I have attended several Guild events during this month. Two of them, a face-to-face meeting in Meriden, and a zoom meeting, were for the Warwickshire members of the Guild. The third was a Guild seminar, up in Staffordshire, with the topic of "Hops, Pubs, and People".
However, since I've written a report on that, which will appear in the Guild Journal at some time, I've decided to make this post about something completely different!
I don't often purchase PARRY related items on sites such as Ebay but, occasionally an item will catch my eye. This month it was these two brass plates, which had been removed from an old workbench.
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Having bought the plates, I thought I'd see what I could find out about the company and the PARRYs who were involved with it.
As happens so frequently, this turned out to be a bit more 'involved' than I had expected!
Initial information came from a website called "Is your name on a knife"1, from which I learnt that the business was started by a Thomas Henry PARRY (1846-1906) around 1866. He was married to an Esther, and had one son, Arthur Thomas (1872-1945), who joined him in the business. Old Street is in Shoreditch, but Arthur was living in Hackney in 1901, with the occupation of "tool shop keeper", and Thomas died in Brighton in 1906.
Arthur continued the business, after his father's death, registering "Parry & Sons (Tools) Ltd" as a private limited company in 1943, with Arthur and his wife, Edith Vera, as the directors. The business was still at 329 Old Street, but Arthur and his wife were living in Eastbourne, Sussex. [I found confirmation of the registration of the company "Parry and Son (Tools) Ltd, with the business carrying on at 329 Old Street, through the Eastbourne Gazette, on 29th September 1943. The two directors, Arthur and his wife, Edith, were living at Lustleigh, King's-drive, Eastbourne.]
After Arthur died in 1945, the business was offered to another tool merchant in Old Street, and it became "Parry Tyzack", which continued to trade at 329 Old Street until at least the 1980s.
It seems the tools sold were often bought in from outside suppliers, and then the SUNDIAL trademark either stamped or, like the brass plates, fixed, on to them.
Another site, Grace's Guide To British Industrial History,2 has some adverts for the "Sundial" tools & machinery, from which it seems that the business involved numbers 329 to 333 Old Street, although a 1921 Trade Directory does show other businesses at 331 and 333.3 More images appear on a page of a current company in the area, Rockman & Rockman, whose website indicates they hold a large archive of catalogues and reference materials relating to the Shoreditch area.4 These indicate that Parry & Son had other premises in London (potentially a "works" in East Road, and a "warehouse" in Hoxton Square, although the details are not clearly readable in the adverts.)
I also found photographs of the 329 Old Street property on a variety of sites.5
So there is plenty of information 'out there' for anyone interested in the company.
Obviously Ancestry and FindMyPast were the first sites I went to, to confirm some of the details I had already discovered.
Fortunately, making things easier, one of the first results I found was the Find-a-Grave page6, with a very smart stone, the text of which reads:
The grave is in the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium, in Newham, London Borough of Newham, Greater London, England. However, information on the site indicated that Thomas Henry PARRY died in Brighton, East Sussex, and that Arthur Thomas PARRY died in Eastbourne, East Sussex.
So there was clearly some address details to clarify, as well as the two marriages for Arthur. I was also interesting to see the "J.P." after Arthur's name (ie Justice of the Peace), which must indicate he was of a certain "status" within his community.
Thomas Henry's death was registered in the second quarter of 1906 in the Brighton district. It was also reported in the "Shoreditch Observer, on the 7th April:
We regret to have to announce the death of Mr.Thomas Parry, of 329, Old-street, and 52, Gore-road,South Hackney, which took place on Friday in lastweek. Mr. Parry was away at Brighton enjoying abrief rest, he was taken suddenly ill, and passedpeacefully away in the presence of Mrs. Parry. Aninquest was held on Saturday, when the medicalevidence showed that Mr. Parry had died fromaneurism of the aorta, and a verdict of death fromnatural causes was returned. The deceased gentleman,who was 60 years of age, had been engaged in businessin Old-street for 40 years, and recently took his onlyson, Mr. Arthur Parry, into partnership. Mr. Parryshowed considerable interest in public affairs, andserved for three years on the old Shoreditch Vestry.The Rev. W. Cuff, at the Shoreditch Tabernacle lastSunday, referred to the sudden death of their friend,who had been a member of the church. On Thursdaythe interment took place in the family grave at IlfordCemetery, the service being conducted by Mr. Cuff,amidst many tokens of respect and esteem. Muchsympathy is felt for the widow and son in theirbereavement.
