We were very sad indeed to hear that Tony Lumb, of the very well-known antique dealers Charles Lumb & Sons of Harrogate, Yorkshire, passed away over the Christmas period. Tony, together with his wife Mary, was a great supporter of the Antique Dealers Research Project at the University of Leeds – in fact we conducted an oral history interview with Tony and Mary (and James Lomax, former curator at Temple Newsam, Leeds) back in 2014 and we have very fond memories of Tony and Mary – they both came along to the premier of our film of the play ‘Quinneys’ (1915) which we made in 2021, screened at York Picture House in November 2021.
Tony was born in 1935 and joined his family antique dealing business, Charles Lumb & Sons, in 1956 after completing his National Service. The business had been started by Tony’s grandfather, Charles Lumb (1878-1963), who was born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire in 1878 and trained as a cabinetmaker; he established Charles Lumb & Sons as antique dealers in Harrogate in 1907. Below is a photograph of one of the early business premises of Charles Lumb, a small 19th century workshop where Charles Lumb traded from just after the end of the First World War in 1918 or 1919 – the photograph is from the 1980s, when Charles Lumb & Sons still owned the property and used it as a store for their stock of antiques.
Charles Lumb opened a shop in Swan Road in Harrogate in the early 1920s, before moving to larger premises in Montpellier Street, Harrogate in the 1930s. Below is an advertisement produced by Charles Lumb & Sons in 1938, trading from their Montpellier Street address.
Tony’s father, Frank Lumb and his uncle Reg, together with Tony, ran the antique business after Charles Lumb died in 1963. By then they had moved the business, opening a new shop at 34 Montpellier Parade, Harrogate in 1947, and were one of the most important antique dealers in the UK. Below is a photograph of Charles Lumb’s shop at Montpellier Parade in 1954, just a couple of years before Tony Lumb joined the business in 1956.
When Reg Lumb died in 1976 Frank, with Tony and Mary, continued to run the antique dealing business; Frank Lumb was working in the antique shop until his early 90s; he died aged 97 in 1993. Tony and Mary finally closed Charles Lumb & Sons in 2012.
Tony served on the Council of the British Antique Dealers Association (BADA) in the 1970s, and served as Vice President of the BADA during the early 1980s. He was always interested in the developments of the Antique Dealers Research Project at the University of Leeds, and were so sorry to hear that he had passed away. We were particularly sorry that Tony will not see the launch of the Year of the Dealer project (which launches on 1st March 2026) – Charles Lumb & Sons are the subject of one of the ‘dealer trails’ films at Temple Newsam, the country house museum near Leeds. This wonderful 18th century Dutch giltwood chandelier (see below) is featured in the short film focused on Charles Lumb & Sons – (the chandelier was sold to Temple Newsam by Charles Lumb & Sons in 1950, for £159 and 10 shillings).
We send our sincerest condolences to Mary and the Lumb family.
Mark
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