B. Hyam
Benjamin Hyam was born in Ipswich in 1811, the son of Hyam Hyam, who had set up a tailoring business in Colchester. In 1829 Benjamin moved to Manchester to set up a business selling ready made clothes. He is attributed with being a pioneer in selling ready made clothes in England at high volume and low margin. He made extensive use of newspapers to advertise his wears including publishing poems.
Benjamin originally lived above his shop. By 1841 he was sufficiently prosperous to open his Pantechnethica at 26 Market Street and move to a house at Higher Broughton. David Levy, probably a relative, moved to Manchester in 1839 at the age of 15 to take up an apprenticeship with Benjamin Hyam. Within 18 months he was manager of the Liverpool branch at 63 Lord Street, which is first advertised in 1841. David was entrusted with opening new branches in Scotland and Ireland while supervising existing branches. The first Glasgow store was opened in 1844 and the first Dublin store in 1850. He changed his name to Lewis. In 1854 the Liverpool branch moved to 97 Lord Street and in 1856 David started his own business, which later became a popular store in Liverpool, Lewis's, which expanded and eventually took control of Selfridges.
By 1860 Hyam's had two stores in Liverpool, two stores in Glasgow, a store in Edinburgh and two stores in Dublin. The company also had a wholesale and shipping warehouse in London and a factory in London as well as an outlet in Melbourne, Australia. By 1861 Benjamin Hyam had moved from Manchester to London and in 1872 the family changed their name to Halford but the company continued to operate as B. Hyam. The partnership, which consisted of Benjamin and his sons, was dissolved in 1885 and the London part of the company, B. Hyam and Sons, was liquidated in 1887. Benjamin died in 1888.
The remainder of the company was taken over by the J & H Isaacs. It became bankrupt in 1934.
| Benjamin Hyam Token - 1841 to 1854 | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Source | ||
| Filename | BHyam.001 | |
| Value | 1/2d | |
| Add Desc. | ||
| Size (mm) | 30 | |
| Manufacture | Brass | |
| Notes | ||