James Simmons: A Canterbury Tycoon
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
F.H. PANTON
I. INTRODUCTION
James Simmons was Canterbury's leading citizen in the late
eighteenth, early nineteenth century. Stationer, printer, publisher,
newspaper proprietor, seller of patent medicines, distributor of
stamps, mill owner, banker, benefactor and reshaper of Canterbury,
canal promoter, Alderman, Sheriff and twice Mayor, M.P. and
'Father of the City', he was a remarkable and doughty man of
business, whose work on Canterbury is still to be seen.
This paper presents the significant events of his life, as culled
mainly from City and County records, and from the pages of his
Kentish Gazette and other. contemporary publications.
II. PRINTING, PUBLISHING AND PATENT MEDICINES: FOUNDING A
BUSINESS
Born 21st January, 1741, in Canterbury, James Simmons was a pupil
at King's School from 1751756, under the guardianship of John
Lade, his father, William Simmons, a barber, or peruke maker,
having died a year or so after James' birth. James served an
apprenticeship to a stationer in London, emerging in 1764 as a
Freeman of the City, returning to Canterbury in 1767, after practising
his trade in London.
On 20th January, 1767, he was admitted a Freeman of Canterbury
by virtue of the fact that his father was a freeman at the time of
James' birth. 1 With his right to practise his trade in Canterbury
established, Simmons set about founding a stationer's and printing
1 Cathedral Library and Archives Canterbury, Canterbury Burghmote Minutes. 20
January, 1767, A.C.9., 730.
215
F. H. PANTON
business. From the start Simmons set his sights high, and he attacked
his objectives with determination and skill. His primary aim was to
provide Canterbury and east Kent with a quality newspaper such as
he must have had experience of during his apprenticeship in London.
James Abree, founder of the first Kentish paper, The Kentish Post
or Canterbury Newsletter, was about to retire, intending to hand over
the business to his partner George Kirkby. Abree in fact died on 20th
August, 1768, aged 77, shortly after handing over to Kirkby.
Simmons offered to form a partnership with Kirkby, but Kirkby at
that time refused. Rebuffed, Simmons on 26th May, 1768, printed
the first issue of his Kentish Gazette, from his premises at the King's
Arms Printing Office, Christ Church Yard, with his own name at the
mast-head. In the issue of 2-6th July, 1768, Simmons printed an open
letter from himself to his readers, in which, after claiming the general
approbation of the public of bis new venture, he referred to his
abortive attempts to enter into a partnership with Kirkb1
, then
publishing The Kentish Post in his own right. Simmons added 'Great
indeed is the labour I have undergone, and great the expense I have
been at to promote the sale and attend the circulation. Yet notwithstanding
all this, it seemed to be the general sense of the County that
two papers were not only useless but very inconvenient. I made the
utmost concessions to you gentlemen friends of Mr Kirkby in order to
effect a coalition, but they could not be accepted . . . I am
determined the Kentish Gazette shall contain the earliest intelligence
and shall be circulated in the most expeditious manner.' While this
appeal, as we shall see, did not sway George Kirkby's friends, Kirkby
himself was apparently converted, since later that month3 Simmons
was able to announce the amalgamation of the Gazette and the
Post/Newsletter and the publication of the next issue of The Kentish
Gazette under the joint direction of Kirkby and Simmons.
Established stationers and printers in Canterbury did not seem to
relish the competition which the newcomer represented. There
ensued a series of meetings and manoeuvres verging on intimidation,
in which the Canterbury printers Flackton and Smith attempted to
break the partnership between Simmons and Kirkby, and to prevent
Simmons' entry into the Canterbury scene as an effective force in
their area. Flackton and Smith either directly and/or through their
lawyer Mr Peronet, discreetly applied pressure on Kirkby to allow
2 The Kentish Gazelle, 2-4 July 1768, la. Simmons also claimed that The Kentish
Gazelle reached Tonbridge, Stroud, Rochester and Chatham on the day of publication.
3 Ibid., 16-20 July 1768, 3c.
216
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
them effectively to replace Simmons in the partnership. Flackton and
Smith threatened that if they did not get their way, they would start
up another newspaper in opposition. Kirkby, who was not in the best
of health, did not think he could stand the opposition and was
inclined to give way. The attempt to suborn Kirkby was done without
Simmons' knowledge, but on 4th August, 1768, he was summoned by
Peronet to see Flackton and Smith. They made their position clear to
him: 'Unless you choose to let them have a share in the Kentish
Gazette, they were determined to set up another paper to oppose
you.' According to Simmons, in an open letter in the Gazette, which
exposed the whole of Flackton and Smith's manoeuvres,4 he replied
'This gentlemen is most unexpected, and I think unreasonable
request, but on my part it requires not much consideration. With
infinite labour I have endeavoured to establish the paper and am
determined never to part with the least moiety of my share'. After
further meetings with Kirkby, Flackton and Smith indicated that their
intention was to try to separate Simmons from the printing side of the
business altogether, allowing him only the stationer's shop. Simmons
accused them of taking 'an infinite deal of pains to prevent (Simmons)
from obtaining a livelihood in a city where he was free born by
a trade to which he has a right by legal servitude' and added 'unhappy
it was for Mr Kirkby to be connected with a man the object of their
high displeasure'. Kirkby, perhaps stiffened by Simmons' display of
determination and courage, finally said he would abide by any step
Simmons cared to take. Simmons then told Flackton and Smith he
would carry on. They confirmed that they would certainly pursue
their intended opposition. Simmons reported 'Nothing but experience
can convince some people of an error.'
Both sides published their own version of the dispute, putting their
own gloss on events. Things became so contentious that sworn
statements on oath summarising the facts were deposed. Simmons
and Kirkby made such a statement before the Mayor of Canterbury
on 20th September, 1768, and published it in full in The Kentish
Gazette.5 There the matter rested; Simmons had stood firm, rebuffed
the opposition and obtained a foothold for himself in Canterbury.
