John Lewis (1836-1928) was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset, England. He was the founder of the John Lewis department store on Oxford Street, London.
Made an orphan at the age of eight, John Lewis, was brought up by an aunt, Miss Ann Speed. Having served as an apprentice to a local draper from the age of fourteen he moved to London to become the youngest silk buyer in the capital, working in Peter Robinson at Oxford Circus by the time he was thirty. In 1864 John Lewis opened his own small drapery shop, ‘John Lewis & Co.’ at 132 Oxford Street (later renumbered)- on part of the same site as the present John Lewis department store.
The business flourished and expanded and was rebuilt in the 1880s to form an all-encompassing department store.
In 1884 John Lewis married Miss Eliza Baker and together they had two children, John Spedan, born 1885 and Oswald, born 1887. In 1905 tradition has it that John Lewis walked from Oxford Street to Sloane Square with twenty £1000 notes in his pocket and bought Peter Jones.
Sales at Peter Jones had been falling since 1902 and its new owner failed to reverse the trend. In 1914 he handed control of the store to his son Spedan. John Lewis remained in full control of his Oxford Street store until his death in 1928 at the age of 92. Shepton Mallet is a small rural town in Somerset, England, situated five miles to the east of Wells and just south of the Mendip Hills. ... This article is about the county of Somerset in England. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... John Lewis on Oxford Street, London is the flagship department store of the John Lewis Partnership. ... The interior of a typical Macys department store. ... Oxford Street, with Centre Point in the background Oxford Street in 1875, looking west from the junction with Duke Street. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Oxford Circus, looking westward Oxford Circus is the area of London at the busy intersection of Regent Street and Oxford Street. ... John Spedan Lewis (22 September 1885 - 21 February 1963). ... Sloane Square is a small hard landscaped square on the boundaries of the fashionable London districts of Belgravia and Chelsea. ... Peter Jones is one of the largest and best known department stores in London. ...