The Factory
a reconstruction by Jonathan Simons
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When I was a
child at 'Orchardleigh' on the Isle of Wight it seemed important to know that the main
Simons family in London ran a furniture factory and that our dining room table, chairs and
sideboard had been made in the factory and given to my parents as a wedding present. We
also had a number of painted wooden panels from the factory. One of these hangs in my
present home and is probably a copy of an original Dutch painting. |
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Many years later our family came into
possession of another item - a wooden framed mirror. It had been made by my grandfather,
Lou, as a wedding present for his brother Francis. At sometime in the late sixties Edward
and Joan brought it down to the Island, actually sailing it across the Solent strapped to
a dinghy.
It hung in my bedroom for many years but is now installed in my own house. For some time I
kept it loosely propped up in Robin's room. Unfortunately, while staying in the room, my
father-in-law stumbled into it and knocked it over, breaking the glass and damaging the
frame. The glass is now replaced and the bits that fell off have been stuck back by a
local craftsman.It is now VERY securely bolted to the wall above the fireplace in the
front-room. |
| On visiting Edward I was amazed
to see a firescreen standing by the front-door, identical to one I had grown up with. He
confirmed that it was from the factory and showed me other items in the house from the
same place. Pieces made by my grandfather, he suggested, would often have finely carved
cherubs on. |
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We often visited Aunty Margaret at "74 Harberton Road, Highgate",
(an address I dutifully learnt in case I ever got lost on such a visit). I loved the
narrow staircases, the multitude of floors, the victorian plumbing and I was fascinated by
her never-ending tales which often featured the extraordinary personal and business
relationships of Tom, Bern
and 'Binks'.
On special occasions we visited Bern and
Minnie at Ferme Park Road and met John and Trudy. I recall that the house seemed stuffed full of ledgers,
invoices and accounting paraphenalia of all kinds. Unfortunately I do not recall ever
actually visiting the factory itself.
I understand that it was Jacobus's sons,
Bernard and Lou (my grandfather) who founded the factory which produced reproduction
antique furniture.
Click on the thumbnails to see the photographs
taken at the factory round about 1918. These were given to me by Olive when Floss died. My
father had similar pictures in his own album.
| these photographs seem to be taken about 1918 |
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Group Photo at the Factory |
Lou and Nell |
Workers and Machinery |
Talking to Edward and Olive recently I got
more of the story, a story I probably knew in parts at one time but which I had forgotten.
The factory was founded by Bernard and Lou to
make reproduction furniture. They struggled for a while but then the business took off,
thanks to the a burgeoning american market for antiques.The factory moved to Isleworth
Road where the famous photographs above must have been taken. The brothers moved their
families to a large house at Carleton Road, backing onto Holloway Prison.
They also owned a houseboat on the Thames,
famously the only houseboat to have wallpaper, and also two small islands on the Thames at
Henley, one of which I understand has now been washed away. Bernard's sons eventually came
into the business, but after Lou died, Nell moved down to Hove with Vic. The house at
Carleton Road was apparently a very 'lively' place with so many families living there.
On coming in to his inheritance at 21 Vic
started dentistry at Guys and stayed at Carleton Road for some of the time.
By the time I started visiting Bern and
Minnie, the factory must have been in decline, and I imagine it no longer exists.
I would be pleased to receive more
information and interesting pictures.
e-mail JSimons@dsl.pipex.com
Thursday, September 30, 1999 -JS
