Samson Rickard Stuttaford born in Helston, Cornwall, July 1833 and died in April 1914 London, England, departmental store pioneer, was the son of humble Cornish parents, Samson Pote Stuttaford and his wife, Anne.After attending school in Plymouth, Samson worked as a retail shop assistant in London before immigrating to the Cape in 1854 and three years later began a retail business in Cape Town. Here he opened his own draper’s shop in Harrington Street, moving to Darling Street three years later, where he was joined by his brother, William Foot Stuttaford. In 1867, when Prince Alfred – Queen Victoria ‘s youngest son – paid an official visit to the Colony, S.R. Stuttaford and Co. were appointed to supply goods to the royal party. In 1872 the firm moved again, this time to a portion of the Adderley Street site which it still occupies, and a Welsh immigrant, William Thorne, was taken in as a partner. At the same time a buying office was opened in London.

Over the next few decades Stuttaford greatly expanded the firm’s range of products to include ladies’ fashion goods, bicycles, cameras, and optical instruments; mail-order operations also were greatly extended and in 1894 the Stuttaford catalogue ran to over 700 pages. Meanwhile, a year earlier the firm had opened a branch in Pritchard Street, Johannesburg.

In November 1898 Stuttaford’s became a public company, with a share capital of £350 100. By that time William Foot had withdrawn from the enterprise; Thorne became chairman and Samson took up permanent residence in England as London director; his eldest son Richard who was born 13th June 1870 was appointed managing director in Cape Town.

After that Samson also became the owner of the well-known English men’s clothing business of Isaac Walton (London and Newcastle), and gained a major interest in Charles Baker, men’s and boys’ ready-to-wear clothiers of London.

In 1909, five years before his death, Stuttaford arranged for 3 000 preference shares in Stuttafords Ltd. to be donated to the South African College for ‘library purposes’; this gift was to play a major role in building up the library of what was to become the University of Cape Town. He married Elizabeth Bawden on 16th April 1858 in Cape Town.

Below is a list of staff members, who in 1957, had worked at Stuttafords for 20 years or more:

Surname	Title	Initials	Store	Years of Service
Abrahams	Mr	P	Cape Town	35
Adams	Mr	HD	Durban	31
Bell	Miss	H	Cape Town	20
Berrange	Mrs	S	Cape Town	23
Biddles	Mr	HE	Cape Town	42
Blair-Brown	Mrs	G	Durban	27
Bleay	Mr	E	Cape Town	20
Bosch	Mr	W	Cape Town	39
Brand	Mrs	G	Cape Town	21
Brandes	Mr	W	Cape Town	47
Bremer	Mr	W	Johannesburg	43
Bremer	Mr	H	Cape Town	37
Brice	Mrs	G	Cape Town	32
Bryant	Miss	D	Head Office	37
Buxton	Miss	D	Cape Town	23
Calmeyer	Miss	A	Cape Town	41
Ceyiceyi		Bekker	Durban	24
Chambers	Mr	J	Cape Town	23
Chokoe		Michael	Johannesburg	20
Cochius	Mrs	K	Cape Town	26
Corona	Mr	F	Cape Town	33
Davies	Miss	PC	Cape Town	21
Dolby	Miss	D	Cape Town	21
Dorling	Miss	D	Cape Town	30
Doyle	Mr	F	Cape Town	23
Du Toit	Mr	W	Cape Town	26
Fanyani		A	Cape Town	20
Finlayson	Mrs	G	Cape Town	28
Ford	Mr	LC	Durban	20
Gapad	Mr	M	Cape Town	32
Garvie	Mrs	GM	Cape Town	31
Gaven	Mrs	J	Cape Town	33
Geiss	Mrs	F	Cape Town	27
Gessler	Miss	J	Cape Town	24
Greybe	Miss	E	Cape Town	22
Greyling	Mr	J	Cape Town	25
Hales	Miss	G	Durban	30
Harcombe	Mr	J	Cape Town	28
Hearne	Mr	J	Cape Town	20
Heinrich	Mr	A	Cape Town	25
Hill	Miss	A	Cape Town	39
Horsley	Mr	WJ	Cape Town	32
Hudson	Mr	H	Cape Town	46
Klink	Mr	G	Johannesburg	33
Leyden	Mr	JP	Durban	23
Lipsett	Miss	A	Cape Town	20
Lombaard	Miss	V	Cape Town	27
Maggott	Mr	D	Cape Town	31
Maguire	Mr	S	Cape Town	20
Mairs	Miss	S	Johannesburg	21
Matthews	Miss	I	Cape Town	42
Mays	Miss	A	Cape Town	35
McBride	Mr	WEA	Cape Town	22
McGahey	Mr	MJ	Cape Town	25
McKellar	Mrs	M	Durban	31
Mfuku		Feti	Durban	20
Moore		J  J	Cape Town	20
Morisson	Miss	N	Cape Town	39
Moshoele		Ephraim	Johannesburg	24
Mosibi		Andries	Johannesburg	25
Mseliki		Nicolaas	Durban	27
Mtubela		Jundu	Durban	26
Mushedi	Mr	F	Cape Town	44
Mustard	Mr	H	London	46
O’Donoghue	Mrs	MO	Johannesburg	36
Panton	Mr	JM	Durban	21
Paulse	Mr	H	Cape Town	30
Peake	Miss	V	Cape Town	25
Penso	Miss	G	Cape Town	48
Prince	Mrs	M	Durban	22
Sanders	Mr	J	London	37
Scott	Mr	EW	London	31
Simana		Sampson	Cape Town	21
Sims	Mr	AJ	Cape Town	40
Skokana		William	Cape Town	26
Stone	Mrs	H	Durban	28
Stuttaford	Mr	RB	Head Office	23
Tahoredi		Daniel	Cape Town	21
Thorne	Mr	WE	Head Office	28
Tindale	Mr	J	Cape Town	31
Trieloff	Mrs	E	Cape Town	24
Truter	Mr	H	Cape Town	22
Van der Spuy	Mr	J	Johannesburg	41
Vincent	Miss	M	Johannesburg	23
Westcombe	Mr	DN	Cape Town	21
Williams	Mrs	JE	Durban	21
Williams		H  H	Johannesburg	20
Witten	Mr	W	Cape Town	34
Woodman	Mr	R	Cape Town	30

Source: Dictionary of South African Biography

Tags: Adderley Street, Cornwall, departmental store pioneer, Elizabeth Bawden, England, Harrington Street, Helston, immigrating, London, Plymouth, Prince Alfred, Queen Victoria, Samson Pote Stuttaford, Samson Rickard Stuttaford, Stuttaford and Co., Stuttafords Ltd., University of Cape Town, William Foot Stuttaford