TRUSCOTT, James (1805-1858) — Truro & London
Parliamentary and railway printer, wholesale and export stationer, lithographer, engraver and account-book manufacturer. Produced William Greenaway Poole, Plan of the parish of St. Giles, Camberwell Surrey 1834; Township of Port Maldon on the estate of the Van Diemen’s Land Company, Emu Bay 1858.
Born Truro, Cornwall, 18 Apr 1805 and baptised there at St. Mary 12 May 1805 — the son of Thomas Truscott and his wife Jane Dancaster, who had married the previous year. He married Louisa Wyatt (1806-1886) at Truro 25 Jul 1824. After moving to London, Truscott was able to retire while still in his forties and both his son Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott (1824-1895) and his grandson Sir George Wyatt Truscott (1857-1941) became Lords Mayor of London. Traded as “James Truscott & Son” from 1857. He died at his home 5 Dec 1858 and was buried at Norwood Cemetery 14 Dec 1858. Probate on his estate declared effects worth some £30,000. “I was told the whole story the other day in London. James Truscott, father of Sir Francis, was a poor Truro boy, and served his time as a compositor at the Royal Cornwall Gazette office (Sir Francis is a printer too) in Truro, of which Mr. E. T. Carlyon and his father before him (that old and much respected Truro man, the late Dr. Carlyon) have been the two leading proprietors ever since I have known Truro city. Well, James Truscott went to London and became a big printer there, employing some hundreds of hands, and when I was a boy” (West Briton & Cornwall Advertiser, 24 Apr 1879) — “After serving a diligent apprenticeship, as printer, with the late Mr. Carthew, of Truro, he left that, his native town, about 30 years since, and repaired to London, where, at first as a journeyman, his extraordinary skill and talents were soon recognized; and he rose rapidly from one stage to another till he at length became the proprietor of one of the largest and best printing and book-binding establishments in the Metropolis … Mr. Truscott was a Member of the Common Council of the City of London; and, in the parish of Croydon, where he had for some years resided, his services were particularly valuable. He, again and again, filled the office of churchwarden, and was most attentive to the numerous hospitals and charities which distinguish that place. He was chairman of the Annerly [sic] National Schools; and his name was about to have been placed in the Commission of the Peace as a County Magistrate, when the summons came that took him, after a lingering illness of many months, from a scene of such varied usefulness, which he quitted with humble resignation and sincere faith; leaving behind him, besides a very numerous and warmly attached circle of friends, a widow and six children to lament their sad and untimely bereavement” (Royal Cornwall Gazette, 10 Dec 1858). Insurance policies and licences are in the National Archives.
Truro, Cornwall — 1824-1825
9 Francis Place, Blackfriars Road, Southwark — 1827-1828
9 Friar Street, Blackfriars Road, Southwark — 1828-1832
37 Great Surrey Street — 1832-1833
37 Blackfriars Road — 1832-1835
166 Blackfriars Road — 1836-1841
— and 59 Nelson Square, Blackfriars Road — 1839
24 Nelson Square, Blackfriars Road — 1842-1856
— and 5 Suffolk Lane, City — 1854-1856
— Essex Lodge, Norwood (home) — 1851-1858
BBTI. BNA. Brown. Census 1841-1851. NA. Todd. Tooley.