The company of Young, Pilsbury, and Young had been established in 1881 and was housed in a large Victorian shop. The business was drapery – clothes and household linens. In 1922-3 the old Victorian shop at 36-37 on High Street was pulled down and replaced with a brand new, state-of-the-art building, some of which remains today.
The two Youngs in question were probably Henry Frederick (christened Frederick Henry) who was born in Basford, Nottingham, in 1844. At the age of 16 he was an apprentice but it’s not clear to whom, nor in what trade. He is also rather elusive until he reaches the age of 45, when he is listed as a draper living at 7 Forest Road, with his mother, Ann, aged 74, and his sister Annie aged 38. Given that at this time Annie was also a draper, I assume that she is the other Young mentioned in the name of the business. By 1901, Henry Frederick was still living at 7 Forest Road, but with only a servant, except that on the night of the census return, he had a visitor, widow Sarah Towle Burton. Sarah had been born Sarah Marriott, and had married Joh Henry Burton in 1875, and had two daughters with him. In 1885 the couple were divorced, but it wasn’t until 1901 that Henry Frederick, and Sarah married, in Chesterfield. In 1911 they were living at 26 Burton Street (Holly Bank), with Florence, Sarah’s daughter. By 1920, they had moved to 83 Loughborough Road, in Nottingham, and Frederick Henry died in 1922, when they were resident on Melton Road West Bridgford. Sarah lived on until 1931.
So, the Pilsbury in question would have been Albert John Pilsbury, born in 1861 in Lichfield. By 1881, Albert was apprenticed to William Tidd, master draper at 11 Market Place, Loughborough. The following year he married Josephine Yeomans, who was also born in 1861. Albert’s father was a commercial traveller, and Josephine’s a smith. By 1891 the couple had three children, Mabel, Harry, and Hilda, and were living at 32 Toothill Road. Albert was a draper’s assistant. Another two sons were born by 1901, and the family were still living at 32 Toothill Road. Albert was now a draper and shopkeeper, employing daughter Mabel aged 18 as an assistant, son Harry, 16 was his apprentice, and lodger, Harry Parker Simmons was also an assistant. In 1905 Albert was initiated into Howe and Charnwood Lodge of the Freemasons, and in 1911 Albert and Josephine were staying at a hotel in London. In 1921 Albert and Josephine were living at 59 Forest Road, with daughter Hilda and son Arnold. Albert is a retail draper, employing staff. By 1939, Albert had retired, and he and wife Josephine and son Hugh, who worked as a clerk in the Treasurers Department in the Town Hall. Albert died in 1947: he had been living at 59 Forest Road, but died in Radmoor House. Josephine moved to 42 Colgrove Road, where she died in 1949.
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| An advert from around the 1950s |
Many people will remember the payment system in Young, Pilsbury and Young, as it was one of those vacuum tubes which sucked the payment along a chute, sending it whooshing along to the till! I seem to think that when I came to Loughborough the shop was called Pilsbury and Towle and sold haberdashery rather than fully-made clothes – but I might have mis-remembered that!
Anyway, part of the lovely Art Deco building can still be seen, and is now a bank cashpoint, while two-thirds of the shopfront was demolished and replaced in the 1980s (possibly) and houses the remainder of the bank that abuts the older bank building.
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