Growing up in London

In 1871, Julius Hatry was sent from Zweibrücken in Germany to London. His mission was to find a market for the silk velvet and plush made by his family’s mill which was being boycotted by the hatters in Paris as a protest against the humiliating end of the Franco-Prussian war. Julius established his business in Southwark, the centre of London’s hatting trade. By 1885, he had become successful enough to become naturalised and to marry, setting up home in Belsize Park. His second son, Clarence, was born in December 1888. By the time Julius died of lung cancer in 1907, he had become a freeman of the City of London, a member of the Dyeworkers Company and had managed to acquire the freehold of his house. But, as his sons found when running the silk merchanting business, its prospects were disappointing. Silk top hats were becoming losing their appeal, and manufacturers were closing. A year or two later, the business closed when Clarence Hatry was duped by a bill of exchange trickster. Clarence and his mother were both declared bankrupt and the family home was forfeit. Not only were Clarence’s prospects grim, but by falling for an old confidence trick, he had brought about his family’s ruin. A new Anglo-French commercial treaty signed in April 1860 had led to the removal of tariffs so that sales in London had become possible. In the 1870s, the professional classes were beginning to discard the frock coat in favour of the morning coat which by 1900 had become normal wear. Many of the specialist shops and a number of the chains of gentlemen’s outfitters had their hat factories in Southwark, the historical centre of London’s hat trade. Baron Julius’s application was supported by the London agents of other Sarreguemines silk mills and by a stockbroker to whom he had been introduced by his close friend Johann Eiser. By moving to London, Julius Hatry seized an opportunity to establish his family in a milieu that would permit their social integration, achieving some success partly through his personal skills but also through his willingness to make sacrifices.