Estates services according to this ghost sign, at the corner of Finborough Road and London Road:

The firm of Taylor & Kensett were listed as builders in local street directories at the beginning of the 20th century, and from council minutes, building applications show:

1899 for 38 houses in Pitcairn Road
1903 for 12 houses in Crusoe Road
1904 for 16 houses in Crusoe Road

Also from Streatham News – Saturday 18 January 1908:-

1908 for houses numbered 67 to 87 in Kenlor Road, Tooting.

The street directories also give their full names, as they are listed separately with ‘see Taylor & Kensett’.

In a court case reported in the Sutton & Epsom Advertiser – Friday 03 September 1909, the accused said that he had worked for Taylor & Kensett for 18 years, which would be from 1891.

Kensett the builder

Percy Frank Kensett is listed in the 1900 commercial directory as a builder, with the note ‘see Taylor & Kensett’.

The following was obtained from ancestry and newspaper articles.

Percy Frank Kensett was born in Bibury, near Cirencester, Gloucestershire in 1869.
In the 1901 census he was living in Mitcham, as a builder and an employer, with his unmarried sister Constance M. Kensett, aged 31.

His WW1 pension records shows he served with the King’s Royal Rifle Corps, from 3rd September 1914 until 15th October 1915. His address given on enlistment was Broad Meadow, Coombe Lane, Wimbledon. His age on enlisting was 46 years 120 days. Physically he was 5ft 5 and a half inches tall, 133 lbs in weight with dark hair and hazel eyes. His religion was Church of England. He had previously served in the London Rifle Brigade Lodge of Freemasons from 1900 to 1907. His rank on joining the KRR was of Sergeant.

In 1939 he is listed as a retired architect, living in Northleach, Gloucestershire at The Close, with his sister Constance. He died at 72 in The Close on 18th December, 1940, and left £25,000 (£1,000,000 in 2023 values) to his sister Constance Mary Kensett, who was a spinster.

Kensett the Cold Storage Expert

A patent in 1901 was filed by Percy Frank Kensett and Thomas Taylor for Improvements in and connected with Fastening Devices for the Doors of Cold Stores. See Google Patents.

In the January issue of The Engineer, P.F. Kensett is mentioned on page 192:

In the 1911 census, Percy Frank Kensett, aged 42, is listed as a Cold Storage Expert, and living at 336 Coombe Lane, Wimbledon.

In the 1912 street directory, Taylor & Kensett Limited is listed as insulation contractors.

The 1915 Electoral Register for Wimbledon has Percy Frank Kensett as a qualifying owner to be able to vote in Mitcham West Ward, due to his owning freehold and leasehold houses in 1 to 5 London Road and 2 to 20 Pitcairn Road.

Newspaper Articles

EXCITING FIRE SCENES Whole Street in Danger. There were remarkable scenes at Mitcham yesterday — a portion of a street being in flames. Fire broke out at the timber yard of Messrs. Taylor and Kensett in Crusoe road, and burned fiercely that adjoining houses caught fire, and the whole street seemed in danger. Householders in considerable alarm carried their furniture and valuables out into the street, and there was scene of great confusion. The combined efforts of the brigades, however, succeeded in preventing the spread of the flames, but not before four houses adjacent to the timber yard had been considerably burned.

Source: Hartlepool Mail – Friday 02 September 1921 from the British Newspaper Archive

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Council Minutes
From the minutes of the Croydon Rural District Council
Volume VIII
1902 to 1903
Highways
17th April 1902
page 45

20. FIGGS MARSH DRAINAGE.—Read letter from Messrs. Taylor & Kensett, the owner of building land on the west side of London Road, Figg’s Marsh, near Tooting Junction Railway Bridge. The road was, at present, drained by pipes laid under the footway discharging on to the land belonging to the applicants, where a ditch formerly existed ; to carry out what was suggested would necessitate the construction of four new gullies and a length of 6in. drain to take the water to the other side. It would improve the drainage of the highway and at the same time relieve the landowner of a liability to get rid of the water now discharging on to the land ; the cost would be approximately £20, and he suggested that Messrs. Taylor & Kensett should be asked to contribute one-half the cost.

—The Committee Resolved, That they be required to pay the whole of the cost of the work.

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From the minutes of the
Croydon Rural District Council
Roads and Buildings Committee
Volume VIII 1902 – 1903
15th May 1902
page 111

2. Deposited Plans. – The Buildings Sub-Committee reported that they had carefully examined al the plans of new streets and buildings deposited since the last meeting, and on their recommendation, it was Resolved:-
(a) That the undermentioned be approved:

No. 2127, Taylor & Kensett, house, London Road, Mitcham

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Minutes of meetings held by the Croydon Rural District Council are available on request from the Merton Heritage and Local Studies Centre at Morden Library.