Now, number 22 Edge Lane has more than its fair share of interesting stories.
Its first owner moved into the property in 1865, only to sell it a few years later and then buy it back, and for a while it appears, he sub divided the house.
It was a grand property, set in extensive grounds with its own stable and hidden behind tall stone walls and neatly maintained hedges.
These afforded the degree of privacy that its residents would have taken for granted.
For they were all people of plenty who described themselves as “merchants” and “businessmen”, who were also careful to record that they were “employers of others”.
The first half century of number 22 is fairly easy to follow, and all its occupants can be traced using the rate books, street directories and census returns.
But after 1911 it becomes just that bit more difficult, and while the annual directories offer up the name of the householder through to the 1960s, other records like the census are silent.
All of which brings me to Mr and Mrs Shevloff who occupied the house from sometime in the 1920s through to the 1950s.
I first came across the family in 1939, when the widowed Mrs Shevloff appears on the 1939 Register which was compiled just after the outbreak of the Second World War. The register formed the basis for the issue of Identity Cards, Ration Books and was used by the National Health Service, nine years later to generate NHS numbers.
After that it was possible to trace Mr. and Mrs. Shevloff back into the 19th century, uncover the date of their marriage, the births of their children and their moves from London, to Sheffield and onto Edge Lane.
Mrs Shevloff was born in east London in 1880, two years before her father, Charles Lazarus, was naturalized as a British Citizen. At the time the family were living in Whitechapel and he described himself as a “grocer” who had been born in Poland and had been a “Subject of the Empire of Russia”.
Given that the family were Jewish, and this coincide with one of many periods of antisemitic persecution in Russia, it is easy to see why the family moved to Britain.
It is unclear exactly when that was, but their eldest son had been born here in 1874 which would suggest that they had escaped from the Russian Empire sometime before that date.
By 1891, Mr. Lazarus described himself as a “hotel Keeper” and his three eldest sons were working, one as a barber and the other two in shops.
Julia married Ernest Shevloff in 1900 and by the following year had moved to Sheffield where he described himself as a “lace curtain merchant”, running his own business. He too was from Russia, having been naturalized in 1909.
Their home is still standing and was a modest 8 roomed property which they shared with their four children, a servant and two boarders, one of whom was Julia’s brother and the other who had also been born in Russia.
The family clearly prospered and by 1929, if not earlier they are in Manchester and living Edge Lane.
The degree to which they were doing well is vouched by the prominent entry in the 1929 trade directory which is large bold prints lists them as “SHEVLOFF E.B.& S. LTD., hosiery, blankets, quilts, sheets towels, plain and fancy linens, lace curtains and casement manufacturers and merchants, 23 High Street, Telephone City 2904 & 2905”.
And the fact that when Emanuel died in 1935, he left over £15,000.
For those who want a 21st century comparison, using Measuring Worth that sum in 2018 amounts to £1,023,000.00, which if you want to get techical goes up to £2,710,000.00 when set against the average earnings, or £4,850,000.00 using the per capita GDP.**
Julia survived him by another sixteen years, and both were buried in separate burial plots in the Jewish Cemetery in Southern Cemetery.
Which brings me back to the 1939, register, which records Julia and three of her children occupying the Edge Lane house. In the 1950s the surnames of her two daughters were changed on the register to Lewis and Smith, after their marriages.
And here I own up to one of those silly mistakes, because before cross referencing the dates of their marriages and the names of their husbands, I had assumed the name changes on the list were linked to a wish to distance themselves from their Jewish origins.
Not so, and while given the growing antisemitism across the channel, this was me being unhistorical and not checking the facts.
Just what happens to number 22 after Julia’s death has yet to be discovered, but I am guessing it won’t be a dull story.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Edge Lane, nos. 24, looking to Wilbraham Road, date unknown and Edge Lane, circa 1900, from the Lloyd Collection, and number 22, in the first stages of renovation and redevelopment by Armistead Property Ltd***, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Sources; Census Returns, 1861-1911, 1939 Register, Manchester’s Rate Books, 1845-1900, OS Maps of Manchester, 1894, 1907, 1934, Slater’s Street Directories of Manchester & Salford, 1878-1911, Naturalization Records
**Measuring Worth, https://www.measuringworth.com/index.php
***Armistead Property Ltd, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/
 |
| Looking to the junction of with Wilbraham Road, date unknown |
It was a grand property, set in extensive grounds with its own stable and hidden behind tall stone walls and neatly maintained hedges.
