Skip to main content

Butler & McCulloch

 

The Illustrated London News (August 15, 1857)

Whilst revisiting the brick wall that is Wales & McCulloch, I came across another Victorian London duo in the The Illustrated London News (August 15, 1857): BUTLER and McCULLOCH. 

 The Illustrated London News (September 12, 1857)

This third advert revealed an interesting detail: Established upwards of 100 years. 

 The Illustrated London News (November 14, 1857)

The Times (October 3, 1866)

They had a fire on 7th November 1866 with apparently little impact as mentioned below:

The Times (November 13, 1866)

London City Directories described the business variously:

  • 1875 - Butler, McCulloch & co. Seedsmen, Herbalists &C Druggists, South Row, co Vent Garden
  • 1890 - Butler, McCulloch & co. Seedsmen. South Row, Covent Garden W C ; Warehouse, W C
  • 1905 - Butler, McCulloch & Co. Limited, wholesale & export; offices
  • 1910 - Butler, McCulloch & co. Limited, Herbalists & Seedsmen, Wholesale B & Export; Offices, B B

This revealed they also sold medicinal herbs and led me to this wonderful 1922 photo "The old Herb Shop in Covent Garden" in the Wellcome Trust Archive:




The close up revealed a company name of Butler McCulloch & Co. Ltd. The archive also notes: 

"The Herb Shop was founded in the reign of George II (1735), and closed in 1922. The name of the company painted on its window is Butler McCulloch & Co. Ltd. The company continued at 60 Artillery Lane, London E1, until it was dissolved n 1951."

So for nearly 200 years, this shop carried on trade in Covent Garden! Fast forward to today, the shop is "VyTA", an Italian restaurant but look closely and you can still see the engraved stonework above the window and door:


And a close up from the rear of the building reveals the name of one proprietor: Jas[on] Butler, Herbalist.


Sources:

Ancestry.com. Illustrated London News [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Original data: Illustrated London News. Gloucestershire, England: Archive CD Books Ltd. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/34572/

The Florist, Fruitist, and Garden Miscellany. (1852). United Kingdom: "Florist" office. https://archive.org/details/floristfruitistg59lond/page/284/mode/2up

"Families Wanting good Servants, male." (1866, October 3). The Times Digital Archive, 3. https://link-gale-com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/doc/CS50504515/TTDA?u=nla&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=c153b1af

A General Nursing Institute, 5, Henrietta-. (1866, November 13). Times, 1. https://link-gale-com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/doc/CS17343341/TTDA?u=nla&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=dca31db3

London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; London City Directories. Ancestry.com. London, England, City Directories, 1736-1943 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/61265/

The old Herb Shop in Covent Garden. Photograph (1922). Wellcome Collection. Retrieved June 18, 2023, from https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ph8nb95v

‌"Covent Garden" via Look Around Apple Maps. (2023). https://www.apple.com/maps/


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wales & McCulloch

I came across this clock key for sale on eBay apparently for a clock manufactured by "Wales & McCulloch". They seemed to be a London-based firm with a shop at 20 Ludgate Hill. I haven't yet managed to track down who this McCulloch was or where he came from so it's still an unsolved mystery! Any further information about Wales & McCulloch would be gratefully received. And yes.. I did buy the key :)  Edit: Aug 2021  Added a few other beautiful items found online, retailed by Wales & McCulloch: Pair of antique silver caviar trays in original box retailed by Wales & McCulloch A yellow metal Egyptian style brooch,  with scarab beetle type insert in fitted case for Wales and McCulloch A mahogany clock by Wales & McCulloch Edit: June 2023 I found a photograph of their retail premises at Ludgate Hill, dated 3rd June 1906: Looking east down Ludgate Hill towards St Paul's Cathedral. Wales & McCulloch's retail premises can be seen on the far left,
2 comments
Read more

MacCullochs of Plaidis, Rossshire (McCulloch Motors)

This branch, known as MacCulloch of Plaidis, Rossshire, are the ancestors of the family who founded the McCulloch Motors Corporation in Wisconsin, USA.  The McCulloch Story The man behind the McCulloch brand was a true American entrepreneur. During his lifetime, he helped mechanize the whole forest industry by the introduction of the first light-weight chainsaw, made a fortune on manufacturing turbochargers for the car industry, and founded four cities. Robert McCulloch’s most unexpected move, however, might have been buying and moving the old London Bridge, brick by brick, to Lave Havasu in Arizona. Let’s take a closer look at this extraordinary man and the company he created. Early Enterprises Robert Paxton McCulloch was born on May 11, 1911, in Missouri, as the second child of three. In 1925 Robert and his siblings inherited a fortune from their late grandfather , who, among other things, had worked for Thomas Edison, implementing his power plants all over the world. After graduati
Post a Comment
Read more

William McCulloch, Maybole

Here's another "accidental" eBay purchase to share with you. Originally I assumed it was the same firm but now I'm not so sure. This William McCulloch having his firm in Maybole, South Ayrshire, Scotland. I do love it and wonder if there can be many others like it given it was probably used like a business card or advertising flyer. Any information greatly received especially if this is the same McCulloch from "Wales & McCulloch" in London. Edit: June 2023 I found more examples of this item, apparently they are "service discs" which I'm assuming would be included when you had your watch serviced.
2 comments
Read more