William Christopher Boyd, Manchester Warehouseman

[queencorgi1]

W.C. Boyd (b. 1842 in Hackney, London) was a Manchester warehouseman in partnership with other family members. Clearly they were very successful as their wills show they were very wealthy!

1. I was surprised that Boyd was born in London, not Manchester, and for many years resided in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire. Would he have also owned, or inherited, one of the warehouses in Manchester? How did the business work?
2. Does anyone have any specific knowledge of WC Boyd, or if not, can you recommend an online source to inform me how the business was organised?

[Milliepede]

On the 1871 census his mother is born Hackney and his father St Pancras Middlesex

Do you have any of the wills which might give more details about the business?

When was he in Manchester?

[queencorgi1]

That's the point, I can't find any references to him being in Manchester, although he was evidently selling Manchester goods in London.
I have found both his father's and grandfather's will summaries, which show that they were both warehousemen and very wealthy. Both wills were found through FindMyPast (from the British Newspaper Archive).

[Daisypetal]

Hi,

I think "Manchester Warehouseman" could refer to what he sold, rather than where he worked,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warehouseman

Regards,
Daisy

[MollyC]

I think Wikipedia should have mentioned Cotton, which was the major part of Manchester's industry and trade, giving it the nickname "Cottonopolis".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottonopolis

I daresay Boyd visited Manchester occasionally to select goods from the warehouses there.

[hepburn]

https://www.rootschat.com/links/01tv4/

From Wiki..

[AlanBoyd]

@ hepburn

Great find!

[queencorgi1]

Thank you all for replying!
What I would really value would be an explanation as to why a Manchester warehouseman made so much money, which WCB and his relatives evidently did. I suppose the answer simply is that 'Cottonopolis' dominated the textile trade at the time, and if you were a draper you dealt with a warehouseman to get your stock.

I also saw that Wikipedia entry on WCB. He was actually secretary of the Royal Numismatic Society and his collection of historic coins was sold online about 20 years ago, and his insect findings were donated to the Natural History Museum. Clearly being a warehouseman was not only profitable, but didn't even take up much of his time!

[heywood]

A definition here

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/manchester_n?tl=true