Andover History: Cornelius businesses

The shop that straddles the two streets is that of Henry Cornelius the bootmaker (1852-1935), from whom there are family descendants in the Andover area today.

Cornelius is a very old local name, dating back to Henry VIII. One Thomas Cornelys of Andover has left a will dated 1544 and Christopher Cornelius served as constable of the borough in 1560.

Another Christopher was working as a mercer – a merchant who dealt in textiles – in the late 16th century.

Although getting into trouble in 1595 for buying materials woven in Guernsey at the Linen Hall in Southampton on a day when the Guernsey traders were not supposed to be selling there, by 1599 when the Great Charter of Andover was first enacted, Cornelius became one of the ten approved men, alongside twelve capital burgesses, a bailiff and a steward, charged with governing the borough.

Coincidentally, in view of what came later, there was also shoemaker Thomas Cornelius whose surviving probate inventory is dated 1587, and also Henry – perhaps a son - who was working as a shoemaker during the same period and died in 1611.

Going forward to the mid 17th century, in order to ease the national shortage of small value coinage, regional trade tokens to the value of a farthing were commissioned by local tradesmen.

Among the Andover issues there is an undated example for glover William Cornelius.

It includes an image of a glove and the words ‘William Cornelius Andover Hamsher’ (sic).

The lists of Andover tradesmen do not include the name Cornelius again until the emergence of two Henrys during the second half of the 19th century.

The first was a dealer in china, glass and furniture whose premises were in Bridge Street, roughly opposite the White Hart inn, between 1865 and 1879, while the second Henry started up as a shoemaker and repairer in London Street, after marrying Rebecca Smith in 1878.

There may have been a family relationship between the two tradesmen but they were not father and son.

The 1881 address for the younger Henry was 4 London Street, a small shop adjacent to the Foresters’ Arms – its window is just visible in the picture - but a few years later he took over the larger premises on the corner, which was 1-3 Winchester Street, the family living above.

Henry was successful in business and continued in the same premises until his death. Wife Rebecca pre-deceased him by many years but between them they had eight children – five boys and three girls.

Three of the sons stayed in Andover, with the eldest Harry and the youngest George working with their father in the shoe business. Another son, Walter, became a carpenter and joiner.

Soon after Henry’s death in 1935 the whole building was demolished, owing largely to the increasing vehicle traffic and a visibility hazard.

Until the 1980s, the corner contained nothing more than a large advertising billboard but when Bridge Street became one-way and London Street a cul-de-sac, new estate agents’ premises were built on the site, though these are set well back from what was there before.

Post-1935, Henry’s two sons Harry and George traded from the Foresters’ Hall which stood between the Foresters’ Arms and the Andover Steam Laundry. Harry died in 1949 but younger brother George continued there until the early 1950s.