> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Volume 2, Number 45 - URL: https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/volume-2-number-45/ - Published: 2026-11-07T07:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-07T07:09:26.000Z - Description: The High Street clock, the Tredegar Memorial Corn Exchange, Cordey's 'New System of Business', a drunk tramp and Vine Cottage for sale on Commercial Road. - Author: Newport Cornucopia Welcome to another issue of The Newport Cornucopia where we dig through the newspapers archives for interesting news articles and adverts. All articles are posted verbatim and most headlines are original (headlines in quotes are my own). ## Sign up for The Newport Cornucopia Uncovering Newport's interesting past Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ## The High Street Clock Mr. B. Evans said Mr. Frederick, who has taken the premises to which the clock in High-street is attached, was willing to sell the clock for £15, the amount which the Council had agreed to pay for it, or to allow the Corporation to take possession of the clock on the terms that they saw to its being wound up, and kept it in a state of repair. Mr. Brown suggested that Mr. Mills, of Caerleon, should examine the clock, and this was agreed to. — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 3rd November, 1876*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442118/3442120?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) Theophilus Frederick was a cabinet maker who moved into 37 High Street. This was the premises of Joseph Latch who had installed the first town clock. It was until recently the location of Xclusive Jewellers. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-12.23.46.png) [Monmouthshire Merlin, 10th November, 1876](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442130?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ## The Tredegar Memorial Mr. W. S. Cartwright, attended by Mr. Lawrence, architect, attended as a deputation from the trustees of the Tredegar Memorial, with reference to the erection of a Corn Exchange on Napper's premises, in High-street. Mr. Cartwright said he was sorry the deputation was not a larger one, but their Vice-chairman (Mr. Lawrence) was unavoidably prevented from attending. He came as a trustee of the memorial fund to the late Lord Tredegar, and he asked their permission to close the footpath on the east side of what was known as Napper's premises. Peter Napper ran a pastry, pie and muffin shop at 65 High Street since 1808 and after passing away in 1835 was run by sone Charles and Edwin until 1871\. They were anxious to have a building which would serve the full purposes of a Corn Exchange-a building which was much wanted. They considered the site which had been given by Lord Tredegar was well suited to the object intended, being near the Post-office, the Railway Station, and the principal hotels. He believed that the Corn Exchange would be of great value, and would enable buyers from the Hills and other places to meet advantageously with sellers. The subscriptions, he believed, exceeded £3,000, and what they desired was to have not only a Corn Exchange but a room that will he useful for other purposes, and at the same time an ornament to the place. Lord Tredegar had stipulated that moderate charges should be made for the use of the room, in order to cover the necessary expenses of maintenance. He thought no more adequate and appropriate memorial could have been decided on in recognition of the many virtues and excellent qualities of the late Lord Tredegar, and more particularly what he had done in promoting the success of agriculture. The architect, Mr. Lawrence, had framed a plan on the site of Napper's premises, which would be too narrow, being only 60 feet by 26\. There would be stalls on each side, so that this would only leave 10 feet in the centre. They therefore considered that if they could have four feet of the footpath on the side of the premises, they could secure 14 feet in the middle. > The centre was where the parties met to talk over business, while the stalls were for doing business with a particular corn merchant. If the four feet were granted the public would be able to transact their business more comfortably, while it would add to the appearance and usefulness of the building as a whole. The assent of the owners and occupiers of Thomas-street had cheerfully acquiesced in the proposal. He handed in a document, signed by owners and occupiers giving their consent to the proposed encroachment. As soon as the Committee knew what ground they had to work upon they would submit the plan. **Mr. Parnall**: It has been stated that some portion of Lord Tredegar's offices will be given towards the site,—Is that so? Mr. Cartwright said it was not. It had been said, why not ask Lord Tredegar for some portion of his offices, but he felt that his answer to that was, that after the handsome manner in which Lord Tredegar had dealt with them, no trustee would ask his Lordship to make any further sacrifice. **Mr. H. J. Davis**: Besides it would spoil all the rooms on that side of the house. Mr. Cartwright hoped that as the proposal would be for the public good, the trustees would receive the hearty co-operation of the Council. Mr. W. Jones asked if Mr. Cartwright wanted aN answer that morning. Mr. Cartwright replied that he should like an answer if possible. He should not like another show after the forthcoming one to pass without some memorial to Lord Tredegar being in existence. The enthusiasm with which the matter bad been taken up was already somewhat dimmed by the delay which had taken place. