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| Henry Cable - 1900s |
One of the first trades found in Sturton Street was Cable's the bakers, which was found at No.9 and was opened by Mr Henry Cable in 1888. Henry himself had originally been born in Halstead in 1840 and moved to Cambridge and to James Street in particular to be the first Co-op Master Baker at premises not far from his home. Henry left the services of Co-op because, it is thought, they not only wanted him to bake the bread, but also to push it around the streets, selling it from a hand-cart. He refused to do this and the Co-op had no choice but to bow to his demands and buy him a horse-drawn cart, but this didn't last long and he left to set up his own baking business in Sturton Street.
Henry had to be up at five every morning to make the bread from dough because all of his baking would have been done by hand. He baked two and half oven-loads of bread a day, which would be, according to the sizes of his ovens, about 500 loaves.
Once Henry had baked all his bread his family would mind the shop while he went out with his horse and cart selling it.
