Draft:Tooting Market

Introduction

Tooting Market, which sits at number 21-23 on the High Street in the borough of Tooting in South London, is one of London’s oldest indoor markets, having existed since the early 20th century. It is home to a variety of traders, including multicultural food vendors, retail shops, tailors and fabric sellers and hair and beauty salons.

Blue plaques hang above the High Street and Totterdown Street entrances to the Market. Unveiled at a ceremony on Sunday 2^nd October 2022, these two community-funded plaques recognise the contribution of people from all over the world who have come to Tooting and feature the words of Edward Mears, winner of a local schools’ competition. The inscription captures the multiculturalism of the borough:          

            “Incredible. Invincible. A community of all, for all. We are Tooting.”

Many migrants have traded at Tooting Market over the years and it is also where some well-known British high-street names began their fledgling businesses.

Tooting Market in its current incarnation was founded in 1930, as per the inscription carved into the red and white entrance fronting the High Street. The British Newspaper Archive (BNA) has detailed reports of the grand opening in October of that year. Advertised as the ‘Greatest Shopping Centre in South London’ a half page spread announced the 'NEW TOOTING MARKET' with ‘Bargains for All’, ‘trams and buses passing the door’ and Tooting Broadway Underground close by.   

                                             

The Market however has a history that predates 1930, to an earlier site in the Mitcham Road Tooting. The Mayor’s words at the opening ceremony in 1930 referenced this:

“The last time I was in a place called Tooting Market it was a shambles of smoking embers with ramshackle ruins… It was an evil day alike for the stall holders and the people of Tooting who were accustomed to obtaining their requirements in the market.

Sir Alfred (Butt) was most prompt in rendering financial assistance to the more distressed of the stallholders and out of evil good has come.”

Tooting & Tooting Market 1916-1930 (Add sources to this section/ citations)

Tooting borough in the early twentieth century had extended at a notable rate. This was largely due to the construction of the Totterdown Fields Estate, with over 1,200 homes built between 1901 and 1911, and the arrival of a tramline from Central London, completed in 1903 (ADD SOURCE).

In 1896 its population was just over 7,000 but this increased to 36,000 by 1911 (ADD SOURCE).. Many families had moved out of the East End of London when slum clearance began and sought a better way of life in the suburbs. The daily needs of the inhabitants were met by a rapidly developing shopping district, with markets in Tooting well before 1930. Tooting Market and Blunt’s Market, both in Mitcham Road, and the parade of shops at Amen Corner known as Furzedown Market, all started trading in the early 1900s. There was also a market at Tooting Junction dating from the late 1920s.

Leisure pursuits were fulfilled by Tooting Library in Mitcham Road (1902 with an upper floor added in 1908), the Lido at Tooting Bec (1906), and the creation of numerous picture houses from as early as 1909, culminating in the construction of the Granada Cinema in Mitcham Road in 1930, now Grade 1 listed and a Bingo Hall. The Wesleyan Methodist Central Hall was built in November 1910 as a venue for concerts, talks and films and had a capacity to seat almost 2,000 people.

A decade or so later the extension of the Underground to Tooting Broadway, completed in 1926, also proved a huge benefit for the area.  

In his book Days that are Gone, published in 1947, AJ Hurley writes, “Immediately as the news spread that the Tube was coming to Balham and Tooting property at once began to increase in value, and enterprising businesses quickly bought up available sites for future development. Many of the smaller shop holders sold out at a good profit and, especially in the vicinity of Tooting Broadway and Mitcham Road, the seal of prosperity was set on the trading enterprise.”

The covered Tooting Market

A letter dated 21^st January 1916 to the architects’ department of the London County Council (LCC) on behalf of Mr S Frost, presumably the owner of the site, proposed a plan to erect a building at 19 Mitcham Road which would provide a trading shelter for costermongers.

‘…the  building shall be an empty shell on one floor only about 40 feet by 145 feet and with such means of escape from fire as you may approve. The costermongers whose tenancies will be more or less of a temporary nature will provide their own stalls and barrows in the same way as they are now doing in the open air on the same site forming a kind of retail market. The building will be closed at night and there is open land at the rear where the refuse can be dealt with.’

A Streatham News article from July 1916 reports that ‘the newly constructed Tooting Market is now completed. This is a much needed improvement and people who patronise the class of trader will find greater convenience than hitherto’. 

