The firm of G.Betjemann & Sons. of 36-44 Pentonville Road was founded in 1820. It was the family business of the Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman, and was best known for its different types of tantalus. In his verse autobiography Summoned by Bells, 1960, Betjeman describes 'stockrooms heavy with the tantalus On which the family fortune had been made. The Alexandra Palace patent lock, The Betjemann device for hansom cabs Patents exhibited in '51/...The inlaid brass, the figured rosewwod box, The yellow satinwood, the silverware/...'