Hackney Restauranteur

This advert appeared in the London Mercury on 25 May 1895

It was opened by Arthur James William Mignot who is my 1st cousin 5x removed. Arthur was born on 10 May 1833 to Samuel Mignot and Elizabeth Maria Dear. Arthur is the brother of John Samuel Mignot who is the subject of another post https://myfamilyhistoryfacts.blogspot.com/2019/10/the-success-of-french-huguenot-silk.html

The 1851 England Census lists Arthur as a confectioner's assistant. He is living with his sister, Eliza Maria's, widowed husband Lawrence Knox (a customs officer). Also listed in the household are Lawrence's children, Arthur's father and his father's 2nd wife. The household is based at 20 Seabright Street in Bethnal Green.

On 01 July 1857 Arthur marries Emma Sophia Godfrey, whose father we know from the censuses is a silk weaver. Arthur and Emma have a total of 7 children: 4 boys and 3 girls.

The 1861 England Census lists Arthur as a pastry cook, so his skills have clearly improved and this is borne out by the London City Directory 1865 where he appears listed as a confectioner at 130 Church Street in Shoreditch. The London City Directory 1870 shows that Arthur's career has advanced some more. He now has coffee rooms at 143 Drury Lane which would be a great place to also sell his pastries.

The next information we have about Arthur comes from The London Gazette, 04 January 1870 (which tells us that the London City Directory had been compiled probably in mid 1869). The story was also picked up in The Edinburgh Gazette on 07 January.

Arthur Mignot, of No. 143, Drury-lane, Coffee-house Keeper, prior thereto of Church-street, Shoreditch, Cook and Confectioner, both in -the county of Middlesex, and now a Prisoner for Debt in the Debtor's Prison for London and Middlesex, Whitecross-street, in the city of London, having been adjudged bankrupt under a Petition for adjudication of Bankruptcy, filed in her Majesty's Court of Bankruptcy in London, on the 30th day of December,1869, is hereby required to surrender himself to the Registrar of the said Court, at the first meeting of creditors to be held before the said Registrar, on the 28th day of January instant, at two o'clock in the afternoon precisely, at the said Court. Mr. Peter Paget, of No. 22, Basinghall-street, London, is the Official Assignee, and Mr. J. G.Watson, of No. 81, Basinghall-street, is the Solicitor acting in the bankruptcy

The London Gazette, 06 May 1870 announces that the hearing about the matter will be held on 25 May 1870.

What we can learn from this is that between 1865 an 1869 Arthur had been doing well and gone from operating out of Church Street to owning a Coffee Shop in Drury Lane. A search on the Internet shows a building standing on the site Grosvenor House, though probably not the original, now owned by the London School of Economics and operating as student accommodation.

Unfortunately by December 1869 he had been imprisoned in the Debtor's Prison at Whitecross Street and was facing bankruptcy proceedings. More information about Whitecross Street Prison can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitecross_Street_Prison with memories captured at https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/whitecross-debtors-prison

The year of Arthur's imprisonment is interesting as up till that year debtors had greater privileges than those imprisoned for other offences. Debtors could receive visitors and their own food and clothing and, where it was possible to do, continue to carry out their trade or profession. When we think of debtors' prisons the image that is conjured up is that created by Charles Dickens in Little Dorritt, whose father is sent to the Marshalsea Prison, which held a variety of offenders. Dickens' novel is partly based on his own experience as a child, when his father was sent to the Marshalsea for a debt to a baker. More on this can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshalsea

Arthur must have counted himself lucky that he found himself imprisoned among debtors like himself and not thrown into the general population at Newgate.

1869 also marked the enactment of the Debtors' Act which ended most imprisonment for debt. An excellent summary is available at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/london-metropolitan-archives/visitor-information/Documents/66-imprisoned-debtors.pdf

From the newspaper reports it seems that Arthur may still have been in Whitecross before the May hearing, but he may have been at liberty. I have not found any follow up report on the proceedings in the Gazette and will need to check offline sources in the future. The next record for Arthur is the 1871 England Census which lists his occupation as a cook.

Arthur's financial situation may not have been so bad, as the evidence indicates that he recovered in the next 10 years. The London City Directory 1880 now lists him under the category of Refreshment Rooms, based at (238) Graham Road in Hackney. The 1881 England Census gives the family's address as Dining Rooms, Graham Road and lists Arthur as a cook employing 1 man. 

And so Mignot's Restaurant is established.

The 1891 England Census shows the it is really a family business. Arthur is now listed as a restaurant and coffee keeper, son Thomas James is a cook and daughter Eliza Rebecca is an assistant. Today Graham Road, otherwise known as the A1207 is a long road with shops at one end and residential properties at the other. The photograph on the Internet shows a bridal business occupying the site, but above is what must be original to Arthur's time.

By 1901 Arthur and Emma are no longer living above the business and have moved in with son Arthur and his wife Florrie in 21 Colebrooke Row in Islington. Arthur's occupation is still listed as restauranteur and coffee house.

Looking at the records relating to Thomas, we find in 1901 him and his wife, Eliza Robertson, now living above the business at 238 Graham Road. Thomas is listed as restauranteur and coffee and must also still be doing the cooking! 

By 1911 Arthur has lost his wife Emma (who died in 1910) and is living alone in Homerton, at 26 Mehetabal Road.He is listed as a retired caterer. He dies in January 1914.

The 1911 England Census shows Thomas and his wife now living with their 2 daughters, still above 238 Graham Road. They also employ 1 female domestic servant.

The London England Electoral Register 1933 shows that the family have moved from Graham Road to 59 Benthal Road in Bethnal Green; in 1935 their address is 38 Amhurst Park in Hackney. By 1939 Thomas and Eliza are now living alone at 8 Downhills Avenue in Tottenham. Thomas' occupation is listed as cook (chef) retired. 

Thomas dies the following year. 

Very little information is available online about the restaurant or what happened after Thomas and his family moved out. I did come across an interesting short review in The Bell News And Ringers Record: A Weekly Journal of the Ringing Exercise; and Compendium of Information for the Clergy and Churchwardens. The review appears in Vol. XI, No. 562, Saturday 14 January 1893. 

The top of page 468 recalls the annual meeting of The St John-at-Hackney Society, which had been held on Saturday 07 January 1893. It says,

At seven o'clock the members adjourned to the Hackney Restaurant, Graham Road, where host Mignot had provided a most excellent repast.

The advert at the top of this post was dated 1895. Whether the establishment was called Mignot's or The Hackney Restaurant is unclear, though it certainly implies the promise of the personal touch described previously. What we do know is that the praise is for Arthur as host and no doubt some credit would go to Thomas as the chef.