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/CornExchangeHighSt.jpg) Tredegar Memorial Corn Exchange **Alderman Lewis:** I think the Council will have no voice in the management of the exchange. Mr. Cartwright said the Mayor would be a trustee. The carriage way would not be interfered with. Mr. Davis pointed out that as a Committee they had no power to give consent they must wait till the Council meeting on the 9th November. Alderman Lyne wished it to be clearly understood that if the Council approved of the taking in of the foot-path, it would be only subject to the subsequent approval of the plans for the building. Mr. Cartwright then withdrew. Alderman Lewis thought they were in duty bound to adjourn the consideration of the question till the new Board met. They had no right to legislate for the coming Board. Mr. Graham opposed the application. The railway traffic would, he said, be concentrated at the South Wales station, and people had to through go Thomas- street to the subway. At present he should protest against the proposal to the utmost of his ability and power. The Mayor said it was a very difficult matter to deal with as they bad to look several ways. Mr. Goss proposed that the matter should be referred to the Works Committee. The Mayor laid considerable stress on the fact that the people in the vicinity were in favour of the proposal. Alderman Lyne seconded Mr. Goss's motion, which was agreed to. — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 3rd November, 1876*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442118/3442120?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/HighStTopEnd-oldPC.jpg) Another view of the Corn Exchange ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/NewportHistorySocial---FBEventPoster-Narrow.jpg) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/11/image-5.png) [Monmouthshire Merlin, 13th August, 1859](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3398631/3398635?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ## Price Wars at 35 High Street: T. Cordey’s ‘New System of Business’ (1876) In 1876, shoppers opening their local newspaper met an aggressive, highly competitive advertisement from **T. Cordey**, trading as a **Wholesale and Family Grocer, Tea, Coffee, and General Provision Merchant** at **35 High Street, Newport** (with a secondary branch on High Street, Abersychan). Rather than relying on courteous trade notices, Cordey launched what he termed his **‘New System of Business’**—a deliberate push to cut out credit, slash margins, and engage in an outright local price war. ### The Cash Policy and the High Street Rivalry Cordey made no secret of friction with rival Newport traders. Addressing the public directly, he noted: > *"Our first issue was based upon the lowest remunerative prices, but since we issued our list we find a list inserted with quotations of some articles lower, which have not appeared before at any price. The object is plainly to be seen to try to stamp our New System of Business out of Newport."* The foundation of Cordey’s model was strictly transactional: **cash only**. At a time when traditional family grocers routinely ran open credit ledgers, Cordey insisted that goods be paid for on ordering or delivery: - **Payment terms:** Country customers living beyond town cart rounds were informed that goods would not be dispatched until payment arrived by cheque or Post Office Order. - **Free delivery:** Parcels were delivered free within "any reasonable distance" using Cordey’s own horse-drawn carts and vans, as well as being carted free to either of Newport’s railway stations for outward transit. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-12.25.13.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-12.25.35.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-12.25.46-1.png) ### Household Goods, Groceries, and Prices The advertised inventory gives a detailed cross-section of domestic life, household maintenance, and Victorian kitchen cupboards in the late 1870s: #### Teas and Sugars - **Teas:** Ranging from *Good Black Rough Tasted Tea* at 1s 8d per lb, up through *Fine Kaisow* (2s 4d) to the *Best Black, the pick of the market* at 3s 0d per lb (with 2d per lb knocked off for orders of 6 lbs or more). - **Sugars:** Best Lump Sugar (4d/lb), Sparkling Demerara (3d/lb), Good Bright Moist Sugar (2½d/lb), alongside crystals from the well-known Bristol refiners *Finzell’s* (No. 1 at 4d, No. 2 at 3½d, and Crushed at 3d). #### Coffee, Cocoa, and Provisions - **Coffee:** Pure roasted whole or ground bean coffees, including Costa Rica and Jamaica (1s 6d/lb), Fine Mysore (1s 8d), Finest Mysore and Mocha (1s 10d), and Dandelion Coffee (1s 4½d per tin). - **Cocoas:** Epps’s Cocoa (1s 2d per lb, noted as usually 1s 4d), Fry’s Caracas (1s 1d), Rock (1s 0d), and Cadbury’s Cocoa Essence (4½d per tin, reduced from 6d). - **Preserves and Extracts:** Liebig Company’s Extract of Meat (1s 3d for a 2 oz pot; 2s 3d for 4 oz), Keiller’s Dundee Marmalade (6½d per pot, or 3 pots for 1s 7d), and Normandy Pippins (8d per lb). #### Condiments and Tinned Goods - **Crosse & Blackwell:** Mixed pickles, piccalilli, and pickled walnuts (9½d per 1s bottle); flavouring essences including lemon, almond, ratafia, mace, cinnamon, and cochineal (8d per 1s bottle); and potted meat tins including anchovy, bloater, ham & chicken, shrimp, and 'Paté au Diable' (1s 1d). - **Sauces:** Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce (9d for a 1s bottle, 1s 4½d for a 2s bottle), Mellor’s, Cocks’ Reading Sauce, and Burgess’ Anchovy. