Victoria Street or Cheapside

In 1883, a brand new range of shops was opened on the east side of Victoria Street, Ventnor. The new range was presumably named after Cheapside in the City of London, for this was the street that, for centuries, had acted as a market, cheap deriving from ‘chepe’, the Saxon word for market.

The individual behind the development was Stephen Tuddenham who had come to Ventnor in 1866 as a carpenter. By the 1881 census, he is living at Waterloo House (on the opposite side of Victoria Street) a property that appears to have been erected by him around 1878. Stephen’s skill as a carpenter became a springboard for him to set up business as a furniture dealer. He was a very astute businessman over the years and served on Ventnor’s Local Board. When he died in 1908, his funeral procession was marked by leading tradesmen attaching black shutters to the fronts of their premises as a mark of respect.

Read PDF version here: Victoria Street or Cheapside