Market Street,
Lichfield
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Market Street
(north west side) from Bird Street Between 1679 and 1703, Edward
Howcott was recorded in the levy lists for St Mary's parish at Sadler Street.
[1] This road, in the centre of Lichfield, runs from Dam Street to Bird Street
and is now called Market Street. Most of the buildings there have been
redeveloped during the past 300 years but at least three properties (numbers
11 & 13 and the Castle Inn) apparently date back to the 16th century and
would have been familiar to the Lichfield Howcotts:
In or around 1695, Gregory King
compiled lists of all the inhabitants of Lichfield, the entries for each
street being arranged by household. [2] The road now known as Market Street
is included on two sheets, headed "Sadler Rowe alias Markett
Street" and "Sadler alias Markett
Street" respectively. The first of these include 25 households and the
second had 27, so it seems that they each relate to one side of the road.
Edward Howcott and his family are household number 6 on the list for Sadler
Rowe and apparently lived a few doors away from Michael Johnson (household
9), who was a bookseller and in due course the father of Dr Samuel Johnson. The substantial house in Market
Street where Dr Samuel Johnson was born on 7 September 1709 had been erected
by his father only a year or two beforehand. It is now known as the Samuel
Johnson Museum and directly faces St Mary's church, near Lichfield market
place. In March 1707, Michael Johnson purchased the corner house that
previously occupied the site from Nathaniel Barton, then of the City of
London, silkman, who had inherited it in 1689 from
his mother, Mrs Sarah Barton of Coventry, widow. When Michael Johnson bought
the old house, it was occupied by Edward Howcott. [3] Unfortunately, it seems
that nothing remains of the original structure. [4] When Michael Johnson
bought the house, it was described as having been "formerly in the
tenure or occupation of the said Michaell Johnson
and now or late in the tenure or occupation of Edward Howcaut",
[5] so it was probably not the property that Edward was occupying in the
street in 1695. The following picture shows Market
Street (or Sadler Street) to the right of the house and Breadmarket
Street (or Market Square) to the left. Samuel
Johnson Museum, Market Street Notes [1] Lichfield
Record Office: D20/4/3. [2] The British
Library manuscripts department: Harley 7022 [3] "Johnsonian
Gleanings" (JG) by Aleyn Lyell Reade, Part
III, page 48 (privately printed 1909-52). [4] The evidence
that establishes that Michael Johnson redeveloped the property at that time
is extensively discussed in JG, Part IV, pages 13-16 (privately printed
1909-52). [5] JG, Part IV,
pages 16-17. |
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