Flackton and Smith carried out their threat, and the first issue of The
Kentish Weekly Post appeared in the week of 12-19th September,
1768. A bitter rivalry between the two papers continued for some
years, but the progress of the twice-weekly Kentish Gazette did not
4 Ibid .• 14-16 September 1768, Supplement 'VINCIT VERITAS'.
5 Ibid., 17-21 September 1768, 3c.
217
F. H. PANTON
seem to be hindered by the opposition. A fuller account of this rivalry
between newsp1ers is to be found in an article in The Kentish
Gazette of 1977.
In all this, while Simmons' courage and business skill shines
through, it is not clear how he was supported by adequate financial
resources, or whether he was able to rely on influential connections in
Canterbury. According to Timperley, however, [Encyclopaedia of
literary and typographical Anecdotes, (London) 1842, 826-7], after
serving his apprenticeship with Thomas Greenhill, an eminent
stationer opposite the Mansion House, Simmons had set up in
business in London on his own account, and had done sufficiently
well to have become a Liveryman, and to have been nominated for
the office of Sheriff. Simmons may, therefore, have had sufficient
resources to start on his own in Canterbury.
In any event, The Kentish Gazette was established. Its quality and
style must have appealed to its readers, since its general content
remained substantially unchanged throughout the 39 years of Simmons'
ownership. A broadsheet of four sides, each with four
columns, in easily readable print, it sold at 2 pence, rising to 6 pence
by 1800. The title page was mainly occupied with advertisements of
local significance, business arrangements and local sales. Each issue
included dispatches on the wars and affairs in the American and other
colonies and on the European continent, an account of parliamentary
proceedings; a London newsletter, giving court and society news; and
a Canterbury column which collected short news items from most
parts of east Kent. Editorials were non-existent. Simmons conveyed
his policy from time to time by way of open letters to his readers, and
(we may suspect) through some of the nom de plume letters given
prominence in the paper, either written or inspired by the editor(s).
From the start, Simmons diversified his and Kirkby's business.
Alongside the stationer's, printing and newspaper business, they
stocked and sold patent medicines of all kinds, and kept a lending
library. As to the former, the Gazette in each issue carried up to a
page of advertisements for medicines and household preparations, all
of them available from the shop at the King's Arms Printing House.
The range offered was very wide, and the prices for those days, quite
high. MR HILL's medicines for sale through Simmons and Kirkby as
agents included Pectoral Balsam of Honey, Essence of Water Dock,
Tincture of Spleenwort (3/- a bottle) and Valerin (2/6d. a bottle).7
6 Ibid., 2 February, 1977. Article by David Rose, based on research by 'victor
Ralph, Divisional Librarian for Canterbury.
7 Ibid .. 13-15 June, 1768, 3d.
218
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
Duffy's Elixir,8 a Sovereign Remedy for Many Ills, Helfts Famous
Powder 'for taking inkspots out of table linens etc.' 'Without the least
injury'9 are typical of the preparations offered in every issue of The
Kentish Gazette. The circulating library by 1782 was advertised as
consisting of 3,545 books, all new and on every useful and entertaining
subject. Subscription to the library was 14/- a year or 4/- a
quarter.10 A neat business touch was that the distribution system,
Simmons and Kirkby had set up to deliver the newspaper to parts of
Kent as far afield as Tonbridge the same day as publication, was used
to deliver patent medicines or books from the circulating library to
patrons at no extra cost. That these were flourishing and important
parts of the business from the start is evidenced by the fact that in
October 1768 the stationer's, medicine and circulating library were
moved to premises in St. George's Street, the former house of the
late Mr Kidder, cabinet maker. There is also mention of a medicine
warehouse at the corner of Hawks Lane and St. Margaret's Street.11
As printer, publisher and book-binders, the firm provided the
usual source of pens, pencils, paper, etc., and a range of diaries and
almanacs with facts of interest to people in east Kent. Additionally,
they were responsible for bringing out some notable publications,
such as the first edition of Hasted's History and Topographical Survey
of the County of Kent 1778-98, in four folio volumes. Simmons had
driven a hard bargain in this respect, probably contributing to
Hasted's financial collapse, and certainly adding to his debts. The
printing was done at Hasted's expense, and the large bill presented to
him by Simmons in 1799 was characterised by Hasted in a letter to his
friend and collaborator Boteler as 'beyond belief. No less a sum than
£1000, all of which he must be paid before I can receive a shilling
from it' .12 Simmons also seems to have put his own publications
before Hasted's since in November 1796 Hasted complained to
Boteler that the printing of the fourth volume of the folio edition had
been delayed 'thro the more weighty publications of Mr Simmons -
pocketbooks and almanacks'. 13 Simmons was obviously getting ready
for the annual demand for diaries and seasonal almanacs. By this
time, however, no doubt because of Simmons' treatment of him,
Hasted had contracted with Bristow of the Parade, Canterbury, to
8 Ibid., 22-25 June, 1768, 4d.
9 Ibid., 25-29 June, 1768, 4d.
10 Ibid., 17-21 March, 1781, 4c.
11 Ibid., 26-29 October, 1768, Id.
12 J. Boyle, In Quest of Hasted, (Phillimore 1984), 40.
13 Ibid., 37.
219
F. H. PANTON
print and publish the second quarto edition for him. The terms this
time were more advantageous, with the printer taking at least some
of the financial risk. 14
Hasted's City of Canterbury, derived from material in the first folio
edition of his History of Kent, was also published by Simmons and
Kirkby in 1798, as was Duncombe's edition of Bamby's History of
Canterbury Cathedral, and Gostling's A Walk in and about the City of
Canterbury. In all, Simmons brought out five editions of the latter,
beginning with the first edition in 1774 when Gostling was still alive,
and ending with the fifth edition in 1804. The second edition, brought
out in 1776 shortly after Gostling's death, had an introduction by
Gostling's daughter and carried a subscription list which included
Ald. Simmons and Mrs Simmons. Subsequent editions had an
introduction signed by Simmons and Kirkby as editors.15 The Introduction
to the fifth edition was over Simmons' name (Kirkby had by
then died), though the text of the Introduction differed little from
previous editions.
