Welcome back Kemp’s Corner ….. you have been missed

To all those who remember meeting up at Kemp’s Corner and the many more who only know it as part of the Four Banks I was pleased to see the development on the former HSBC  has adopted the name Kemps Corner.

Kemp's Corner is back, Wilbraham Road, 2025

Pedant’s will no doubt remark on the missing apostrophe but it’s a recognition of a bit of our past, because here on the corner of Barlow Moor and Wilbraham Roads was Harry Kemp’s chemist.*

Mr Kemp is listed in the Rate Books as present in the property from 1886, went on to open another pharmacy on Beech Road and had previously occupied a shop on Stretford Road.

And he was an enterprising individual.  

In 1900 he applied to be granted the Freedom of the City of London “by redemption of the Company of Spectaclemakers of London", was elected to the Manchester City Council in 1904, and published his own Chorlton Alamanak and Handbook in 1910.

Added to all this he was also an agent for Sutton & Co Parcels office and a regular correspondent to the newspapers.

So I am not surprised that he erected a large clock above the door of his chemists, which quickly became a popular meeting place.

In the age before mobiles, Kemp’s Corner was the place to arrange to meet, with that added bonus that if your companion was late you could admonish them by pointing to the clock face.

Just when the term Kemp’s Corner came into common use is unclear but throughout the 20th century it was in use.

A name still in use, 1978

As late as 1978, the local newspaper referred to Kemp’s Corner in an article on the redevelopment of what was once the Midland Bank into the former Chemist, leading with the headline, “Kemp’s Corner is having a facelift”.

All the more remarkable as the chemist had long ago past out of Harry Kemp’s ownership, was for a while a Co-op Pharmacy and was briefly a fast-food outlet.

And there are still plenty of people who remember the corner as Harry Kemp’s as there will be more who knew it only as only one of the corners of “The Four Banks”

I like the way that places get names reflecting their usage or location which often defy the official name.  

More than just a chemist, 1910

So, in the same way the junction of High Lane, Sandy Lane and Barlow Moor Road were known as Lane End during the 19th century which made perfect sense, more so as Barlow Moor Road had been Barlow Moor Lane.

Kemp's Corner, cieca 1900

Well done the developers for bringing back Kemp’s Corner, although like my friend Tony Goulding I am a little puzzled at addition of "Est 1878" which accompanies the pained sign.

Now Harry Kemp didn’t wash up there till 1886, and the building post dates 1881 when the Withington Board of Health’s map records the land as an orchard.

And while he was practicing as a chemist in 1881 it was from a business in Hulme.

But I guess the developer knows something I don’t, leaving me just to observe that in 1845 the land was known as Hollingworth Acres and was an orchard owned by the Egerton’s and farmed by a Francis Dakin [Deakin]

And that is that.

Other than to say the return of Kemp's Corner may prempt the call for officialy naming the junction The Four Banks which briefly was to the go to campaign on social media with the accompaying petition.

All that Mr. Kemp could sell, undated

I said at the time it was a name and campain to far, and then up pops Mr Kemp's legacy.

And incidentlty Harry Kemp was elected to the City Council in 1904 and again the following year despite what the Manchester Guardian reported  had been "some personal elements introduced into the contestby his [Tory] opponent", along with "certain insinuationsregarding his actions on the City Council".**

When Mr. Kemp sought your vote, 1904

He retired six years later through ill health and was judged to be a hard working councillor not affraid to be controversisla as with his accusations of a "land grab" by a Withington developer in 1905.***

And he died in North Wales in 1927 leaving £9,892.9s.2d to his wife and daughter.

Slater's Manchester & Salford Surban Directory, 1903

Which I thought was the end, but then I decided to follow up Sutton & Co Parcels Office and found this, which will need more investigation.

Pictures;  Kemp's Corner is back, Anne Hall, 2025, [permission being sought], Harry Kemps’ chemist shop, circa 1900, from the Lloyd Collection, the 1904 election address, courtesy of Lawrence Beedle, Chorlton-cum-Hardy District Almanack and Handbook for 1910, courtesy of Manchester Libraries, Information and Archives, Manchester City Council, Otto of Rose tub top, date unknown from the collection of Jay Hurst, and news story from the Stretford & Urmston Journal, April 12, 1978 from the collection of Andrew Simpson

*Harry Kemp, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search?q=Kemp%27s+Corner

**Todays Elections, Manchester Guardian, November 1st, 1905 Chorlton-cum-Hardy & Whalley Range 

***Mr. Kemp on Workman's Wages, Manchester Guardian, November 1st, 1905