| Michele
Manze arrived in Britain from a picturesque hillside
village called Ravello in Southern Italy. His family
made the long trek over in 1878, when Michele was just
3 years old.
The Manze family settled in Bermondsey
and began trading as ice-merchants, turning later to
ice-cream makers. Realising the need for more substantial
food in post-Victorian London, Michele branched out
into the pie, mash & eels trade.
The first shop to bear his name
opened in 1902, shortly after his marriage to Ada Poole,
whose first husband, Edward Poole, had died in 1891.
This shop was at 87 Tower Bridge Road, Bermondsey. He
went on to open his second shop at 250 Southwark Park
Road, Bermondsey in 1908, and two further shops in Poplar,
which were lost during World War Two. His Fifth and
final shop at 105 Peckham High Street was opened in
1927.
Several of Michele's brothers followed
his lead, and by 1930 there were a total of 14 pie,
mash & eel shops in London bearing the Manze name.
Many of these shops have since closed down or been taken
over.
Michele Manze died in 1932 and his
son, Lionel, took over the running of the two surviving
shops - Tower Bridge Road and Peckham High Street. In
1985, the shop at Peckham was burnt down during the
riots in the area. A long legal battle ensued and Lionel,
sadly, did not live long enough to see the outcome.
He died in 1988, whereupon his three sons, Graham, Geoff
and Richard inherited not only Tower Bridge shop, but
also the legal battle. They survived on the business
of Tower Bridge Road until they were able to re-build
and re-open the Peckham shop in 1990, although the legal
battle did not conclude until 1995.
With both shops now back in business,
it was felt that 1998 would be a good time to open the
long awaited third shop, and decided upon Sutton.
|
