The Fenwicks of Fenwick’s Department Store
April Meeting Report
On Monday 13th April Eleanor George returned to present her talk on The Fenwicks of Newcastle and the establishment of Fenwick’s Department store.
Its founder John James Fenwick (known as JJ ) was born in Swaledale in 1846. He apprenticed as a tailor, then moved to Newcastle to work for Braggs & Co. selling furniture and carpets. He met and married Mary Burnard and together they lived in Fern Avenue, Jesmond where they started their family.
In 1877 as a partner at Braggs & Co., he started selling insurance in his spare time and lost his job. However he sued for unfair dismissal and was awarded £1000. He decided to open his own shop selling luxury goods, furs and fabrics at 5, Northumberland Street. He employed only first class tailors, and his reputation grew. Larger premises were bought and fitted out in the style of the best London stores. By 1886 there were seven ‘reception rooms’, as the personalised sales rooms were called, and 100 tailors were busily at work on the upper floors, specialising in ballgowns, ladies’ riding outfits, wedding dresses and trousseaux. In 1891 Fenwick’s London store opened on Bond Street.
At the age of 15 JJ’s eldest son Fred began work in the Newcastle store, at just the normal wage, as he learned his trade. Two years later he and his younger brother Arthur were apprenticed to wool and silk merchants in Paris. There they were impressed by Le Bon Marche, where customers walked freely instead of being waited upon in reception rooms. On their return they were keen to introduce the new ‘walkaround’ experience to the Newcastle store.
In 1897 Fenwick’s became a Limited Company. New buildings were added with finest mahogany fittings, Axminster carpets throughout and a magnificent frontage. A ‘daughters’ department for younger customers and a ‘fancy’ department selling high class accessories were added. In 1899, on his marriage, Fred became Director and in 1902 the first Christmas Bazaar was introduced selling toys, baubles, Christmas cards and gifts. This was a much more populist concept, not fully approved of by its founder.
In 1905 JJ’s health deteriorated and he died, aged 58. Under Fred’s directorship the store continued to expand and diversify until his death in 1962 at the age of 87. The London store closed in 2024, but the Newcastle store flourishes. The famous Christmas window display still attracts crowds every year, and in this Amazon era of online shopping Fenwick’s seems destined to survive and prosper.
Report by Kathryn McLachlan