Robert Marr Wharam - Partner in Thomas Crapper & Co.
Thomas Crapper was born in Waterside, a hamlet near the
Yorkshire town of Thorne, in 1836. When he was around 14 years of age he was
apprenticed to a Master Plumber in Chelsea, London. After serving his
apprenticeship and working for three years as a journeyman plumber, in 1861
he set up his own company at Robert Street, Chelsea. Subsequently in 1866 he
moved the expanding business to the Marlboro Works, in nearby Marlborough
Road (also known as Draycott Avenue). Mr. Crapper took a partner,
Robert Marr Wharam who brought financial
and accounting skills to the enterprise, and together they built a sizeable
firm with an ever-greater reputation.
In the 1880’s Edward VII, then Prince of Wales, purchased
Sandringham House in Norfolk as his country seat. He set about improving and
extending the building as a royal palace. Crapper & Company were invited to
supply and install their finest wares for the bathrooms, cloakrooms and
indeed all the plumbing and drainage for the project. The firm thus gained
its first Royal Warrant.
Of course, such royal approval helped business greatly.
Crapper fittings were rightly considered the finest of the time. Many
commissions were received for sanitaryware at all manner of buildings,
including Westminster Abbey. Victorian Crapper goods are still doing
reliable service in private and public buildings all over Great Britain and
abroad. The manhole covers of Westminster Abbey (inscribed "T. Crapper &
Co., Sanitary Engineers") are popular with tourists for crayon rubbings as
mementos of their visit. Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace also have
benefited from Crapper goods and services.
However, the company mainly prospered because of their
famed quality, attention to detail and service. All of the hard work paid
off as Mr. Crapper and Mr. Wharam
enjoyed the fruits of their labors, buying respectable houses, goods and
furniture.
Crapper & Company effectively invented the concept of the
modern bathroom showroom. Bathroom fittings, and especially water closets
(toilets) were hardly discussed due to the prudery of the time. Crapper &
Company caused a sensation when they installed large plate-glass windows at
pavement level in Marlborough Road. The goods were comprehensively displayed
within, but shockingly, they were also gloriously apparent on stands in the
windows. It is said that genteel ladies would faint away at the sight of the
gleaming china bowls! Crapper & Company promoted sanitaryware to a skeptical
public, many of whom thought it unhygienic to have a water closet indoors.
Even those who were convinced found the subject beyond the pale. Clients
would discuss the matter discreetly with their architect or plumber who
would arrange for a salesman to call. The representative of the sanitaryware
firm would arrive with a selection of miniature loos, washbasins and baths
in his bag. The clients would have to imagine how the full-size version
would appear and make their choice.
Thomas Crapper retired in 1904 and passed his firm to his
partner, Robert Marr Wharam and Thomas’s
nephew, George. In 1907 Robert Wharam
and George Crapper acquired a new flagship store, 120, King’s Road, a very
grand address opposite Royal Avenue and near Sloane Square. The company
continued to prosper and large extensions were added to the building, giving
even more showroom and storage space in addition to the manufactory at
Marlborough Road. The 1920’s and 30’s saw the arrival of Art Deco in the
bathroom and Crapper & Company led the way with outlandish designs in the
new mode. However, the second World War intervened and like many British
firms, Crapper & Company suffered from shortages and the enormous changes in
society. By the late 1950’s Robert G. Wharam
(Robert M. Wharam’s son) was solely in
charge. The firm was long-established and still successful but the Marlboro’
Works had been sold and all operations were based at 120, King’s Road.
Thomas Crapper died in 1910. The company continued under
the guidance of his old partner Robert M. Wharam,
his son Robert G. Wharam and Mr.
Crapper's nephew George Crapper. However, by the late 1950's it was evident
to Robert G. Wharam that with no
Crappers or Wharams left to run the
business, the sale of the company was becoming inevitable.
Mr. Wharam was advancing in years and
wished to retire so eventually he sold the firm in 1966 to nearby rivals,
John Bolding & Sons. What happened next shocked the whole industry. Despite
assurances to the contrary, Boldings mercilessly "asset-stripped" the
company and sold the premises at an enormous profit. They moved Crapper &
Company to Bolding’s buildings in Davies Street and continued to trade for a
few years until they received their just desserts. In 1969 Boldings went
into liquidation and all their assets were sold, including Thomas Crapper &
Company.
Since then this distinguished firm endured fallow years -
but it has survived - and is now an independent company once again. Having
held four royal warrants and having existed through five reigns over 140
years, Thomas Crapper & Company is once again manufacturing the finest
bathroom fittings from its new facilities.
The Stable Yard, Alscot Park, Stratford - on - Avon,
Warwickshire, England. CV37 8BL
Telephone-: 0044 (0) 1789 450 522. Fax-: 0044 (0) 1789 450
523
http://www.thomas-crapper.co.uk/
N. B.: There is no known connection at this time between
the Wharam family of Buckingham County, Virginia, and that of Robert Marr
Wharam, partner in Crapper & Company, other than the surname and a Yorkshire
connection.