Ill. CIVIC DUTIES AND THE PAVING OF CANTERBURY: THE GREAT
MODERNISER
In 1769, Simmons was sufficiently well established in Canterbury to
be elected to its Common Council. 16 In 1772n3 he served as
Sheriff.17 The only event of note recorded in the Burghmote Minutes
of his year of office was the fact that as Sheriff he acted as teller at the
election of George Gipps as Mayor for the remainder of the term of
Mr Tadley, who died in office.18 In 1774, Simmons was elected
Alderman for Riding Gate Ward.19 On January 11th, 1776, he
married Charlotte Mantell,20 a spinster aged 23 of Tenterden, at
Tenterden, and in September of that year he was elected Mayor.21
His year of office does not seem to have been marked by any event of
note.
14 Ibid., 35.
15 W. Gostling, A Walk in and about the City of Canterbury, (Canterbury, 1804, 5th
Edition), vii-viii.
16 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.9., 804. 1 June, 1769.
11 Ibid., A.C.9., 869.
18 Ibid., A.C.9., 881. George Gipps, of Harbledown, M.P. for Canterbury 1780--
1800, was subsequently a partner in the Canterbury Bank founded by Simmons in
1788.
19 Ibid., A.C.9, 928.
20 A.J. Wells, Canterbury Marriage Licences 1751-1780, (Folkestone 1967), 263.
21 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes. A.C.9., 970.
220
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
His most significant civic work strted in 1787 when the Canterbury
Pavement Commissioners began their work. The move to modernise
Canterbury's streets had been some years in gestation. As far back as
1770 the Burghmote had set up a committee to consider an Act for
the Better Paving, Cleansing, Lighting and Watching of Canterbury.
The committee had included the young councilman James Simmons
as one of its members.22 It was not, however, until the 9th April,
1787, that the first meeting of the Pavement Commissioners took
place in accordance with the act, which had been procured.23 At that
meeting, Alderman Simmons, who had played a prominent part in
procuring the act, was elected treasurer, with Gilbert Knowles as
chairman. It is clear from the records of the Pavement Commissioners
that Simmons as treasurer until his resignation at the end of
1791, was a prime mover and mainstay of the Commissioners.24
Once empowered, the Commissioners acted with commendable
speed. By the end of their first month, April 1787, they had either
made arrangements with existing turnpike authorities for the collection
of coal and street duty at the entrances to Canterbury, or had set
up their own toll gates. From the start they decided that tolls should
be paid in weekly to the treasurer. They had consulted the surveyor
of the City of London on the materials and methods to be used in
paving the city, and had begun preparations for the lighting and
cleansing of it. They had appointed watchmen to patrol the city in
seven districts. By the end of May 1789, they had appointed a
contractor to pave the length of tne High Street between the walls.
The detailed work in raising and administering the finance for the
Commissioners' work, in letting the contracts for paving, and in
assessing and paying the bills, all fell on Simmons as treasurer. As to
raising the loans, Simmons seemed to meet with no difficulty, and he
and his friends contributed a fair proportion of the necessary
amounts. On 27th August, £2,000 was borrowed, from three people,
22 lbid., A.C.9., 817. 4 January 1770. Contemporary writers were in no doubt that
the work to be done was long overdue. In 1800, Hasted wrote that the houses in the
City 'from the length of time they had been rebuilt, were grown ancient again, and
from wont of any improvements being made to them, were become unsightly, and the
whole city was perhaps esteemed the most so in the Kingdom'.
23 27 GEO.II, Cap 14.
24 Cathedral Library and Archives, Canterbury. Mimi.Jes of the Canterbury Pavement
Commissioners 1787-1866. See also A. Turner, Some Extracts from Minutes of
Proceedings under an Act for the Paving of Canterbury (1787-1820), (Canterbury,
March 1980, typescript copies only with the Conservation Department of the Canterbury
City Council, and in the Cathedral Library and Archives); and also F.H. Panton,
'Turnpike roads in the Canterbury Area', Arch. Cant., cii (1985), 171-91.
221
F. H. PANTON
including Simmons who contributed £500; on 24th December, a
further £2,000 was raised; on 23rd June, 1788, a further £2000,
including £300 from Simmons and £300 from his partner in the
Canterbury Bank, George Gipps, M.P.; on 15th June, 1789, a further
£1,000, including £200 from Gipps; on the 22nd September, 1788, a
further £2,000; on 24th September, 1789, £1,000, with £200 from
Gipps; a total of £10,000 in all, (the maximum amount permitted
under the Paving Act), at 4½ per cent interest, payable quarterly.
The streets of Canterbury had, over the centuries, become cluttered
with and obstructed by haphazard additions to buildings and in
some cases by buildings themselves in the carriageway, and the
Commissioners were given in the Act, draconian powers to ensure
that the streets were cleared and were kept clear of all obstruction. In
their work of paving, the Commissioners divided Canterbury into
sections, tackling each one by one, starting with the main High
Street. In advance of paving, they surveyed each section to determine
what must be done to straighten and clear the street, and they drew
up lists of actions affecting particular houses and buildings and their
owners. The Commissioners also paid particular attention to rainwater
disposal, insisting on the installation of proper gutters and
drain-pipes.
Simmons was a prime mover in all this work. On the 23rd April,
1787, it was ordered by the Commissioners that 'the Proposals now
delivered in by the Treasurer for removing bulks, projecting windows
... be forthwith carried into execution'. In general, the walls or
windows of buildings were not to project beyond the line of the
foundations, though projecting bow windows of no more than
9 inches from the foundations of the house were to be allowed.
