JOSHUA BARRETT 1850- 1931
QUACK SALESMAN OF
MANDRAKE LOTIONS & POTIONS
Joshua Barrett was born in the village of Bluntisham near St. Ives Huntingdonshire (now Cambridgeshire) in the first quarter of 1850. He was the youngest of five boys His father, William, was a farmer and the family lived in a house which still stands today. A brick inserted into the rear wall has the inscription WB 1845, the year that Joshua's father built the family home. The eldest son, William, worked on the farm with his father.
On 2nd April
1874, he married Margaret Cole who was born and brought up in the town of St Ives, five miles from Bluntisham. They had a non-conformist wedding at St Thomas Charterhouse in Finsbury,
London and then took up residence in Finsbury.
Their first child, Arnold was born in late 1875, followed by Hugh in November1876, Mabel in 1878 and Harold in 1887.
In the census of 1881, they were living at Oakley Road Islington and Joshua, ever seeking to improve his lot in life, was listed as a commercial traveller in drapery, which would, no doubt, have included lace.
He did advertise his products
in newspapers, but preferred to meet people in person and give out leaflets and
free samples.
One of his leaflets
claimed that there was sufficient product in each bottle to cure 50 headaches.
The Mandrake plant had been used since ancient times for medicinal purposes and was traditionally associated with magical activities. J.K. Rowling featured mandrake root in her Harry Potter books. In her stories mandrake roots are depicted as having the appearance of human babies with leaves growing out of their head. When they are removed from the ground their cry is fatal to anyone who hears it.
Mandrake is naturally found in the Mediterranean region, but we believe that Joshua was probably using a plant called White Bryony which has similar properties to Mandrake but is more toxic and needs to be handled with care. White Bryony was growing in the hedgerows around Bluntisham so it was easy for Joshua to source.
The following year, 1892, Joshua decided to move to the north of England, ideally mid-way between London and Edinburgh. This would make it easier for him to travel around the country. He bought a house with a long stretch of land on the edge of Snaith. It was called Priory Cottage and had been occupied by an elderly widower and retired carrier, named Thomas Fish He had recently died at the age of 85. Joshua re- named the property MANDRAKE HOUSE.
We believe that Arnold and Hugh only lived at Mandrake House for a short time and that they were there primarily there to help their father set up the production line for his Mandrake products.
Five year old, Harold was educated at the Wesleyan School in Snaith and then transferred to DRAX GRAMMAR SCHOOL at the age of 10. DRAX had a very good reputation for excellent education and it could be one of the reasons why Joshua decided to live in Snaith. It was just three miles from Mandrake House to Drax Grammar School.
Joshua was an impressive figure in his striped trousers, frock coat and top hat. He wore a tea rose in his buttonhole and his thick white beard was neatly trimmed.
Apparently, he grew the White Bryony in his garden and brewed and bottled his medicine in a workshop in the
orchard. He had a horse and an impressive carriage that he loved to drive around
the neighbourhood.
Every Summer, he would
make numerous lengthy visits to Blackpool, because he always had a success there
selling his products.
During the Spring season, local people would go for walks along Gowdall Lane and peep over the Mandrake House hedge in an effort to spot the logo which was created on the lawn, with the design picked out with yellow and purple crocuses.
In 1899 Joshua's father died and his brother, William moved out of the family farm house and took up residence in another property in Bluntisham and he became an agent for his brother, promoting and selling Mandrake potions.
Apparently, even after he
had stopped selling his medicines, he would tell everyone he met “ If, like me, you keep drinking my Mandrake
medicine, you cannot die”
In May 1914 the following notice was published in The Yorkshire Post:
SNAITH - TO BE LET FOR 3 or 5 YEARS
Detached residence known as Mandrake House, now occupied by the owner, Joshua Barrett who is moving to Blackpool. 4 Bedrooms, Dining/Drawing Room, Kitchen, Pantry etc. Motor House, Large Warehouse, Outbuildings, Splendid gardens stocked with up to date fruit trees. 5 minutes from the station.
We are not sure if the property was let, as it still appears to have been Joshua's business address until the first quarter of 1919 when Joshua and his housekeeper Martha moved to Blackpool, where he named the new home, Mandrake House.
He now appears to have acquired the title Professor with letters after his name and calling himself the Mandrake Specialist.
His wife, Margaret, died
in January 1921 at the age of 74 in Islington London.
Immediately afterwards
Joshua and Martha were married.
Joshua Barrett, probably still
drinking his Mandrake medicine, died on December 11th 1931 at the age of 81. His estate was valued at £2311 (£165,333 in 2021) The report of his death in The Yorkshire Post stated: Joshua Barrett (of Mandrake fame). We are sure he would have liked that.
His widow continued living
at 26 Beechfield Avenue, Whitegate Drive Blackpool, but the house was no longer
called “Mandrake House”. She died on December 12th 1940.
JOSHUA’s son
ARNOLD HENRY BARRETT
Arnold moved to Mandrake House in 1892 at the age of 16 with his father.
In the census of 1901, he was living in
London with his mother. He was 25 and employed as a Bank Clerk.
On the 1911 census he was
married to Evelyn, employed as a Bank Cashier and living at Bank House 15 Docks
Road Tilbury Docks. They had 2 young children and a servant.
During the 20s and 30s
they moved around, mainly in Enfield Middlesex.
He died in April 1939 aged
63 in Bromley Kent.
JOSHUA’s son
HUGH MOORE BARRETT
Hugh moved to Mandrake House in 1892 at the age of 15 with his father.
By 1899 he had left
Mandrake House and in quarter four he married Minnie Sumner in Goole. They moved to the Leeds area with homes at Pudsey,
at Barkston Ash in 1908 and Crossgates
in 1911. He was employed as a Commercial
Traveller.