A 1921 plan shows the covered market at 19 Mitcham Road and the open yard behind accessed by a narrow passageway.    During a court case in 1929 a magistrate enquired why East End street traders came to Tooting to ply their wares, in this case silk stockings. A police constable explained the appeal of the district: ‘Tooting was thickly populated and a good marketplace.’

By the end of that same year the stallholders of Tooting Market in Mitcham Road, were most likely benefiting from this thriving marketplace.

However on Christmas Eve 1929 they were dealt a blow when they were served with notice to quit after 14 years of trading, operative on 19th January 1930, when the site was purchased by developers. The site had been bought by Messrs Woolworth’s Ltd. who intended to build a large store at Tooting.

Reports from the time underline the importance of the market to both stallholders and customers: ‘Tooting Market was opened in 1916. It is one of the busiest trading centres in the district. The premises are roofed in and house a miscellaneous collection of stalls, many of which have a very considerable average weekly turnover.’

In some quarters the sale was seen as a benefit to the area. A Streatham News article on the 10th January 1930 mentions the sale of Tooting Market and the ambitious scheme of development on the site, suggesting it would increase the importance of Tooting Broadway as the business and social centre of Tooting.

There had apparently been good demand for houses for owner occupation during 1929 and also keen demand for main road sites for business purposes. Older properties were being demolished to make way for modern garages and the erection of manufacturing or other business premises. 

However for the current stallholders the sale would have presented an end to their livelihoods. A reporter who visited the market after the news of the imminent closure found them dismayed at the prospect of having to leave, but hopeful of being able to avert what would be for some of them a ‘great calamity.’ 

However for the current stallholders the sale would have presented an end to their livelihoods. A reporter who visited the market after the news of the imminent closure found them dismayed at the prospect of having to leave, but hopeful of being able to avert what would be for some of them a ‘great calamity.’  Were the market to close, about 200 people would have been deprived of their means of livelihood.

One of the stallholders said the notice “had come as a bombshell. It was a nice Christmas box! I don't know where to go if the market is abolished. We are taking legal advice and are thinking about claiming compensation. The least we expect is an extension of the notice.”

On 7th January 1930, the M.P. Sir Alfred Butt intervened and attempted to settle the dispute between the stallholders and the owner of the site Messrs Woolworth’s Ltd. Efforts were apparently being made to find a new market and it looked as though the stallholders might be granted an extension of 10 weeks beyond 19th January.

On 10^th January it was reported that the stallholders’ notice had been extended and that they were well satisfied with the arrangements made. One commented “that they had been handsomely met and we're well satisfied with the result. As a businessman I recognise that the owners of the site have the right to put it to the use they think best. My regret is that the tenants were not given the first opportunity of purchasing the freehold.”

Fire of 1930

On 30^th January 1930 Tooting market was engulfed by fire – although luckily an incident without fatalities. Newspaper reports from the time recount:

‘Twelve fire engines were called to the scene of a major fire at Tooting Market. Inside were three hundred people, comprising stallholders and shoppers, who tried to save as many of the goods as possible, but they had to leave when the roof was in danger of falling in.’

‘Soon after the last person got out of the building into Tooting Broadway the roof of the market fell in, and a shower of sparks shot up into the air.’

‘Fifty-two shops were gutted with only eight out of eighty shops being saved from the flames.

The fire spread quickly through the market and at one time threatened to reach the Wesleyan Central Hall, the Woolworth’s Emporium and other shops.’  

‘Firemen poured tons of water into the market and at last extinguished the blaze.’

The stallholders suffered heavy losses in the fire which was reported as ‘the demolition of their little livelihood’, with some having failed to renew their insurance policies due to the imminent closure of the market.

The fire was thought to have originated in a shirt stall within the market, although nothing was proved to this effect.  

The new Tooting Market 1930-1950

James Evans Powell bought the site on which Tooting Market now stands. Born in 1880 of Welsh parents at Newton near Glasgow, Powell studied at an agricultural college in Yorkshire in his youth. The 1921 Census records him as a manufacturing chemist in Croydon, an employer at 3-5 Frith Road, aged 41 and unmarried.

Land Registry records on Find My Past confirm that in July 1925 James Evans Powell became the freehold proprietor of 23 High Street, Tooting, and the adjacent six cottages in Angel Court. At some point he also acquired the adjoining premises at number 21 which would give the entire plot a wider frontage onto the High Street. By the beginning of the new decade 50 year old James Evans Powell was, according to rate books, the registered owner of the site proposed for the new Tooting market.

