FIELD, Abraham (1829-1891) — London
Printer & lithographer; lithographic writer; stationer & publisher. As ‘Field & Tuer (The Leadenhall Press)’, with Andrew White Tuer, produced Samuel Palmer, ‘St. Pancras : being antiquarian, topographical, and biographical memoranda, relating to the extensive metropolitan parish of St. Pancras’ 1870, with a map, co-published with the author; Tristram J. Ellis, ‘On a raft, and through the desert : the narrative of an artist’s journey through northern Syria and Kurdistan’ 1881, with a map; Archibald R. Colquhoun, ‘Burma and the Burmans; or, the best unopened market in the world’ 1885, with maps; Captain R. T. Stevens, Table of distances, to and from the principal commercial seaports of the world : shewing the distances in nautical miles ca.1886; F. G. Hilton Price, ‘The signs of old Lombard street’ 1887, with a map; W. J. Loftie, ‘Kensington, picturesque & historical’ 1888, with maps, etc.
The firm of ‘Field & Tuer’, established in 1862 by Abraham Field and Andrew White Tuer, and later also known as ‘The Leadenhall Press’, moved gradually from stationery and lithographic trade work into decorative, fine art, and small press printing. The ‘Leadenhall Press’ imprint was one of the most innovative of the late nineteenth century. Field was born 10 Jun 1829 and baptised at St. James Piccadilly 10 Jul 1829, the son of Abraham Field (1798-1886), a tailor of Warwick Street, and his wife Elizabeth Treble (1802-1887), who married in 1825. Free (Drapers) by patrimony 26 Sep 1850, but recorded as an apprentice stationer in 1851. He was boarding in St. Pancras in 1861. He married Mary Ann Whitelock (1829-1909), with whom he had several children, 19 Jun 1862 at St. Mary Abbotts, Kensington. He established ‘Field & Tuer’ with Andrew White Tuer in the same year. They were granted a patent for “improvements in the manufacture of show-boards, tablets, or cases containing representations, announcements, illustrations, or devices for advertising and other purposes” 12 Oct 1868. Testified at on Old Bailey libel trial 20 Sep 1869, concerning the printing of 2,500 copies of a pamphlet alleged to be libellous. Recorded as a publisher on the 1881 census, living with his wife and two servants. His son Alfred Whitelock Field (1866-1927) was made free of the Drapers’ Company by patrimony in 1887, likewise a younger son George Hammond Field (1868-1935) in 1890. His partnership with Tuer was formally dissolved 25 Mar 1890. Died suddenly of heart disease 21 Feb 1891 at his home in Croydon. Probate on a personal estate of £33,725.7s.10d was granted 19 Mar 1891 to his brother, his son Alfred Whitelock Field, and a nephew in Birmingham.
Fleet Street — 1857-1859
31 Nicholas Lane — 1861-1862
136 Minories — 1862-1868
50 Leadenhall Street — 1868-1890
— 4 Phillimore Terrace, Kensington (home) — 1868-1875
— 8 Buckland Villas, Hampstead (home) — 1878-1889
— Wilton House, Chepstow Rise, Croydon (home) — 1889-1891
Apprentice: George William Ditchett 1857.
BM. BNA. Census 1851-1881. LHD. LG. OB.