20 Glebe Street

A New Home in Highfields

20 Glebe Street was built in the 1820s and is one of the oldest buildings in Highfields. Sydney Gimson and his wife Jane, known as Jeannie, moved there in the Spring of 1889. Sydney was the eldest son of Josiah Gimson, founder of the Leicester company Gimson & Co. Sydney and Jeannie married in 1886 and first lived on Upper Tichbourne Street, also in Highfields. Highfields had a rural feel but was still close to the Gimson family home on New Walk.

Sydney and Jeannie Gimson in 1904

Furnishing 20 Glebe Street

Sydney asked his brother Ernest to help choose things for his new home. Sydney and Jeannie spent £100 on the initial furnishings including a sideboard, couch, easy chair and curtains. Ernest picked the items from London shops, including Morris and Co., and he designed two of the pieces himself.

Sydney and Jeannie continued to buy furniture from Ernest, including a cabinet made of ebony, inlaid with mother-of-pearl. It was designed by Ernest and is now in Leicester Museum and Art Gallery.

Sydney’s Leicester Life

In 1910 Sydney became a councillor where he had a particular interest in the town’s museum and schools. Sydney was also a prominent member of Leicester Secular Society and was host to many of the Society’s speakers. Famous speakers and visitors to 20 Glebe Street included playwright George Bernard Shaw and suffragist Millicent Garrett Fawcett. Jeannie died in 1923. Sydney continued to live at 20 Glebe Street until his death in 1938.