'Heimath' and Christ Church Crouch End Hill, c1905

Heimath was the most northerly of a group of large houses that stood on the west side of Crouch End Hill until the middle of the last century (See tag).

At the time of the photo, the house was home to Susannah Cockhead. Susannah came by, what today would be considered an unfortunate surname, when she married bookseller George Cockhead of Lohman & Cockhead in Bayswater.

In 1861, the couple gave birth to a son Leslie. After George died in 1879, Susannah moved to Kensington and from there to Crouch End. The house appears originally to have been name Hillside, but had become Heimath (german for 'home') by the mid-1890s.

In 1847 her father, confectioner William Pearce, had started a powdered deserts business with George Duff. Pearce Duff produced powdered blancmange, custard, baking powder etc. Business grew well over the first 20 years and by 1866 the pair had opened a factory in Long Lane, Borough.

I assume it was her father's wealth that allowed Susannah to set up in comfort first in Kensington and then Crouch End.

Her son Leslie joined the Pearce Duff business and took a role on the board. By 1920, he had moved out of Crouch End to a house in Pembridge Square.

Pearce Duff is still running today, although the family lost control in the early 1990s.