It is possible that Mr Powell may have benefited financially as the London manager of Hall Lewis and Co., a Wagon Finance company, when it floated as a public company in 1925. He may have decided to invest in property in the prospering neighbourhood of Tooting where his elder brother Dr Daniel Powell had a well-established medical practice at 101 High Street. 

On 7^th February 1930, a week after the fire, it was reported that the Mayor Cllr T. Fox paid a visit to the charred remains of the Market and gave an assurance to the stallholders that the Borough Council would expedite the building of a new market on the site of Angel Court (High Street).  (ADD SOURCE)

Shortly after the Mayor’s assurance the market’s architect John James Joass made an application to the London County Council (LCC) on 11th February 1930 for ‘the covering over of Angel Court next High Street.'

A close look at records in the London Metropolitan Archives reveals that the very first drawings  for the new market were submitted on 31st January 1930, the day after the fire, suggesting that the site had already been earmarked for development at an earlier date.

John James Joass was a renowned architect and Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and it is perhaps unusual that he applied his expertise to a relatively low-profile project like Tooting Market. It’s quite likely however that there were links between the builder Henry G White, the architect JJ Joass and the owner James E Powell, and that they moved in the same business, political and social circles. When J.E. Powell  was working for Hall, Lewis and Co., his offices in Pall Mall were only a few blocks away from those of J.J. Joass in St James’s Place. H.G. White was a prominent member of Battersea Council and for a short time Powell was a Tooting councillor, so it’s most likely their paths crossed too. White’s construction company was based in Chelsea where Joass also lived for a time, and both had links to Poole in Dorset. 

Adding to this group of businessman were the MP Sir Alfred Butt and Alderman AJ Hurley, owner and editor of the Tooting and Balham Gazette.

According to reports of the time, residents had expressed concern that the (building) contract had not been awarded to a local firm. However it was reported that the contractor H.G. White, even though a councillor for Battersea, considered himself to be ‘a local’ and had in fact employed a local workforce.

Plans for the new Tooting Market (today’s site)

By March 1930 discussions were underway with the council for the new L-shaped market. Images from the London Metropolitan Archives show that in June 1930 the plans for the site were revised to fulfil the council’s request for both market entrances to be set further back from the road, allowing greater pavement space for the potential 1,200 customers.

On 25th June James Evans Powell, as the owner and freeholder of the site, signed the application to the London County Council for its consent ‘to the erection of a building (covered market) at 22 Totterdown Street, Tooting and 21-23 Tooting High Street.’

Two weeks later on 10^th July the London County Council approved the formation and ‘laying out of a street for foot traffic to lead from Totterdown Street to Tooting High Street. James Evans Powell now had planning consent for his new Tooting Market.

This entry in a 1930 Rate Book shows that the buildings at 21/ 23 High Street and Angel Court were demolished, creating the entrance to Tooting Market. These were subsequently developed by architects Messrs Belcher and Joass of Saint James's Place, and builders Messrs White and Johnson of College Place, Chelsea.

Whilst developing the site the architects had been hampered by surrounding properties which divided the area. The disused burial site behind what had once been the Defoe/Congregational Chapel at 19 High Street may have caused problems. A 1930 plan of the market shows the burial ground shaded in mauve to the rear of what by then had become shops. In 2014 campaigners won a decisive victory against an application to develop the site. Plans to remodel the façade were withdrawn and in 2015, during works to extend the retail premises, human remains were unearthed in the cemetery grounds and re-interred elsewhere on the site.

Opening of the new Tooting Market

The new Tooting Market opened on Thursday 23rd October 1930, and the event was comprehensively reported in the local newspapers the following day. The photo which appeared in the Streatham News shows not only the big turnout but also James Powell’s butcher’s stall on the right. It’s also possible to see a partial sign top left for Bargain Centre, a grocery stall established by Jack Cohen, who would later go on to found the Tesco supermarket chain.

‘Enthusiastic scenes were witnessed yesterday at the opening ceremony. Thousands of people congregated inside the premises and in the streets adjoining, thus giving a tremendous send off to the new project.

A big posse of police had great difficulty in controlling the crowd which swept down the rope barriers and literally raided the place in their keen anxiety to hear and see the opening ceremony.’

There were details too on the layout and structure of the new market which was double the size of the old one and  described as, ‘undoubtedly a great asset to the marketing industry of Tooting.’

