30 Trumpington Street Cambridge

30 / 31 Trumpington Street, Fitzwilliam House / Hall, Cambridge

History of Fitzwilliam House, 30 Trumpington Street

Wikipedia: In 1869, Cambridge University altered its statutes to allow men who were not members of a college to become members of the University under the supervision of a censor, whose office was in Trumpington Street, opposite the Fitzwilliam Museum. This provided students who could not afford to belong to a college with a base from which to study at the University, allowing them to be admitted to degrees, sit examinations and compete for scholarships. The name “Fitzwilliam” was chosen by the students at a meeting of the Non-Collegiate Amalgamation Club in the Spring of 1887 and, as a result, the University decreed that the house in Trumpington Street could be known as Fitzwilliam Hall. This became the headquarters of the Non-Collegiate Students Board and provided student facilities and limited accommodation. It was renamed Fitzwilliam House in 1922.

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A B Gray in Cambridge Revisited (1921) notes the inscription above one of the ground floor windows. ‘1727 I H X’ : 1727 is the year it was built and I H are probably the initials of the owner.

F A Reeve writes about this inscription in ‘The Cambridge Nobody Knows’ (1977). He refers to E Savile Peck discovering that the house had belonged to John Halsted, a Cambridge brewer. Brewers were accustomed to mark barrels of the correct size with an X; from the C14 some breweries were named The Catherine Wheel.  The terracotta block was Halsted’s trade sign in 1727.

John Halsted was a Baptist and when a majority of the Baptists seceded from the meeting House on Hog Hill they went to the site of St Andrew’s Street church, then called the Stone Yard, where. there was a stable and granary belonging to John Halsted that was converted into a Meeting House.

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1727

House built by John Halstead, the brewer.

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c.1830 pharmacy opened by Thomas Cox

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1874

George Peck took over these premises in 1874.

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1881

(30)

George Peck, 54, chemist, b Cambridge
Helen M, 20, b Cambridge
Edith Emily, 16, b Cambridge
Ernest Saville, 14, b Cambridge
Herbert John, 12, b Cambridge
Sydney Capel, 9, b Cambridge
Harold R, 7, b Cambridge
Lillian C, 4, b Cambridge
Rose Flitton, 17, servant, b Great Shelford
Louisa Pettett, 16, house maid, b Little Shelford
William A Rhodes, lodger, 25, dentist in practice, b Yorks

In 1871 the family were at 36 Trumpington Street.

(31)

Walter Dodd, 36, cabinet maker, b Suffolk
Louisa S, 36, b Cambridge
Nellie L, 13, b Cambridge
Henry W, 12, b Cambridge
Florence, 8, b Cambridge
Annie, 6, b Cambridge
Jame, 4, b Cambridge
Eliza Farrant, 25, parlour maid, b Cambridge

In 1878 W Dodd cabinet maker is listed in Kelly’s at 21 Trumpington Street.

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1891

George Peck, 64, chemist, b Newnham
Helen,
Helen M,
Edith E,
Ernest S, 24, pharmaceutical chemist,
Herbert S, 22, university student,
Sydney C, 17, chemical student,
Harrold R,
Alfred G,
Lillian C,
Rebecca Nicholl, 18,
Rebecca Thomson, 18,

In 1901 the family were living at 25 Fitzwilliam Street.

Herbert John went to the Perse School, and went on to be ordained an be a missionary in the North-Western Province of India. In WWI he was an army chaplain.

Sydney Capel became a Major-General. He served in India, Nigeria and France and was assistant director of the Royal Arsenal from 1908 to 1914. He was a battery commander in WWI and awarded the DSO in 1917. He headed the military mission to Fiume in 1919.

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1893

Ernest Saville Peck attended Fitzwilliam House, part of Cambridge University intended for local men.

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1902

Ernest joined the 3rd Volunteer battalion of the Suffolk Regiment

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1904

Ernest took over the management of the business

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1907

Ernest married Rachel Brenda Hall.

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1909

Ernest Saville took over the business on the death of his father.

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1910

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1913

G Peck and son, pharmaceutical chemists

Ernest Saville Peck 

[Ernest Saville Peck became an authority on chemical weapons during WWI]

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1913 Fitzwilliam Hall

William Fiddian Reddaway MA, censor of Non-Collegiate Students

Rev. A O N Lee, resident chaplain

B Rolfe, steward

H E Martin, librarian

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After she left school Pamela Knights worked for the Maintenance Fund which was housed in Fitzwilliam House, next to the old Addenbrookes Hospital:

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1955

Ernest Saville Peck died

On his death, his collection of mortars and pestles were bequeathed to the Pharmaceutical Society.

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1962 G Peck and Son Ltd (A Border Mgr)

Fitzwilliam House

Henry Epstein was an assistant at Peck and Son in the 1960s. He lived with his family in Topcliffe Way.

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1977

Peck & Son Ltd bought by Savory and Moore.