These afforded the degree of privacy that its residents would have taken for granted.
For they were all people of plenty who described themselves as “merchants” and “businessmen”, who were also careful to record that they were “employers of others”.
 |
| Edge Lane, circa 1900 |
But after 1911 it becomes just that bit more difficult, and while the annual directories offer up the name of the householder through to the 1960s, other records like the census are silent.
All of which brings me to Mr and Mrs Shevloff who occupied the house from sometime in the 1920s through to the 1950s.
I first came across the family in 1939, when the widowed Mrs Shevloff appears on the 1939 Register which was compiled just after the outbreak of the Second World War. The register formed the basis for the issue of Identity Cards, Ration Books and was used by the National Health Service, nine years later to generate NHS numbers.
 |
| No. 22 Edge Lane, 2019 |
Mrs Shevloff was born in east London in 1880, two years before her father, Charles Lazarus, was naturalized as a British Citizen. At the time the family were living in Whitechapel and he described himself as a “grocer” who had been born in Poland and had been a “Subject of the Empire of Russia”.
Given that the family were Jewish, and this coincide with one of many periods of antisemitic persecution in Russia, it is easy to see why the family moved to Britain.
It is unclear exactly when that was, but their eldest son had been born here in 1874 which would suggest that they had escaped from the Russian Empire sometime before that date.
By 1891, Mr. Lazarus described himself as a “hotel Keeper” and his three eldest sons were working, one as a barber and the other two in shops.
 |
| No. 2 Edge Lane, 2019 |
Their home is still standing and was a modest 8 roomed property which they shared with their four children, a servant and two boarders, one of whom was Julia’s brother and the other who had also been born in Russia.
The family clearly prospered and by 1929, if not earlier they are in Manchester and living Edge Lane.
The degree to which they were doing well is vouched by the prominent entry in the 1929 trade directory which is large bold prints lists them as “SHEVLOFF E.B.& S. LTD., hosiery, blankets, quilts, sheets towels, plain and fancy linens, lace curtains and casement manufacturers and merchants, 23 High Street, Telephone City 2904 & 2905”.
And the fact that when Emanuel died in 1935, he left over £15,000.
For those who want a 21st century comparison, using Measuring Worth that sum in 2018 amounts to £1,023,000.00, which if you want to get techical goes up to £2,710,000.00 when set against the average earnings, or £4,850,000.00 using the per capita GDP.**
Julia survived him by another sixteen years, and both were buried in separate burial plots in the Jewish Cemetery in Southern Cemetery.
 |
| Entry in Slater's Directory, 1929 |
And here I own up to one of those silly mistakes, because before cross referencing the dates of their marriages and the names of their husbands, I had assumed the name changes on the list were linked to a wish to distance themselves from their Jewish origins.
Not so, and while given the growing antisemitism across the channel, this was me being unhistorical and not checking the facts.
Just what happens to number 22 after Julia’s death has yet to be discovered, but I am guessing it won’t be a dull story.
Location; Chorlton
Pictures; Edge Lane, nos. 24, looking to Wilbraham Road, date unknown and Edge Lane, circa 1900, from the Lloyd Collection, and number 22, in the first stages of renovation and redevelopment by Armistead Property Ltd***, 2019, from the collection of Andrew Simpson
* Sources; Census Returns, 1861-1911, 1939 Register, Manchester’s Rate Books, 1845-1900, OS Maps of Manchester, 1894, 1907, 1934, Slater’s Street Directories of Manchester & Salford, 1878-1911, Naturalization Records
**Measuring Worth, https://www.measuringworth.com/index.php
***Armistead Property Ltd, http://www.armisteadproperty.co.uk/
I went to Shevloff's with my mother and father and called him Mr Shevloff so someone with the same name must have carried on the business after Emmanuel died. My parents knew him well. My great aunt and uncle bought stuff for their hotel from him. I wish I could remember his first name.
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