The History of Orchard Court - Portman Square

Orchard Court and the Special Operations Executive

Orchard Court was designed by the architectural firm of Messrs Joseph and was completed in 1930. Orchard Court also played a vital role in one of the silent organisations of World War II. It was in this luxurious apartment building that flats were used as a base for the French section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). “The time the agents spent at Orchard Court was a brief period of luxury before their gruelling, dangerous stints in the field.”

The Special Operations Executive at Orchard Court

The SOE was a secret service created to assist resistance organisations in occupied Europe in “launching sabotage, subterfuge and guerrilla warfare operations”. The SOE head office was at 64 Baker Street and a number of nearby buildings, including Orchard Court were used in organising their secret operations. The SOE was also notable for their acceptance of employing women, as it was “argued that women were less conspicuous than men” and in some cases more adept in fulfilling some of the tasks of their “secret employment”. However sending women behind enemy lines and training them in espionage, including silent killing was still highly irregular.

The French Section (or ‘F’ Section) was commanded by Maurice Buckmaster, who was assisted by Vera Atkins. Vera Atkins was the subject of a book A Life in Secrets by Sarah Helm (2006) detailing her experiences in the SOE. Atkins was responsible for meeting new recruits at Orchard Court before they set off for training. Agents would again stay at Orchard Court after completing their training and before they were sent into occupied France. Vera Atkins sent 470 agents into France including 39 women, 118 of whom were never to return.

Orchard Court

The name Orchard originates from Orchard Portman, a former country estate belonging to the Portman family, near Taunton in Somerset. The apartments first appear advertised in The Times in 1930 and the first residents appear in the London Directory and Electoral Register in 1930-1.

First Residents

The first resident of No.41 Orchard Court in 1931 was Mr Follet Watson Bell and his wife Isabella. By 1938 flat No.41 had become the home of Sir Francis Minchin Voules and Lady Renee Voules. Francis M. Voules was a solicitor and businessman and during World War I was Commissioner of the British Red Cross in Holland. Voules was created C.B.E. in 1920 and received a knighthood in 1921 for his work during the war, in particular, for his efforts is searching for prisoners of war missing in Germany and Russia.

Late 20th century

After World War II flat No.41 briefly became the home of Montague Jacobs and his family. Shortly afterwards, it became the home of Hyman Stone and his wife Dorothy. Hyman Stone was a senior partner in the legal firm of Jacobson Ridley & Co. The Stone family continued to live at No.41 Orchard Court into the early years of the 21st century.

Today, Orchard Court is located within the Portman Conservation area and is registered as an “unlisted building of merit”.

© Melanie Backe-Hansen – Chesterton Historian

The History of Newell Street - Limehouse

House History of Newell Street, London

No.15 Newell Street was built during the 1760s and is part of one of the last remaining Georgian terraced rows in the area. Formerly known as Church Row, Charles Dickens visited his godfather here during the 1820s. Neighbouring St Anne’s was designed by Sir Nicholas Hawksmoor and features the highest Church clock in London.

The 18th century

Newell Street was laid out for building in the mid 1700s on ground to the west of the new St Anne’s Church. St Anne’s was built for the expanding east-end population in 1712-24, but was only consecrated in 1730. John Rocque’s map from 1746 still shows the church surrounded by fields and gardens.

Newell Street is first recorded as Church Street, but later changed to Church Row (the northern section) and Church Lane (the southern section towards the river). Records from the Tower Hamlets Commissioner of Sewers shows rates being paid for Church Street in 1766; however house numbers are not listed. Today’s house numbers 11 to 23 were originally numbered 9 to 3, as shown on Richard Horwood’s map from 1799, No.15 was formerly No.7.

Dickens in Church Row

Charles Dickens formerly spent time in Church Row, when visiting his Godfather, Christopher Huffam, a successful ship builder and sail maker who went on to become gentleman in waiting to William IV. When Dickens was only around ten years old and his father was in financial trouble Dickens became a regular visitor to Church Row. There is however some confusion about which house belonged to Huffam, one source stating it is today’s No.5 Newell Street, another source that it is today’s No.11.

The 19th century

The 1841 census records show Church Row during the early 19th century was home to the professional working classes, with occupations including boat builders, solicitors, engineers and clerks. Unfortunately no house numbers are given, so it is not possible to identify the occupants of No.7 Church Row.

In the 1851 census, No.7 Church Row was home to Joseph Hecley, aged 43, married to Agnes, aged 42. Joseph and Agnes have nine children, seven daughters and two sons, aged between eighteen and three. Also in the house at this time is Joseph’s nephew, William, aged eight and one “General Servant”, Ann Walker, aged 19.

Changing residents

By the 1881 census the demographics of the area began to change with more working class residents closely associated with the docks and canal nearby. Having been renamed and renumbered in 1875, the census shows No.15 Church Row as home to William Bailey, a Blacksmith, aged 45, with his wife Jane and seven step children. By this time, the house has also been divided into separate apartments, with two further families, listed as “Lodgers”.

During the latter part of the 19th century, No.15 Church Row became home to a mixture of working class families, including Ebenezer Gowen, a 42 year-old “schools attendance officer” and John Burnell, a “general labourer” in 1891. In 1901 the house is home to Albert Punter, a “farrier and blacksmith”, with his wife Elizabeth and their six children aged between nine and one. Also in the house was George Moore, a bricklayer and his two sons, Albert and Alfred, and Henry Shaw, a 37 year-old “block packer”, with his wife May and three daughters, Ada, Edith and Lillian.

The 20th century

In 1905 No.15 Church Row became the home of William Joseph Hatchman, a beer bottler, who continued to live in the house with his wife Rebecca and his son, William Jnr, until the 1950s. The Valuation Tax record in 1910 shows the gross value of No.15 Church Row as £295, with the house valued separately at £145.

Church Row was renamed Newell Street in 1938, in honour of local councillor, James Edgar Newell.

Today

No.15 Newell Street is part of a Grade II listed terraced row and sits within the St Anne’s Church Conservation Area. The exterior of the house features stucco to the first floor, pediment door cases and fanlight above the door. The drawing room is also believed to contain an original swan nest fireplace.

(c) Melanie Backe-Hansen - Chesterton Historian