‘The market runs from the Broadway to Totterdown Street through what was formerly Angel Court. It's total cost exclusive of site will not be much less than £10,000. In all respects it is the last word in London markets.’

‘The construction is most solid. There are two large entrances, one from the High Street, Tooting’s main thoroughfare and the other in Totterdown Street and both have imposing frontages of white Atlas cement with the words in bold type Tooting Market 1930.’

Comparing this description of the frontages at the time of opening vs what stands today, the white frontage has, in part, been painted red and ‘1930’ has disappeared from the Totterdown Road entrance (although remains at the High Street entrance).

A number of the old stallholders from the Mitcham Road site transferred to the new market. Dignitaries attending included the Mayor of Wandsworth Councillor T. Cox, Sir  Alfred Butt, Alderman A.J. Hurley, Dr Daniel E. Powell, the proprietor Mr James E. Powell , the builder Cllr H. G. White and several of the leading stallholders.

In his speech at the opening of the new market, Sir Alfred Butt commented:

“Whilst I don't pretend to be an expert… I cannot help thinking that the new Tooting Market is far superior in every way to the old one. …it’s now possible to purchase practically any article from a mouse trap to a gramophone.”

‘There is everything to satisfy the inner man: you can be clothed on the most advantageous terms; also there is music to comfort you, and toys to bring joy to the children. All these things are obtainable in the stalls around us.’

‘What most pleases me is that the entire new market is essentially British throughout. I don't pretend to know whether the contents of the stores are all British, but I'm informed that the great percentage of the goods are.’

‘I have little doubt that it is going to be a great success and contribute another important monument to the growing prosperity of Tooting.’

By January 1931, three months after opening, the market was deemed to be an undoubted asset to Tooting and a ‘boon to the housewife.’

It is of note that competition was also emerging, with the enlarged Woolworth’s in Mitcham Road now one of the largest stores in South London.

Reports from the time allude to the investment potential of Tooting – ‘Property in the form of shops, houses and land are to be regarded as the safest possible form of investment …and investors are turning more and more to this class of investment which offers ample return on the money invested.’

Second Fire July 1933

Tooting Market was struck by another fire in July 1933. It was the biggest blaze South-West London had known for many years and strenuous efforts on the part of over forty firemen were needed to subdue it. Damage was estimated at £20,000.

It was reported that the fire had broken out shortly before 2am and flames thirty feet high were soon shooting through the roof. Within a few minutes the whole of the Totterdown Street end of the market was a sheet of flames and the entire north wing, over 100 yards long, was destroyed. According to eyewitness statements: “Flames were coming through the roof and at the Totterdown end the road was very hot from the heat of the fire. The poor old market looked just like a piece of white-hot iron with sparks flying off it.”

‘After the blaze all that was left of the portion of Tooting Market which was destroyed by fire early on Sunday morning. PC Buck (left) and PC Bowden (right) who did heroic work in rescuing horses from a neighbouring stable.’

The new Tooting Market was believed to have been indestructible by fire after an assurance by its builder, Councillor H G White. When the market first opened he had declared that “If all the rest of Tooting were reduced to ashes, the market would remain a monument to the greatness of the district."

However despite the scale of the fire it reopened just a few months later in October 1933. It is possible the 1930 date carved on the Totterdown façade, as reported at the opening ceremony, was damaged in the fire and not replaced.

‘The portion of Tooting Market which was destroyed by fire was opened yesterday by the Mayor of Wandsworth, the section having been re-built. Shoppers were soon busy at the stalls’.

Notable traders

By 1934 there were 31 stalls in the market, almost half of which were run by traders from the old market in Mitcham Road. A number of these were from Jewish families which reflected what was happening in high streets in the first half of the 20th Century, as Jewish families moved out of central London and set up businesses in the suburbs, particularly in Tooting. Many of them were bespoke tailors such as the Cedar, Shavick and Krett families.

The Emanuels were an old established Jewish family of fruiterers and greengrocers who feature throughout much of the old and new market’s history. They ran a stall at the High Street entrance for over 50 years. 

Records from the early 1930s how new names such as grocers Cohen and Freeman trading as Bargain Centres (London) Ltd.  Jack Cohen went on to establish the supermarket chain we know today as Tesco’s.

In the book Nothing like a Dame (2007) Dame Shirley Porter says that her birth in November 1930 coincided with her father Jack’s preparations for his Bargain Centre stall in Tooting Market.

