Plate from Hopkins Bakery

Object CER414 is a ceramic plate, bearing the name ‘J. Hopkins & Sons, Egham’. This plate can be matched to a bakery whose premises were situated at number 11, Egham High street. Bakeries were key shops of the Victorian and Edwardian high street as bread was a staple diet of the working classes, so the Hopkins’ premises would have been essential to the surrounding working-class community of Egham. Bakers worked considerably long days, often surrounded by insanitary working conditions. Any equipment used to make the bread was basic, and bakeries typically had no running water. Disease and Injury was therefore a constant risk for all workers.

A Joseph Hopkins was listed as running a business at the premises from 1861-1901, after which is became known as ‘Hopkins and Dimmock’, also listed as Bakers at the site. The name ‘Hopkins’ remained in the title of the premises until its closure as a Bakery in 1968. The Hopkins family are typical of Bakers and other high street shops in that they often were run entirely by one family, with the help of assistants who were employed by the family. In the 1881 census Joseph Hopkins is listed as the head of the household. His nine-year-old son Joshua is also mentioned. Between 1906-1922 Joseph and his son Joshua were listed as running the bakery, which explains the shop name ‘J. Hopkins & Son’. By 1911 Joseph is mentioned as the head of the household and a master baker, so it can be guessed that he took over ownership of the business from his father Joseph.

The premises also functioned as a restaurant between the years 1923-1967, meaning that artefact CER414 may have been used to serve food to restaurant guests.

This photograph, from the Egham Museum collections, suggest that women had the opportunity to work in the retail side of the bakery, as a woman is shown in the centre of the photograph. Her apron suggests that she aided customers. It is possible that the plate (CER414) was used to display the bread on offer to passers-by to convince them to buy goods in the shop. The photograph shows cakes, pastries, and bread on plates on display in the shopfront window, further supporting this idea that this artefact was used for display. It is also written on the shop sign that they are a bakery and a confectioner. It was common for bakeries to make sweets and cakes as well as standard loaves as this would help to generate more income for the family.

Sadly, the buildings which functioned as the Hopkins Bakery and other businesses were demolished in 1990. The bread oven which would have been in constant use throughout the time of Hopkins’ bakery can be seen in the centre of the photograph.

Egham resident Carole Lakomski provided Egham Museum with her memories of living above the bakery, which formed part of Egham Museum’s Stories From Egham High Street series. Her testimony can be viewed on the Egham Museum website.

Further Reading

‘1911 England Census for Joshua Lawrence Hopkins, Ancestry,<https://www.ancestry.co.uk/imageviewer/collections/2352/images/rg14_06689_0093_03?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=df63118a22fa48fed8f6931b3b6673ae&usePUB=true&_phsrc=chD151&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=44638754> [accessed 9^th September 2021].

‘A History of the High Street’, History Extra,< https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/a-history-of-the-high-street/> [accessed 12^th June 2021].

‘Demolition of 11 High Street, Hopkins Bakery’, Egham Museum, taken 1990, P1347.

‘High Street Directory’, Egham Museum,p.4,< https://eghammuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/High-Street-Directory.pdf> [accessed 12^th May 2021].

‘J. Hopkins & Son Shopfront’, early twentieth century, Egham Museum Archives,P559.

‘Plate from J. Hopkins & Son’, Egham Museum,CER414.

‘Victorian London – Professions and Trades – Food and Drink – Bakers’, The Victorian Dictionary,<http://www.victorianlondon.org/index-2012.htm> [accessed 19^th June 2021].

‘What Shopping Was Like During The Victorian Era | Turn Back Time: The High Street | Absolute History’, Absolute History, YouTube,< https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF4jq_CjQIQ> [accessed 12^th June 2021].