IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 CLC/450
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: GABRIEL FAMILY
Date(s): 1828-1970
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 8 production units.
Name of creator(s): Gabriel | family | timber merchants of London
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Christopher Gabriel set up in business as a plane maker in 1770. On his death in 1809, the business was taken over by his sons and the name was changed to T and C Gabriel. From around 1812 the focus of the business moved from plane, looking-glass and chair manufacture, to the importation and sale of timber. Christopher Gabriel was the grandfather of Sir Thomas Gabriel (1811-1891), who became Lord Mayor of London in 1866 (this collection does not contain any personal papers of Sir Thomas). Many members of the family were freemen and liverymen of the Goldsmiths' Company.
From 1823 the business was known as Thomas Gabriel and Sons. In 1912 it amalgamated with John Burton and Co to become Thomas Gabriel and Sons and Burtons. Following another amalgamation in 1919, the business became a public company and the name changed to Gabriel, Wade and English Ltd. The business was acquired by Montague L Meyer Ltd in 1968.
From the early 19th century the works were based at Barnard's Wharf, 341 Rotherhithe Street, Rotherhithe. Until 1930 the family held Gabriel's Wharf, Commercial Road, Lambeth, on a long lease from the Duchy of Cornwall. There was also a branch yard at Exeter. By 1937 branch offices had been established in Hull, Wisbech, Ipswich, Southampton, Exeter, Bedford, Leicester, Cambridge, Peterborough and Scarborough.
The business was based at Albermarle Street (1770-4), Golden Lane (1774-9), 100 Old Street (1779-94), 31-32 Banner Street, Bunhill Row (1797-1814), Commercial Road, Lambeth (1815-1919), Aldwych House, Aldwych (1919-61), and 6 John's Street, Holborn (1961-8).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of the Gabriel family, timber merchants, including deeds for shares and securities; City of London freedom certificates and Goldsmiths' Company membership papers; and notes on the family history.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Records arranged by MS number, assigned during cataloguing at the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section.
Conditions governing access:
Access by appointment only. Please contact staff.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright to this collection rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The family's archives were deposited in the Manuscripts Section of Guildhall Library in 1995 and 2007. Catalogued by an assistant archivist, October 2004 and April 2007. The Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
For records of the family business see CLC/B/092.
Publication note:
See also Jane & Mark Rees, Christopher Gabriel and the Tool Trade in 18th Century London (Ipswich, 1997), held in the Printed Books Section, Guildhall Library.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note:
Date(s) of descriptions: Records prepared May to September 2011.