One of the goods Jack repackaged and sold in the early 1920s was tea, which is how the name TESCO originated. The tea was from Thomas Edward Stockwell, so Jack made labels using the initials of the supplier's name (TES) and the first two letters of his surname (CO), forming the word TESCO. The Tesco brand first formally appeared in 1924. In addition to being the proprietor of the market, James Evans Powell also ran stalls himself and is shown variously in trade directories over the years as a tobacconist, a butcher, a greengrocer, and a china and glass dealer. Records show too that he owned a garage at 28 Totterdown Street right next door to the rear entrance of the market. 

Broadway Market

Tooting Market faced strong competition from the new Broadway Market when it opened in the High Street on 19th March 1936, situated just a few yards away. Claiming to be the largest in South London it had several advantages over Tooting Market, being closer to Tooting Broadway underground station and having two entrances onto the High Street, as well as a third on Longmead Road.

Correspondence from early 1936 at the London Metropolitan Archives highlights James Evans Powell’s concern about the potential rival market.

Having surrendered a strip of land at his market’s entrance in 1930 to comply with building line regulations he felt it should now be restored to him, as newer premises in the High Street had not been bound by the same ‘set back’ criteria. As a result Tooting Market was now, he felt, obscured from view in the direction of Tooting Broadway and would be affected by the new market, the entrances to which had not been required to be set back.

The appeal seems to have been considered favourably by the Borough Council. However, when writing to the LCC on his client’s behalf, architect JJ Joass explained that Mr Powell was ‘suffering considerable loss’.

The LCC rejected the application, stating it would set an ‘undesirable precedent and that in view of the large number of persons (about 1,200) for which there is accommodation in the market it appears desirable that the pavement should be as wide as possible. They suggested the question of publicity might however be overcome by the erection of a suitable sign or projecting shelter.'

Tooting’s new Shopping Centre at Broadway Market

Broadway Market’s forthcoming opening was publicised ‘with something to interest everyone.’ In addition to the variety of shops there were to be cookery and washing demonstrations. 

Visitors were enticed to attend on 19^th March by the offer of a free tea or coffee at J Lyons and Co. the well-known caterers, who had a shop in the centre of the market.

Speaking to the large crowd at the opening ceremony Mr Haynes, Chairman of the Tooting and Borough Chamber of Commerce commented on the differing views about the creation of another market. He said it “could be argued that ‘there were abundant facilities for trading already and that additional shops took business from the existing traders but on the other hand it could be said that the more business premises there were the greater attraction to the shopper.”

Tooting Market owner James Powell

James Powell had a number of business interests beyond the Market, with records showing that he owned farms in Surrey and Sussex during the 1930s and 1940s. He is also listed at various addresses in Tooting and the surrounding area - potentially he was renting rooms so that he could oversee trading within the market.

Next door at number 35 was listed a Mrs Daisy Lilian Boddington, keeping house for her elderly mother-in-law and 21 year old son, Edward. Daisy’s younger son George aged 12 is not recorded here and her husband Frederick Boddington, a fireman, was recorded as living in fire station accommodation not in the family home.

At some point after that date a friendship between Daisy Boddington and James Evans Powell must have developed, as by 1946 James Evans Powell, now aged 66, had moved into number 35 Montana Road with Daisy. This would have consequences for Tooting Market.   

In the 1940 Post Office Directory for Tooting Market there are some familiar stallholders from 1934: the Emanuels, Jack Cohen (Bargain Centres), James Powell (two stalls), Eggee Ltd and Fred Romaine the fishmonger. Pamela Goodyer, a Tooting local whose father was fishmonger Will Black, recalls: ‘I remember my Dad working at the market, and while my mum was chatting to Fred and my dad,  I took all the live eels out of their tray and put them on the ground. I got a right telling off!’  

The 1940s would have been a challenging time for the Tooting Market stallholders, in a period of rationing and queues.

The scheme for food rationing introduced by the British government in 1940 was designed to ensure fair shares for all at a time of national shortage. Everyone, children included, was given a ration book with coupons. These were required before rationed goods such as sugar, meat, fat, bacon, cheese and eggs could be purchased. Housewives had to register with particular retailers, so many in Tooting would have turned to their well trusted stallholders in the market, hoping too that as regulars they might also get ‘something under the counter’.

In 1941 the Wandsworth Food Control Committee looked into a report that a trader in a Tooting Market had 18,000 eggs and was selling a dozen at a time to his customers. Eggs were rationed and normally sold singly, so this would likely have caused a stir amongst shoppers and news would have spread fast. It’s likely the stallholder in question would have been Eggee Ltd. in Tooting Market. However, all was above board as it was a legitimate supply based on their sales pre-war. 

