I WAS interested to read in a recent edition of The Press of the refurbishment of the Kirkgate section of the Castle Museum, but disappointed and surprised to learn that the shop headed “Hutchinson and Thompson: Tea Merchants” is no longer there.
The staff at the museum seemed to be unaware of the reason for its placement in the first place and it was left to me to explain that Alderman CT Hutchinson and Coun W Thompson, both of whom were grocers and tea merchants were respectively Lord Mayor and Sheriff of the city at the time of the opening of the museum and that it was in their honour and to commemorate that fact that the naming was made.
All the relevant details can be found in the issue of the Yorkshire Evening Press of April 23, 1938.
In response to giving this information I was met with a surprised – “Oh.”
Surely, a little research would have revealed this to be so. I am the eldest grandson of Alderman CT Hutchinson and am disappointed that this link between my grandfather and the city has been lost.
DT Hutchinson, Forest Grove, Stockton Lane, York.
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