131: Payne & Son
No. 131 dates from the fifteenth century, but the front was altered in the eighteenth century and bay windows inserted. It is a Grade II listed building (ref. 1485/345).
In 1772 a survey of every house in the city was taken in consequence of the Mileways Act of 1771. No. 131 was then in the occupation of a Mrs Puffet, and its frontage measured 4 yards 2 feet 8 inches.
There is an old model of a dog with a large clock-face in its mouth over the shop front (right)
The passage beneath this sign leads to the Chequers Inn behind.
At the time of the 1851 census John Withers, the chemist who then had this shop, lived upstairs with his wife, his younger brother Frederick, and a servant.
In 1861 James Sheard, a watchmaker and jeweller, had his business here, living upstairs with his wife and four children and two servants. He was still here in 1881, when his son, Henry Vaughan Sheard, is also described as a jeweller.
In 1888 George Septimius Payne of Payne & Son (founded in 1790 in Wallingford by John Payne of London) bought Alderman Sheard’s business, and the firm is still there.
| Occupiers of 131 High Street | |
| 1839 | W.C.
& J.G. Last Linen drapers & Silk mercers |
| 1846 | Charles
A. Green Cabinet maker |
| By 1851–1852+ | John Withers Chemist & druggist |
| Before 1861–1888 | J. Sheard Watchmaker & jeweller |
| 1889–present | Payne & Son Goldsmiths |