Probate was granted on the 11th May 1907, to Arthur Thomas PARRY, tool-manufacturer. The entry confirms the two addresses of 52 Gore-road, South Hackney, and 329 Old-street Shoreditch, which were both in Middlesex, as well as Thomas's death date of 30 March 1906. It also gives the address where he died in Brighton, which was 43 Grenville-place.
Registration of the death of Esther appears in the fourth quarter of the following year, in Hackney, and her death was also mentioned in the "Eastern Post" on the 16th November 1907, under a column called "What I've heard. Gossip of the week":
That Mrs. Parry, the widow of Mr. Thomas Parry, of Old-street and Gore-road, South Hackney, tool manufacturer, died on Sunday last.
Arthur's death was registered in the 3rd quarter of 1945, in Eastbourne RD. I haven't found any references in the newspapers at the time of his death - which was disappointing, since I was hoping there would be an obituary, to help fill in some of the details of his life.
However, there was an entry in the "Wood Green and Southgate Weekly Herald", on the 2nd August 1946, with information about the value of his estate. The probate had been granted on the 20th July 1946, to his widow, Edith Vera PARRY. and, on 2 August 1946, the Wood Green and Southgate Weekly Herald reported that:
Mr ARTHUR THOMAS PARRY, J.P. of Lustleigh, King's-drive, Hampden Park, Eastbourne, and 329 Old-Street, E.C., formerly of Woodland-way, Winchmore Hill, managing director of Parry & Son (Tools) Ltd., tool-makers, who died on September 3rd last, left £15,924 9s. 3d. gross with net personalty £11,510 17s. 6d.
Finally, the death of Edith Vera PARRY was registered in the 4th quarter of 1964. An entry did appear in the "Eastbourne Herald" on the 19th of December:
On Dec. 15 suddenly, Edith Vera, widow of Arthur Thomas Parry, J.P., of 14 The Limes, Eastbourne. Funeral at Eastbourne Crematorium, Tuesday, Dec. 22 at 12.30 p.m.. Flowers to Haine & Son, 19 South-street.
The probate was granted to a Maud Ethel DALTON, widow, and Edgar Alfred Abbott COOKE, solicitor, on the 30 April 1965. It confirms Edith Vera's date of death, on the 15th December 1964, and indicates that, although she was "of" 14 The Limes, Upperton Road, Eastbourne, she died at Esperance Nursing Home, in Eastbourne.
So, all of the records relating to the deaths match up correctly with the details on the gravestone.
Turning to the censuses, it was easy to find Arthur though the years:8
In 1881 he is with his parents, Thomas (35, a saw maker, b. St Lukes, Middlesex) and Esther (33, b. Islington, Middlesex). Arthur is a scholar, aged 8. The family's address, at this time, is 358 Old Street, Shoreditch, Hackney.
By 1891, the family have moved to 52 Gore Road, in Bethnal Green,. Thomas (45) is now a Saw Maker & Tool Dealer, with his birthplace recorded as Shoreditch. Esther (43) has her birthplace as Clerkenwell. Arthur (18), b. Shoreditch, is now employed as an Iron monger's Shopman. Boarding at the same address is a 59 year old widow, Ann GROOM, b. in Bethnal Green. [Quite a few of the addresses have multiple families occupying them.]
Arthur has married by 1901, and he appears with his wife, Louisa, living at 95 St Thomas Road, Hackney. He is aged 28, a Tool Shop Keeper, b. Shoreditch. Louisa is aged 32, b. Mile End. It seems likely there were other employees in the shop, since Arthur is recorded as an "employer", rather than as working on his own account. They do have a servant with them, Maud McNICHOL, but that would be insufficient for someone to be recorded as an employer.
