CURTIS & HANNE LTD (Fishmongers and Poulterers)
CURTIS & COMPANY (Fishmonger, Poulterer and Game Dealer)
GEORGE HANNE (Fishmonger, Poulterer and Game Dealer)
There was a Company by the name of Curtis & Hanne Ltd which appears to follow on from the trading in Yeovil of Curtis and Hann (no 'e') that was started in 1867 by George Frederick Miles Hann (1845-1928) who was assisted in his business of fishmonger, poulterer and hair-cutter by his aunt, Mary Curtis (nee Miles, sister to George's mother) who 'acceded to the wishes of a large number of her former patrons' of the business she ran in Middle Street with her hairdresser husband Felix . George was made bankrupt on 14 July 1868, ordered to report to the Recorder's chambers on 31 July 1868 for a meeting of creditors and, having had his Last Examination on 28 October 1868 was discharged from bankruptcy on 28 November 1868. He was soon back in business but in 1874 moved away ago following the death of his first wife and his difficult relationship with Mary and Felix - his mother suing them and her other siblings over the estate of Ellen Morgan
He was said to be living in Bloomsbury
in London whilst a member of a Freemasons' Lodge in Worthing, West Sussex, then
marrying his second wife in Sutton-in-Ashfield in Nottinghamshire. By 1879 he
was in Brixton, south London having added an 'e' to his surname and trading as Curtis & Hanne Ltd.
He was joined
in the early 1900s, when his youngest son Ernest John was old enough,
as the company secretary.
George's eldest son, George Thomas William Hanne, seems to have branched out on his
own as by 1891 he had left the Brixton area for Battersea and later moved to
Wimbledon where he traded as both Curtis & Co and George Hanne (so possibly had
also been involved with the company at some stage). George's second son, William
Miles Hanne also traded as a fishmonger from 1890 to 1901, firstly at 5 Torrens
Road, Brixton then at 15 Bonham Road, Brixton
So far I have discovered that according to a report in the 15 August 1896 issue
of the Dundee Courier and very detailed advertisement in the Belfast News-letter
of the same date and Pall Mall Gazette of 17 August (amongst others), shares
were being listed for a company called Jeffs, Williams and Curtis Lrd with
capital of £200,000 which was intended to amalgamate the 41 premises and fish
and poultry business of Ben Williams (wholesale fish curer and salesman) of
Billingsgate and Peckham, James Brusey of Bedford Street, Strand, R Mills of
Liverpool Street etc and Curtis & Hanne of Brixton etc. amongst others.
It would also include the Grimsby fish-curing business of Charles Jeffs,
director of the East Coast Steam Fishing Co Ltd of Grimsby, and employ buyers at
Lowestoft, Boston, Hull, Grimsby, Aberdeen and Shields [North/South/both?] to
provide a central London depot. Amongst the officials, under Managers and
Buyers, the advertisement showed GF Hanne [presumably GFM] of Curtis & Hanne, of
Brixton etc and GFM Hanne of Curtis & Co of Clapham Junction etc.
Presumably this did not happen as in the 17 Jun 1898 edition of the London
Gazette notice was formally given that Jeffs, WIlliams and Curtis Ltd would be
struck off the Joint Stock Companies Register. Confirmation appeared in the 4
October edition that the company had been struck off and dissolved.
In February 1898 the South London Press (in their Industry and Trade = shopping at Brixton section) said
MESSRS. CURTIS AND HANNE,
the old-established fishmongers of 42, Electric
Avenue; 286, Brixton-road; 28, Atlantic-road;
27, Brixton Hill; and 15, Denmark Hill, Cam-
berwell, are in the front rank of traders..
Their stock is extensive and thoroughly re-liable'
Curtis & Hanne therefore still traded and expanded over the years and had a
number of different known branches (many at variance with those in the South
London Press) as follows:
1890-1901:
14 Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill (with rates payable by Curtis & Hanne from 1890 to
1896 - in property owned by G Banfield. In 1897 the rates were payable by George
F Hanne who the following year bought the property from Mr Banfield. Between
1901 and 1908 the property appears to be owned by Hanne and occupied by Banfield
before reverting solely to Hanne in 1909. He was laible for the rates until at
least 1914)
1905:
14 Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill (trading as George F Hanne)
also 58 Church Street, Camberwell (trading as George Hanne)
1906:
14 Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill
399 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill
also 58 Church Street, Camberwell (trading as George Hanne)
1907-1910:
14 Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill
399 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill
355 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill
286 Brixton Road, Stockwell
45 Electric Avenue (fish only), Brixton
also 58 Church Street, Camberwell (trading as George Hanne)
On 24 March 1909 Thomas Wallis, labourer,
and William Stevens, engineer, were committed for trial at the London Sessions
by Lambeth Police Court for stealing fish and clothing to the value of £4 from
Curtis & Hanne's lock-up shop at 14 Denmark Hill
George snr's brother, Charles Albert Hann (who was also a fishmonger in
Bristol), had by 1911 relocated to 286 Brixton Road, Stockwell adopted the Hanne
spelling and become involved with the company.
