The information I have on Tyne Main is indirect, in that my father,
a GP, sold all his shares to his sister, so I have no direct links to
the company. What I can tell you is this:
My grandfather, George Brewis, born in 1852, was the seventh child
a Northumberland sheep farmer. A remote cousin has done a
family tree going back to a marriage in 1593 and all the ancesters,
he says, "were peasants". George's father Robert "farmed
Coombhills and Carter Moor". George was evidently not going to
inherit the farm so, having trained as an accountant, he went down
to London "to make his fortune".
He started a coal merchanting buisiness. As deliveries were
house-to-house in horse-drawn carts, he invited three brothers
to come down to join him, their farming experience coming in useful
when it came to looking after horses. They first formed "Brewis Brothers"
and later "Tyne Main Coal Co."
The "Trades" section of the Post Office Directory for London for the
late nineteenth century lists Coal Merchants, Coal Owners, Coal Factors
and Coal Dealers. To answer Richard Kelham's question, Brewis
Brothers and Tyne Main are both listed as a Coal Merchants.
The first entry, in 1875, is for Brewis Brothers, at a single address,
11 Coal Depot, York Road, N. By 1882, Brewis Brothers were at
six addresses.
The first entry for the Tyne Main Coal Co. (George Brewis, Manager)
is in 1878, and gives its addresses as 24 St. Pancras Road; 288
Holloway Road and 21A New Kent Road. By 1882 about 20 addresses
are given -- in Pancras Rd; Great Portland St; Holloway rd; Notting Hill;
New Kent Road; Essex Rd; Roman Rd; Amelia St, Walworth; Fulham Rd;
Old Ment Road; St. John's Wood; Wilton Rd, Pimlico; Wandworth Rd;
Kentish Town; Cornwall Terrace, Harrow Rd; Graham St, City Rd; Goswell
Rd and Walworth Rd SE.
Later (1889) a third company came on the scene, namely Carrick Davies
& Partners. This company is listed by the Post Office as a Coal Owner. Its
office was at 103 Pancras Road.
By 1900, Tyne Main's office was at 2A Pancras Road, Brewis Brothers were
at 2B Pancras Road, and Carrick Davies was at 2C Pancras Road.
Most domestic purchases of coal were made at the small local offices,
usually
near railway sidings where the coal was brought by rail for bagging and
delivery by horse and cart. The story goes that the three companies
maintained three separate offices at many such sites. Then, if a housewife
was disgruntled with the coal delivered by Tyne Main, she might cancel
her order, and go next door, placing her trade with Brewis Brothers, for
example. Whichever she chose, the profits ended up at No 2 Pancras Road,
so everyone was happy.
I only had time, on my visit to the Bishopsgate Library, to trace the
companies
through to 1930, at which point they were still at 2A, 2B and 2C Pancras
Road,
although from 1922 Carrick Davies was re-classified as a Coal Merchant.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying, in reply to Mike Syer, that I
do not
think there was any commercial connection between Tyne Main the London
coal merchants and a colliery of that name in Gateshead, although, as a
Northumberland sheep farmer's son, my grandfather might well have heard of
the latter and thought it a good name -- I guess some of the coal he sold
did
come from the northeast, although my father did once say that he had
interests in coal mines in the Chesterfield area.
When i was with W.S. Aktins & Partners in the 1960/70s, we had a study
regarding Rexco smomeless fuel, and this was marketed in the London area
by Tyne Main, then based in Morden, where I went to see them. The man I
had arranged to see remarked on the co-incidence of surnames, and I said
"not really -- that is a photograph of my grandfather you have on the wall
over there!"
Tyne Main did not move with the times. Whereas Charringtons took up the
delivery of heating oil to compensate for the fall-off in demand for
domestic
coal, Tyne Main tried diversifying, not very successfully, into garden
centres.
I believe Brewis Brothers was finally wound up about ten years ago.
Tony Brewis
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