Amy Levy

Russell & Allen (Old Bond Street)

~ Carly Silk

Russell & Allen appears in Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop on page 79, as an elite dressmaker and supply shop where Constance, as a newly engaged women, tries on a ball dress. (pg. 79)

Unfortunately, while looking for more information on Russell & Allen’s shop, including what the storefront may have looked like, I could find no surviving images, as it would appear the store disappeared sometime in the late 1890s to early 1900s. The most information I could find on the store came from the footnotes on page 79 of The Romance of a Shop: “Messrs. Russell and Allen, Old Bond Street, London, W.” was an exclusive dress designer and supplier shop, according to photographs on the website of the Victoria and Albert Museum.” (pg. 79)

However, I did manage to find photos of preserved clothing that were made and sold via Russell & Allen’s shop, courtesy of the Victoria & Albert museum website.

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It’s clear to see that Russell & Allen made many high quality outfits, and it’s interesting that Amy Levy chose to include Constance’s engagement with the fact that she is trying a dress there. Perhaps she meant to express that Constance would only spend the money required for a Russell & Allen dress for an extremely special occasion, such as an engagement.

According to the Charles Booth Poverty Map, Russell & Allen, located on Old Bond Street, was surrounded by middle-class and upper middle-class dwellings, which seems obvious since Russell & Allen was a very expensive store. Only the upper middle class could afford to shop there, or have custom-made outfits made there. Even today, Old Bond Street is home to many expensive stores housing designer artifacts, such as Gucci outfits, who supply goods to the British Royal Family.

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The only crime I could find being committed in the vicinity of Russell & Allen was a case of fraud, in which the defendant was found guilty. A man by the name of Adolf Beck appears to have tried to trade stolen jewelry for forged checks, one of which was made out to Russell & Allen.

WORKS CITED

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.2, 10 December 2015), February 1896, trial of ADOLF BECK, Unlawfully (t18960224-277).

Booth, Charles. “Old Bond Street.” Charles Booth Online Archive. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

“Bond Street.” Shops and Art Galleries in New Bond Street and Old Bond Street, London. Street Sensation, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/mayfair/bs_intro.htm>.

“Wedding Dress: Russell & Allen.” Victoria & Albert. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O166864/wedding-dress-russell-allen/>.
Levy, Amy. The Romance of a Shop. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print.

 

Baker Street Station

~ Carly Silk

Present in Amy Levy’s The Romance of a Shop for only a brief period of time, Baker Street Station is where the Lorimer sisters part after a day spent shopping and walking around in the area of Baker Street. Phyllis in particular actually goes underground into the station, while Gertrude boards an omnibus above ground outside of the Station. (pg. 80) In reality, the Baker Street tube station is one of the oldest surviving stations in the London Underground, and still transports people to this day. Baker Street Station, because of its proximity to the famed 221b Baker Street of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, is also currently decorated with Sherlock Holmes artwork, to celebrate the area’s perhaps most famed (although fictional) resident.

According to the Charles Booth Poverty Map, the area of Baker Street Station is colored red, meaning the area is mostly middle-class, which makes sense as tourist attractions such as Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum are located nearby. However, on the 1898-99 map, it’s interesting to note that there is also a spot of dark blue, where Booth has it marked as “very poor, chronic want.” The area over which this poverty lies is marked as St. Cyprian’s Church, which makes me think the church may have been housing destitute and/or homeless individuals out of charity, and it is possible the church could certainly afford to do so because of the middle-class area it is located in.

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On the Old Bailey Proceedings website, Baker Street Station, while seemingly in a well-to-do area, also seems like a prime spot for thievery to occur. A man was pick-pocketed of his watch outside Baker Street Station, but this seems to be the most intense crime that took place at the station. To add to Baker Street Station’s reputation of being in a well-to-do area, the alleged pick-pocketer was later declared “Not guilty.”

WORKS CITED

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 7.2, 10 December 2015), August 1886, trial of IKE KENNEDY (70) (t18860803-848).

Pinchen, Liz. “Sherlock Holmes Tiles At Baker Street Tube Station.” Fine Art America. 20 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Booth, Charles. “Baker Street Station.” Charles Booth Online Archive. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Levy, Amy. The Romance of a Shop. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print.