In 1910 a notice was published in the London Gazette
"CURTIS AND HANNE Limited. AT an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Members of
the above named Company, duly convened, and held at 399, Norwood-road, West
Norwood, in the county of London, on the 1st day of June, 1910, the following
Special Resolution was duly passed; and at a subsequent Extraordinary General
Meeting of the Members of the said Company, also duly convened, and held at the
same place, on the 16th day of Jane, 1910, the following Special Resolutions was
duly confirmed:—It was proposed that the Company known as Curtis and Hanne
Limited, be voluntarily wound up under the provisions of the Companies
(Consolidation) Act, 1908, and that Mr. Ernest Madge* be and he is hereby
appointed Liquidator in the winding up of the said Company, under the provisions
of the said Act. ERNEST J. HANNE, Secretary"
However the company seems to have continued as there were still branches trading
after this
It is possible that the Company liquidation was to recognize assets as the result of marital problems within the Hanne family. Around this time George Frederick Miles Hanne appears to have separated from his wife shortly after and Ernest John Hanne filed for divorced from his in 1911
Between 1911 and 1913 Ernest was involved with the de la
Hayes (tailors?) in the running of the Hanne and de la Haye Private Hotel at 5
Effra Road, Brixton and from another notice in the London Gazette was also
involved in Hanne & Hill.
"NOTICE is hereby given, that the partnership heretoforesubsisting between us,
the undersigned, Miles James Hill-Hartland and Ernest John Hanne, carrying on
business of Poulterers and Fishmongers, and Dealers in Fruit and Vegetables, at
151, Beulah-hill, Norwood. in the county of Surrey, under the style or firm of
HANNE AND HILL, has been dissolved by mutual consent as and from the
thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five. All
debts due and owing by the said late form will be received and paid by the said
Ernest John Hanne (who will continue to carry on the business under the style or
firm of Hanne & Hill) - Dated the thirty-first day of December, one thousand
nine hundred and twenty-five. MILES J HILL-HARTLAND, ERNEST J HANNE"
From 1911 Curtis & Hanne appears to be a trading name for whoever bought the assets following the liquidation. They traded at the following addresses:
1911-1921
14 Denmark Hill, Denmark Hill
355 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill
45 Electric Avenue, Brixton
14 The Broadway, West Norwood
1925-1928:
355 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill
97 Brixton Hill, Brixton [telephone directory shows as Curtis & Hanne (George Hanne)]
1930:
375 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill [telephone directory shows as Curtis & Hanne
(Ernest Jn. Hanne)]
97 Brixton Hill, Brixton [telephone directory shows as Curtis & Hanne (George Hanne)]
1932-1941:
375 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill
In 1940 telephone directory:
375 Norwood Road, Tulse
Hill is shows as Curtis & Hanne (Richard Mills & Co.) [George having died in
1933 and Ernest having moved to Suffolk by 1937[
Between 1933-1951 Ernest Hanne's son John Derrick Huntingdon Hanne traded as a
pharmacist at 330 Norwood Road, Tulse Hill
elsewhere -
CURTIS AND COMPANY traded at 25 Broadway, Wimbledon and
GEORGE HANNE traded at 42 King's Road and 9 Hill Road, Wimbledon and at 35
Malden Road, New Malden
Both Curtis and Company and George Hanne ceased in 1913 when a notice was
published in the London Gazette "In the Matter of a Deed of Assignment for the
benefit of Creditors, executed on the 30th day of August, 1912, by GEORGE HANNE
(G. T. W. Hanne), trading as Curtis and Co., at 25, The Broadway, Wimbledon; as
George Hanne, at 9, Hill-road, Wimbledon; and 35, Malden-road, New Malden,
Surrey; and also of 42, King's-road. Wimbledon, Fishmonger, Poulterer, and Game
Dealer.
CREDITORS' of the above named George T. W. Hanne who have not already sent in
their claims are required, on or before the 26th day of March, 1913, to send in
their names and addresses, with particulars of their debts or claims, to me, the
undersigned, Henry Helwig, 38, Marsham-street, Westminster, S.W., Certified
Accountant, the Trustee under the said deed, or, in default thereof, they will
be excluded from the dividend about to be declared:—Dated this 8th day of March,
1913. HENRY HELWIG, Trustee"
* George Frederick Miles Hanne's second wife was a Rosa Madge and his daughter,
Henrietta Bernice, married a cousin, Herbert Curtis Lee Hanne, presumably named
after the Curtis connection. I've not traced where the Lee came from.
A photo of Curtis & Hanne Ltd's Electric Avenue shop (on the corner of Electric
Avenue and Atlantic Road) can be found at
www,brixtonbuzz.com/2014/03/edwardian-flower-stalls-brixton