Notes from the Library (No. 2, March 2010)
RICHARD BISSINGTON’S PASSPORT, 1837
The Society holds a small collection of the personal papers of Richard Bissington, a hatter with a shop at 34, Briggate, which he ran from 1832 until his death in 1876. Among his papers is the passport he obtained in 1837 for a journey via Paris to northern Italy, to Turin, Milan and Venice. This was probably primarily a business trip. These cities, particularly Milan (the origin of the term ‘millinery’) had long been famous for their production of the best quality silk and straw for hats, for ribbon, braid and lace, and for the manufacture of all kinds of fashionable headwear. He may have wanted to set up an import arrangement, explore new techniques, or view the latest fashions – and perhaps widen his horizons too.
His passport is a single sheet of flimsy paper, partly pre-printed,
issued ‘gratis’ by the French Chargé d’Affaires
in London. Identity papers were essential in this period for
travel through France and the various regions of Italy, but
there was as yet no established system for the British government
to issue passports to its citizens except on an ad hoc basis
and for a fee. Obtaining a passport from the relevant foreign
embassy was therefore fairly common and often cheaper. The passport
has been folded to fit in
a wallet, and is totally covered in stamps, dates and signatures
from the various offices and border posts where he had to present
it, usually with the formula ‘Seen and good for [his next
destination]’. These marks when deciphered provide a record
of his route and the time it took him – a journey before
the age of the railway and the transformation of travel it would
bring about.
Richard Bissington obtained his passport to enter France via
Calais or Boulogne on 26 August 1837, presumably by a visit
to the French Embassy in London. The passport, written in French,
identifies him as ‘M. Richard Bissington, Chapelier’,
and gives his personal details: age (36), height (5ft.8in.)
hair, eyebrows and eyes (brown), shape of face, chin, forehead,
complexion – the level of detail a reminder that there
were no identifying photographs then. In words very similar
to modern passports, the relevant authorities were requested
to allow him free passage and give him help and protection in
case of need. His signature is at the bottom.
From London he had to travel to Folkestone, a coach journey
of some 11 hours, and then embark on the cross-Channel packet
to sail to Boulogne. His passport was stamped there on 30 August,
and two days later he arrived in Paris, where he had to present
his passport at six different offices and obtain clearance for
his projected journey through France, via Switzerland, to northern
Italy – from the British Embassy, from the French Ministry
of the Interior and the French Police, from the Chargé
d’Affaires of the Swiss Confederation, from the Embassy
of the Kingdom of Sardinia (for Piedmont and Turin), and from
the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia, then under Austrian control
(for Milan and Venice). It must have been a tedious bureaucratic
round. Then he was off on his journey to Turin, over 500 miles
and ten days away, travelling by diligence, the regular service
of heavy public coaches which linked the 
towns
of western Europe. On 6 September he reached the Swiss border
and Geneva, and three days later he crossed the border again
to reach Chambéry. In each place his papers were checked
by the police and stamped as valid for onward travel to Turin.
From Chambéry he set off on 9 September to cross the
Alps via the Mont Cénis pass, the ancient route into
Italy, improved by Napoleon in 1810 but still a narrow, steep
road through a majestic, gloomy landscape of jagged snow-covered
peaks and deep gorges – passengers had to transfer to
a smaller, lighter coach for the high crossing (no tunnels then).
He passed through the Montcenisio border post on 11 September
and reached Turin the next day. Here his papers had to be checked
by the officials of the Kingdom of Sardinia for onward travel
to Milan. He travelled on through Novara on 14 September, and
left Piedmont by the border post at Ponte Ticino (the bridge
over the R. Ticino). He had then to pass through the Austrian
border control at Boffalora to enter Lombardy and reach Milan.
He seems to have spent two or three days there before moving
on to Verona (18 September) and Venice – was this for
some sight-seeing? He spent little time there, for on 20 September
his passport was checked by the Venetian police for his return
to Milan.
Now he was on his way home. On 22 September the police in Milan
authorised his return to Switzerland. He travelled a different
way back, from Milan to Lucerne, almost certainly by the direct
route over the spectacular St Gotthard Pass, with its hairpin
cobbled track and Devil’s Bridge, just in time to miss
the first heavy falls of snow. His passport was stamped in Lucerne
on 26 September, and he then travelled northwest into the Low
Countries, arriving in Arnhem six days later, on 2 October,
when the police put the final stamp on his passport. From there
it seems likely that he was aiming to cross from Rotterdam to
Hull and arrive back home in Leeds that way. His journey had
taken well over a month and covered some two thousand miles.
Richard Bissington was not a Leeds man in origin: he was born
in Southampton in 1801, and for several years was employed by
a Liverpool firm of hatters, J. Gillham & Co. In 1825 he
set up a shop in Leeds for them and helped to establish shops
for the company in Manchester, Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
In 1832 he branched out on his own, taking over the Leeds shop
in Briggate, which for many years was also his home. There was
fierce rivalry between the many hat emporia for what was then
a huge market (everyone wore a hat), and he had to advertise
constantly to keep his patrons and attract new clients. His
‘London Hat Mart’ claimed to cater for every class
of society, ‘from the Peer to the Peasant’ and his
byword was ‘Novelty, Fashion and Economy.’ He became
a prominent figure in Leeds, twice elected Town Councillor,
founder and president of the West Riding Trades Protection Association,
a trustee of the Leeds Trades Benevolent Society, a foremost
member of the business community. When he died in 1876 his son,
Edward Bissington, also later a Town Councillor, took over the
business, followed by his grandson, Harry. The shop finally
closed in 1934. The papers in the Library’s collection,
including this passport, may have been found then and donated
to the Society to ensure their preservation.
Bissington's hat shop, 34 Briggate. rebuilt 1843 as part of the improvement of this corner of Boar Lane/Briggate. This picture predates the widening of Boar Lane (left) in the 1860s. Part of the building still stands (Macdonalds).
Sources: Passport/ Bissington papers: MS Box.VII, 41; Photograph of shop, Images, Box 2LIC © E.J Bradford Thoresby Society, 2010
All illustrations are from the Thoresby Society’s collection.