Chapter IV: John Hayman (Henry Besley)

Thomas Besley was born in 1760 and advertised himself as printer, bookseller and stationer or bookbinder and was listed in various directories of the time at Southgate Street (1801 and 1811); at Holy Trinity (1803); and at 76, Bell Hill, South Street (between 1816 and 1834). Thomas and Jane had 6 children including Thomas Junior (he became an independent printer in Exeter) and Henry who eventually became partner and successor to the family business. Few local printers published extensively but Henry Besley could claim to have been one of the most prolific of local publishers.[36]

It would appear that the Besleys managed to obtain the plates which had been used for his map of 1805. They were either in contact with John Hayman or with the publishers. As both Besley and Hayman were living and working in Exeter, the former would seem the more likely. The Besleys did not simply reprint but also expanded the plates, added new title and imprints and included the map in the Exeter Itinerary And General Directory - June 1828. This was Printed and Published by T and H Besley, South Street. Issues of the directory are extant only for the years 1828, 1831 (with no change to the 1828 map), 1836 and 1839.[37]

The title has now been altered to read EXETER in 1828. While the scale (SCALE 800 feet = 24 mm or 1 Mile) and the height remain the same (220 mm) the width has been increased 30 mm (now 210 mm) to incorporate the city Workhouse on the eastern edge of the city. The imprint and signature now read: To Accompany the Exeter Itinerary & General Directory (lower left below frame); and Exeter. Published by the Proprietors, T & H Besley, Printers &c. South Street (centrally 5mm below frame).

This extension to the east, as well as including the City Workhouse, now shows the houses at the top end of St. Sidwell Street (e.g. Peerless Place and Salem Place) and Baring Crescent on the London Road. Coaver, recently commissioned by John Milford of the City Bank, and Bellair (built by John Vowler, a rich grocer, in 1710) can now be seen. 

The Reference Key (now 70 mm inside the frame) has been revised (e.g. Quaker’s Meeting House is now St. Sidwell’s Church) and turned into a scroll. There are a number of new buildings or alterations: the County Bridewell is shown beside the County Gaol and the nearby Barracks are slightly reduced; the Proposed Basin is shown near Trews Wear and the Deaf and Dumb Institute, established 1826, nearby has been added. Mount Radford has become a school (1827). The Racket Court has given way to Dix’s Field (named after previous owner). 

A new canal has been cut at Great Shilhay. In addition, the new gas works, built 1815-1817, has been included on Exe Island. This was situated in Archer Lane, between Tudor Street and Bonhay Road. Collaton Crescent, surprisingly, looks uncompleted. There are a few errors: Broad Gate has not been changed although it and 2 adjoining houses were taken down in 1825 for road widening.

It is possible that this is just a very good copy of the 1805 plate, but many of the original features are so precise in relation to the original that it is almost surely from the same plates but with revisions (in the same hand to a large extent). Could Hayman have been involved? This is not unlikely as he was still an Exeter resident at this time and the Workhouse has been included. However, his signature below the vignette of Exeter Cathedral is now missing (and that of Woolnoth). The map was available separately as shown clearly by an extra slip inserted into the volume at the same page advertising Besley´s printing services: The annexed Map of Exeter to be had separate, Price Plain 2s, coloured in parishes 3s, ditto as beautifully varnished and framed 5s 6d.

This map was used again in 1831 when the Exeter Itinerary And General Directory - July 1831 was issued. Two John Haymans are listed in this, neither of whom are listed under Architects and Land Surveyors or as Artists: one residing in Jeffery´s-Row, Sidwell Street; and another, a joiner, at 2 Adelaide Place, also in Sidwell Street.

The map was revised for inclusion in the Exeter Guide and Itinerary of 1836 (now only published by H Besley, title page not dated but Advertisement is dated). There is a new title Exeter in 1836, but the main change is that the reference key is removed and placed below the map; in the space now uncovered, considerable development is shown such as the New Road is extended from Bedford Crescent and back into Paris Street. Reference 35 is now the Friends’ Meeting House, newly opened, at the new Friar’s Walk. The new Queen Street is already shown as far as the city wall with a suggestion of extension but not yet named (opened 1837).

