1841

the new decade had begun well. all was looking good for my master and his family. 

The 1841 census was taken on the evening of Sunday 6th June and shows that the Jones family were in residence. John Jones (53), a mercer, his wife Mary (?), son John (?) and daughters Mary (?) and Mary-Anne (?) were all at home, along with domestic staff Mary Shipman (?) and Hannah Shacklock (?).

Also ...

  • No. 59 Clarkehouse Road (although not officially a Broomgrove Road address, the house is often referred to as being so - also know as Broom Lea) is occupied by the family of Thomas Branson, a solicitor.

  • No. 9 Broomgrove Road is the home of Henry Rossell, a merchant, his daughter Emma and her daughter, also called Emma. There are two domestic servants in residence.

  • No. 11 Broomgrove Road (Broomgrove House) is the home of the Parker family. Samuel, also a merchant, his wife Mary, son Samuel and daughters Mary and Jane share the house with four domestic staff.

1843

The 11th of March 1843 publication of the Sheffield Iris carries the following announcement:

"ELECTION OF GUARDIANS.-the following is a list of the persons nominated to fulfil the office of guardian for the Sheffield Union :- ... John Jones, Broomgrove; ..."

Source: The British Newspaper Archive, © The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved

1846

Sheffield Independant’s publication of Saturday September 5th, 1846, carried the announcemant:

“WANTED,
AN APPRENTICE to the General Drapery Business.
For Particulars, apply to Messrs. JOHN JONES AND SON. Head of the Market place, Sheffield.”

Source: The British Newspaper Archive, © The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved

hosting dinner parties had become something of a tradition for me, but with christmas day just a few hours away, the master was to hold his last one of the year for some of his fellow business colleagues and friends. Mr. john Holland, Mr. James Montgomery, Rev. Samuel Dousland Waddy and three other gentlemen had all accepted the festive invite and Following dinner, The topic of conversation in the drawing room soon lead to a discussion of more criminal matters...

The later 1856 publication Memoirs of The Life and Writings of James Montgomery has an entry for Wednesday the 23rd of December 1846...

"December 23. Mr. Holland met Montgomery at dinner, with four other gentlemen, at the house of Mr. Jones, Broomgrove. A recent assize trial was mentioned, in which the eloquence and ingenuity of counsel for the prisoner had availed to persuade the jury to acquit, in an apparently flagrant case ; this led to a discussion on the morality and tendency of the practice of barristers in criminal proceedings in the English courts of law. The Rev. S. D. Waddy very ably advocated the course usually pursued of advising a culprit to plead " not guilty ;" arguing also that a professional prosecutor ought to do his best to obtain, and the counsel for defendant his best to resist, a conviction, apart from the real or apparent merits of the case. Montgomery concurred with Mr. Waddy in opinion that, on the whole, especially taking into account the general caution and independence of the judge, the irrespective relation of the jury, and especially the otherwise unprotected and often prejudiced position of the party at the bar, the modern course was probably the safest and best that could be adopted. The severity of some of our criminal punishments was only tolerated at all, in the confidence that no individual could be brought under their infliction without the fullest and fairest sifting of whatever charges might be preferred against him ; so that in most of the serious cases involving strong prima facie presumption of guilt, and in which a conviction has not been obtained, some material link in the chain of legal evidence was found to be either defective or altogether wanting. The late Sir Richard Phillips, the London publisher, was mentioned by one of the gentlemen present in connection with a business transaction of his own. Montgomery : " He once outwitted me most completely ; no great wonder, perhaps, considering who were parties to the transaction, which was this : — he had run up a heavy advertising account in my newspaper ; and as I could not get money from him, I privately agreed with Longmans to take on my account a quantity of his publications, which they were then constantly selling ; and then sent my order to Sir Richard, instructing him, to avoid, as I thought, exciting suspicion^ to deliver the parcel to my address, at a wholesale house in the city. He did so ; but when the books were sent for, it was found that the wily bibliopolist had obtained a written engagement from my agent that none of them should be sold in London ! They were, therefore, forwarded to me in Sheffield, and ultimately disposed of at great loss ; but I must confess I laughed when I found how cleverly I had been outmanoeuvred. I had in early life a narrow, and I may say a happy escape, from a more intimate connexion with that once noted publisher. Soon after I came to Sheffield, more than half a century ago, he advertised for a person capable of such services as, in those days, I thought I could render ; I answered ; some letters passed between us ; and but for the kind and judicious advice of Mr. Gales, I believe I should have formed an engagement with him. In that case, whatever had been my lot, it is not too much to say that the whole of my. subsequent life, every thought, word, and action, would probably have been different from what they have been." Holland: "And how little likely is it that such alteration would have been for the better, at least in a moral point of view?" Montgomery : " The strong probability is, considering the waywardness of my own heart at that time, and the nature of the situation in which I should have been placed, that I should have been worse in every respect."

 

despite the closeness of the christmas festivities, the master knew he had to continue building the family business and take full advantage of the OPPORTUNITIES that were being offered to him. he was to be PARTICULARLY successful with obtaining contracts to supply the local workhouse with the goods and services that john jones and son had become so well known and respected in supplying... 

The publication of the Sheffield Independent on Saturday, 26th of December, 1846 carried the following announcement:

"SHEFFIELD UNION.- Tenders were received by the Guardians, on Wednesday last, for the supplying of the Workhouse to the quarter ending 25th March 1847, when the following were accepted:- Groceries: W. Holdsworth. Butchers' Meat: J. Dickinson. Milk: Thomas Spittlehouse, Richard Cartledge and Joseph Crapper. Coals: Wm. Newbould, junr. Drapery: John Jones and Son. Brushes: Birks and Parkin."

Source: The British Newspaper Archive, © The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved

1848

Published on Saturday the 27th of May 1848 (and for numerous weeks following), the Sheffield Independent states:

"J. JONES AND SON
BEG to inform their Friends and the Public, that they have disposed of the greater part of Mr. THOMAS LEE'S STOCK, and the remainder will be Sold as soon as possible, at a still further Reduction. J. JONES and SON having completed their purchases in London, Manchester, &c., for the Spring Trade, solicit an early call, to inspect the GREAT VARIETY OF NOVELTIES IN BRITISH AND FOREIGN MANUFACTURLS, adapted to the present Season, which, for beauty of design or excellence of quality, they consider cannot be surpassed, and, owing to the general depression in the markets, at surprisingly low prices. J. JONES and SON also beg respectfully to call attention to their extensive stock of New Patters in VELVET PILE, PATENT TAPESTRY, BRUSSELS CARPETS, FLOOR CLOTHS, and PAPER HANGINGS.

63, Market place, Sheffield, May 18th 1848"

Source: The British Newspaper Archive, © The British Library Board, All Rights Reserved