Michael Marks only lived in Leeds for six years (1884 to 1890), but it was the most significant period of his life; during this time, he founded a successful business, got married and started a family.
There was a Jewish community of about 6,500 people in Leeds (the total population of Leeds at this time was about 310,000 people), mostly concentrated in the area known as the Leylands. Many Jewish people were employed in Leeds’ rapidly growing clothing trade as tailors or unskilled labourers.
Within a few days of arriving in Leeds, Michael met Yorkshireman Isaac Dewhirst, who owned a wholesale warehouse close to Kirkgate Market. Isaac was standing outside his warehouse talking to his warehouse manager Charles Backhouse, when Michael Marks came over and, unable to speak English, said the single word ‘Barrans’. Charles could speak a little Yiddish and was able to establish that Michael was hoping to find work at Barrans tailoring factory.
Isaac was fascinated by the stranger. He took Michael to his warehouse and offered to lend him five pounds (equivalent to £520 in 2024 - Bank of England Inflation Calculator). In Russia, Michael had made his living as a pedlar, so he used this money to buy goods from Isaac’s warehouse that he could sell in the same way in Leeds.
Being a pedlar was a basic, unskilled occupation. Very little equipment was needed, just a canvas backpack for extra stock and a tray for displaying penny cotton reels, buttons and ribbons. For two years (1882 to 1884), ‘Michael the Pedlar’, as he became known to his customers, worked long hours, walking from house to house or standing on the street corners of towns and villages around Leeds.
"He was dressed in a black waistcoat, peaked cap and clogs, with a large basket over his arm… He could only speak a few words of English, could not read or write, and spoke Yiddish. He was a very cheerful and good-natured person, and an extremely hard worker. He was not religious".
Joshua Goldston, family friend, interviewed for a book about Marks & Spencer in 1948.
From Pedlar to Stall-holder
By saving his profits, Michael raised enough money to start renting an outdoor stall at Kirkgate Market in 1884. Michael organised his goods according to price, creating a penny section, a two-penny section, three-penny section and so on. He soon realised that the penny section was the most popular, and having an instinct for business, he decided to create ‘Marks’ Penny Bazaar’. From this point, everything on Michael’s stall cost one penny. He also created a slogan:
‘Don’t ask the price, it’s a penny’.
Michael had stalls in the market towns near Leeds, travelling to each one for the different market trading days. The Marks’ Penny Bazaars were very popular with customers and in 1886 Michael was able to afford the more expensive rent for an indoor stall at Kirkgate Market.
The move to the indoor market meant that he could now trade all week, so he employed assistants to take charge of each stall. By 1890, Michael had market stalls in at least five other towns including Birkenhead, Castleford, Chesterfield, Wakefield and Warrington. Michael’s time was spent purchasing and distributing goods to the different stalls, supervising assistants and finding new locations in market halls further afield.
“He inspired confidence and affection in even casual acquaintances; he never quarrelled; and he never lost a friend. Withal, he had an unlimited quality for work and no nonsense or vanity as to the kind of work as long as it was honest and useful.”
Harry Sacher, Michael’s son-in-law
Michael and Hannah: A romantic and business partnership
Michael married Hannah Cohen in 1886 at the Belgrave Street Synagogue in Leeds. Hannah was the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrant parents; her father Moses Cohen was a tailor. The age of the bride is given as 21 and of the bridegroom as 22.
“Hannah was a wonderful woman… a rare creature, small, slight, delicate, devoted. She was, in spite of being small, immensely energetic, a dominating little lady who ruled her husband and her family. She was a wonderful dressmaker and had a head for figures. In the early days of their marriage she and Michael would work together at night to prepare for the next day’s work in the market.”
Israel Sieff, Michael and Hannah’s son-in-law
Hannah helped her husband during busy periods on the market stall. When her apron pockets were full of pennies, she would bag up the cash and carry it to Dewhirst’s nearby office for safekeeping. At home, after the evening meal, Hannah would help Michael to prepare for the next day’s trading by sewing buttons onto display cards and counting the nails, buttons and hairpins into penny bags. When Marks and Spencer became a Limited Company in 1903, the legal document shows that Hannah Marks was a signatory who had a say in the business, which indicates her role in its success.
In 1888, Michael and Hannah moved to a small, terraced house at 50 Trafalgar Street in the Leylands area of Leeds, where many newly arrived Eastern European Jews settled. Shortly after, Michael and Hannah’s son Simon was born at home.
By 1890, Michael was concerned that the Leylands district was no longer a safe place for his family, and that it was not the best location from which to look after his growing business. The success of the business meant that the family were able to afford to move, and Michael decided on Wigan.
On their marriage certificate, and the birth certificates of their youngest children, Michael and Hannah’s names are marked with an ‘x’ rather than signed by them in their own handwriting, which indicates that they could not write in English at that time.
In total, Michael and Hannah had six children:
- A son who died at birth in 1887 in Leeds
- Simon, born in 1888 in Leeds – Simon became the Chairman of M&S in 1916 and transformed the business from a chain of penny bazaars to large department stores on high streets across the country.
- [Dora] Rebecca, born in 1890 in Wigan – Rebecca married Israel Sieff (her brother Simon’s best friend), and she was heavily involved in politics and women’s suffrage.
- Miriam, born in 1892 in Wigan
- Mathilda, born in 1895 in Manchester
- Elaine, born in 1901 in Manchester
See supporting links (in Resources section) for external sources on the Leylands and the Jewish immigrant community.
Glossary
- Yiddish - language of central and eastern European Jews and their descendants, written in the Hebrew alphabet.
- Pedlar - a travelling salesperson selling goods in towns and villages.
- Bazaar - a marketplace of lots of small stalls or shops. The English word ‘bazaar’ describes a shop or market selling lots of different items.