273A Whitechapel Road

1924, shophouse for Appleby & Matty

273A Whitechapel Road
Contributed by Survey of London on Nov. 28, 2017

An earlier four-storey shophouse here was probably part of redevelopment of around 1805 by Thomas Barnes. It was occupied by Thomas Fenwick, linen draper, haberdasher, hosier and glover, from about 1820 and then Fenwick & King (his widow, Eleanor Fenwick and Matthew King), linen-drapers, to 1882. Rebuilding in 1924 was for Cissie Applebaum, Jane Freedman (both born Matterman, and the wives of Harry Applebaum and Hyam Freedman), and Yetta Matterman (wife of Reuben Matterman), dressmakers and milliners of 297 Whitechapel Road, trading as Appleby & Matty. They had a hairdressing salon here, their gown shop being next door at No. 275. Lionel M. Parr was the architect and W. S. Sharpin built the premises to be as tall as the Prudential’s on the other side, though they are far plainer and cruder. An upper storey was later used as a billiard room, and in the 1950s the building was tenanted by Stepney Borough Communist Party.1


  1. London Metropolitan Archives, Tower Hamlets Commissioners of Sewers ratebooks; District Surveyors Returns: Post Office Directories: Tpwer Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, Building Control file 17204: Transport for London Group Archives, LT001611/041; LT002009/449 

267-275 Whitechapel Road in 2016
Contributed by Derek Kendall