There are roads and houses between Magdalen Road and Holloway Street (not all complete). The North Road is new and winds from Longbrook Street out to the Bridewell and Gaol before joining the previous New Road and passing near the new reservoir (1833). Here it meets another new road which crosses Pound Lane and meets Northernhay Row near the New City Prison. The Bristol & Exeter Railway is now shown but without start or end: it appears from the compass on the banks of the Exe, follows the river on the northern bank before crossing both Great Shilhay and the river and ceases at the New Basin. The line was enacted in 1836 but not connected to the city until 1844.

For the 1839 directory, The Exeter Guide and Itinerary of 1839 (published by Henry Besley, title page not dated but map has a new title Exeter in 1839) the map was again altered: the new road to the New City Prison has been deleted; the layout of the roads around Magdalen Road has been realigned (corrected) with a new road to join Paris Street; and new properties have sprung up between Longbrook Street and the New North Road. There are outlines of buildings at the New Basin: these were possibly supposed to be the new coal wharfs or the rival gas works built at Haven Banks and opened in May 1839.

Summary

If John Hayman was selected by the publishers of Beauties of England and Wales or by the two leading authors, Britton and Bayley, to draw up a new map of the city, this might well have been common knowledge among those interested in antiquities and the history of Exeter. Hayman was an established surveyor, even if his extant work is scarce. The commission in 1802 to produce maps and plans of St Sidwell show his reputation was established, enough for Britton and Bayley to ask him to draw a plan of the city for them. Producing a manuscript map of one parish area with various areas outlined in ink with tree and hedge symbols; fields … stippled; gardens drawn in detailed plan; roads, named; buildings in plan[38] is a far cry from producing a map of a city. However, the plan succeeded. The publishers of Beauties of England and Wales must have been delighted to obtain such a first-class piece of work, every bit as accomplished as the others in their many volumes.

For Alexander Jenkins (or his publisher) to approach Hayman with a request for a map for his own Magnus Opus is certainly not beyond imagination. Jenkins intimates he was not a learned person, but he was very possibly an accomplished artisan in some field, very possibly also a jeweller like Johns. We know too little about Hayman to judge whether this was an easy or an onerous task: we do know that the map he drew up for Jenkins was certainly as good as the one produced only a year earlier, without being a copy.

The map drawn up for Beauties went on to have a long, and locally, a distinguished career. It lasted until at least 1839 when it was included in the last of the Exeter Itineraries to include this map. The next map of the city to match Hayman´s would be that drawn by Brown (also of Exeter) and engraved by Schmollinger in 1835 for Thomas Moore´s History of Devonshire, a rather unfortunate work which was not ultimately successful.[39] Wood´s map was certainly better, and copied by many, but was never a commercial enterprise. The next “successful” map of the city would be that drawn by the surveyor J Warren (probably from Exeter) and engraved by F P Becker & Co., for Henry Besley´s Route Book series, the first appearing in 1845.[40] This must be testimony enough for any artist.

Appendix I:The illustrations in Alexander Jenkins´ History of Exeter

Appendix II: Corrections to text in "proof" copy of Alexander Jenkins

Appendix III: Changes found in the Second Edition to Alexander Jenkins

                               

[36] I am indebted to the work of Ian Maxted and his contributions to Etched on Devon´s Memory; see especially The Print Trade in Devon at https://etched-on-devons-memory.blogspot.com /2017/03/themes-1-print-trade.html.

[37] The author has copies of all four of these issues. There may be further unrecorded issues.

[38] Ravenhill, Mary & Rowe, Margery; 2002; p.203. Entry 5/7/1.

[39] Bennett, Francis & Batten, Kit; 2011; The Printed Maps of Exeter; Entry 26. See also Jennings vs Fisher at Kits Blog.

[40] Bennett, Francis & Batten, Kit; 2011; 29 and 31.