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-12.26.02-1.png) #### Biscuits and Bakery - **Huntley & Palmer’s Biscuits:** Sold loose per lb or packed in 7 lb and 10 lb square tins. Varieties included Cracknells (11d/lb), Mixed Best (20 varieties, 10d/lb), German Rusks (9½d/lb), Osborne and Marie (8d/lb), Arrowroot and Bath (7½d/lb), down to Lunch (4d/lb). - **Dog Biscuits:** Supplied by the hundredweight (18s per cwt). #### Laundry, Lighting, and Scullery Supplies - **Laundry:** Colman’s and James’s starch (4½d for 1 lb boxes), Colman's and Reckitt's laundry blue, Hudson’s or Hemingway’s dry soap powder (3d per lb or 26s per cwt), and carbonate of soda (4d per lb). - **Lighting:** Thomas’s Composite candles (ranging from No. 1 to No. 4, 3s to 4s 4½d per 6 lb packet) and Child’s Night Lights (5d for a 6d box). - **Cleaning:** James’s Dome Lead, Nixey’s black lead for fire grates, Berry’s blacking for leather, Oakey’s Knife Polish, and Davies’ Plate Polish. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-12.26.08-1.png) — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 10th November, 1876*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442130?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-12.png) ### Drunkenness Ebenezer Evans, in custody, was charged with being drunk and incapable in Canal- parade. Defendant pleaded guilty, and was fined 5s. Henry Brown, St. Mary-street, was charged with being drunk and incapable at the Tredegar Wharf. He was found lying on the Tredegar Wharf, close to the river side, on Saturday night.—**Fined 5s** Philip Doyle, in custody, was charged with a similar offence, in High-street. He was lying helplessly drunk, and on being picked up he fell down again.—**Fined 5s**. — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 10th November, 1876*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442130?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ### Neglectful Cabmen Frederick Sanderson, Thos. Dakin, and Edmund Johns were charged with leaving their cabs unattended at the New Entrance stand. P.S. Pratten proved the case. It appeared that defendants were in the Old Green public-house, near the cab- stand. — **Fined 5s. each**. — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 10th November, 1876*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442130?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) The New Entrance was a stretch of road that ran near the castle to the Old Green. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/image-6.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/Screenshot-2026-10-31-at-12.41.32.png) Advert for Phillips & Sons mentioning the New Entrance. ([Monmouthshire Merlin, 10th November, 1878](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3440401/3440408/84/?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk)) ### Alleged Window Breaking Annie Goddard, married woman, was summoned for breaking a window in the Eastern Valleys Hotel, belonging to John Thompson, on Thursday night, at half-past eleven. She threw a stone at the window, and then ran away. Mr. Thompson's son ran after her and caught her, when she acknowledged that she bad broken the window. This is the third window she had broken recently. Goddard now said young Mr. Thompson had taken a false oath, and she'd "punch" him for it. She called two witnesses to show that she was in bed at the time alleged, and that she was not near the Eastern Valleys that evening. It appears that defendant's husband plays the piano at the Eastern Valleys Hotel, and this is the foundation of the unpleasantness. Defendant said she was not the only wife who went to the house after her husband. **The Bench dismissed the case, and recommended that Goddard should no longer be employed at the house.** The Eastern Valleys Hotel or Inn was located on Marshes Road — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 10th November, 1876*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442130?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ### 'Drunk Tramp' David Hoskius, an aged tramp, was charged with being drunk and disorderly in High-street. **Dismissed on promising to leave the town**. — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 11th January, 1862*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442856/3442858?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ## 'For Sale: Vine Cottage' ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/11/image-1.png) [Monmouthshire Merlin, 13th August, 1859](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3398631?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) Vine Cottage was located on Commercial Road and the building is still there today and is the left property in the photograph below. Dr Thomas Williams had lived at the property since at least 1849 and it was 'one door away from the Bible Chapel' and an advert claimed that he had cured 1,143 patients at the house. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/11/image-4.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/11/image.png) Vine Cottage is the property on the left. ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/11/image-3.png) [Monmouthshire Merlin, 9th October, 1847](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3394277/3394279/13/?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ## Assault Charles Gale was charged with assaulting Thomas Hutton. Complainant said defendant has continually annoyed him, and yesterday struck him without any provocation. Defendant said the complainant struck him in the face. Defendant called, as a witness, Edward Powell, who said complainant struck the defendant first. Complainant denied this. > The defendant struck him twice, and then rolled over on the ground like an eel. He (defendant) just toucbed him with his toe to assist him up. **Ordered, to pay the costs, and be bound over to keep the peace**. — [*Monmouthshire Merlin, 10th November, 1876*](https://newspapers.library.wales/view/3442130?ref=newportcornucopia.co.uk) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2025/01/image-56.png) ![](https://www.newportcornucopia.co.uk/content/images/2026/10/NewportTechnicalCollege.jpg)