25 St Andrew’s Street

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25 St Andrew's Street, Barrett, date unknown (MoC)

History of 25 St Andrew's Street

The Grand Arcade excavation report (2019) provides interesting information about the use of this site, Plot XVII. The core of the building is C18th. For the first half of the 19th century the plot was owned by Misses Mary Ann and Sophia Bones (1829) and in 1841 by the baker Samuel Bullock. The windows at the front are C19th and the south face was covered or constructed during the early C19th using grey bricks.

See also St Andrew’s Hill for details on the Bones sisters

The Unhappy Sisters of St Andrew’s Hill (1)

The Unhappy Sisters of St Andrew’s Hill (2)

1851

George Johnson, 43, surgeon & apothecary, b Burwell

Maria E, 43

George, 2

Janetta Adams, 30, officers daughter, b Portugal

Jane Plow, servant, 20, labourers daughter, b Whittlesford

Stephen Jacob, 24, assistant solicitor, b Oxon

1861

George Johnson, 53, general practitioner, b Burwell

Maria E, 53, b Yorks

George, 12, b Cambridge

John Philips, 49, assistant surgeon, b Leics

May Ann Jeffrey, 41, servant, b Waterbeach

Mary Porter, 24, cook, b Burwell

John Smith, 16, groom, b Cambridge

1871

Thomas Lucas, 31, surgeon, b Burwell

Mary E, 22, wife, lady, b Suffolk

Annie, visitor, lady, 22, b Burwell

Sarah A Brooks, 24, cook, b Suffolk

Eliza Collard, 22, housemaid, b Soham

1881

Martha Flack, 61, lodging house keeper, b London

Alice M, 22, teacher of music, b Cambridge

Mary Steed, 32, assistant, b Cambridge

Mary J Haynes, 17, b Norfolk

In the 1870s the plot was extended to c. 61m from the frontage and additional land was acquired. The plot was occupied by various members of the Flack family although the owners may have been the Barrett family. The Flack family ran several businesses from the premises including a Turkish Baths.

The Flack family included Walter Flack a plumber, painter and glazier (1874–8), his wife Martha A. Flack, a plumber, painter, glazier and lodging house keeper (1881) and their children, Charles Walter Flack who ran a music and pianoforte warehouse (1874–80) and Alice M. Flack a teacher of music (1881). Their most significant business was a bathhouse founded in 1874 and known as the Turkish and Other Baths (1874–81) and the University Baths (1881–98). This was managed first by Henry/Harry Morgan who was living at No. 27 (1881–91) and then by H. Lucas (1895).

A plan of 1882 shows that there were two rectangular structures that were the ‘Bath Rooms’. The southernmost of these equates to the existing Building 26, which had some drains and a soakaway inserted into it. Further back Building 50 was also constructed. This measured 8.9m long by 5.2m wide and contained a cellar with a boiler at its western end and a brick-lined soakaway at its eastern end; these were connected by an iron water pipe. There was also a chimney and a number of deep brick-lined ‘bunkers’. Building 50 comprised a secondary structure located just behind one of the ‘Bath Rooms’ and it may have been linked to them, although given the range of other business interests of the Flacks it might equally well have fulfilled a range of other roles.

The plot then went through another major reorganization c. 1882–5 under the aegis of the Barrett family who acquired Plot XVII c. 1864–81. The Barrett family were china, earthenware and glass dealers at various premises in Cambridge between c. 1786–1975. The business was initially based at Market Hill (1813–1937/38), with warehouse(s) at Jesus Lane that were offered for sale as building material in 1831 as they were replaced by others at St Andrew’s Hill. By 1830 Barrett’s were the largest of the seven ceramic dealers trading in Cambridge and in 1881 the business was known as Barrett & Son with the owners living at 60 Bateman Street and 9 Parker Street.

By 1884 the rear of Plot XVII was being directly utilized by the Barrett family who had managed to create an irregular but contiguous plot stretching c. 106m from St Andrew’s Street to St Andrew’s Hill.

Barrett warehouse behind 25 St Andrew Street circa 1920 (Cambs Collection)

Barrett warehouse behind 25 St Andrew Street c. 1920 (Cambs Collection)

1891

Henry Morgan, 44, bath proprietor, b Clare

Mary A, 43, b Cambridge

Lily Buck, 19, servant, b Comberton

1901

Frank Cove, 24, hairdresser, b Cambridge

Grace, 22, b Cambridge

1911

William R Jolley, 37, hairdresser, b Cambridge

Rosa Louisa, 37, b Cambridge

Hubert Hemming, 11, b Cambridge

25 St Andrew’s Street (MoC98.72)

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