Our Family History
Sidney MacBrier Tisdall & his wife Emily, ran a successful Cleaners, Furriers & Dyers business at 32 Goldhawk Road, Shepherd's Bush, London for many years. Emerging into newly developing Middle Class England, Sidney, Emily and their children became an well-known part of the local community in Goldhawk Road and made it their family home for many years.
Sidney's middle name of McBriar, suggests some Scottish or Irish ancestry but he was born on 29th September 1840 to Catherine Tisdall ( nee Andrews) and Sidney Tisdall, a Dyer of 72 Peel Street, Kensington London.
In 1848 when Sidney was just 8 years old, his father died. Sidney’s widowed mother Catherine was a needlewoman so she had to work hard to make a living at home, in order to support herself & her 2 children. This early exposure to hardship & the Victorian work ethic, must have given Sidney a good head for business and also made him careful with his money.
Sidney’s younger sister Martha Tisdall (b.Sep 1847 ) later became a seamstress & married Charles Wakefield (b.1848 – d.1890) who was a Master Tailor. Martha and Charles Wakefield eventually moved to Glocestershire where they ran a thriving business of their own. Their Daughter Edith was a Milliner and Son Enrest was also a tailor by trade, so a close connection to the textile & clothing trade was in The Tisdall blood from an early age.
In 1861 when he was 21, Sidney’s mother Cathrine, passed away. Sidney, following in his late father's footsteps, went to live & work with a Mr Henry Penton in Harrisons buildings, Acton. Mr Penton was a Silk and Wool Dyer, and Sidney was employed as his assistant.
In 1863 Sidney married Emily Tilbury in the Parish of St John’s, Notting Hill. Emily’s mother Anne was a dressmaker & her father James Tilbury, of Maddox Street, Acton, was a Carpenter. Emily was born on 21st July 1845
By 1871 Sidney & Emily were living in 3b Gane Place,Hammersmith & he had become a Master Dyer employing at one assistant. He and Emily now had 3 children, Alice, Sidney & Kate. They were able to emply one live-in domestic servant, called Mary Ann Jolly to help with the household chores.
Over the next 10 years Sidney worked very hard. He moved to new premisis at 32 Goldhawk Road & established his own Cleaners,Dyers and Furriers Shop. Emily assisted him in the business by doing all the booking-keeping and accounts. They specialized in tailor made fur coats and jackets and were expert dyers.
When the children grew older, they too helped out in the shop and had various jobs and responsibilities. The smaller children would thread large eyed basting needles - sometimes producing over 100 in one batch.
As the business thrived, so did Sidney and Emily’s family. By 1881 they had 9 children: Alice (16) Sydney (14) Kate (11) Francis (9) Lilian (7) Ella (5) Harry (4) William (3 ) and Albert (1).
By 1991, Emily had given birth to a further 3 children; Percivil (8) Frederick (6) and Madeline (3). Some of the older children had left the family home, but Kate (21) Lilian (17) Ella (15) William (13) and Albert (12) were all still residing in Goldhawk Road& helping out in the family business.
Sidney Macbriar Tisdall (1840 - 1900)
&
Emily Tilbury Tisdall (1845-1924)
Goldhawk Road was a very good place for thriving shops and trades of all kinds at the turn of the century. The newly built underground railway bought many more people to the area & there were poular public entertainment venues like the Shepherd’s Bush Empire very nearby.
The wealthier Victorians & Edwardians liked their fur coats, stoles and fur accessories, and often needed clothes cleaned, altered or mended. Seamstresses often needed garments, yarn or rolls of cloth dyed for dressmaking, so Sidney & Emily’s skills were in great demand & they clearly made a very comfortable living from this trade.
The Tisdall’s, like many other Middle Class families of the period, liked to have their photographs taken (Mr Marshall, a local photographer and family friend even appears in one photograph with them).
Emily's son William had made a new life for himself in America & she would send him these pictures in their correspondence.
From the images they seem to be a well dressed, respectable , hardworking family who also liked to hold family parties and make their own entertainment when they were not running a successful business. Edgar Tisdall, Emily and Sidney's grandson, said that they were proud of their Middle Class status - to the point of appearing snobbish sometimes. From Letters that Madeline & Emily wrote to William in America, it was clear that as Employers the family were "distrustful" of the new political Labour Party that had been formed at the turn of the century.
Emily was clearly a loving, family orientated woman who, despite only having a basic education, had a fantastic head for figures and business like Sidney did.
Sidney had been the stricter parent - as his son William recalled:
"My father seldom spoke, he just peered sternly over his glasses at a misbehaving child, and that was all that was needed"
In 1900 Sidney died suddenly, aged 60 after a bad bout of pneumonia. Many members of the Tisdall family suffered with bad health and chest problemsMatriarch Emily kept the family together, and continued to run the business for the next 10 years with help from her daughter Kate.
In 1908 Shepherd's Bush became one of the principal sites for the Summer Olympics and, in the same year, it hosted the The Franco-British Exhibition - also known as "The Bush Exhibition" - and "The Great White City", a large public fair, which attracted 8 million visitors and celebrated the Entente Cordiale signed in 1904 by the United Kingdom and France. Many other exhibitions would follow until interrupted in 1914 by the Great War. This great imflux of visitors to Shepherds Bush must have had a good impact on businesses in the area too.
32 Goldhawk Road was the home and family buisness of the Tisdalls for decades Emily & Kate kept it going throughout the very difficult years of the 1st world war. Emily also contributed to the war effort by buying War Bonds. With both sons and grandsons fighting overseas she wanted to do her bit for Victory as well.
After the War, due to increasing bad health 76 year old Emily moved out of the shop in Goldhawk Road, sold her business and ended up living, with her daughter Kate, at the home of her other daughter, Madeline Tisdall Canning, at 40 Hatfield Road, Bedford Park Middlesex.
She was 78 years old when she died on 8th July 1924. She had been overwieght, and suffered from Rhuematism and high blood pressure. In May 1924 she suffered a stroke and passed away a month later. She was buried in Acton Cemetary.
Despite being an astute businesswoman she left just over £1,000 to her daughter Madeline after the sale of the business & from dividends on her war bonds & insurance policies. Madeline's husband had been one of the executors of the will.
Some misunderstanding regarding her will may have caused bad feelings between members of her family in the UK and those that were living in the United States of America. They thought there should have been more money. Emily and Sidney had always been very careful with their money - they wore nice clothes and lived well but both being good business people they liked to get a cheap bargain.
A few of Emily's letters survived. The were written to her son William during World War 1. Click on the link opposite to read them. Although she was a strong, capable woman, she worried about Zepplin raid, the scarcity of food, and was aware of the fact that it was unlikley that all her sons and grandsons would return from fighting in the War.
In recent years Hammersmith & Fulham Council wanted to demolish the 12 shops between 30-52 Goldhawk Road to make way for a 7 storey 250 unit private block of flats. Once the information became public the local residents, market traders and shopkeepers immediately demonstrated their displeasure. The fight to save the historic buildings in currently on going & has gathered support from celebrities such as Pete Townshend of The Who and Astrologer Russell Grant.
In c1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Shepherds Bush as follows:
"SHEPHERDS-BUSH, a metropolitan suburb in Kensington parish, Middlesex; on the Metropolitan railway, 5½ miles W by S of St. Paul's, London. It has a station with telegraph on the railway, and a post-office under London W; contains many villas and other fine residences, with gardens; contains also Kensington -St. Stephens church, built in 1850, in the pointed style, with a tower and spire; and has, of late years, greatly increased
Goldhawk Road c1889.
Today 32 Goldhawk Road is a textile shop.
