The Bainbridges – from Department Store to Eshott Hall

November Meeting Report

On Monday 4th November Eleanor George treated us to a very thorough and detailed account of the Bainbridges ‘from Department Store to Eshott Hall’.
Many of those present remembered well Bainbridge’s department store in Newcastle before it became part of the John Lewis group. Its founder was Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, born 1817 into a farming family. He was apprenticed to a draper and eventually opened his own drapery business in Market Street in the 1830s. Not only did he buy in the latest fashions from London, but as a practising Wesleyan Methodist he built an excellent reputation for fair dealing. He married local preacher’s daughter, Annie Hudson, and together they founded the Bainbridge dynasty with a total of fifteen children.

As the family expanded, so did the store. By 1849 it had 23 different departments. At a time when workers were generally badly treated, Bainbridge was a generous and caring employer.
His growing family required larger and larger accommodation and there were no fewer than 5 house moves during the 1850s and 60s. Three of his sons now worked in the family business, which continued to expand, but in 1873 his eldest son, Cuthbert, died of typhus at the age of 33.
In 1877, aged 60, Emerson Bainbridge bought Eshott Hall and estate. He extended the Hall and improved the estate by introducing new farming methods and rebuilding outlying farms and cottages. He also bought the local parish church at Felton, as well as building a new Wesleyan Chapel.

By this time the day to day business of the department store was run by Emerson’s son George. It now included a men’s clothing factory in Leeds, shoe manufacturing and a furniture removal business. By 1899 there were 800 employees. Emerson Bainbridge died in 1892 and his three sons Thomas, George and Arthur inherited one third each of the business. Eshott Hall went to Thomas although he did not move in with his family until Emerson’s wife Annie died in 1902. Thomas died ten years later, leaving eight children. His son Fred moved into the Hall with Thomas’s widow, Kate.
Throughout the 1920s and 30s Emerson’s son George was still in control of the business, and a third generation of Bainbridges was also becoming involved. In 1934, one of Emerson’s grandchildren, George, married Pamela Fenwick of the ‘rival’ department store empire. The wedding was a spectacular affair with much competition between the ladies as to the size and grandeur of their respective hats! There was never any possibility of merging the two businesses as it was thought that the Fenwicks rather looked down on their competitors.

In 1952 Bainbridge’s was sold to John Lewis. George Bainbridge junior became managing director, retiring in 1974. Two years later the store moved to its present location in Eldon Square and the Bainbridge name was abandoned.

In 2009 Eshott Hall was sold and became a country house hotel.

Report by Kathryn McLachlan