Fruit and vegetables were never rationed but were often in short supply, especially tomatoes, onions and certain fruit, such as bananas, which were shipped from overseas. The first import of bananas in 1946 caused ‘panic’ in Tooting Market according to a newspaper report.

‘Tooting Market had its first bananas on Monday afternoon. The crowd of 400 people besieged Davis’s store. It was an amazing scene …. women hurried up the market dragging children behind them as if the bananas were being given away.’

Post Second World War

As female fashion developed after the war, the trend for affordable ready-to-wear clothes was reflected in the High Street shops, and not least in Tooting Market where Jack(ie) Brafman, the self-styled ‘Yiddisher Dior’ traded as a ladies’ outfitters having taken over the business from his parents Morris and Bella Brafman.

Jack was to become one of the most popular traders in Petticoat Lane. He is still remembered in Tooting Market for his distinctive sales patter, selling dresses at rock bottom prices. On the 1939 Register he is shown as an ‘auctioneer’- a glorified term for a market trader delivering his sales pitch.

Another notable trader was Charlie Watkins. It was in Tooting Market in 1949 that Charlie Watkins and his brother opened a record stall and started a mail order service for sheet music. Named Melody Corner it proved an instant success.

Recognising the need for superior sound amplification Charlie Watkins would go on to found WEM (Watkins Electric Music) famed for manufacturing PA systems and  loudspeaker stacks. His equipment would provide the major element in the ‘Sounds of the ‘60s’ and significantly change the music festival scene.

In 1950 James Evans Powell, now 70, moved  to Court Lodge Farm, Bletchingley, with his housekeeper Daisy L. Boddington.

Tooting Market 1950s onwards                                                                                                                                                            

Life was still difficult for many post-war, but it did gradually improve during the 1950s. All rationing came to an end in 1954 giving way to wider choice and availability.

This would have likely led to fierce trading at Tooting Market as stallholders competed for the housewife’s custom, particularly with the advent of self-service cut-price grocers such as Anthony Jackson, whose Food Fare stall opened in Tooting Market in 1953. He would have sold all the staples: it was the age of spam fritters, salmon paste sandwiches, tinned fruit with evaporated milk, fish on Fridays and a tinned ham salad for tea on Sunday.                         

However, just as traders may have thought life in the market was getting back to normal there were further changes ahead.

Change of ownership 1957

On 15^th July 1957 James Evans Powell died at his farm in Bletchingley aged 77. Newspapers at the time reporting on Mr Powell’s death mention his early career with Hall, Lewis and Co’s Wagon Finance Company, his involvement with the building of Tooting Market, and his brief time as a Wandsworth Councillor. It was noted that during his twelve years at Court Lodge Farm he had become a well-liked and respected member of the local farming community. 

On 19^th July the funeral and interment were held at St Mary’s Church, with Mrs Daisy Boddington aged 67, and her younger son George W.F. Boddington, as the chief mourners. Old stalwarts of the market also came to pay their respects, namely Louis Pater the ladies’ outfitter, Fred Romaine the fishmonger and Mr Emanuel the fruiterer.        

As James Powell was a single man with no children, the future ownership of Tooting Market was uncertain. All became clear once probate was granted in early September 1957 and the details of James Powell’s will were released, stating that Mrs Daisy Lilian Boddington was to inherit. News of the James Powell’s £80,000 bequest to his housekeeper was reported in the papers:

“Mr Powell….. left his effects to Mrs Daisy L Boddington…and the residue on trust to her for life and then to George W F Boddington. ( George is incorrectly shown as Charles)

The bequest was to acknowledge his sincere appreciation of the great kindness and help shown to him by Mrs Boddington who had looked after him for over 20 years and attended him night and day during his recent illness.”

George Walter Frederick Boddington, born 1927, was the younger of Daisy’s two sons. Her elder son  Edward William Studholme Boddington did not feature in the will and James’ sister only received an annuity of £250.  Daisy’s husband Frederick Boddington, a fireman, had died aged 66 in 1957 prior to the death of James Powell, having lived apart from his wife for ten years.

Daisy Boddington was now the new owner of Tooting Market. James Powell would have needed a manager to oversee the market whilst he was living at Court Lodge Farm and it’s possible the young George Boddington might have assisted in its running.