By 1911, Arthur and Louisa have moved to 69 Bushwood, Leytonstone, Essex. Arthur is 38, a Tool Dealer, and Louisa is 42. Their birthplaces haven't changed from Shoreditch, and Mile End. They have been married for 13 years, and they have one servant, Maud Helena KIDD. Their house (and those immediately alongside that I checked), all have at least 7 rooms (not including any "scullery, landing, lobby, closet, bathroom; nor warehouse, office, shop"), with single family occupancy, often with servants. So this appears to be an affluent neighbourhood, but I haven't investigated that further. "None" has been entered in the column regarding children born alive.
In 1921, the couple are still living at 69 Bushwood, Leytonstone. Arthur is 49, b. Shoreditch, a tool dealer, employer, and in this census, the place of work is also given, which is shown as 329 Old St, EC2. Louisa is 52, with her occupation shown as "Home duties" and they have a 14 year old servant, Emilia Beatrice DOWNER.
As indicated on the gravestone, Louisa died in 1937 and, by the time of the 1939 Register, Arthur has remarried. [The GRO marriage indexes show the marriage of Edith V HOW and Arthur T PARRY as taking place in the 4th qtr of 1937.] He and Edith are living at 18 Woodland Way, Winchmore Hill, Southgate, Middlesex.
Arthur's birthdate is given as 13th June 1872, and he is still shown as a Tool dealer & manufacturer. Edith was born on the 13th September 1895, and her occupation is shown as secretary. They have one domestic servant with them, a Lydia GILLINGHAM, b. 8th April 1887, who is shown as married but who also has an additional surname, SIMMONS, added later.
[Thanks to Ancestry's 'Suggested records' it was easy to check Edith Vera's earlier census records and discover that she had been working as a "sewing machine instructress" in 1911, when just 15, but then as a secretary for "Parry Son - tool merchant mfgs & importers", at 329 Old Street, in 1921. So she appears to have kept her job after her marriage.]
Since the 1939 Register provided Arthur Thomas's birthdate, it was easy to identify his birth registration, in the district of Shoreditch, London, in the 3rd quarter of 1872, and obtain his mother's maiden name of DAWES, from the GRO Indexes.
Thomas Henry PARRY married Esther DAWES on the 27 May 1871, in St James the less, Bethnal Green, Middlesex. Thomas was a saw maker, and his father was named as Joseph PARRY, a general dealer. The address for both Thomas and Esther was 76 Green Street.
I had hoped the address might help with finding them both in the 1871 census, since their marriage took place a month after the census, which was held on the 2nd April 1871. However, the address turned out to be the DAWES family home, where "Ester" appears with her parents, and four siblings.
Since I thought that tracing Thomas Henry PARRY in the earlier censuses might be a challenge, I decided to take a look at the family trees on Ancestry, which gave me a few leads, but also had the usual frustrations from potential errors!
There are ten trees containing Arthur Thomas PARRY, three of which are private. Of the others, only three show Arthur's parents, and of those, only one has a maiden name entered for Esther, rather than her married name. Of the four that show a spouse for Arthur, two just show his second wife, Vera Edith HOW. The other two both show his spouse as an "Emma Louisa LAWLER", who died in 1926.
That's obviously incorrect, given the information on the gravestone!
[None of the family trees seem to have identified the potential marriage of an Arthur Thomas PARRY in the 3rd qtr of 1897, where one of the other names is a Louisa CLOGG. Not yet proven, since there are two other names in the index, but that looks the best 'candidate' for the marriage.]
There are eleven trees with Thomas Henry PARRY in, but one was discounted easily. Of the others, two are private. Three show Esther as the spouse for Thomas - but only one has a maiden name for her. Several trees mixed up entries for PARRY and PERRY families. Six trees show Thomas's mother as a Mary Ann DONATT(I/Y), which seemed promising, with four also showing his father as a Joseph Howgil(l) PARRY - again, that seemed promising, since such a middle name would make finding information much easier.
But interestingly, two of the trees that named Thomas's mother then either left the father's name blank, or had entered "unknown."
It was soon clear why - Joseph Howgil PARRY married Mary Ann DONNATTI in St James' Church, Shoreditch on the 2nd March 1857, ie about eleven years after Thomas Henry PARRY would have been born!