“Prime Metro Properties.” The History Of Baker Street. Web. 10 Dec. 2015. <http://www.primemetro.co.uk/Content/About-Prime-Metro/The-History-Of-Baker-Street-.aspx>.

Charing Cross Station

~ Ashley Schluter

The original station was built on the site of the Hungerford Market by the South Eastern Railway. Opened on  January 11th 1864. The station was designed by Sir John Hawkshaw, with a single span wrought iron roof arching over the six platforms. A large portion of roof collapsed on 5 December 1905 compromising part of the west wall. A bunch of men were employed in repairing, glazing and painting the section of roof which fell. The roof, girders and debris fell across four passenger trains standing in platforms 3, 4, 5 and 6 and all rail lines were blocked. The part of the western wall which fell crashed through the wall and roof of the neighboring Royal Avenue Theater in Northumberland Avenue which was being reconstructed at the time. Six lives were lost.

The Charing Cross Hotel, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, opened on 15 May 1865 and gave the station a frontage of the French Renaissance style.Following bomb damage in the Second World War, the hotel received extensive repairs in 1951. In general, this consisted of a new set of top floors.


Charing Cross Station is at home in a middle class district.
“Charing” comes from the Old English word cierran meaning to turn. This is a fitting place for the turning point in a story. This is also why Amy Levy used this station in her novel.


In Romance Of A Shop by Amy Levy Charing Cross Station is a turning point for phyllis’s health. As she plans to run away to go get married to Darrell she becomes sicker and can’t manage the journey. Charing cross station, although only briefly mentioned represents a larger picture of health and a turning point in the story.  It’s after this point that we find out just how sick Phyllis is. It’s also at this station that Phyllis herself turns around and returns to Darrell’s house.

 

Work Cited
“Booth Poverty Map (Charles Booth Online Archive).” Booth Poverty Map (Charles Booth Online Archive). Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Levy, Amy.The Romance of a Shop. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print.
“The Charing Cross Hotel by E. M. Barry (1830-80).” The Charing Cross Hotel by E. M. Barry (1830-80). Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
“Victorian London.” Google Books. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
“Victorian London – Transport – Railways, Above Ground – Stations – Charing Cross.” Victorian London – Transport – Railways, Above Ground – Stations – Charing Cross. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.

Notting Hill

~ Ashley Schluter ~ 1 Comment

Notting Hill is a district in west London. Since it was first developed in the 1820s, Notting Hill has had an association with artists and artistic culture. It’s an estate in the parish of Kensington, thickly covered with houses built between 1828 and 1848. Notting Hill is a comparatively cheap district for the area. Area’s within Notting Hill contain: Ladbroke Grove, Notting Hill Gate, Portobello Road, Westbourne Grove, and North Kensington. Also home to Pottery Lane which was a popular area for slumming. The mainly owned by the Ladbroke family, and in the 1820s James Weller Ladbroke began to undertake the development of the Ladbroke Estate. Many streets and areas with in Notting Hill hold the Landbroke name. Also home to Ladbroke Square which is a garden.  It is one of the largest private garden squares in London.

A good mix of poor, comfortable, and some well to do in the area. Many of the crimes in the area are theft and highway robbery. Including violent robberies and theft of animals. Nothing really made it seem like that dangerous of an area. The current condition of the area are tacky little houses tightly built on top of each other, many of the original buildings still standing. Now a very popular tourist attraction and a highly sought after living space.

Notting Hill is where Fanny and her husband settle down in Amy Levy’s Romance Of A Shop. The importance of the region is that it is not very much outside of Fanny’s current social status. Although Fanny is happily married she remains without children and in her original social class. Made up of gaudy little houses stacked side by side, Fanny lives in a “hideous little house”, dripping with medicorey. Notting Hill was also a haven for many artistic types, suiting for Fanny, having her photography background.

 

Works cited
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
Levy, Amy. The Romance of a Shop. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2006. Print.
“Slums and Slumming in Late-Victorian London.” Slums and Slumming in Late-Victorian London. Web. 7 Dec. 2015.
“The Proceedings of the Old Bailey.” Results. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.
“Victorian London – Districts – Areas – Notting Hill.” Victorian London – Districts – Areas – Notting Hill. Web. 3 Dec. 2015.

