Birmingham based company that was listed in the 1930 and 1938 commercial directories as Ludlow Bros (1913) Ltd., galvanized holloware manufacturers, Western Road, telephone number MITcham 0848. Listed as Ludlow Bros. Ltd. in the 1954 telephone book.
Note that ‘Hollow-ware’ refers to buckets etc.
A credit note offered for sale on eBay, dated 1943, shows its address as 132 Western Road, which was part of the former Holborn Union workhouse at the corner of Bond Road. The site today is occupied by Asda.
credit note extract Ludlow Bros dated February 1943
According to Graces Guide to British Industrial History, the company was founded privately in 1868 and became public in 1913, hence that year in its name in the directories. At the time of the credit note, the ‘1913’ was typed over, suggesting that the company name had changed but stationery hadn’t yet been changed.
BOUND AND GAGGED IN HIS OFFICE Two men, one armed with a pistol, on Wednesday night entered the warehouse in Western Road, Mitcham, of Messrs. Ludlow Bros. (1913), Ltd., of Birmingham, and bound and gagged the firm’s London manager, Mr. F. J. Hutton, after forcing him to open the safe. They then made off with £15. Mr. Hutton, who lives at Maybury Street, Tooting, said yesterday: “I was seated in my office alone when the two men came in. One of them pointed a revolver at me, holding it at his hip, and said, ‘These things are liable to go off.’ “They commanded me to open the safe, and one of the men bound and gagged me with a serviette while the other took the money. I was struck from behind. One of the men had a handkerchief tied over the lower part of his face. I recognised one of them. He was a man I had seen before in the course of business.” Mr. Hutton, who was tied hand and foot, managed to free himself and inform the police, who took possession of the pistol and the serviette which the bandits left behind.
Mitcham Park is a road that runs from off the south side of Cricket Green by the Mitcham Police station, and connects to the east side of the London Road, north of the former Mitcham railway station.
As of 2018, Royal Mail lists four postcodes for this road:
CR4 4EN : odd numbers 1 to 31
CR4 4EG : even numbers 2 to 32 and East Lodge
CR4 4EP : odd numbers 29 to 59
CR4 4EJ : even numbers 34 to 106.
The block of flats on the corner with London Road, was built on the site of 389, 391 and 393 London Road in 2005/6. The block consist of 28 flats, and it was given the address of 59 Mitcham Park. See planning permission 04/P2012.
1953 OS map
Other OS maps below show the development of the road. 1894 1910 1933
An auction in 1902 describes the two semi-detached houses on the west side of Mitcham park: from the South London Press – Saturday 09 August 1902, via the British Newspaper Archives.
Close to Mitcham Common – TWO PAIRS of semi-detached ViLLAS, known as Nos. 1, 3, 5, and 7, Mitcham Park. Each house contains five bed rooms, two reception rooms, kitchen, and usual offices. No. 1 let at £60 per annum. Nos. 5 and 7 let at £55 per annum each. No. 9 will be sold with the advantage of vacant possession, but of the estimated rental value of £60 per annum, at which rental it now Iet. Lease about 90 years; ground rent £8 each.
Douglas Young & co. will sell the above by AUCTION, at the Mart, E.C., on Wednesday, September 10, 1902, at 2 o’clock precisely. Particulars and conditions of sale may be obtained at the Mart. E.C : of the Solicitors, Messrs. GEDGE, KIRBY, & MILLETT. 11, Great George-street. Westminster: or of the Auctioneers, 51, Coleman-street. K.C., and 213, Clapham-road. S.W.
These aerial photos of the houses show their single, high pitch roof which differs from the other houses that have double-pitched roofs.
Semis 1 & 3, and 5 & 7, Mitcham Park
West side of Mitcham park, from number 1 at the top to number 19 and the bottom
The road may have had gates at each end. The evidence for this are these brick piers, topped by Gothic pier caps, next to Mitcham Police Station, shown in this 1910 postcard. The text ‘Mitcham Park’ can just be made on on the larger pier on the left.
Clip from 1910 postcard of Mitcham Police Station.
At the London Road end, the same style of piers, with the same sign, can be seen on this 1909 silent film by Cricks & Martin.
Further proof that this film shows the London Road end of Mitcham Park can be seen from the 1912-1913 street directory entry for the plumbers premises shown in the film.
From the 1912-1913 street directory
Occupants
1904 West Side
1, Miss COLES
5, John Marsh PITT
7, George BRIDGE
15, Rev. John EDGELL
19, William W. THOMSON
33, Hugh Knight
37, Reginald Pocock BARROW
39, Charles OGDEN
43, Evans FAWCUS
47, Joseph BEARDMORE
53, James W. BOWDING
55, Col. Ernest GRATTAN
East Side
East Lodge, James JOHNSON
2, Felix Andre Jules MOYSE
6, Francis Ringler THOMSON
10, P.A. LEON
12, Mrs HARVIE
14, A.I. SUCKLING-BARON
16, Arthur Ernest ANWYL
22, Miss ANDERSON
26, Arthur Henry BALFOUR
28, Alfred MILLER
32, Wilson ALDWINCKLE
Note that all of these houses, from 15 to 55, and 2 to 32, are of the same design, namely double-pitched roofs with square-U layout to rear.
1953 OS map
This map of 1894 shows the land around Mitcham Hall where Mitcham Park was built, up to Jeppos Lane.
In a marquee on the Estate, on MONDAY, June 1, 40 Plots, first portion of the Mitcham Park Estate, adjoining the railway station, and in the centre of the town, fronting on the main road from London to Epsom.
Also, in one lot, the Freehold family Mansion, known as Mitcham Hall, with its beautifully-timbered pleasure grounds and gardens of five acres, and two excellent semi-detached villas.
Vender’s Solicitors. Messrs. Gedge, Kirby, and Millett, 1, Old Palace-yard, S.W.; Architect and Surveyor, W. Mac Thompson, Esq., Holly – cottage, Mitcham
This 1910 map shows the square U-shaped houses that were built.
1910 OS map
The 1933 map shows further development of smaller houses along the south side of the road, and between the gaps on the north / west side.
The birth of a son at Mitcham Park, Mitcham, to Mrs Winifred Freeman — Miss Polly Ward, the revue actress and dancer is announced.
Mrs Freeman is the only daughter of Miss Winifred Ward, the principal boy, and granddaughter of the late Will Poluski, the Victorian comedian. She was married in 1928 to Mr Robert Sydney Freeman, ” the hero of her schooldays.”
Mitcham History Notes 