As it turned out, it wasn't as difficult as I had expected to identify 'potential' census entries on Ancestry, since searching on Ancestry, using his birthdate as 1846+/-2, and an exact keyword search of "Shoreditch", only resulted in four census entries for a Thomas. [The entry in the 1891 census, which I'd found when searching for Arthur Thomas, was not found, because Thomas's age has been mistranscribed as 48, instead of 45, putting the birthdate of 1843 outside of the range that I'd used. How easy it can be to miss entries!]
In the 1901 census, (which I didn't include above, since Arthur Thomas had moved out by then), Thomas (55) and Esther (53) were living at 52 Gore Rd, (an address that now seems to have moved from Bethnal Green, into Hackney!) Thomas was a saw maker, and an employer. Their birthplaces were recorded as Shoreditch, and Clerkenwell, respectively.
Jumping back to 1871, in this census, Thomas is unmarried, living at 87 Old Street Road, Shoreditch, with his 'parents' and a younger sister, Emily (15). He was aged 25, with the occupation, "saw maker (master)" and employing one man. The head of the house was Joseph PARRY, aged 53, a General Dealer, with his wife Mary Ann, also aged 53. Thomas was described as "son", rather than step son, or son-in-law. An Alfred LITTLE, aged 15, a saw makers apprentice, was also in the household.
A potential entry in the 1861 census shows the family as living in 4 Charles St, Shoreditch, and consisting of Joseph PARRY, aged 44, an upholsterers packer, his wife, Mary Ann, also aged 44, and three children, Joseph, aged 18, a bricklayer, Thomas, aged 16, a Light Porter, and Emily aged 5.
The GRO civil registration birth index confirms that the birth of an "Emily Dorcas PARRY", with the mother's maiden name of "DONATTI" took place in the Shoreditch district, in the March qtr of 1856, so it does seem likely (although it should be noted that Emily's birth in 1856 was a year before Joseph and Mary Ann had actually married, in March 1857.)
But why was Thomas Henry PARRY recorded as a porter in the census? Since his 'father', Joseph, was not a saw (or any kind of tool) maker, Thomas does not seem to have learnt his trade from Joseph - and yet there's only ten years until Thomas is described as a "master" in the 1871 census, potentially with an apprentice.
That is a puzzle since, so far, I haven't been able to find any form of apprenticeship, or other training records, for him.
Thanks to the information in the Ancestry trees, it was possible to find a potential 1851 census entry, as well - a Thomas H DONATTI, living in "Brown's Buildings, Aldgate". The head of the household is an Ann Donatti aged 65. With her is her daughter, Mary Ann, aged 32. Thomas H, aged 5, is listed next - he's recorded as the son of Ann but, given the ages, it is more likely that he is Mary Ann's son. Both Ann and Mary are upholsterers. Visiting them is an Ann PARKER, aged 48, a seamstress, and a Louisa PITT, aged 43, a school mistress. There's no marriage status noted for the Ann DONATTI, or for her daughter, Mary Ann, whereas both the visitors are shown as unmarried.
It does appear, based on the evidence so far, that Thomas Henry was illegitimate, but I was intrigued to find a birth registration, in Shoreditch, of a Thomas Henry DONATTY with the mother's maiden name of ELLIS, in the December qtr of 1845.
I couldn't find any other birth registrations with the DONATTY/ELLIS combination of names, but it seemed possible that Mary Ann had been married, and that the relationship of the Mary Ann to the Ann, in the 1851 census, might really be that of 'in-laws'.
However, searching for connections between the two surnames, the only entry I found was a David DONATTY marrying an Ann ELLIS in St Helen Bishopgate, on the 16th July 1814. There was also a baptism entry for a daughter, Mary Ann, born 8 September 1817, and baptised on the 9th November that year.
So could it be that Mary Ann registered her illegitimate child's birth, but included her mother's maiden name to hide the fact she wasn't married?
I was intrigued enough to purchase the certificate, to look for any 'anomalies', or whether the address matched the 1851 census entry. But the certificate showed a Thomas Henry DONATTY, born 9th October 1845, at 59 Plumber Street, Hoxton New Town, to a Thomas Charles DONATTY, a porter, and mother, Mary Ann, formerly ELLIS.
