20.     John Hayman (T and H Besley)                                                      1828 


Thomas Besley was born in 1760 and advertised himself as printer, bookseller and stationer or bookbinder and was listed in various directories of the time at Southgate Street (1801 and 1811); at Holy Trinity (1803); and at 76, Bell Hill, South Street (between 1816 and 1834). Thomas and Jane had 6 children including Thomas Junior (he became an independent printer in Exeter) and Henry who eventually became partner and successor to the family business. Few local printers published extensively but Henry Besley could claim to have been one of the most prolific of local publishers.

It would appear that the Besleys were in contact with John Hayman (see 16) and managed to obtain the plates which had been used for his map of 1805. They expanded the plates, added new title and imprints and included the map in the Exeter Itinerary And General Directory - June 1828. This was Printed and Published by T and H Besley, South Street. Issues of the directory are extant only for the years 1828, 1831 (no change to map), 1836 and 1839. 

Title: EXETER in 1828

Size: 230 x 210 mm with SCALE 800 feet = 24 mm or 1 Mile = 174 mm.

Imprint and signature: To Accompany the Exeter Itinerary & General Directory and Exeter, Published by the Proprietors, T & H Besley, Printers &c. South Street. 

Hayman’s map of 1805 has been revised and has been extended to the east, to include the houses at the top end of St. Sidwell Street (e.g. Peerless Place and Salem Place) and the City Workhouse and Baring Crescent on the London Road. Coaver and Bellair (built by John Vowler, a rich grocer, in 1710) can now be seen. The Reference Key has been revised (e.g. Quaker’s Meeting House is now St. Sidwell’s Church) and turned into a scroll. There are a number of new buildings or alterations: the County Bridewell is shown beside the County Gaol and the nearby Barracks are slightly reduced; the Proposed Basin is shown near Trews Wear and the Deaf and Dumb Institute, established 1826, nearby has been added. Mount Radford has become a school (1827). The Racket Court has given way to Dix’s Field (named after previous owner). A new canal has been cut at Great Shilhay. In addition the new gas works, built 1815-1817, has been included on Exe Island. This was situated in Archer Lane, between Tudor Street and Bonhay Road. Colleton Crescent, surprisingly, looks uncompleted. There are a few errors: Broad Gate has not been changed although it and 2 adjoining houses were taken down in 1825 for road widening.

The map was revised for inclusion in the Exeter Guide and Itinerary of 1836 (now only published by H Besley, see below). The main change is that the reference key is removed and placed below the map; in the space now uncovered, considerable development is shown such as the New Road is extended from Bedford Crescent and back into Paris Street. Reference 35 is now the Friends’ Meeting House, newly opened, at the new Friar’s Walk. The new Queen Street is already shown as far as the city wall with a suggestion of extension but not yet named (opened 1837).


There are roads and houses between Magdalen Road and Holloway Street (not all complete). The North Road is new and winds from Longbrook Street out to the Bridewell and Gaol before joining the previous New Road and passing near the new reservoir (1833). Here it meets another new road which crosses Pound Lane and meets Northernhay Row near the New City Prison. The Bristol & Exeter Railway is now shown but without start or end: it appears from the compass on the banks of the Exe, follows the river on the northern bank before crossing both Great Shilhay and the river and ceases at the New Basin. The line was enacted in 1836 but not connected to the city until 1844.

For the 1839 directory the map was altered: the new road to the New City Prison has been deleted; the layout of the roads around Magdalen Road has been realigned (corrected) with a new road to join Paris Street; and new properties have sprung up between Longbrook Street and the New North Road. There are outlines of buildings at the New Basin: these were possibly supposed to be the new coal wharfs or the rival gas works built at Haven Banks and opened in May 1839.


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