42 St Leonard’s Street, Bromley by Bow (Bromley St Leonard), East London

Bromley St Leonard and in particular number 42 St Leonard Street, was the home of several generations of Hardy family members.

After the marriage of Thomas Hardy (born 1813) and his wife Sarah (nee Looker),  they live in Bath St. Bethnal Green and Thomas is a shoemaker.  By 1851 they have moved to Bromley St Leonard in Frederick Street and then Crown Place (1861) and Thomas continues to earn his living as a ‘master shoemaker’.   Thomas will die in 1871 aged 58, but his skill as a shoemaker will continue through his children; Thomas, James, John Piercy, Sarah, Edward, William, George and Martha.

Thomas’ son Thomas Hardy (born 1844) now aged 27, will take on the family business and they will move to the ‘shop’ at 42 St Leonard Street. Sadly Thomas’ mother Sarah, will pass away in 1878 but the Hardy shop will continue with Thomas leading the way through to 1881 when Thomas’ brother John Piercy Hardy will take over (aged 33) and No 42 will become his home together with his wife.

Why Thomas Hardy passes the running of the shop to his brother is a mystery and to date it has not been possible to find out what happens to Thomas.  He departs from the family home to obscurity!

John Piercy Hardy aged 31, his wife Martha (nee Davey) and their children will live and work at No 42, a shop through which John continues to offer the service of a shoe maker and repairer. John and Martha will run the business and look after their children; Martha, Charles, John Piercy, Jack, Sarah, Isabel, Flora, Florence Frederick and Arthur.

After John’s death in 1923 aged 76,  the shop at 42 St Leonard Street will be home to his son Arthur and wife Winifred.  Arthur and his wife have married and started their family in Bromley St Leonard living close by in 11 Jefferson Street and they move to No 42 where Arthur will continue the tradition of the shop and they will look after John’s widow, Martha.  Arthur, Winifred and Martha will live at number 42 through to 1933 and they will raise their children there; Winifred Edith, Gladys, Violet, Cecilia, Albert, Eileen and Arthur.   Arthur will be away from the family home during 1916-18 as he served as a soldier in WW1 in France.

42 St Leonard Street had to be home, workshop and shop with just 5 rooms and must have been very cramped as Arthur’s family grew,  and it is known that his daughter Gladys stayed with an Aunt to ease the pressure on space.

Thomas Hardy, his sons Thomas and John Piercy and then his grandson Arthur will run the shop at 42 St Leonard Street from 1872 to 1933;  over 60 years of shoe and boot making and repair in the community of Bromley St Leonard.

By 1934,  42 St Leonard Street is in the hands of a new owner and Arthur and his family are taking the first steps towards the eventual move out of London to St Albans in Hertfordshire.  Arthur will give up the long family tradition of ‘bootmaking’ and turn to work in the stores of an engineering company.  It will not be many years after their departure that Hitler’s bombs will rain down on London and significant damage and loss of life will be suffered by the community in Bromley St Leonard.

Below is the Google map of the location of Bromley by Bow as it is found today.  42 St Leonard Street and most of the buildings in that Street have long since been demolished.

 

This OS map from 1869 shows the location of the shop and relates to the image below the map.   Click the map for a larger version.

 

By 1925 John Piercy Hardy is dead and his son Arthur Hardy, wife Winifred, mother Martha and the children live and work here. The image above gives a good impression of the area during that time.

The photograph below, taken from the same spot, was captured in 1932 just two years before Arthur and Winifred leave 42 St Leonard Street forever.

 

The 1921 London Street Directory gives us an insight into John Piercy Hardy’s neighbours as he comes to the end of his time at 42 St Leonard’s Street

List courtesy of the History of Pubs website