Tag Archives: 1903

Crusoe Road

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Road named possibly after the Robinson Crusoe story. Crusoe Dairy Farm was named by its owner on the possible residence of nearby Tooting Hall by Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe.

1911 OS map

1911 OS map

Builder Taylor & Kensett had building plans approved in 1903 for 12 houses, and in 1904 for 16 houses. They also had a woodyard in Crusoe Road, which caught fire in 1921:

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

Number 52 was damaged by this fire. Minutes of the Urban District Council show that the tenant was Mr F. HAWTHORN, and the landlord was Osmasten Ltd of Barnes.

G. F. Hedges had building plans approved in 1904 for 13 villas.

World War 1 Connections
Sapper William Charles Crisp

Private Ernest Frank Hogg

Driver Horace Walter Hogg

Private George Francis Quin

Gunner Horace Concannon Richardson

Saddler Harry Stanley Wright

Maps are reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland.

Lyxhayr

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Manufactured at Grove Mills, on the Wandle in Mitcham.

First manufactured in 1903 by a company called ‘The Patent Horse Hair Co. Ltd.’, ‘lyxhayr’ was a curled fibre of vegetable origin for many upholstery filling applications. Developed by a chemist called Mr Holmes, the process was patented.

As well as hair from horses, wool or cotton fibre, called ‘flock’, was used in filling mattresses and furniture. Sometimes, hog hair was mixed in with the horse hair to reduce cost. Animal hair however was not hygienic, and the company’s advertisement in 1907 said that the Public Analyst for Hackney, Dr Leo Taylor, had found that the hair contained almost the same amount of bacteria as London sewage.

Being made from vegetable, this artificial horse hair was free of bacteria.

In 1905 the company changed its name to Lyxhayr Ltd. and Mr W. A. Dickinson was its Managing Director. Mattresses made with lyxhayr were popular with hospitals but cheaper, less hygienic ones were still being sold.

Mr Dickinson was one of those who lobbied parliament leading to the Rag Flock Act of 1911, which was the first attempt to regulate the abuses.

1907 ad

1907 ad

Listed in the 1938 commercial directory as

Mitcham Fibre Mills Ltd., horse hair substitute manufacturers, Grove Mills, London Road. Trading As “Lyxhayr, Mitcham;” Telephone Number 0807.

News Articles
These are from the British Newspaper Archive.

Western Chronicle – Friday 5 February 1909
1909 fire

At one o’clock on Saturday morning a fire broke out the Grove Mills, Mitcham, an artificial horsehair manufactory. The fire brigades from Croydon, Sutton, and Mitcham attended, but the four-storey brick building was completely gutted. The damage is estimated at from £5,000 to £6,000.

Pearson’s Weekly – Thursday 4 January 1906

A VALUABLE addition has been made to the list of hygienic articles by the introduction of Lyxhayr. A substitute for horsehair, Lyxhayr is a natural, vegetable, woody fibre, which has been chemically and mechanically treated. As a stuffing for beds and chairs, where the maximum of health and cleanliness is desired, it is gaining great appreciation. Full particulars of Lyxhayr can be obtained from the selling agents, Messrs. Dollery and Palmer, 110 Cannon Street, London, E.C.