Brassware - John Ellis
These horse brasses were by John Ellis of 7 King Street. John was a dealer of brassware and copperware in the 1980s. Many thanks to Becky Devlin and Pip Richards for the horse brasses
1987 advert from the Market Rasen Mail
Butchers - Cox & Wagstaff
As the document above shows, the partnership of Cox & Wagstff was formed in May 1932, taking over the premises of 43 Queen Street from Loveday and Starbuck who had been butchers before them. Prior to the partnership, John Wagstaff had been a cattle dealer in Rasen, and Philip Cox was a butcher who had taken over the busines of his late father Job Cox who died in 1931. His shop was in Oxford Street, but when the partnership acquired the shop in Queen St, Philip Cox turned the Oxford shop into a bakery.
Butcher - Tasker Family
The earliest mention to date I have found of Tasker being a butcher was in the 1901 Census when a young George Tasker was seen working in Kennington's butchers in 5 Queen Street.
Jump forward 10 years and G.W. Tasker was the resident Butcher with the property advertised for sale in the Market Rasen Mail in the same year.
Following this, George Tasker opened for business at 3 Waterloo Street, in around 1913, remaining there until the end of the 1920's when he moved round the corner to 15 Queen Street where the family business spent the rest of it's days.
George Westoby Tasker died in August 1950. Out of his 4 sons it was Harry that took over over the family business which is when we began to see the familiar (well it was to us Rasen oldies) H. Tasker signage above the door.
In the 1960s Harry and his family moved to live on Gainsborough Road (which is where the tag in the photo on the left comes in). Tragically though in 1967 he was killed in a road accident.
Following this the business was bought by Geoff Thompson who had worked for Harry for a number of years, but as a huge mark of respect for the former employer, the business remained H. Tasker & Co.
The H. Tasker name finally left the facade of 15 Queen Street in 2001 when Lancasters (the Butcher at 47 Queen Street) bought the business and the other long established name of V.T. Lancaster took its place.
Co-op
Token from the Market Rasen Equitble Co-op Industrial Society. In 1876 Market Rasen opened its own Co-op in Queen street (the Market Rasen Co-Operative Society). However by 1892 it got into financial difficulties and went into liquidation. The Lincoln Co-op society appeared to take advantage of this, buying the old brewery in Union St, knocking it down and building a new Co-op which opened in 1897 (now Mattus). Found by local detectorist Steve Jeeves on the land of Mrs R. Grantham. Many thanks to both for allowing me to add it to the collection.
This is the commemorative stone laid by George Hartley of Lincoln Co-op in 1897 as part of the new Union Street Co-op being built in Union Street after the demolition of the brewery. Urban Legend has it that there are some bottles from the old brewery behind this stone .
This is the completed Co-op in Union Street run by Lincoln Co-op following the closure of the Market Rasen Co-op (built 1897). In 1963 this moved to the Market Place in the new building built following the demolition of the old Town Hall / Cinema. Then in 1987 a new Co-op was built behind the shops on the Market Place where formerly Marshalls car garage was and Laynes preceeding that.
Curry's Cycle Co.
Curry's Cycle Co. lighting information disc donated by Peter Spilman.
Curry's Cycle Co. started in Leicester in 1888 as a bicycle shop. The Market Rasen branch opened at 5 Queen Street in 1914 up until somewhere between 1922-26.
As time went on, the two brothers at the head of the company began to add wireless radios and gramophones to the stores to sell. This was done by other bicycle sellers also, as cycling was a good weather summer pastime, and the shops needed custom for the winter months to maintain sales. This trend increased over the years and Currys became the electrical retailers we all know today.
Drapers - Lacey & Clark
1891 Census shows William Lacey, a Draper in Winterton, Lincolnshire with his sister Dorcas living in the same household and working in the shop.
In the same Census we see Fred Clark as an assistant Draper working for John Rae Spilman, also in Winterton. By 1900 as seen in Kelly’s Directory Lacey & Clark’s had been formed in Winterton, and in 1902 Fred Clark married Dorcas Lacey.
Fred and Dorcas moved to Market Rasen (the 1911 Census shows them living at The Woodlands, Kilnwell Road), and the earliest mention of the shop I have found to date was at 9 Market Place was in 1904. This was the Lincolnshire Echo reporting a tramp stealing trousers from the shop front.
