March 1936 and amalgamated the two businesses, although they went to great lengths to emphasis that the two concerns would still operate as independently as they had before. While Dingle's continued to concentrate on ladies' clothing, Vickery's retained its specialization as gentlemen's outfitters and also had a large collection of school uniforms for boys. The Vickery's shop had just undergone a refit in walnut, with chromium-finished box fittings and newly designed electric lighting. The ground floor of the shop had been arranged for the benefit of 'the woman who is shopping on behalf of a man' while the separate identity of the Vickery premises from the Dingle's shop maintained 'the atmosphere of complete seclusion which most men prefer when choosing clothes'. [8] Mr S A Vickery and Mr R E Vickery became directors of Messrs E Dingle & Company Ltd [8]. Mr R E Vickery died in 1940. His father, Mr Albert William Vickery passed away at Looe on Saturday April 28th 1951. Although he had been in Bath, Somerset, he had been educated in Plymouth. He had been a member of the management committee of the Prince of Wales's Hospital in Lockyer Street for many years. Mr Vickery's body was cremated at Efford Crematorium on Tuesday May 1st 1951. The Reverend E C Allen, curate of Saint Andrew's Church officiated. [7] Mr Walter Carter Vickery died at his home, Windyridge, Thornhill Way, Plymouth, on Tuesday November 20th 1956 at the age of 74 years. The funeral took place at Emmanuel Church on Friday November 23rd 1956. [9]
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