J F Rockhey was a department store located in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

with a further smaller branch in

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...

History

John Fry Rockhey bought a small drapery business on Fleet Street, Torquay from a Mr Peter Thomas in 1881, and set about expanding the business with his partner Mr T S Bulleid. The store grew from the original one to four over the next few years and by 1901 the business was incorporated. John Fry Rockhey was Mayor of Torquay 1896–97 and 1901–02 and was made a Freeman of the City. Upon the death of J F Rockhey in 1930, his business partner T M Bulleid took over as Chairman of the board until his death in 1937, when J F Bulleid took over the reins. He was behind a remodelling of the store which took place between 1939-40. A further store was opened in Newton Abbot. In 1948,

D H Evans D H Evans was a department store located in Oxford Street, London, which later became part of House of Fraser. The store was rebranded as House of Fraser in 2001. History D H Evans was opened in 1879 by Dan Harries Evans at 320 Oxford Street. ...

purchased the business for £259,556 but continued to operate the business as a separate entity from the Oxford Street store. In 1954, however,

Harrods Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to other ...

completed the purchase of the entire preference share capital of DH Evans (they had owned the entire ordinary share capital since 1928).

House of Fraser House of Fraser (also operating as Frasers) is a British department store group with 44 locations across the United Kingdom, which is now part of Frasers Group. It was established in Glasgow, Scotland in 1849 as Arthur and Fraser. By 1891, it w ...

purchased the Harrods group in 1959. J F Rockhey was kept within the Harrods family until 1971, when House of Fraser agreed as part of the takeover of Dingles that all House of Fraser stores in the west country would transfer to the Dingles group.

References

Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Defunct companies of England Harrods House of Fraser British companies established in 1881 Retail companies established in 1881 Retail companies disestablished in 1971 1881 establishments in England 1971 disestablishments in England {{UK-retail-company-stub