So, although I haven't found any other evidence regarding the family on the certificate, there's nothing to connect it with the Mary Ann DONATTI, mother of Thomas Henry DONATTI, who later marries Joseph PARRY. I have also since found Ann (aged 45) and Mary (aged 20) DONATTI in the 1841 census (recorded as DONATHY), in Chapel St, St Leonards, Shoreditch, with Ann working as an upholsterer. So they do appear to be mother and daughter.
This was a sidetrack but, having accounted for the Thomas Henry, and the Emily, in the 1861 census entry, there was a questionmark over where the 18 year old Joseph PARRY had came from.
Could he be another illegitimate child of Mary Ann DONATTI who was just 'elsewhere' in the 1851 census?
On the marriage certificate for Joseph Howgil PARRY and Mary Ann DONNATTI, in 1857, Joseph is described as a bachelor, and Mary Ann as a spinster. Despite this, it does appear that Joseph Howgil PARRY had been married before, marrying a Martha EVE (nee GRIFFITHS) on the 25 February 1843, at St Mary Haggerston, Hackney.
And, from the GRO births, it seems the Joseph PARRY aged 18 in the 1861 census, is the son of Joseph Howgill PARRY and his first wife, Martha, his birth being registered with the names Joseph Howgill, in the second quarter of 1843. [What happened to Martha, and another son of Joseph Howgill PARRY, a James Thomas b. about 1849, is unknown.]
Since Thomas Henry PARRY does not appear to be Joseph Howgill PARRYs son, there was little point working any further backwards with that PARRY family at the moment, although I was interested to discover a record of the birth of Joseph Howgill PARRY. This took place on the 13th November 1817, in Silverster Place, Hackney, Middlesex, and the entry appears in the Quaker records on Ancestry. Joseph was the son of a James PARRY and Mary. The midwives who were present at the birth have signed as witnesses - but there is also an added note stating "not a member".
So, instead, I'm working forwards again, to try to add more details to the lives of Thomas Henry, and his son Arthur, and about their company, "PARRY & Son."
It seems that, soon after his mother's marriage to Joseph, the family moved into Bethnal Green, but then fell on hard times since, on the 2nd July 1858, they appear in the Bethnal Green Orders of Removal.10
I can't read all of the details, especially because of some of the abbreviations, but the entry lists Joseph Howgill Parry 40, Mary Ann 40, and two of their children, Thomas 13 and Emily 2.5. It confirms they are the couple married at St James, Shoreditch on the 2nd March 1857. The first child, ie Thomas, is described as born before the marriage and illegitimate. The second, Emily, does seem to be described as Joseph's, but also born before the marriage. It seems Joseph can't say where Thomas Henry was born, but Joseph, and his father, James, are described as having connections to Hackney. So I imagine the family might then have been 'removed' back there.
[I resorted to my copy of "Phillimore's Atlas and Index of Parish Registers" to make sense of these London parishes - it turns out Bethnal Green, Hackney and Shoreditch, were all adjoining parishes. So it didn't take much to move from one parish to another. However, in the course of initial searching, I came across the amazing Map of London 1868 and the rest of the London maps available on the MAPCO site. Well worth a visit for anyone with ancestors in London (but be prepared to spend hours investigating. :-) ]
So it seems that, not only might Thomas Henry have begun his life with whatever stigma and difficulties accompanied being illegitimate, but his early teenage life also experienced poverty and 'removal'.
But was it a 'blessing in disguise'?
Having reached such a low that the Poor Law Guardians became involved with the family, could that have been how he obtained his training?
I haven't found any evidence for that yet - but I have only been relying on the online records and I suspect there is much in the various London archives that might still need indexing, yet alone digitising, which might provide some clues.
I did wonder if it was worth checking the electoral rolls, or Trade Directories, since the above records provided fairly detailed information relating to the addresses, and electoral rolls and directories can be quite time consuming to search. However, it has proved worthwhile to do some searching (although I haven't followed up all of the inconsistencies, such as some years having two entries, or checked the coverage between the various genealogical companies.)
