CIRCA 1810-20

Toplis and Woolfitt are listed as upholsterers and cabinet-makers at 22 St. Paul's Churchyard between 1813 - 20. James Toplis was apprenticed to James Duthoit around 1790 and had established his own business by 1798. The premises in St Paul's Churchyard were destroyed by fire in 1810, but Toplis evidently rebuilt his workshop and seems to have entered into partnership with John Woolfit in 1813. In 1814 Topliss took out Sun Insurance policies on stock, utensils and goods in trust in his house, workshops, warerooms and lofts, plus an additional policy for premises in Knightrider Court. He is recorded at various other addresses in the locale until 1828 (C. Gilbert, Dictionary of English Furniture Makers 1660 - 1840, Leeds, 1986, p. 899).