TUCKETT, John (1828-1908) — London
Lithographer, printer & stationer; bookbinder; bookseller & publisher. Traded as ‘Ashbee & Tuckett’, with Edmund William Ashbee in 1851-1852, advertising specifically their ability to print “maps, plans, sections, &c”, alongside expertise in reproducing illustrations; title-pages; decorations; portraits; heraldic drawings; monumental brasses; deeds; charters; architectural, engineering & mechanical drawings; landscapes, and marine views, as well as ornamental writing, designing, and “every variety of illustrations required in the arts and sciences”.
Born in Bloomsbury 16 Feb 1828, and baptised at St. Giles in the Fields, 16 Feb 1828, a son of Charles Tuckett (1795-1876), bookbinder to the Queen, and bookbinder to the British Museum, and his wife Elizabeth Brock (1794?-1858), who had married at Oxford in 1819. Brother to the younger Charles Tuckett (1821-1875), who succeeded their father as bookbinder in his official appointments. Employing two men in 1851. Issued undated ‘Specimens of lithographed fac-similes’ with Edward William Ashbee ca.1851. His partnership with Ashbee was dissolved by mutual consent 24 Jun 1852. He married Mary Ann Bishop (1824-1900), the daughter of a Devon carpenter, at St. James Clerkenwell 14 Sep 1852. By 1855, Tuckett was managing his own bookbinding business, living in Great Russell Street in 1861 with his wife and a daughter. In 1868-1872 he published ‘Occasional fac-simile reprints of rare and curious tracts of the 16th and 17th centuries’ 1868-1872, in association with Ashbee, styling himself “antiquarian and heraldic bookseller & publisher”. Served as a special constable in the Bloomsbury area, testifying in a theft trial in 1867. Employing eleven men and two women in 1871. Assignment papers dated 1880 relating to the 66 Great Russell Street premises are in LMA and Tuckett had retired by 1881, then resident in lodgings with his daughter and living apart from his wife. His death was registered at Hackney in 1908.
18 Broad Court, Long Acre (with Ashbee) — 1851-1852
— 18 Upper King Street (home) — 1855
66 Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury — 1861-1880
— 23 Osnaburgh Street, St. Pancras (home) — 1881
— 6 Tottenham Court Road (home) — 1901
BNA. Census 1841-1881, 1901. LHD. LMA. Wakeman & Bridson.