The team at John Rylands Research have recently acquired a fascinating photo album capturing the 1952 move of William Batty & Sons jewellers from Market Street to King Street.
The album shows the original shop on Market Street, through renovation of the King Street one to the finished result.
After decades of change, the King Street premises has come full circle – it’s once again home to a jewellers.
Originally opened in 1853, Batty’s Market Street shop sold fine watches, clocks, diamonds, silverware, and electroplate – all of the highest quality.
William Batty wasn’t just a master jeweller; in 1884, as an alderman, he championed the creation of the Manchester Ship Canal, calling it “one of the grandest schemes which has ever entered the mind of man.”
He later served as Lord Mayor in 1888-89 and was passionate about improving housing for the poor and in the question of the formation of “Greater Manchester”.