The earliest entry for Thomas Henry PARRY, on Ancestry, seems to be 1873, at 358 Old-street, where Thomas appears until 1883. There is then a move to 356 Old-street from 1884-1891. In all of those, the properties are described as a house. But, in 1892, after Thomas has moved to 52 Gore Road, 356 Old-street is listed as a shop.
In 1895, the electoral roll shows that the business had moved from 356 Old-Street to 329 Old-Street:
There are two entries for Thomas on Ancestry for both 1905 and 1906. One has the abode and qualifying property as 52 Gore Road, the other has the abode as 52 Gore Road and 329 Old-Street as the qualifying property - I haven't looked into the reasons for this, as to whether the additional records for these years are the result of the search terms I used, the availability of records on Ancestry, changes to the electoral boundaries, or qualifications etc, or different types of elections.
Arthur Thomas PARRY first appears in the electoral rolls on Ancestry in 1899, at 95 St Thomas-road. He's there until 1904, but in 1905, appears with his abode as "Woodville Bush Wood, Leytonstone E." with his qualification being the warehouse at 329 Old Street (shown as "joint" until 1908, following his father's death.)
In 1918, Arthur's abode is listed as "69 Bushwood, E.11", the address where Arthur and Louisa are living in the 1911 and 1921 censuses. Whether this is just a change in the way the property is listed, and the previous "Woodville Bush wood" is the same property as "69 Bushwood", or whether the couple have moved locally in the Bushwood area, is unknown.
From 1922, Louisa is also on the electoral roll, against the Old Street property address, with her abode the same as Arthur's, "69 Bushwood". The address for their abode changes on the 1927 listing, to "18 Woodland Way, N.13", the home they are still living in when Louisa dies, in 1937.
1927 also sees another entry in the electoral rolls, just for Arthur, with the address of 124-130 East Road. His abode is still listed as 18 Woodland Way. East Road was one of the addresses shown on a poster on the Rockman & Rockman website, which I mentioned above, so this, potentially, indicates when PARRY & Son set up their "works" there. A symbol alongside Arthur's name indicates that Arthur was not entitled to vote in respect of that entry at elections of County Councillors.
The 1937 listing only shows Arthur, Louisa having died that year. However, in 1938, both Arthur and Edith Vera, his second wife, are on the roll, for the Old Street property, but still with their abode as "18 Woodland Way, N.21"
I had generally been limiting the search to focus on the Old Street and Hackney addresses, given how common the names Thomas and Arthur are. But it is likely the PARRYs appear on other electoral rolls relating to the polling districts for where they lived, as well, once they had moved out of the Hackney area. Certainly, just searching for "Edith Vera PARRY" found both Arthur and Edith listed under 18 Woodland Way, in the 1938 and 1939 Register of Electors for that area of Middlesex, along with Lydia GILLINGHAM, who appeared with them on the 1939 Register.
There is some overlap between the electoral registers on Ancestry and FindMyPast, so I'll just mention two particular finds from FMP.
Lydia GILLINGHAM appeared with Arthur and Louisa in the Electoral Registers covering Woodland Way for 1929-1931, as well. So it seems she spent many years working for Arthur, and each of his wives. [Rechecking details for this post also brought to light a newspaper report of Edith Vera's Will, published in the Eastbourne Herald, 26 June 1965, which indicated that her residuary estate was to be divided into 100 parts, 5 of which went to Lydia, if she was still living on the first anniversary of Edith's death.]
The second find was the discovery of Arthur being listed, in 1930, in the records for the Parliamentary Borough of the City of London, within the section for the "Basketmakers". The reference is definitely him, because the address for him is 329 Old Street, E.C.
Later discoveries helped to make sense of this, as I'll explain below.
I mentioned trade directores in the heading for this section - I only came across two results in my general searching, the website with the 1921 directory, mentioned above, and a 1914 directory where "Parry & Son, 329 Old Street EC" were listed under "Tool Makers & Dealers". I imagine there will be many such references, both to the company, and to the couples in their residences, should anyone wish to investigate those further.
