The building
This does not appear to be a listed building and it is not included in the Historic Environment Record. This is probably because it was substantially rebuilt after its acquisition by Le Riches Stores in 1933, together with the adjoining No 31. The two buildings, which connect with Vine Street at the rear, were combined into one grocery business, trading as R M Stores [1] There is no record of a business at No 20 King Street in the 1834 trade directory which gives the earliest insight into the street's commercial undertakings.
In the 1841 census 80-year-old bootmaker John Amy is shown living at the premises.
The 1851 census records bookbinder William Walter (50), his wife Eliza (40) and their daughters Mary, Frances and Eliza, the latter the only one of them to be born in Jersey, in 1846. They were living with William’s sister Marie (53). Eliza and Marie appear to have run the shop while William worked at his trade behind. Ten years later the family would no longer be in King Street, William having moved them, and his business, to 70 Colomberie.
Chemists and dentist
They were followed at No 29 by chemist and dentist Ignatius de Orellana (1827- ), the son of Spanish Lieut-Colonel Ignacio de Orellana y Revest (1793- ), who moved to London before 1827, and married Maria Graves (1808- ). Ignatius Antonio, as he is shown in the birth records of his children, first lived with his parents, three brothers and three sisters, in a cottage in Dorset Street, before moving to No 29 King Street and establishing himself as a chemist and dentist. Ignatius' siblings were Frederick Charles William (1833- ), a stationer; Francis Gladwin (1842- ); James Philip (1845- ); Susanne Alexine (1836- ), a bonnet maker; Charlotte Elizabeth (1839- ); and Dora Cleopatra (1846- ).
Ignatius married Harriet Susannah Hutton in about 1856 and they had five children - Claudia Blanche (1857- ), Belgravia Ward (1858- ), Ignatius Antonis (1860- ), Florence Mary (1864- ) and Carlotta (1868- ).
The pharmacy and dental practice remained at No 29 until about 1880, when the premises were taken over by bootmaker J Queree, followed five years later by toy dealer L P Amalric. Mr Amalric also ran a toy warehouse at No 63 King Street from 1885 to 1912, followed by a tobacconist until 1919, run by Mrs Amalric.
Grocers
Joseph Taylor took over the property next and opened a grocery, which he eventually sold to Le Riches Stores in 1933, although he continued working for them for two years. The business, occuping both No 29 and No 31, then traded as R M Stores, short for Ready Money Stores, until 1970, when it was rebranded as Grandfare, which was replaced in 1990 by Millets, selling outdoor leisure equipment.
Mr Taylor's property and his business were acquired by Le Riches Stores in 1933 for £4,500, inclusive of the value of rentes due on the property. Although Le Riches bought Mr Taylor's stock, and offered him continuing employment for two years, they did not pay anything for the goodwill of the business. Mr Taylor's name appeared above the shopfront when the business had been rebranded as R M Stores. While contracts were being prepared for this acquision, negotiations started for the purchase of No 31 next door.
Jerripedia editor Mike Bisson recalls accompanying his mother in the 1950s when she went shopping at the King Street branch of R M Stores, which also operated at Red Houses and other places in the island:
- "It was one of those old-fashioned grocery stores where the customer was king (or queen in my mother's case) and would sit in a chair at the counter (I seem to remember having to stand beside her) while an assistant would scurry hither and thither gathering all the items in my mother's order. At the end of the process the payment would be put in a sealed tube, which was put into a pipe to be sucked up by vacuum to the accounts department, and return in a trice with our change. How times have changed!"
Chronology [2]
- 1851 - William Walter, bookbinder
- 1861 - Ignatius A De Orellana (35) chemist and dentist
- 1871 - Antonio de Orellana, druggist
- 1880 - J Queree, bootmaker
- 1885 - L P Amalric, toy dealer
- 1890-1933 - Joseph Taylor, grocer; sold to Le Riches Stores in 1933 and remained working for two years
- 1933-1970 - R M Stores, grocers
- 1980 - Grandfare, supermarket
- 1990 to date - Millets
1899 Evening Post advert
1899 Evening Post advert