Applying this rule, very many properties in Canterbury were forced
to undergo drastic alterations, which in many cases may have
destroyed the integral character of an old building, or have changed
its appearance for the worse. On the 11th June, 1787, for instance,
some 40 properties were listed in High Street in advance of paving;
seven for windows to be removed entirely, one reduced to 6 inches,
thirty reduced to 9 inches, one to 12 inches and one to 14 inches.
Projecting signs and sign-posts were ordered to be taken down and
affixed to the fronts of the houses to which they applied.25 On the
11th May, 1787, it was ordered that notices should be applied to
houses and churchwardens of the several churches to cause all spouts
and gutters to be taken down and to cause the water to be conveyed
20 Turner, op. cit., 3.
222
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
from the roofs, cornices, eves and :Renthouses by pipes or trunks to be
fixed to the sides of such houses. 6
In this work the Commissioners applied their jurisdiction equally
to other local entities as well as to individual householders. Petitions
to vary their requirements were heard and sometimes allowed. For
instance on 25th June, 1787, it was ordered that the steps of the
Guildhall be taken away as soon as conveniently can be after due
notice (to the Burghmote presumably).27 About St. George's
Church, which intruded unacceptably on to the carriageway, there
were discussions with the archbishop as to what should be done
regarding the staircase to the steeple. Eventually on 29th November,
1787, it was ordered that an experiment shall be tried by making an
archway through the same building to open a passage for foot
passengers.28 On the 22nd May, 1788, it was ordered that the
chamberlain of the city shall cause the water to be brought from the
tower of Westgate by proper and sufficient pipes of trunks agreeable
to the directions of the Act, and the spouts taken down.29
By the end of November 1789, the Commissioners had achieved
their prime objectives, and the main streets inside the city walls were
straightened and newly paved. To be sure, this was achieved at the
expense of houses and buildings suffering changes and amendments,
which modern conservationists would have opposed strongly, but the
transformation of the streets from medieval into Georgian must have
been nothing short of miraculous. The success of the Commissioners'
actions can be judged by the fact that the inhabitants of Northgate
. and Westgate without the walls of the city, petitioned to have their
streets similarly treated by the Commissioners.
On 30th November, 1789, the Burghmote recorded two separate
votes of thanks to the Commissioners for their work; one to Gilbert
Knowles as chairman of the Commissioners, and the other to
Simmons as treasurer. More than that, they showed their appreciation
of the relative values of the contributions of the two men by
voting in addition to Simmons alone a suitably inscribed silver plate,
to the value of £50, to commemorate his work.30 In his reply
Simmons wrote 'To deserve well of my fellow citizens is the chief
pride of my life'. He also made reference in his letter to the plan for
26 Ibid., 2.
27 Ibid., 4.
28 Ibid., 9.
29 Ibid., 16.
30 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.10., 142.
223
F. H. PANTON
inland navigation from the city to the sea, a canal project which was
beginning to exercise his mind.31
In September 1788, Simmons had been elected mayor for the
second time, and he continued his duties as treasurer of the Commissioners
throughout his mayoral year. The Burghmote, probably
through his influence, fully supported the work of the Commissioners
from the start, and had for instance granted the use of the Guildhall
for Commissioners' meetings.32 In his duality of office, however,
Simmons was able, during his mayoralty, to take the lead in
'modernising' some of the features of Canterbury over which the City
Fathers had jurisdiction, namely the city walls and gates, effectively
co-ordinating the activities of the Commissioners and the
Burghmote. The climate of the time was such that the City Fathers
were not slow to pull down old monuments for monetary gain or if
they stood in the way of progress. Indeed, Brent in 1879 wrote 'The
close of the last century and the beginning of the present, were
periods in which the destructionists in the Corporation had full sway
... m In 1768, for instance, the arches over the river near Brown's
(after Abbot's) mill were taken down for use in widening King's
Bridge. 34 In 1781, it was ordered that the centre of Burgate and the
buildings over the Gateway between the two towers be taken down,35
and in 1770 a petition to pull down 4 feet of the wall by Wincheap
Gate was allowed.36 The Burghmote had already given the Commis-
31 Ibid., 52. Contemporary authors recorded that citizens and householders as a
whole co-operated with and welcomed the changes. Hasted wrote 'the houses
throughout it (Canterbury) were altered to a cheerful and more modern appearance;
and most of the shops were fitted up in a handsome style, in imitation of those in
London ... ' He added that the short tenure in which some of the householders held
their property from the Church deterred them from 'hazarding more on such uncertain
property, and had this not stopped their ardour, this city would in all likelihood have
been second to few others in the Kingdom. The Kentish Traveller's Companion wrote
'it may with truth be asserted , that Canterbury, from being one of the worst paved
cities, is at this time not exceeded, if equalled in pavement by any city or town in the
Kingdom', and that 'such a spirit of emulation for improvement has gone forth among
the inhabitants that many of the old buildings have been and are still wholley or in part
taking down and rebuilding in modern style', and again, in summation, that a tribute of
particular thanks was due to James Simmons Esq., 'by whose persevering and
disinterested zeal, and unwearied efforts, in conjunction with his fellow citizens, these
public improvements originated, were carried on and completed'.
32 Ibid., 43.
33 J. Brent, Canterbury in the Olden Time, (Canterbury 1879, 2nd Edition), 122.
34 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.9, 797, 6 December, 1787.
35 Ibid., A.C.9, 1064, 5 June, 1781.
36 Ibid., A. C.9, 837, 18 December, 1770.
224
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
sioners liberty to take down the city walls, extending 30 rods from St.