George and his wife Eileen had moved into 35 Montana Road in Tooting by 1948 once James and Daisy had moved permanently to Bletchingley, so were living within easy reach of the market.

Market to cater for late night shoppers

In 1960 the market’s opening hours were extended to cater for late-night shoppers. Mindful that this would give housewives, especially those who went  out to work, more free time at the weekend, the shops would remain open until 7.30pm on Fridays as from 3^rd June 1960. The scheme was welcomed by the stallholders who promoted special offers as an incentive to their customers.

1960s

Whilst commenting on the new initiative George Boddington praised the market for the very wide selection of goods on sale ‘as he looked down the arcade at the open-fronted shops selling food, clothing, fabrics, jewellery, household articles and records.’

In 1960 George Boddington made a detailed planning application for a new stall within the market called Beauty Box, likely tapping into the blossoming cosmetics market which accompanied the London fashion explosion of the ‘Swinging Sixties’.

In the 1960 Post Office Directory there are still some long-familiar names in the market such as Emanuel, Pater, Romaine and Brafman. The range of goods on sale had not changed a great deal over the previous two decades, with traders still catering for the shoppers’ everyday needs.

But there were newcomers such as Express Key Cutting who offered a ‘while you wait service’.

Richard, a Tooting resident, recalled how as a young boy he helped out for an hour after school, clearing up 4 days a week at 5 shillings each time.

“The stallholders were two local brothers, Bill and Eric, who also   sold hardware items and had a mailing system, so after my hour I would weigh, stamp and post numerous packages, keys or locks etc, at Tooting Post Office on my way home. The highlight in Tooting Market was listening to the latest pop music records blaring out of the record stall 20 yards away.”

Another new trader to the Market was Max Fox, a tailor by trade, who appears in the 1960 trade directory as a dyer and cleaner. Along with his wife Fay he also repaired and pressed  clothes. The wooden block shown pictured was used to beat down the seams to make them flat. His grandson Andrew Fox recalls his grandfather’s tiny shop In Tooting Market and neighbouring traders from the ‘60s :

“There would have been chalk to mark up garments and there were pins everywhere. The stall was white painted brick that had turned beige with cigarette and pipe smoke. The smell was fantastic, old tobacco, leather, cotton, dust, the smell of damp wool being ironed. The noise was the sound of the treadle, the hiss of the iron.

I used to love the market. The smells of the different stalls and the sounds. The smell from the fishmonger’s stall, the wonderful array of the toy shop. The café painted cream and red where I had my first taste of a pork sausage!”

'Eel Lady' of Tooting

Tales abound from that time of the ‘Eel Lady’ - probably Doris Edith Harrington, née Adams - who sold eels sitting on a stool in Tooting Market next to the dog food stall. She was a member of the Harrington family whose Eel and Pie House at 3 Selkirk Road, Tooting is still in existence today, having first opened its doors in 1908.  

Ron, a local Tooting researcher, provides his recollection of the Eel lady.

“She always had quite an audience as she chopped off the heads, and the remaining bodies slithered around for a while. Apparently she changed her method and expressions depending on the audience, pulling faces to alarm onlookers as the knife was administered, but then smiled and said, “they don't feel a thing.”

I remember her crossing over Tooting High Street from Harrington's in Selkirk Road with a trolley laden with containers of eels and other seafood. She took her life in her hands by stepping out in front of vehicles without much warning and waving (sometimes with only two fingers!!) before proceeding into the market and offloading her eels into the large containers at her stall.

She had very few teeth but managed to wedge her lipstick-covered fag end between two of them, puffing away intermittently. She wore her hair up in a bun with traces of yellowish nicotine forming 'highlights' that were deposited when she tidied her grey hair with her fingers.  She is definitely one of my favourite Tooting characters.”

By 1960 Anthony Jackson’s Food Fare had a competitor with the arrival of Victor Value, a rapidly expanding self-service supermarket chain also offering discounted prices.Jackson’s responded to the challenge with half page advertisements claiming to be ‘the name that made supermarkets famous.’

In 1962 Court Lodge Farm was sold, and its herd of Guernsey cattle and machinery were put up for auction. This included tractors, ploughs, potato planters and cultivators, so it had been very much a working farm. (ADD SOURCE) At some point after this Daisy Boddington moved to a smaller semi-detached property at Tilgate Common in Bletchingley, and it was there that she died on 7th September 1977 aged 86. Like her benefactor she is buried in St Mary’s Church, Bletchingley.

