Eaden Lilley, Market Street, Cambridge

Historical notes on Eaden Lilley

The origins of the business on this site are claimed to go back to 1695 when Joseph Purchas, a tailor,  had a shop there. Eaden Lilley – 250 Years of Retailing by Ian Ormes, however, starts the story in 1676 when John Purchas rented the premises from Richard Pearson, a cordwainer. John’s son Joseph married Richard’s daughter Anne, and in 1712, describing himself as a “mercer and merchant” took over the business from his father.

Joseph died in 1721; his widow managed the business until John was 27. John had married Martha Jardine, daughter of a Scottish woollen merchant who had settled in Cambridge and attended the chapel in Downing Place. It is believed that the Jardine brothers were used as a model for the brothers in Charles Dickens’ Our Mutual Friend.

In 1750 he had bought The Globe in Bridge Street; he went on to acquire five other public houses – The Castle in Castle Street, the Three Hawks in Sidney College, The Compasses at Peterhouse, The Boot in Green Street and The White Horse in Castle Street. John died in 1764 and was interred in the family vault at Holy Trinity church. He had been mayor five times.

In 1782 Purchas sold his business to Joseph Hart. Joseph then went into partnership with Jospeh Ansell, a former apprentic of John Purchas.

In 1788 Thomas Hovell replaced Jospeh Ansell and the business became known as Hart and Hovell. By 1798 two new names are associated with the business, P K Staples, and William Eaden. William had married Elizabeth Hart, daughter of Joseph.

It was the daughter of William and Elizabeth, another Elizabeth, who had eloped with David Lilley, one of nine children of Bourn farmer Edward Lilley and his wife Elizabeth. In 1816 the couple had a boy who was named William Eaden Lilley. His grandfather William seems to have shown interest in his grandson.

By 1833 William Eaden was sole owner of the Cambridge shop with stock valued at £11,300. He died in 1837 and for a time his wife Elizabeth ran the shop. But in 1839 the 23 year old William Eaden Lilley took over the business and in the same year married Katherine Smith. He was now trading as a draper, carpet warehouseman, paper merchant, and a seller of oils, colours and brushes.

A short article about the history of the Eaden Lilley department store can be found here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eaden_Lilley

Everyday life in the Eaden Lilley shop is vividly recorded by apprentice Josiah Chater who came from Saffron Walden aged 15.

In 1811 near Green Street, a dead cat with a rat in its mouth was discovered in a cavity wall. It is thought that linseed oil seepage was responsible for the state of preservation. Lilley’s had an oil shop in the basement.

Preserved cat and rat from Eaden Lilley oil shop, 1811 (CWN1981)

Eaden Lilley 1892

25/6/1909 There was an exciting scene in Cambridge Market Street when a lady screamed “I am on fire”. Her dress was blazing furiously and the combined effect of the screams and the flames on the crowded street can easily be imagined. Fortunately Mr A. Kester tore off the burning skirt with his hands and staff from Eaden Lilley rushed out of the shop with mats and rugs in which she was rolled until the flames were extinguished. It is presumed the dress, which was of flimsy material, was ignited by a match carelessly dropped by a passer-by. (Cam.News)

Joan Robertson worked at Eaden Lilley’s for much of her life. In 2016 she recalled starting her apprenticeship in 1942

Through her work she met her husband in 1948