Alfred Gillett Trust News Category
Closure of Shoe Museum Announced
Clarks has today announced that from Friday 27 September 2019, it will be closing its Shoe Museum which is located at its Headquarters in Street, Somerset, following the period of consultation with the museum’s three employees. The museum, which houses the collection of more than 1,500 objects from all over the world, dating back to […]
New Fossil Exhibition Open!
This October half-term, the Alfred Gillett Trust are hosting a free pop-up exhibition of fossilised ichthyosaurs found in Street. From 29 October to 3 November, the public can view the fossils and learn about their discovery and what they tell us about the local environment. There will be a selection of roar-some kids activities taking […]
Footwear in Focus for Heritage Open Days in Street
Do something new and join the FREE exhibitions being held at the Grange in Street, specially curated by the Alfred Gillett Trust for Heritage Open Days, England’s largest annual festival of history and culture. Put your best foot forward and let your eyes delight at our ‘Footwear in Focus’ photography exhibition. Charting the evolution and […]
NUWSS Rally 1913
On 26th July 1913 the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) gathered at Hyde Park in London for a rally in support of Women’s Suffrage. Some sources suggest that up to 50,000 people, both men and women, attended this peaceful rally. In her diary of July 9th Helen Clark writes that she and her […]
Norvic
The parent company of Norvic Shoe Company Limited was Howlett & White, which started out as a leather currier. Warnes Howlett invested ten thousand pounds in Robert Tillyard’s leather currying business in around 1846. The extra money allowed him to move to Princes Street, into a larger premises. In 1856 George White agreed to join […]
On This Day…
On this day in 1913, members of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies began their Pilgrimage towards Hyde Park, London. This poster, designed by E H New, illustrates the six routes travelled as part of this Pilgrimage that sought support for the campaign for women’s suffrage. Discover hidden gems like this by accessing our […]
A Brief History of Bally
Carl Franz Bally (1821-1898) was the son of a silk-ribbon weaver. After being inspired by shoes on display in Paris, he founded ‘Bally & Co.’ in 1851, along with his brother. Carl employed German shoemakers to hand-make shoes in the basement of his own home. He aimed to create exquisite footwear from the finest leather, […]
Peter Yapp And The Royal Warrant
Peter Yapp Ltd. the shoemaker was established by Samuel Yapp in 1793 in Chelsea. His son George joined him later, when the business was located at 200 Sloane Street. In 1851 Peter, the son of George became involved with the business, and by 1870 the business had expanded to include 201 and 210 Sloane […]
Interesting Conversations
To honour the 100th anniversary of the Representation of the People Act 1918, we delve into the lives of the women who campaigned for #suffrage with a snapshot of one homes visitor book
Shoe Digitisation Project Update 4
Over the last week we documented, cleaned, photographed and repacked over 90 shoes for the Shoe Digitisation Project. These were men’s and women’s shoes dating from 1953-1969. Here’s a small selection of the ones which caught our eye! Click on the images to see the full slideshow.
Alfred Gillett Trust 