Of Nos 2-7 Richards Villas, Lavender Grove, later 3-13 (odd) Lavender Road, Dalston. Rhodes to Richard Liscombe, builder; Liscombe to David Wilson; Wilson to William H.Jefferson and Jefferson to Smith. With leases and further assignments of No 1 Lavender Grove, 1884-93, No 3 & 5, 1881-1884; No 7, 1880-83, No 9, 1881-1919. 1-7 owned by Thomas Parry and inherited by Arthur Thomas Parry and shares in Nos 3-7 by executors of William Lewis. All property assigned to the Metropolitan House Investment & Agency Co, 1934. Plans on deeds. [emphasis mine]11
This is only a 'potential' item. The 1871 and 1891 censuses do show another PARRY family living in Lavender Grove, Hackney, although, from just a quick search, there is no sign of a Thomas in their family, and they were living elsewhere in 1881.
The second reference is definitely the Arthur Thomas of PARRY & Son, because his residence is given as 329 Old St Ec. The entry appears in the 1910 Lloyd George Domesday survey for Middlesex, available through the TheGenealogist. It shows "86 Palatine Road", a house with some land in Stoke Newington, being owned by Arthur T PARRY, and occupied by a T HERY.
The newspaper report of Thomas Henry PARRY's death, in 1906, indicated that he had spent three years on the "Shoreditch Vestry", as well as belonging to the Shoreditch Tabernacle church. Some research indicated that the Shoreditch Vestry was not just responsible for matters relating to the local parish church, but also for local government and administration. It was dissolved in 1899, and the parish became the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch12
The end date for the Vestry narrowed down the potential years for Thomas's involvement, and I soon found newspaper reports about the Vestry meetings in the "Shoreditch Observer", which included the surname "PARRY" among those present between 1890-1893. It turned out that Thomas had been elected on the 15th May 1890, for the "Church Ward", one of eight Wards within the Shoreditch parish.
His election statement, reported in the Shoreditch Observer, on the 17th May 1890, that "he had not as yet had experience in parochial business, but was in favour of every measure of reform that would bring about a better state of things all round," either impressed the electorate, or he had friends in the meeting, since he came joint first, with 27 votes.
I haven't researched whether the vestrymen needed to be re-elected each year, or for any specific activities Thomas was involved in during his three years.
I imagine more of Arthur's activities in the Borough could be traced through careful research in the newspapers but, for now, I'm just going to mention a few of the other records I found:
He was one of a number of ratepayers who signed a petition to the Council, applying to use the Town Hall for a meeting to protest about the threatened demolition of the Ironmonger's Almshouses.17
Being a member of the Borough Council involved his wife, as well, and "Mrs Parry" is mentioned as having taken "a heavy share of the work in checking the boxes and baskets;" following the Alexandra Day Collection, where "the official lists, giving the detailed returns, were entered up in a manner that would have satisfied the District Auditor."18
Arthur appears in the Freemason Membership Registers, as a member of the Borough of Shoreditch Lodge, joining them in 1916, when he was aged 44, a tool merchant, living in Leytonstone.19
In 1924, the "West London Observer" reports that the nineteenth annual dinner of the "National Caterers' Protection Society" was attended by "The Mayor and Mayoress of Shoreditch (Alderman and Mrs A.T.Parry)." Another website indicates that Arthur Thomas Parry was Mayor for 1923-1924.20
Arthur also appears in the "City of London; Freedom Admission Papers" on Ancestry. The first sheet, dated 13th December 1928, gives his date of birth as 13th June 1872, and place of birth as 358, Old Street, Shoreditch, Middlesex, and states "I Arthur Thomas Parry, son of Thomas Henry Parry, late. of 52 Gore Road, South Hackney, Middlesex, a saw maker, dec'd, occupying premises 18 Woodland Way, Winchmere Hill, N.21., Middlesex, a tool manufacturer, do hereby apply to be admitted to the Freedom of the City of London, by redemption, in the Company of Basketmakers of London, in pursuance of the Resolutions.......; and I hereby declare that I am not an Alien, that I am above the age of Twenty-one years, and that I have not previously been admitted to the Freedom of the City"
It was stamped by Order of Court of Aldermen 22 Jan 1929 and a stamp on the back of the form, where his name and "Basketmakers Company" is also written, shows 23 Jan 1929.
