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In common with the other shops in this row, 4 Bon Marche Place was built in about 1881. By 1893 it was occupied and owned by Mr Alfred Harry Millard, a grocer, and so was established a trade that was to continue until the late 1960s.
In 1903 Mr Millard put the property up for sale, when it was described as comprising of a double-fronted shop with plate glass windows, a back sitting room, an entrance hall and toilet. Upstairs was a spacious drawing room and six bedrooms and there was electric lighting. The shop fittings and goodwill of the business were included in the sale, however it seems probable that it didn’t complete, as Mr Millard was still listed here in the trade directories until at least 1907. In later life he gave up the grocery trade and became an insurance agent.
In 1908 the grocers shop was let to Mr H.E. Clark who carried on the business much as before. Mr Clark, who lived in Tivoli Place, was an active member of various bowls teams. Efforts continued to sell the property throughout 1909 and 1910, with Mr Clark as the sitting tenant. He moved on, or retired, in 1914 and the shop was taken on by Ernest Williams and Thomas Birt, trading as Williams & Birt. Their partnership continued until 1927, when Mr Birt retired, after which Mr Williams continued the grocery business alone for a few more years.
By 1935 the grocery shop had passed to Mr Ernest A. Timms. During the Second World War he was a fire warden in Great Norwood Street, helping to keep a watch out for incendiary bombs. In 1950 he was the chairman of the Independent Traders Alliance and ran the shop until at least 1957. Mr Timms was succeeded by Mr E.F. Dell, until the late 1960s. Then, for a period in the 1970s, this became a branch Post Office and stationer under the management of Mrs D.E. Pegler.
In 2014 this shop became home to Tonic, a small, independent beauty salon offering a select range of spa and beauty treatments. They relocated to Suffolk Parade in September 2016 and were replaced by a tea shop called Tea at Ten.
Research: Stuart Manton & Karen Wilson (July 2016)
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