Upon Daisy’s death her son George W F Boddington and his wife Eileen were appointed as her Executors and Trustees.

According to the terms of her Will, Daisy bequeathed all her personal possessions to her daughter-in-law Eileen, but her real and personal estate would pass to her grandson, Peter Boddington, once he attained the age of 25. A year passed after Daisy’s death in September 1977 before Peter Boddington became the rightful owner of Tooting Market in August 1978.

1980s onwards                                                          

Entries in the 1980 Post Office Directory indicate that perhaps tastes were starting to change, with the appearance of stalls selling jewellery, gifts, greeting cards and a sandwich-grill bar, however largely Tooting Market still featured long-standing traders.

Emanuel G Ltd. Greengrocers, Pater Textiles Ltd., Brafman Jack Ltd. ladies outfitters, Eggee Ltd and Express Key Cutting were still trading, as were O’Grady’s Pet Stores and Garfield’s Shoes. Stannard now appears, having taken over the butcher’s stall at number 25 in the late sixties (Stannard’s still exists as the longest-serving trader in Tooting Market today).

In 1980 the Boddington’s had a tobacconist’s stall at number 1 Tooting Market, run by Peter Boddington. It had a prime position on the corner of the High Street entrance, opposite Emanuel’s Greengrocer’s. Peter was known to be a chain smoker himself. In 1997 owner Peter Boddington hit the headlines due to his protracted two-year legal battle with a railway operator which had imposed a cigarette ban on its trains.

It was stated that: ‘Mr Boddington, a 60-a-day smoker who sold cut price cigarettes in Tooting Market, was originally fined £10 for smoking on a non-smoking train between his home in Brighton and London. Facing prison for continuing to flout the law he took  his case to the High Court and the Court of Appeal in what he saw as a wider battle for smokers' rights on trains.”

BBC News reported on the long running case after the Lords dismissed his appeal. Peter Boddington’s battle had cost him dear as he was reported to be out of pocket tens of thousands of pounds. Commenting on the outcome BBC News explained that Mr Boddington “now travels home on trains operated by Virgin where he is allowed to puff away.”

Gloria Reid

In the late 1990s, Gloria Reid opened a stall in Tooting Market selling Caribbean food. Known as ‘Miss G’ she was a popular character with customers and traders alike. Over the years she featured in many articles written about the market as well as being a favourite subject for photographers. An image was taken of her in 2020 by a local award-winning photographer, Alex Lambert, appeared in both the 2020 Portrait of Britain book and Time Out magazine.

Gloria was a migrant who settled into British life. Born in Jamaica in 1943, she came to England at the age of 15, working firstly as a hairdresser then using her sewing skills at a coat factory in Liverpool Street. For a time she was a model and featured on a number of album covers for Reggae music. During an interview she talked about her love for the UK:

‘You will not find another country like this. If you are livin’ in England, you are livin’ good! There’s nothing better than the English. I’m not going to ever live nowhere else’.     

Gloria died in 2022, having run her stall for over 25 years. As a lasting tribute, her shop sign ‘Gloria’s’ hangs above the Totterdown Street entrance to Tooting Market.

Change of Ownership

Records show Peter Boddington as a director and his mother Eileen as a secretary of The Tooting Development Company, operating from Stall 1 of Tooting Market from 1995. Eileen Boddington died in 2002, and son Peter in 2004 at the age of 50. He was outlived by his father George who died in 2009 aged 82. The market then passed to Patricia Boddington, George’s second wife. In 2010 Tooting Market was sold to its current owners. This marked the end of a continuity of ownership that had lasted for 80 years, featuring just two names - Powell and Boddington.

Tooting Market today

Tooting Market today continues to be a central part of the borough’s life and commerce. The Market today is home to a wide range of traders including retail shops, hair salons and food and drink vendors that reflect the multiculturalism of the borough - offering cuisines including Mauritian, Guyanese, Japanese, Jamaican, Italian and Portuguese. It has played host to variety of music, cultural and community events and has now extended beyond the indoor market to include a street market in summer.

However, constants remain from it's original incarnation. More than 90 years on, there is still a fruiterer at the High Street entrance, although no longer run by the Emanuel family. The family-run Stannard’s butchers is a Tooting Market institution and currently its longest-serving trader, having been established in 1966. This was the site of James Powell’s original shop in 1930, shown in photographs at the opening.  A butcher’s shop has therefore existed on this same site for 95 years.