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Companies House files
destroyed
The history
of this company, one of two pre-eminent chains of Turkish baths
located in London, is clouded in uncertainty. No records of the
company have so far come to light and those at Companies House were
destroyed before records were transferred to the (then) Public
Record Office at Kew.
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Most of the
London Turkish baths dates which form the chronologies in the
Directory section
of this site are based on those taken from Kelly's
London Directories and must be considered approximate. The
gap between the first occurrence of the Savoy (relating to the
ownership of the Brixton Road baths in 1911) and the first
dates given for the ownership of the remaining establishments
in the chain (1917) is more likely to be due to tardy updating
of the directories, than actuality. |
Only two things are known with certainty about Savoy Turkish Baths
Limited. First, that nine baths in London were at one time or
another owned by the company; second, that the Jermyn Street Turkish
Bath Company Limited was set up in 1946, specifically to acquire the
Savoy, which object it duly accomplished, either later that year or
early in the following year.
All
nine of the London baths were owned by William Cooper (of whom
nothing else is at present known), before becoming part of the
company. One of the baths, that at 120 Kensington High Street, seems
to have been started by Cooper himself around 1911. The remaining
eight were bought as going concerns, either in groups or
individually.
Cooper seems to have acquired his first Turkish bath, the one in
Brixton Road, around 1910 from Henry William Rance. Two other baths,
Savoy Hill and Railway Approach, were bought from Rance, presumably
at the same time. The Savoy Hill baths were probably the most
lavishly equipped, being purpose-built and designed by C J Phipps,
architect of the Savoy Hotel next door. The association of the name
Savoy with a quality hotel made it an obvious name for the company
which was to own the new chain.
So
although the remaining baths purchased between 1910 and 1912 were
listed under the ownership of William Cooper, it seems likely that
the Savoy company was started some time late in 1910 or early in
1911, when it was first mentioned in Kelly's.
It was certainly in existence in 1913 when there
was a Shops Act prosecution against the company over its use of the
description 'Droitwich Brine Baths' for their own brine baths. The
court ruled against them that Droitwich Brine Baths could only be obtained at
Droitwich.*
It
seems that Cooper sold his baths to a newly formed
public company in order to finance the purchase of additional Turkish
baths, and he is known to have remained Managing Director until at
least 1931.**
In
any event, the chain was rapidly expanded by the purchase of three
further Turkish baths from Henry Ernest Adams. These were the baths
at Caledonian Road, Jermyn Street and Duke of York Street. The last
two were situated round the corner from each other and it may be
that the last-named was already a Turkish bath for women only—it had
certainly become one by 1917.
The
last two (contrasting) baths were those at Newington Causeway and
Camden Town, the latter also being a purpose-built establishment
designed by the well-known architect H H Bridgman.
Few
of these Turkish baths were still in operation by the time the Savoy
company was sold just after the end of the second world war. The
Camden Town bath burnt down on 30 March 1916.
Turkish baths became less popular between the wars as more homes
included baths and bathrooms. The establishments in Kensington High
Street, Railway Approach, Caledonian Road, and even the Savoy Hill
flagship, were all closed between 1920 and 1921. Brixton Lane
survived until around 1932, and Newington Causeway was destroyed in
the blitz in 1941.
*
'Droitwich Brine Baths' The Times
(20 Dec 1913) p.4; col.A
[BACK]
**
'LCC and Turkish
baths' The Times
(25 Nov 1931) p.6; col.D
[BACK]
This entry should be considered as work in progress. If you can help
with any additional information or corrections, please do
contact us.
This page last updated
21 October 2008
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