Mildred's Church, the material to be used in paving the city.37
In November 1788, Mayor Simmons chaired a committee to look
into proposals for making a carriageway through the Castle Yard into
Wincheap38 and in December a plan was approved to exchange a
piece of land called Colton Land for enough of Mr Balderstone's
Castle Yard to make a road through there by public subscription.39
As part of the implementation of this plan, Worthgate was pulled
down in 1791. In May 1789, Mayor Simmons headed a committee to
see whether a proper place could be found for a new butter and
greens market, the old one being something of an obstruction. 40 The
recommendation brought forward was to pull down and rebuild
Somner's market at the Bull Stake in front of Christ Church Gate.
Simmons chaired the committee to oversee this and to fix the tolls for
the new market. 41 The new building cost £400 and added an
additional 1008 square feet of space.42
At the end of his mayoral year Simmons, on 16th October, 1789,
was given a unanimous vote of thanks for his mayoralty. Typically, in
his turn, Simmons gave the Common Council a present of two
crimson velvet cushions for the mayor's chair.43 This vote of thanks
came a month before the vote thanking him for his work as treasurer,
and together they constituted a singular double honour. At the end of
1791, Simmons handed over as treasurer to J. Hodges, who then
combined his job as secretary of the Commissioners with that of
treasurer. Simmons had received no salary as honorary treasurer,
though no doubt his Canterbury bank benefited from the Commissioners'
business, and probably continued to do so after he had given
up the treasureship. Hodges held office at a salary of £30 per annum
until 1814 when Messrs. Curteis and Kingford were appointed jointly
with Hodges, until the latter retired that year.44
Although Simmons resigned as treasurer in 1791, he retained an
active interest in the affairs of the Commissioners. On 29th October,
1800, when the turnpike road to Thanet was being mooted, Simmons
was a member of a committee of three appointed to negotiate with
37 Ibid., A.C.10, 32.
38 Ibid., A.C.10, 82, 11 November, 1788.
39 Ibid., A.C.10, 85-86, 9 December, 1788.
40 Ibid., A.C.10, 118.
41 Ibid., A.C.10, 123, 132, 137-138, June-July 1789, September 1789.
42 Ibid., A.C.10, 141, 13 October, 1789.
43 Ibid., A.C.10, 148.
44 Minutes of the Canterbury Pavement Commissioners, l February, 1814.
225
F. H. PANTON
the new body, and on 14th January, 1801, it was decided to petition
Parliament against the proposal to repeal the Commissioners' right to
collect tolls on the Sturry Road. On 14th October, 1801, the matter
was settled amicably, the Commissioners agreeing to compound their
rights for £130 a year from the new trust. In October 1802, Simmons
appears on a committee to survey proposed alterations in Iron Bar
Lane, close to his printing office there.45
There is one depredation with which Simmons does not seem to
have been directly concerned: the taking down of St. George's Gate.
He was, however, a member of the Council which voted in 1785 in
principle to take down Westgate and St. George's and he must at
least have acquiesced in 1799 in the decision to consider the
practicability of taking down St. George's46 and in the final decision
in 1801 to take it down47 and to transfer the city's water cisterns in St.
George's Towers to a tower in St. Michael's Lane. The total cost of
dismantling and transfer of the cisterns was £3,537;48 a very large sum
for such work. Perhaps, if Simmons had taken a direct hand in the
affair, it might have been achieved at less cost.
The Pavement Commissioners had carried out their main work
while Simmons was treasurer. Much of their work in subsequent
years was directed towards managing the £10,000 they had borrowed
and spent in the first three years of their existence. They continued as
a body until 1866, when, after many vicissitudes and two further Acts
of Parliament, they finally paid off all their debts and their work was
taken over by existing local authorities. 49
IV. DIVERSIFICATION OF BUSINESS: STAMPS, BANKING, MILLING AND
PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT
The 1780s and 1790s were decades in which Simmons considerably
extended the range of his business activities. Feather50 has drawn
attention to the fact that Simmons 'used his Kentish Gazette in the
interests of the Rockingham Whigs, who made him Distributor of
45 Turner, op. cit., 50, 51, 53, 54.
46 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.11, 47, 10 December, 1799.
47 Ibid., A.C.11, 170, 14 April 1801.
48 Brent, op. cit., 119-120. Brent wrote that 'This presents an astounding amount as
an expense incurred in pulling down the old gateway. It is a comment on the doings or
a once irresponsible municipal authority'. Brent believed that probable cost saved
Westgate from a similar fate, notably in 1824.
49 Panton, op. cit., 179-82.
5-0 J. Feather, The Provincial Book Trade in 18th Century England, (C. U.P. 1985),
92, 93.
226
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
Stamps for Kent in 1782.' While Simmons never invested the Gazette
with a recognisable editorial policy, and indeed seldom if ever
indulged in editorials especially those of a political nature, nevertheless
the columns of the newspaper in 1781 and in the early months of
1782 do reflect general criticism of Lord North's conduct of affairs,
particularly his prosecution of the war in America. In February 1782,
North's government suffered a defeat on a motion asserting the
impracticability of the war with America, and in early March his
government narrowly survived two motions of no confidence.
Commenting on these events, The Kentish Gazette published an open
letter to the inhabitants of Kent, signed 'STIGAND'. 51 The letter
drew attention to the 'constitutional question' of the war, which up to
that time had cost £100M and an increasing effusion of national
blood. North's vanishing majority was highlighted, and wrote Stigand,
it was 'high time to have done with it'. Even while this article
was being issued, a third vote of no confidence in North was
scheduled for 20th March. It became obvious that this motion would
be carried, and the King had no option but to accept North's
resignation before the debate could begin. So the Rockingham Whigs
came to power, assisted by a climate of opinion to which the Gazette
contributed.
On 13th April, STIGAND wrote a further letter, about the
corruption and tyranny of the late system of government, which had
sunk under its own weight. The tried friends of the people are now
governors; and 'to be united now is to be invulnerable' added
STIGAND.52 The mayor and commonalty, doubtless with Aid.
