Up: Hayward
YOR: 68 of 113
|
|
| |
his letter of notice with "Nothing will give me greater pleasure"
scrawled across it.
Efforts were made at this time to purchase
the freehold of Nos. 191/193, Union Street from William Hayward
but he placed the value a little high for the directors and as the
lease had only seven years to run the existing arrangements whereby
the company rented the premises were allowed to continue. Numbers
187/189 were already held on lease direct from the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners.
About this time, William Hayward delivered
an important lecture to the Architectural Association entitled
Interior Lighting in which he dealt scientifically with many
aspects of this complex subject. The paper, which was reported in
full in The Builder, revealed a technical knowledge of pavement
lights which has never been surpassed. It forms the basis of the
section of the Encyclopædia Britannica, which quotes
Eckstein's lecture as its authority. The paper was reprinted in
pamphlet form and distributed throughout the trade so that a greater
knowledge of the subject was made available with a corresponding
upward reaction on sales.
An impressive connection of a most diverse
nature resulted from the combination of the business brought by
McInnes with the already universally known pavement lights and other
Hayward productions and the stable fittings and ornamental ironwork
brought from Cottam and Willmore. By 1898, agencies had been arranged
in Brussels, Antwerp, Nice, Bergen, and in China, Japan and the
Argentine.
As soon as the three businesses had been
dove-tailed at the works themselves, avoiding duplication and waste,
showrooms were leased in the West End of London for the better
exploitation of the whole. The basement in Queen Victoria Street
had served its purpose at a time when the efficiency and convenience
of the pavement light had not yet been established. But twenty years
of advertisement and use had earned a reputation which was now
accepted without question. The principle of so lighting
|
|
