Number 45a Holland Street 1881 – Roe & Merchant, Aerated Water Works

Please note Caldwell Street was called Holland Street in 1881 – see here.

Kelly’s Directory 1881 tells us that at 45a Holland street was Roe & Merchant’s Aerated Water Works.

Click here to see where this property would have stood on a modern day map.

Expanding on the info taken from Kelly’s Directory and looking at the Census we find out a little more…

Due to the fact that the Census for 1881 for this part of the street is damaged I have had to examine the census from 1871 and 1891 to see the Aerated Water Works is listed. This business is not on the 1871 Census but luckily it appears on that of 1891.

We can see a Mr Samuel Palethorpe living here with his profession listed as ‘Mineral Water Workforceman’ and so we can see that ten years after Kelly’s directory 1881 this business is still in existence.

Name	Relation to head of household	Age	Year born	Town of birth	City of birth	Country of birth	Profession
Samuel Palethorpe	Head	45	abt 1846	Gummelstone	Nottinghamshire	England	Mineral Water Workforceman
Elizabeth Palethorpe	Wife	43	abt 1848	Canterbury	Kent	England	/

The production of ‘aerated water’ in Victorian times was a profitable trade as ginger beer, soda water and a whole host of other drinks were very popular. For more information on the growth of the soft drinks industry in the UK click here, the document that the link takes you to contains some really interesting London-based history and photographs.

An example of the sort of equipment used in the business of water aeration.