Part 2
Enmoor Lodge
John Wilson
In the last chapter we learnt that a lot of the housing in this area was built around 1870. The first mention of Enmoor Lodge, in the directories, is also found in 1870: the house is listed as number 96 Chapeltown Road, the home of one John Wilson, glass merchant and looking-glass manufacturer. He was evidently a prosperous businessman, having three premises: his warehouse, at numbers 5 and 6 Alfred Street (this street, now demolished, led off Boar Lane where the Bourse is now); another at 28 Lowerheadrow (Eastgate), probably a shop; and premises in Simes Street, Bradford (again these are demolished, Simes Street is near Morrisons in the city centre).
John Wilson made his money, then, making and selling high-class glassware and china; another entry describes him as:
W ilson, John, glass merchant & dealer in crown, sheet, polished plate, rough & patent rolled plate, coloured and ornamental glass, French shades & c.
He previously had premises at 10 Swinegate as this advert of 1863 shows.
An interesting historical connection is that an earlier owner of number 6 Alfred Street, from 1850 to around 1861, was John Barran, wholesale clothier. John Barran was a major figure in the industrial history of Leeds. He pioneered the manufacture of ready-made clothes: in the 1850s he speeded up production by installing the revolutionary Singer sewing machine in his small factory in Alfred Street; later, in 1858, at Alfred Street, he introduced a band-knife to cut several layers of cloth at the same time, and thus gave birth to the ready-made clothing industry. Barran opened larger factories at Commercial Buildings, Park Row in 1867, and later at St.Paul's House in Park Square, built in 1879. He was also the main instigator in the purchase of Roundhay Park in 1871.
In 1876 John Wilson sold both Enmoor Lodge and his warehouse in Alfred Street by auction. The auction was held at the Queen's Hotel on Thursday, November 2nd, 1876, "At 3.30 for 4 o'clock precisely", as the catalogue states (see below). The conditions of sale stipulate that the buyer "shall pay for all gaseliers, brackets and pendants [these must be referring to the gas lights which probably had quite ornamental fittings], Venetian and other blinds; finger plates on doors…". The warehouse was bought by Mr. James Irwell, a wool merchant.
The catalogue for the auction of Enmoor Lodge in 1876.
In 1878 John Wilson moved to number 31 Clarendon Road to a more up-market residence on a street containing many elegant Victorian villas (see photo). Similarly his business switched to Park Lane. Unfortunately by 1888 Wilson appears to have fallen on hard times, and now lived in Woodsley Grove, Hyde Park.
John Wilson’s new house at 31 Clarendon Road.
The Misses Kettlewell’s School
At the auction in 1876 Enmoor Lodge was bought by Mrs Jane Kettlewell, for £1,600. She and her daughters, the Misses Kettlewell, ran a private boarding school for young ladies. Their ‘ladies seminary’ was previously at St.James’s Villa, just around the corner in Louis Street. They were probably needing a larger building for their school; it is possible that the extension, at the rear of Enmoor Lodge, was built on around this time.
Also Mrs Kettlewell's husband, John Kettlewell had just died the previous year, 1875, possibly leaving her with the wealth and freedom to buy larger premises for the school.
John Kettlewell was a watchmaker and had his own business in the city cetre. He is listed in the directories at 157 Briggate as a gold and silversmith,jewelry and clock manufacturer, optician ,etc..
The Kettlewell family comprised: Mrs Jane, a widow; Misses Fanny Alicia, Anne Elizabeth, and Emma, her daughters, and her son Charles B.The 1881 Census lists the Kettlewell plus a Governess, Cook, Housemaid, and 10 female students, making 18 residents altogether, quite a houseful!
The Misses Kettlewell were spinsters. In 1910 Charles Buck Kettlewell is still listed as a resident of 96 Chapeltown Road. 'Buck'was the maiden name of Jane Kettlewell, his mother. He was an insurance broker and a bachelor. He died in 1915, aged 67, . Two small upstairs windows still the bear the initials ‘CBK’ in Victorian frosted glass, these may stand for Charles Buck Kettlewell.
The school advertised regularly in the local press for prospective pupils. An advert on the front page of the Leeds Mercury on Saturday, August 3rd, 1878 reads:
ENMOOR LODGE Ladies School, Chapeltown Road, New Leeds – Mrs and the Misses Kettlewell receive Young Ladies to Board and Educate. The School Course embraces preparation for the University, Local and other Examinations. The terms include thorough English – its language and Literature, Latin, Mathematics, Natural Sciences. Resident French and English Governesses, and a staff of high class visiting Professors. Yearly examinations of the whole School. Prospectus on application. Duties resumed (D.V.) August 8th.
This shows that the young ladies at Enmoor Lodge received a highly academic education, aimed at university entrance. In the mid-late Victorian period women's education began to change, the Two Spheres division was breaking down. Women like Bella Rokesmith in Dickens's Our Mutual Friend were demanding a bigger role: "I want to be something so much worthier than the doll in the doll's house."(Book IV, Chap.5). Of course, when women passed their university examinations they still would not have been awarded degrees at this time.
In 1890 Mrs. Kettlewell decided to pass on the ownership of the house to her three daughters. Their signatures to the Deed of Gift are shown below.
Mrs.Kettlewell died in 1895 at the age of 83.
After thirty-three years the school at Enmoor Lodge closed in 1911. By this time only the Misses Kettlewell remained. They continued to live in the house until the early 1920s when, in the space of three years they all passed away. Fanny Alicia died on October 12th, 1920, aged 69; Anne Elizabeth died at Enmoor Lodge on 26th March, 1921, aged 72; and Emma expired on 20th October, 1923, at the ripe old age of79. Interestingly, Emma had also owned 4 houses on Roseville Road which she must have let out to tenants.
The whole Kettlewell family from enmoor Lodge icluding John (the father)were buried in Leeds General Cemetery which is now known as St George's Fields and lies within the University of Leeds campus. Unfortunately nearly all the gravestones have been cleared away, including the Kettlewells' two gravestones. John, Jane, Mary Hannah, Charles B and Fanny Alicia were buried in the same grave, whilst the last two to die(Ann Elizabeth and Emma) are together in a separate grave.
****************************************************************
There were quite a few other related Kettlewells living around New Leeds. William Kettlewell was a relative of the Enmoor Lodge Kettlewells. He was a cabinet maker and had 2 shops on Briggate in the centre of Leeds. The directories list him as:
"William Kettlewell & Son, carpet & linen warehousemen, upholsterers, cabinet & bedding manufrs, general furnishers, decorators, uphosterers & coach makers' trimming warehouse, 100 Briggate & The Bazaar, 114 Briggate."
He employed 18 men, 18 women and 5 boys. In 1881 he lived at Hawthorn House, Cowper Street.
This view looking down Cheapside from Briggate towards Vicar Lane in 1893, shows William Kettlewell's Bazaar on the left.
Close up of the sign to William Kettlewell's Bazaar.