Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A Turn of the Screw in Wood Green
One of the key members of Wood Green's Industrial sector during the first half of the Twentieth century was Davis & Timmins.
Founded in 1876 by Henry Timmins and French-born Emile Davis, the firm specialised in 'turned work of all descriptions' including screws, bolts, nuts, studs, washers, terminals, and later, small component parts for electrical work.
It was originally based in Bowling Green Road in Clerkenwell. The 1881 census shows that in that year Davis employed just 2 men and 12 boys. However, growth for the firm after this point was apparently rapid. In 1882, Timmins left and the factory moved to Charles Street, near Farringdon Station.
Fig. 1: 24 Church Street premises (now 24 Greville Street)
In 1892, the firm moved again, to premises at 34 York Road, King's Cross. Three years after the move the premises were enlarged.
By this time Emile was living at 14 Haringey Park Crouch End (still standing today).
In 1899, the company wanted to expand still further and needed to acquire additional factory space for the purpose. To enable this growth, the company was publicly listed and soon after the premises in Wood Green were built.
Fg. 2: London Middlesex Gazette January 6, 1900
The notice above from 1900 suggests the possibility that the company was in Wood Green shortly after the public listing. It also suggests that the company was expanding a factory they already occupied, referred to as being on Clarendon Road probably because it was close to the junction with Brook Road and extended across the road in 1900 (See Fig.5).
By this point, the company's customers included several government departments, including the War Office leading engineering firms and some of the main railway companies, including the Great Northern Railway Company.
Fig. 3: Davis & Timmins advert 1905
Fig. 4: Davis & Timmins factory c1905
Fig. 5: The factory was between Brook Road and Clarendon Road
Emile Davis died in 1900, aged just 56 and George took over as managing Director. The younger Davis also died young. He died from heart failure in 1922, aged just 48.
An advertisement placed in that year, guggest that the factory at Wood Green had continued to grow. It claimed that “The works at Wood Green cover an area of several acres”.
Below is a staff photo taken in around 1930.
Fig. 6: Staff photo at the Brook Road factory, c1930
Before WW2, the company acquired Gilson and Co screw manufacturers in Billet Works, Billet Road, Walthamstow. (later known as Walthamstow Turned Parts). in 1965 Davis & Timmins was acquired by GKN as a distributor of its products. (The Times April 6, 1966)
The factory remained at Wood Green until the mid-Sixties when it was taken over by Delta Metal.
In 1897, Emile Davis, George Davis and his French wife Charlotte had moved to Truro House (still standing at the junction of Green Lanes and Oakthorpe Road in Palmers Green). The house had been built in the mid-nineteenth century as the home of lawyer, judge and Lord Chancellor, Thomas Wilde, Baron Truro of Bowes.
Davis died of a stroke in 1922. Kelly's Directories list Charlotte as continuing to live there until her death in 1936, when she was succeeded by her daughter, Charlotte J. Davis. The younger Charlotte lived there with her French housekeeper, Mlle Florence Zanotti. In 1975 Truro House was given a Grade 2 listing by English Heritage. Charlotte died in 1995, at the age of 98, having lived for her whole life in the House.
Fig. 7: Truro House, Palmers Green
Tags for Forum Posts: hornsey park, wood green, wood green industry
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by EMC2 on
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Good stuff Hugh, those gasometer holders in the photo* look like Kings Cross? The local Gasometer adjacent to Brook Road, built in 1929, looked like this:
*Site Admin: Photo now removed
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh on -
Thanks Eugene. The picture came from a Haringey Council sourced document which suggested it showed Wood Green. Thanks to your eagle eyes and intimate knowledge of your own backyard, I've now edited out that suggestion!
PS Did You see the post on the tobacco factory?
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Seems pic shows Goods Way, Kings Cross- https://www.flickr.com/photos/warsaw1948/6613956117
Also excellent stuff on the tobacco factory Hugh. They're apparently going to call the new development on the Gasometer site "Clarendon N8"
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh on -
So it was shot pretty near Davis & Timmins Head Office and warehouse then!
I wonder where the Clarendon name came from?
Perhaps this little notice from Dec 7th 1901 deserves a space in the forthcoming "Clarendon N8" development:
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh on -
Short history now updated and expanded. Additional images added.
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Permalink Reply by Geraldine on
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The clarity of the staff photo is wonderful. So many old black and white photos are like that. Knock the iPhone selfies into a cocked hat. Most interesting. Thanks, Hugh!
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Permalink Reply by Ernest Payne on
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After a Secondary Technical education at Enfield Technical School the only local apprenticeship available was at Davis and Timmins, which I attended very briefly being involved in cutting up, drilling and screwing component parts for Colibri cigarette lighters.
I eventually had an apprenticeship at De Havilland Aircraft Co, and completed a successful career in Quality Engineering.It was all far removed from my time at D & T.
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh on -
Thanks, Ernest. Do any of the buildings pictured above look familiar?
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Do not have memory of Wood Green factory building.
The one memory I still have is coming home reeking of the smell of the oil from the screwcutting machinery.
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Now that's a bit of personal interest there Ernest. My older brother Brian left Downhills (Grammar ?) School on Philip Lane/West Green Road in 1956 and secured a job in Davis and Timmins machine shop. He only lasted around 6 months due to bad reaction with cutting oils, apparently used and sprayed out in vast quantities.
He then took a job with a very small engineering shop at bottom of Hewitt Road just off Green Lanes opposite the old Coliseum cinema, Harringay. He thinks the name of this engineering outfit was Colibri ! (But it could be they only made components for Colibri ?) But coincidence you mentioned that name.
But on another point............I attended Enfield Technical College/School in early 70's but for life of me can't remember where it was located. So wonder if it was same establishment, if so where might that have been ?
If you get time or inclination Ernest maybe you can throw some light on this ?
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Admin for testingPermalink Reply by Hugh -
I've just had an email from a lady living in Australia wondering if her mum might be in the photo. Does anyone know anyone who might be able to name any of the people in Fig. 6?
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