Simmons, got up a petition to the King on 22nd May, strongly
supporting the change of government, and thanking His Majesty for
it in the most glowing terms, and the petition was presented to the
King on 8th June by Canterbury's M.P.s, George Gipps and Charles
Robinson. The Kentish Gazette gave a ful! report of this,53 and the
same issue also reported a meeting of Kentish gentlemen at Maidstone
at which a similar address to the King was agreed, against some
opposition from Sir Horace Mann, one of Kent's M.P.s. A letter,
dated 1st June, 1782, and signed 'East Kent Freeholder', appeared in
the Gazette in advance of the Maidstone meeting, strongly supporting
such an address.
51 The Kemish Gazelle, 20--23 March, 1782, 2a. See also J.B. Owen, The Eighteenth
Century, (Nelson 1974), 233-4, for a general picture of parliamentary events at this
time.
52 The Kentish Gazette, 13-17 April, 1782, 2a.
53 Ibid., 8-12 June, 1782, 4d.
227
F. H. PANTON
The support given by The Kentish Gazette to Rockingham was
therefore quite strong, and may well have influenced opinion in
Canterbury and east Kent. The consequence was the appointment of
Simmons as Distributor of Stamps, and in that capacity his responsibilities
extended to issuing licences and stamped labels necessary to
carry on a range of businesses. 54
Timperley, wrote in 1842 of Simmons appointment as Distributor
of Stamps '. .. the emoluments of which, estimated as considerable,
are known to have essentially contributed to his actual wealth'.55 As
Distributor for east Kent, with agents in the towns of that area, he
must have gained an extra income of a thousand or more pounds a
year. In 1787, 56 we find an advertisement in The Kentish Gazette,
from James Simmons as Stamp Distributor, about the regulations for
the sale of perfume. In 179057 there is a similar advertisement
concerning licences and stamps for the sale of hats; 5/- a year for a
licence to sell hats and up to 2/- a hat stamp duty on the most
expensive hats exceeding 12/-. Penalties for not taking out a licence
were specified at £50.
On 5th July, 1788, Simmons greatly extended his business range by
founding the Canterbury Bank, in partnership with Henry Gipps.
The advance publicity for the bank indicated that George Gipps
(uncle of Henry), apothecary, surgeon and hop-dealer of Harbledown,
M.P. for Canterbury from 1780 until his death in 1800, would
be one of the founders, but it was not until a year later that he joined
as a partner.58 The bank continued under various names until 1918,59
when it was merged with Lloyds Bank Ltd., who have a branch to this
day on the site of the Canterbury Bank.60
54 Stamp duty had begun as a temporary expedient to finance the wars of William
III, but by the end of the eighteenth century it had become one of the bulwarks-of the
public revenue. Duties were levied on documentary transactions such as birth and
death certificates; on the means of money exchange and credit; on insurance policies,
wills, etc; and on the selling and buying of goods such as perfumes and hats. The
stamps were sold by the distributors who sent the proceeds to the Commissioners of
stamps quarterly or yearly in arrears, so that the money provided a useful float of
capital. The distributors charged a fixed percentage for their services. In 1821, it was
estimated that the average annual income of a distributor was £1,068, with some
earning as much as £5,000. See Feather, op. cit., particularly 85-7.
55 J. Timperley, Literary and Topographical anecdotes (1842) 826-7.
56 The Kentish Gazette, 10-13 July, 1787, 2d.
57 Ibid., 5-8 October, 1790, ld.
58 P. Blake, Christ Church Gate, (Phillimore, 1965), 3, and footnote 7 on p. 40.
59 Bankers Almanac and Year Book (1984), G.1447, (footnote).
60 There is a story, perhaps apocryphal, in the reminiscences of Rev. George Gilber
(1796-1874), retold by Blake, which illustrates Simmons' all pervading influence in the
Canterbury of his day. Gilber's father was one day at the bank (on the comer of St.
228
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
Although we may assume that much of the business direction of the
bank would be supplied by Simmons, it seems likely that the
day-to-day management would be in the hands of Henry Gipps.
Simmons' burgeoning business interests would have been serviced
and supported by the bank, which doubtless also supported him in his
role as Pavement treasurer, to mutual interest. Then, too, the
acquisition of the description banker rather than stationer or printer
was one which presumably gave him added status, and which he
henceforth attached to his name.
In July 1791, Simmons branched out in another business direction.
Entering into partnership with Aid. J. Royle (former mayor and
distiller by trade) he rented the King's Mill and Brown's Mill (later
Abbot's Mill) from the Corporatfon.61 The lease was for 30 years at
£40 a year, and a premium of £2,450 was paid, drawn on the
Canterbury Bank. The story of the rebuilding of Abbot's Mill in 1792
is well told in a footnote in the fifth edition of Gostling's Walk, which
Simmons as editor and printer must either have written himself or at
least have seen before publication.62 A similar account is in Hasted's
second edition63 and the building is given particular notice in The
Kentish Traveller's Companion. 64
In brief, Simmons employed John
Smeaton to design the building and machinery.65 The mill was 72 x
52½ feet in area, nearly 100 feet high and cost a total of £8,000.
There were six working floors with eight pairs of stones. The two
water wheels supplying the power were 16 feet in diameter, 7 feet
Margaret's Street and High Street, opposite Mercery Lane) with Simmons and Jesse
White (Surveyor of the Cathedral 1797-1821). Simmons, looking towards Christ
Church Gate, said that 'if those damned turrets of the Cathedral Gate were taken away
we should see the church Clock from the Bank door. Can't you pull them down,
Jesse?' 'It shall be done', replied Jesse, and it was. In this connection, it is perhaps
interesting that Simmons in his introduction to the fifth edition of Gostling in 1804
notes inter a/ia that the book contains a view of the Christ Church gate 'as it appeared
before the late repairs'. The plate facing page 70 of the book shows the gate with
turrets.
61 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.10, 247.
62 Gostling, op. cit., 13-14 (footnote).
63 E. Hasted, History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, (Canterbury
1797-1801, 2nd Edition), 658-62.