In 1922 they were living
on Selby Road Snaith and were still there in 1926.
From 1927 until his death on
22nd July 1950 at the age of 73, they lived at 11 Beasfair
Snaith. This house became Snaith Vicarage
1954 to 1985.
In 1939 at the age of 63
he was listed as a Commercial Traveller (incapacitated)
Hugh and his widow Minnie
are buried in Holy Trinity Church Graveyard East Cowick. She died 25th January 1951.
MORE ABOUT MANDRAKE
·
There is a reference
to MANDRAKE in The Bible. The Book o
Genesis, Chapter 30, Verse 14. Rachel
tells Leah she can spend the night with her husband in exchange for mandrakes,
which she hopes will help her to conceive.
·
In Shakespear’s
Romeo and Juliet: “What with loathsome smells and shrieks like mandrakes torn
out of the earth, that living mortals, hearing them, run mad”
·
The mandrake plant
grows naturally in arid areas around the
Mediterranean and Middle East where it has been used as a hallucinogen, painkiller, aphrodisiac
and fertility drug for thousands of years.
But the dose has to be right! Too much could make a person very ill and
addicted and even cause death.
·
The mandrake is
just one of 2,500 species belonging to the Solanaceae family, which also contains
tomatoes, potatoes, chillies, aubergines, peppers, tobacco, petunias, deadly
nightshade and henbane. Many of these
are a good food source, but eaten in excess can poison us, send us on mind-
bending trips, dull pain and slowly kill us.
·
Henbane, was used
by Dr Crippen, who was convicted of killing his wife in 1910.
·
The mandrake root
can be up to 18 inches long and often resembles a human figure.
MANDRAKE HOUSE AFTER JOSHUA BARRETT
In the mid 1930s, the house
was purchased by a former chauffeur to the local Squire, Roderick Shearburn of Snaith
Hall.
John Nash was a native of
Surrey who had come north to take the position around 1910 at the age of
17. He had worked at a garage for many
years and had learnt how to strip a car engine and also how to drive.
At the outbreak of war in
1914, he enlisted and fought in France. After the war, he returned to his job
as a chauffeur, but he found it difficult to adjust to the idea of being the
Squire’s chauffeur for the rest of his life.
He fell in love with a local girl and they became engaged to be married.
However, he knew he had to try his luck in Canada and USA. As it turned out, it was the right move. He had a great deal of success and earned a
lot of money in a short period of time.
He came back to Snaith and married Sarah Fairbairn in July 1923. Her father Alfred owned a local
building firm that built many local buildings
including The Church School (Pontefract Road) in 1877 and The Police Station
(Court Road) in 1897. NB Both of these buildings display a Blue
Plaque
John Nash set up in business
as a haulier and motor car specialist- selling them, repairing and serving them
and filling them with petrol. The site is
still there on Selby Road in Snaith. John was well known for keeping his
vehicles clean. Cars, lorries and coaches were all washed regularly- inside and
outside.
It took well over a year
of hard work before it was fit to live in, but it was worth, because it became
a happy family home for around 27 years.
Joshua would have been
pleased to see that the gardens were still producing splendid Tea Roses for his
buttonhole, but would probably not have been happy that John and Sarah had
changed the name of the house to Priory Cottage.
By the early 1960s Mandrake
House was too big for the two of them and they moved out. But not too far, because they had a new bungalow
built in Joshua’s orchard.
As time went on, they
moved to Wesley Place Community Centre.
This building now provides sheltered accommodation for people with
learning difficulties.
NB, It has a Blue
Plaque to record its earlier life as a school.
The Playgroup celebrated
its 25th birthday in 1994 and continued in operation until 2002.
and Les gave a helping
hand as well.
Les died in 2004 and Dawn
died in 2014.
Mark and Maisie Smith moved into Mandrake House in 2021. They are both keen to keep the story of Joshua Barrett alive. The picture at the beginning of this article is their side gate, showing the name MANDRAKE HOUSE and above the gate there are two depictions of Joshua's MANDRAKE logo.
Here is one of Joshua's adverts
BARRETT’S Mandrake EMBROCATION
CURES {HEADACHE! EARACHE! TOOTHACHE!} INSTANTLY.
Unequalled for Sprains, Bruises, Overstraining of the Muscles, Cramp, Rheumatism, Sciatica, Lumbago, Gout, Neuralgia, Chilblains, Bronchitis. To be had retail of all Chemists, 1s. 1½d., 2s. 9d., and 4s. 6d., postage 3d. extra ; or direct from the Sole Proprietor, JOSHUA BARRETT, 21, Beresford Road, Highbury New Park, London, N. London Wholesale Agents—Messrs. Newberry and Sons, Barclay and Sons, Limited, and all wholesale houses. SPECIAL NOTICE.—For the convenience of those at a distance from Chemists, J.B. Will send Three Bottles, post free, on receipt of 8s. 4½d., stamps or P.O.
To Mr. Joshua Barrett.—Dear Sir,—About twelve months ago, I, in playing football, had the misfortune to break a large muscle of my leg, which prevented my being able to walk, much more to play again. I may say that I have been under no less than three doctors, all of whom have failed to cure me. I was recommended by a fellow athlete to try your MANDRAKE EMBROCATION, and, I am pleased to say, with good result. I am now playing and running again as if nothing had happened. I shall have exceedingly great pleasure in recommending same to my numerous friends. If you like to make use of this, by all means do so.—Yours faithfully, H. G. THOMPSON, Captain, Kent Rovers Football Club, Kent County, and Sydenham Athletic Association.
Source: The Sportsman, 30 March 1889
JOSHUA BARRETT placed an advert whilst living in Blackpool NB He now claimed to be a Professor with letters after his name and an expert in the cure of pain and discomfort.