The second sheet is a certificate of the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers of the City of London stating "This is to certify that Arthur Thomas Parry J.P. of 329 Old Street, E. [C.] was this Day admitted to the Freedom of the Worshipful Company of BASKETMAKERS, by Redemption. Witness my Hand this Fifth Day of December One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty Eight." It was signed by H. H. BOBART, the Clerk to the Company.
The fact Arthur joined "by redemption" means that he paid to join the Company, rather than becoming a member either through his father being a liveryman of the Company, or by serving an apprenticeship, which are the other methods for joining such a company.21
This therefore explains the earlier discovery of Arthur's name, under the "Basketmakers", in the electoral roll for the Parliamentary Borough of the City of London - as a Freeman of the Company, he'd obtained the Freedom of the City and also therefore the right to vote in those elections.
One of the links on the page listing the Shoreditch Mayors led to the site of the Rotary Club of Shoreditch. This was founded in 1933 and, on the Club's History page, it indicates that "Arthur Parry, an ex-Mayor of Shoreditch" was responsible for the recruitment of some of the new members, who came from the local businesses. Arthur was also one of a number of Rotarian Visitors from the local clubs, who attended the St Pancras Rotary meeting in April 1935.22
Finally, in 1938, Arthur T PARRY was reported to be one of a number of ex-Mayors of Shoreditch who signed a letter in support of the National Liberal candidate standing in a Walsall election. The candidate had laid a wreath on a memorial to "Walsall's boy V.C.", and had been accused of taking a "political advantage on such a solemn occasion", by the Labour Party.
One wonders whether the ex-Mayors' action might have been influenced by the fact the Labour candidate for the Walsall election had been the mayor of Shoreditch the previous year!23
Final thoughts
I found it sad that, with Thomas Henry PARRY, and Esther, only having the one child, and Arthur Thomas PARRY, with his two wives, not having any children, there were no descendants to remember them, and their achievements.
So, to anyone who has read to the end of this - a big "THANK YOU"!
Perhaps I take 'reasonably exhaustive search" to extremes at times, but the one thing I still did not find, even with all this research, was information about Arthur Thomas PARRY becoming a Justice of the Peace!
Such is the nature of research!
Notes and Sources
1. Is your name on a knife: https://hawleysheffieldknives.com/n-fulldetails.php?val=p&kel=1324
2. Grace's Guide To British Industrial History: https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Parry_and_Son
3. 1921 Trade Directory: https://londonwiki.co.uk/streets/OldStreetNorth2.shtml
4. Parry & Son/S. Tyzack & Son on Rockman & Rockman: https://www.rockmanandrockman.com/04_history.html
Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parry_%26_Son_329_Old_Street_EC1_1978.jpg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/189756735166946/posts/1204520407023902/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/sludgeulper/3152923979
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/364650901096105454/
6. Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/159075532/arthur-thomas-parry?
7. Location of Winchmore Hill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchmore_Hill
8. Census & 1939 Register entries for Arthur Thomas PARRY:
1901: RG13; Piece: 231; Folio: 139; Page: 60
11. Hackney Archives entry: https://hackney.soutron.net/Portal/Default/en-GB/RecordView/Index/34502
Shoreditch Vestry has been described as an 'Open Vestry' - which meant all ratepayers could attend and it appears the Shoreditch Vestry was quite radical in the early 19th century - Shoreditch and the Queen, By Mary O’Connor: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/myparish/posts/shoreditch/
13. Arthur Thomas PARRY standing in 1906: Shoreditch Observer, 20 October 1906
18. The Alexandra day collection and other information: Shoreditch Observer 06 July 1912, and https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/28594
19. Freemason records on Ancestry: "All England, United Grand Lodge of England Freemason Membership Registers, 1751-1921"
20. Arthur Thomas PARRY as Mayor: West London Observer 24 October 1924, and https://london.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Mayors_of_Shoreditch
21. Routes to entry of the Basketmakers Company and other similar Livery Companies: https://www.basketmakersco.org/routes-to-entry, https://liverycommittee.org/about/livery-companies-and-guilds/join-livery-company/
22. The Rotary Club references: https://rotary-ribi.org/clubs/page.php?PgID=254445&ClubID=835, St Pancras Gazette 19 April 1935
23. The Walsall incident: Birmingham Daily Gazette 14 November 1938