64 The Kentish Traveller's Companion, (Rochester 1794, 2nd Edition), 223.
65 A better man could hardly have been chosen. Smeaton, born in Yorkshire in
1724 was a Fellow of the Royal Society and their Gold Medallist for the paper 'The
Nature Powers of Wind and Water to turn Mills and other Machines depending on a
circular Motion'. He designed and built Eddystone Light (1757-59). Smeaton died in
October 1792, after he had produced the design for Abbot's Mill, but before the
building had been completed.
229
F. H. PANTON
circle. Although the greatest fall of water was no more than 5 feet
3 inches, the mill could grind and dress up to 500 quarters of corn
weekly. The total value of the business transacted each year was
£40,000, of which about £7,500 was received from sales from a shop
on the premises. Stone facing from the remaining abutments of the
demolished arches of the bridge over the Stour close to the mill was
used in the mill's construction. Simmons and Royle were also
permitted to take the whole facing or outer stone of part of the city
wall in St. Peter's parish, and to have the use and occupation of a
tower on the wall hitherto used as a magazine for storing gunpowder.
The proviso here was that they should provide an alternative
gunpowder store.66 Across the other side of the lane by the mill
(Brown's/Knott's/Waterlock/St. Radigund's Lane) were built stables,
stores, dwellings and a retail shop as accessories to the mill. Simmons
also built a bridge for carriages across the river by the mill,
presumably replacing the one whose arches had been removed for
use in widening the King's Bridge.67
Also in partnership with Royle, Simmons in 1793 rented from the
city Council, St. Radigund's bath house.68 This comprised 2½ acres
of land in St. Mary Northgate, near and without the city wall, and
included a bath house fed by a spring, and a cold bath outhouse.
Simmons and Royle rebuilt the bath house and enlarged the basin of
the spring. Separate dressing rooms were provided, and the aim was
to enable Canterbury peole of either sex to 'enjoy cold bathing in
privacy and convenience'. 9
In 1798, the partnership with Royle came to an end, and Simmons
asked to take over the lease on the mills and the bath house himself.
In asking for a new 50-year lease, he stressed the great and expensive
improvement that had been made.70 The Burghmote transferred the
leases to him, but for 30 years, not 50.
Although they rented King's Mill along with Abbot's, it must be
doubted whether Simmons and Royle ever operated the King's Mill,
which is of course only a matter of a few hundred yards upstream
from Abbot's Mill, and would surely have reduced the effective head
of water available to Abbot's Mill. Indeed, when Abbot's Mill was
advertised for rent in 1806, it was stated that it had a fine head of
""Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.10, 277, 19 June, 1792.
67 Gostling, op. cit., 14 (footnote).
68 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.10, 321, 10 September, 1793.
69 Gostling, op. cit., 35 (footnote).
7° Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.10, 492, 493, 20 March, 1798.
230
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
water, not only from its original source but also from King's Mill. 71
This may have been a reason why in 1799 the Burghmote set up a
committee to look into the state of the King's Mill and to consider
proposals by Aid. Simmons to pull it down and erect a principal
messuage there.72 Whether or not Simmons was granted the permission
he sought, by 1802 he had pulled down the mill and had built a
house on the King's Bridge site, next to All Saints Church. Having
done that, he applied for an extended lease. This was granted for 57
years at £20 a year for the first twenty years, £10 for the last 30.
Abbot's Mill, with its sales of £40,000 per annum must have
provided Simmons with a sizeable addition to his income; and part of
its success, and Simmons' success as a business man generally, may be
attributed to the fact that in the 1790s when other towns in the U.K.
suffered from the effects of war, Canterbury increased in size and
population, from about 9,000 to over 11,000. This prosperity may
have been due in part to the military establishment in the city. It was
the chief military station of the southern district of England, a
general's command, with a park of artillery and several regiments.73
Relatively prosperous though Canterbury may have been, the
Napoleonic wars produced an alarming rise in the price of foodstuffs,
good for business profits, but crippling to the poor. In this respect,
Simmons demonstrated his ready concern for his fellow citizens. In
1801, the Burghmote passed a resolution of thanks to him for 'his
munificence and unremitting exertions during the late alarming
scarcity, for his liberality in supplying numerous poor of the City with
good and wholesome flour from Abbots Mill under Market Prices'.74
Simmons' reply was to the usual effect that to stand high in the
esteem of his fellow citizens was his chief delight.75
Simmons was involved over the years in a number of property
transactions whose purpose is not apparent. In 1774, he gained a
30-year lease from the council of two tenements and gardens in
71 The Kentish Gazette, 13 June 1806, la. A 22-year lease was advertised, which
would have been the remaining term from Simmons' lease of 1798. The advertisement
also said that the present proprietor kept seven teams of horses, on constant duty to
Whitstable, that the average supply of wheat was 600 quarters weekly, and that from
October 1805 to April 1806 8,387 sacks of flour had been ground. Sales from the retail
shop at the premises grossed upwards of £7,000 a year. An ill state of health, from
which the proprietor had been suffering for some time, was stated to be the only reason
why the business was being parted with.
72 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.11, 42, 15 October, 1799.
73 Gostling, op. cit., 3 (footnote).
74 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.11, 128, 29 September, 1801.
75 Ibid., A.C.11, 133, 13 October, 1801.
231
F. H. PANTON
Northgate, formerly held by Jane Simmonds, widow, deceased.76
What he did with this property for the 30 or so years he held it is not
clear, but it may be significant that his mother's name was Jane.
Despite the difference in spelling of the surname, this may have been
his mother's property, which he had taken over on her death.