Waterloo Place in “The Romance of a Shop.”

~ Carly Silk

In Amy Levy’s novel The Romance of a Shop, Waterloo Place is mentioned when talking about The Waterloo Gazette, a newspaper created in the area. Although the women in the story do not visit Waterloo Place, Gertrude turns down an interview with the magazine about her family’s photography shop and her career in general. The text also states, however, that later on “some unauthorised person wrote a little account of the Lorimers’ studio in one of the society papers…” (Levy 135)

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As it is clear to see from the map above, courtesy of the London OS Town Plan, Waterloo Place is surrounded by a plethora of clubs, most likely meeting places for upper class citizens, and is also populated by war monuments and artistic statues, including a memorial to commemorate the Crimean War. One of the clubs visible on the map, the Athenaeum Club, was a clubhouse for gentlemen of the upper middle class, who enjoyed the arts, science, and were known for their artistic accomplishments. It was only in 2002 that the club, which still operates to this day, began to admit female members.

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According to the Charles Booth Poverty Map as well, it is obvious that Waterloo Square is in a very wealthy area of London, as if the various sculptures and clubs in the area are not proof enough. On Booth’s charts, both red and orange represent middle class and upper middle class establishments being present, and the overwhelming amount of both colors suggest that Waterloo Place was in the center of a very affluent area. Its close proximity to Piccadilly Circus and the Royal Academy of the Arts also backs up this claim. However, it is interesting to note that on the left side of St. James Square, there is a row of blue dwellings, which indicates that was a smattering of poor families living in the area as well.

Works Cited

Levy, Amy. The Romance of a Shop. Ed. Susan David Bernstein. Canada: Broadview Editions, 2006. p. 135. Print.

Charles Booth Online Archive. Booth Poverty Map and Modern Map. Web. 30 October 2015.  http://booth.lse.ac.uk/cgi-bin/do.pl?sub=view_booth_and_barth&args=529583,180350,1,large,0

London – OS Town Plan 1893-6. Web. 30 October 2015. https://mapsengine.google.com/07550989709782409818-08328807677136535917-4/mapview/?authuser=0

 

The Romance of a Shop: Royal Academy

~ Shianne

Screen Shot 2015-10-27 at 5.01.01 PMThe Royal Academy of Arts located in Picadilly was founded in 1768 with the intention of cultivating and improving the arts of painting, sculpting, and architecture. The two main objectives of forming the Academy were to create a “well-regulated” school of design and to host an annual exhibition “to all artists of distinguished merit.” The Royal Academy’s active members (which vary in number time-to-time) are split into Academicians, Associates, and Associate Engravers. The Academicians are painters, sculptors, architects, and engravers. There are also Honorary Members, Honorary Retired Members, and Honorary Foreign Academicians. All members “whose work shows sufficient merit are permitted to contribute to its exhibitions” (Victorian Art).

The Royal Academy chooses its members as so: Associates are chosen through election. Those eligible for election are exhibitors, who are chosen by Academicians at the annual meeting at the Academy. The Academicians are chosen from the associates when a spot opens. As the Royal Academy was established through a charter, as a memorial for George III, all elected individuals must be given the signature of the reigning sovereign. Therefore, no individual membership within the Royal Academy is valid unless approved by the monarch (Victorian Art).

Because the Academy is a Royal establishment, it is unsurprising that those who live in its surrounding neighborhoods are either middle or upper class. Unlike many other areas we’ve looked at, there is no lower middle class or poor inhabitants mixed in. This may be why the crime in the area is so low to nonexistant. While searching the Old Bailey, I found no records of crime related to the Royal Academy.

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How does this relate to the story?

In Chapter 9, the first paragraph mentions that Frank “had invited all the people he knew in London to inspect his pictures and Mr. Oakley’s before they were sent in to the Royal Academy” (111). It is the mentioned that Mr. Oakley isn’t necessarily all that talented or sought after, but that his pictures make it into exhibition and are sold. Because both Frank and Mr. Oakley are artists whose work is shown in the Royal Academy exhibition, it is implied that they are very wealthy.

 

Works Cited

“Victorian Art Institutions: Academies, Schools, Galleries.” The Victorian Web. N.p., 20 July 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.