There was also a branch opened in Brigg of which Fred Clark was involved. This was until 1938 when his partnership with Tom Clarke was dissolved, and Tom partnered with William Barton. This could also coincide with the death of William Lacey in 1938. Clarke & Barton continued the business of Lacey & Clark which remained in Brigg until the 1970’s
Meanwhile, the Lacey & Clark shop in Market Rasen continued at 9 Market Place. For brief period they also opened a Boot & Shoe store at 12 Queen Street which was acquired from Benjamin Hardy around 1912, but this appears to have been closed in the early 1920s
Fred Clark died in 1947, however Ernest Morley took ownership of the Rasen Market Place branch sometime between 1926 and 1930( Kelly’s Directory 1930 earliest reference found to date of E. Morley as proprietor), later succeeded by his son Douglas until the shop closed in July 1971, when it was decided that the Midland Bank needed to extend. They were at number 10 Market Place and did in fact own the building that included number 9.
Draper & Grocer - Joseph Wilson
Joseph Wilson was born in Mkt Rasen in 1837. He was son of Charles Wilson, a Tailor in the town with shop in Queen Street, and brother to Jessie and Edwin Wilson, both also Tailors. (You will see that another artifact I have is a button from Charles Wilson!)
In the 1851 Census we see Joseph in Lincoln working as a Draper's apprentice in the High St.
By 1861 he was back in Mkt Rasen, married to Martha and working as a Commercial Traveller's Clerk, and then the 1868 Post Office Directory has him down as being a Draper & Grocer in Queen Street.
To be more precise, this was Albion House (41 Queen Street) where he remained for 48 years. He died in 1913 aged 78.
Walter Sanderson moved into the shop as a Furniture Dealer around 1913.
Many thanks to Nicky for this rare document. This is one of only 2 or 3 Market Rasen advertisement posters that I have seen.
Hardware shop - W.H. Coates & Son
Walter Heaton Coates was born in Hull in 1875. He came to Market Rasen not long before moving into 2-3 Market Place in 1907, following the occupation of John Woffindin. Many of you will have different memories of the shop over the years, for me it was the large golden key that hung outside! Despite his death in 1964, the shop continued up until 1981/2 when Ron Goodtear took over the premises with his electrical goods shop. Thankyou to Peter Spilman for the bottles.
Adverts for W.H. Coates from 1907 and 1981 both Market Rasen Mail
Printer & Bookseller - Richard Hackett
Notelet showing a scene from Mill Lane (now Mill Road) In the bottom right hand side is the name Hackett, Market Rasen. Richard Hackett was a printer and bookseller/bookbinder of Queen Street. He took over an old business from John Hannett in 1854 and was the founder of the Market Rasen Mail in 1856. The advert advertising his business is from a Market Rasen Mail of 1863.
Saddler - H.C. Boyers
This was found in a field at the top of Bully Hill. Believed to be brass, from a horses harness showing the name H.C. Boyers, Saddler, Market Rasen. Herbert Cottingham Boyers owned a Saddlery business at 6 Market Place where the former Lloyds bank now stands. His father John bought the business from George Spring following his death in 1864, which originally started at 1 Market Place, but it seems as the business grew he moved to bigger premises to 6 Market Place where the business remained for many years
Shoe Shop - Dunn's
This piece I found is part of a plate from the shoe shop owner Fred Dunn. Mr Dunn opened his first shop in Chapel Street. A tiny building next to the railway bridge opposite the entrance to the Railway Station. As business grew he moved to 35 Queen Street. He retired in 1903 and died in 1927 owning 85 stores around the country. The business continued until the 1960s when Co-Op bought all the Dunn stores, and the brand ShoeFayre emerged which was the next name to appear in Queen Street
This is how the full plate looks. This artists image was shown in the Market Rasen Mail in a piece about Fred Dunn in April 1978. I believe that there are still a couple of complete plates known to exist
I later found out that there was a 2nd Dunn plate that was produced. This one came into my possesion recently with many thanks to Gerald Fuller.
I think that perhaps the plate to the left was a comemmorative plate that celebrated him opening the store in Chapel Street c1880. Then the 2nd plate showing the Queen Street address, could have been another comemmorative plate celebrating him moving to the bigger store in Queen Street c1885.
Tailor - C. Wilson
C. Wilson Market Rasen. A Tailor in the town in the 1850s through to the early 1900s.
As mentioned Charles Wilson was a tailor in the town originally from Louth, his shop being where is now 38 Queen Street ( currently Willow & Wildflower Florist next to Cynthia's hairdressers).