Footnotes in Gostling provide evidence of other property ventures,
with a philanthropic tinge. In Wincheap, close to Harris' Almshouses
(1726), Simmons built in 1792 a number of houses called Wincheap
Place. The footnote in Gostling says 'it is greatly to be wished that the
public spirited idea (for such it must be, during the present dearness
of building materials) of erecting habitations for the industrious poor
was more general. Crowding great numbers together under one roof
as too frequently is the practice in most cities and large towns,
experience has proved neither friendly to their health nor conducive
to the improvement of their morals'.80 As noted above, Simmons
edited this edition of Gostling, so we may take it that he would at the
very least have supported this statement of paternal care for the poor.
Again, it is recorded in Gostling that in 1802 houses at the corner of
St. Martin's Street being in a ruinous state were pulled down, and six
tenements or cottages for the labouring class of the community were
created by Alderman Simmons. 81 Simmons also built four houses on
the London road at St. Dunstan's. 82
V. BENEFACTIONS AND REWARDS
On retiring from his second term as mayor in September 1789,
Simmons was made alderman for the ward of Northgate, and a
Justice of the Peace.83 Freed from that duty, but still heavily involved
in the Pavement Commissioners affairs, and in his own manifold
business interests, Simmons nevertheless lost no time in embarking
on his great project, the improvement of the Dane John Field, a tract
of land enclosed on the south by the city wall, between Riding Gate
and Wincheap Gate,and bounded on the east and west by the Dover
and the Ashford roads. On 2nd March, 1790, he obtained a lease on
71' ibid., A.C.9, 921. 3 May, 1774.
77 Ibid., A.C.9, 1127, 13 July, 17&4.
7H Ibid., A.C.10, 336, 24 March, 1794.
79 Ibid., A.C.11, 302, 17 December, 1805.
xu Gostling, op. cit., 25 (footnote).
xi Ibid., 28 (footnote).
82 The Kentish Gazette, 17 March, 1807, le.
x3 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.10, 104, 29 September, 1789.
232
JAMES SIMMONS: A CANTERBURY TYCOON
Dane John for 2½ years at a peppercorn rent, on the understanding
that he would level the land ( except the existing mound) and lay out
gardens at an estimated cost of £450. When done, he should have the
option of becoming a tenant for 21 years, or the land would be
returned to the Burghmote in its improved state.84 The peppercorn
lease was in the event renewed in 1792,85 and he was eventually
granted the lease for life rent free.
The work which Simmons caused to be done there was described in
a footnote in Gostling:86 'After immense labour, and the expense of
more than £1,500, it became an exceedingly pleasant and greatly
frequented promenade for the inhabitants. To maintain the plantation
therein, this zealous and public spirited citizen also appropriated
an annual salary (for a gardener) ... But owing to a
disagreement with the Guardians of the Poor, Mr Simmons surrendered
his lease. In consequence this pleasant and much frequented
spot fell so rapidly to decay through petty thefts and wanton mischief
that the Corporation in 1800 voted £100 for its repair; but this not
being sufficient, a further sum of £120 was voted in 1802 and under
the judicious direction and management of Alderman Bunce, it has
been restored to its former beauty and long may it continue the
ornament and convenience of the City.'
Simmons' letter of resignation of the lease to the council dated
2 November, 1795, and accepted by the Burghmote in Januar 1796
gives details for his decision which are lacking in Gostling. 8 Simmons'
letter mentions the death of his partner and pressure of
business on him, but indicates that despite the large expenditure he
had already been put to, he had been willing to go on and had
engaged Mr Thomas Marseille at £30 a year to keep the gardens in
trim, and had recently expended £25 to support the terrace leading to
Ridingate. However, the cause of his resignation was that he had
been taken 'like a Pauper to the Court of Guardians' for failing to pay
a Poor Rate of £8 a year due on the land. 'Gracious Heavens' he
wrote, 'what a return is this!' It was not the money (which in fact he
paid in full) which hurt him, but the personal affront in summoning
him before justices. 'Having expended more than £1,500, I say to you
and the public at large, you are heartily welcome'. The corporation
took some years to accept the burden, and then reluctantly at first. In
84 Ibid., A.C.10, 167, 2 March, 1790.
85 Ibid., A.C.10, 276, 22 May, 1792.
86 Gostling, op. cit., 7, 8, 9, (footnote).
87 Canterbury Burghmote Minutes, A.C.10, 414-15.
233
F. H. PANTON
1802, we find that amounts of £40,88 £2089 and £1590 were voted until
finally at the end of that year Bunce's committee was formed to
oversee the gardens. Simmons was still interested enough to be a
member of that committee. A monument was erected on the mound
in 1802/3, with inscriptions to commemorate Simmons' and the
council's public spirit in providing such a pleasure park.
In 1808, a correspondent in The Gentleman's Magazine, lauding
Simmons' public spirit, gave a glowing description of the gardens.91
The writer describes the building on the mount, and goes on to give
the texts of the inscriptions on the column, the one commemorating
Alderman Simmons' public spirit, the other stating the fact that the
council had taken over responsibility for the gardens. 92
Simmons was, at the same time, responsible for rebuilding the
Ridingate adjoining the Dane John Gardens. In 1782, the Ridingate,
'being in a very decayed state' was taken down. 93
In 1790, 'a very
spacious arch was created and the terrace walk formed on the
rampart of the city wall' at the sole expense of Aid. Simmons,94
and
in 1792 Simmons built and coped a wall by Gravel Lane to Ridingate.
95 The Burghmote paid a half share of £11 towards this work
because the wall replaced a quickset hedge which had cost the council
9/- yearly to have cut, and this would no longer be necessary.96
A project, which occupied a good deal of Simmons' attention over
the last twenty years of his life but which he did not manage to bring
to fruition, was the plan to build a canal from Canterbury to the sea.
As noted above, he already was working on this project when he
wrote to the Burghmote in 1789 to acknowledge the vote of thanks
for his work on the Pavement Commissioners, and he employed
Robert Whitworth, the engineer, to survey the land from Canterbury
KX Ibid., A.C.11, 169, 22 June, 1802.
RV Ibid., A.C.11. 181.