Archive of Parsons, stonemasons of Eastgate Street, Lewes

AMS5836/1 Cash books; 1794-1796

AMS5836/2 Ledgers; 1799-1803

AMS5836/3 Invoices, bills of lading and related papers; 1833-1862

AMS5836/4 Other business papers; 1806-1872

AMS5836/5 Pharmaceutical notes of Ena Muriel Allen (née Bridgman); 1930-1932

Some items were held as photocopies before their replacement by originals. New reference numbers were then allocated; the former references of the photocopies are given below

<p>For other records of the firm, most of which date from the time that it was run by Bridgman, see BRN</p>

Photocopied 22 Feb 1983 (ACC 4031) and subsequently deposited, 5 Jan 2001 (ACC 8262)

The firm in Eastgate Street was run originally by John Morris, who was joined in the business by his nephew, also called John Morris, by at least the 1780s. After his uncle's retirement. John Morris the younger (1745-1822) went into partnership with Edward May (c1750-1803). In 1794 May formed a partnership with Latter Parsons (1773-1848), assuming that the purchase of the cash book and ledger recorded in AMS5836/1/1 signalled the establishment of the business

The ledger listed below (AMS5836/2/2) refers to work undertaken for a number of important local families including Shiffner, Pelham, Campion, Gage and Sackville. After May's death in 1803, Latter Parsons went into partnership with his brother Charles (1776-1828), and they built the front of the Shire Hall, Lewes, between 1808 and 1812

The firm was called L Parsons & Son by the 1830s, after the death of Charles Parsons. Latter died in 1848, and the firm was then known as John L & C Parsons. John Latter Parsons and Charles Parsons, statuaries, stonemasons and slate merchants are listed at Eastgate Wharf, Eastgate Street, Lewes, and also at Terminus Road, Eastbourne, in the 1862 Kelly's Directory. The firm also later had premises at Newhaven

The 1878 directory lists the businesses of Parsons Brothers, timber and slate merchants, as well as Charles Parsons, cement merchant, statuary and stone and marble mason, at the Eastgate Wharf. There seems to have been a split between the timber business, which continued to be run by Parsons Brothers, and the stone masons, which was run by Charles F Bridgman from the 1880s