Fellmonger

Fellmonger

The fellmonger cleaned, graded and sold on hides and fleeces. He handled skins from sheep, cattle, goats, even dogs, preparing them for tanning. To learn about the trade and the St Ivians who carried it out, read on.

Fellmongering

The work required skilful and expert manipulation. Also a strong stomach. Speed was essential to prevent decay. No matter how fast the fellmonger worked, a stench always hung over his premises. The smell followed him home at the end of a working day. One memory is of the stink from the skin cart. This carried a grisly, heavy, smelly load. There was a trail of blood as the cart journeyed to the fellmonger's yard. Today such things would be unacceptable. In the 1800s St Ives residents put up with unpleasant sights and smells. They lived through the summer stink of the River Ouse, full of the town's sewage.

First washed in warm soapy water to remove all blood, the skin was then soaked. A paste made from lime and sodium sulphate cleansed the hide and opened the pores. The fellmonger removed wool and hair to sell on, grading as he worked.

Rubbed with a paste of Fuller's Earth, the fellmonger then warmed the hide and removed any fat. Next a bleaching with a weak solution of chloride of lime. Salt and acid 'pickled' the skin. The finished product was sent to a tannery.

The trade disappeared in the first half of the 20th century, with machines taking over the work.

A succession at Fellmonger House

At 37 The Broadway is an elegant red-bricked house built in the early 1700s. Renovated in recent years, the owners renamed the building Fellmonger House. Fellmongers lived in this house from at least 1775.

Every Monday more than 10,000 cattle, sheep, pigs and horses, plus various types of poultry, flooded into St Ives for the weekly livestock market. Originally called the Bullock Market, the site of Fellmonger House was at the centre of the weekly trade in cattle. Situated on the banks of the River Ouse, it was also positioned perfectly for getting rid  potent and smelly effluent.

BENJAMIN LYON moved from Cambridge shortly before 1841. He lived in Fellmonger House with his wife and young family and a servant. Benjamin employed three men in his fellmongering business. Sometime after 1851 he moved away from St Ives.

WILLIAM PAPWORTH was employed by Benjamin Lyon. Born in St Ives in about 1803, William and his family lived in Crown Street and Merryland. When Benjamin moved away from St Ives, William took over the business. He moved his family into Fellmonger House. William seemed something of a character. He was convicted of damaging the manor pound while recovering a stray pig in 1842 (Cambridge Independent Press 15 Oct 1842). He was appointed parish constable in 1856 (Cambridge Independent Press 23 Feb 1856). But at an 1856 inquest into a suicide, William was severely censured by the Coroner for failing to save the deceased (Cambridge Independent Press 12 Apr 1856).

WILLIAM HINSON moved from Sutton to St Ives before 1861. He lodged with his uncle, William Papworth, at Fellmonger House. William was one of three men working for William Papworth as fellmongers. When William Hinson married he moved out of Fellmonger House. He lived a few doors away in The Waits. William Papworth died in 1876. William Hinson took over the business. He stated his occupation as fellmonger and wool stapler, employing four men.

In the 1885 St Ives Business Register William had one of the largest entries:

Hinson, William, fellmonger and woolstapler, agent for Thorley's cattle food and lactifer, Simpson's cattle spices & calf meal, Ayer's calf meal, Waterloo oil cake &c., Bullock market.

By 1891 William was a fellmonger and farmer, employing a housemaid and dairymaid. He was also a poultry fancier. He displayed duckwing leghorn chickens all over England, winning many prizes.

GEORGE DELLAR & WILLIAM DELLAR came from Oakington. George moved to St Ives in 1879, 15 years of age. He worked as a fellmonger's labourer for William Hinson. George boarded with widow Elizabeth Mason in Cow and Hare Passage. In 1887 George and his young family moved into newly built Olive Cottage in Crown Walk. By 1891 brother William moved to St Ives and lodged with George's family. Also in the house were George's mother in law and sister in law. William likewise worked as a fellmonger for William Hinson.

George still lived at Olive Cottage in 1901 with his family of two sons and two daughters. Mother in law and sister in law were still with them. William had married and lived a few steps around the corner at 7 Orchard Terrace with his wife Ada and three young children. 

When William Hinson died in 1906 (Cambridge Independent Press 27 Jul 1906), George and William Dellar took over the business. William and his wife moved into Fellmonger House with their growing family of seven children. George also moved to a larger home, at North Lynne, Tenterleas. George's eldest son, George Housden Dellar, died in WWI and is named on the St Ives War Memorial.

Mrs Phillis Smith, granddaughter of George Dellar, remembers visiting her grandfather's yard.

I remember going as a child with my twin and experiencing the smells and sights of the skins on the wooden slatted boards in the passage. I found visits horrible but slightly fascinating.

The brothers ceased trading in 1934. George died in 1939, aged 75 years. William died in 1943, also aged 75 years. This brought the trade of fellmongering at the house to an end.

Below are photos of the Dellar families. To read more about old St Ives occupations, click here.

George & Ellen Dellar (née Culpin), Doris, George, Harold & Marjorie, at Olive Cottage c1910.

William and Ada Dellar (née Crawford), Horace & Hilda in the passage of Fellmonger House c1910.