Photograph of Deacon Jewellers of Wood Street, Swindon, early 20th Century

A rare photograph of the shop front of Deacon Jewellers of 11-13 Wood Street, Swindon. It was here that representatives of the tenants of the Bolingbroke estate purchased a solid silver rose bowl to mark Vernon St.John's coming of age in March 1917. The committee decided that there was no need to travel to London to make a suitable purchase as Deacons would be able to offer an equally fine piece.

This photograph was taken some years earlier when the business was managed by Hubert Deacon (1872-1905) who can be seen standing outside his shopfront. Hubert, a trained horologist, was also a natural entrepreneur, becoming the first President of the Swindon Chamber of Commerce in 1893 and supplying Swindon's first public clock on the Town Hall in Regents Circus.