Grocer's Records

We were recently delighted to receive a gift of boxes from the Public Record Office - and have immediately put them to use. George and Judy have sorted our large quantity of grocer's records, from the Kelly Grocery in Stratford, into years. They are now boxed for ease of handling.

The records are one of the great sources that we know we have, that we previously couldn't even start to access. But now, as they are in small boxes, and sorted by year, we can start to use them.

They go from about (very roughly) 1884 to 1909, and often include details of exact purchases by families.

For example, this is part of the 1890 page for Michael Moriarty, publican of the Swan and Two Throttles hotel in Stratford.

You can see a larger copy HERE.

We were delighted to find this one, as we have been looking for more on this family, and were not totally sure when they arrived in Stratford.

We hope to have all names from the 1890 register transcribed in the near future - other records may take more time.

There also appear to be records from grocers by the name of M. McIlroy (in 1908), late C. Tueski. They appear to have followed Kelly.

In the meantime, they can be accessed by appointment only, on Tuesdays. Thanks to the PRO for making them more accessible.