Description: Thomas William Hammond 1854-1935. Born in Philadelphia of Nottingham emigres, and orphaned at the age of four, he came to England with his younger sister Maria and lived for a short while with his grandparents in Mount Street. In 1868 age 14 he enrolled in the Government School of Art. On the 1871 census he is described as a lace curtain designer, and in 1872 he was awarded the 'Queen's Prize for a Design of a Lace Curtain'. Other prizes followed and in 1877 he was again awarded the Queen's Prize, this time for the design for a damask table Cloth. Hammond was an indefatigable worker, and soon began to use his skills as a draftsman to record aspects of the changing town. He began showing his work at local venues in 1882 and in 1890 exhibited for the first time at the Royal academy. His real hobby was black and white sketching in charcoal. He drew about 350 pictures all together mainly scenes of a Nottingham he knew but which has largely passed away today. Extracted from 'The Changing Face of Tom Hammond's Nottingham' by John Beckett which is the introductory essay in 'A City in the Making Drawings of Tom Hammond'. This drawing shows us a very different High Street to the one with which we are familiar. It was one of the chief streets of old Nottingham, and at the corner of High Street and Pelham Street stood the great inn known as the 'Blackamore's Head', which was one of the most important inns of the Midlands during coaching days, and within whose walls lay Lord Byron's body before its interment at Hucknall in 1824. But High Street possesses other memories, for in 1799 Joseph Raynor was appointed first postmaster in Nottingham and he had his post office on the left side of this picture. He was assisted by a letter carrier of the name of Thomas Croft, who used to perambulate the town morning and evening carrying a great bell which he rang from time to time. In the mornings he took out the letters which had arrived at the Nottingham Post Office, and to obtain them it was necessary to listen for his bell and apply to him, while in the evening he collected any letters that might be ready for the post. So little postal business was there that Raynor was able to conduct a successful seedsman's business in his spare time. In 1813 the office was moved to the other side of High Street, and was situated in Armitage Place, and the increase of business warranted the raising of the staff to four persons. In 1834 the Post Office was again moved, this time to Bridlesmith Gate. In 1840, penny postage was introduced and at the same time the Nottingham Post Office was once more moved, this time to a building at the north east corner of the newly formed Albert Street. In 1846 a new building was commenced, which was completed in 1847, and stands to-day as the City Treasurer's Office, at the corner of St. Peter's Church Side and Albert Street; within its walls postal business was transacted until 1868, when the old Post Office, at the top of Victoria Street was constructed. In 1895 the present Post Office in Queen Street was occupied. How recent are modern conveniences, may be gauged from the fact that the first pillar post boxes were erected in Nottingham in 1857, while it was not until 1858 that the letter carriers were provided with uniforms. The name High Street. which is so common in all old towns, is derived from the Old English word 'heagh', which means 'chief'. Image and descriptive text taken from 'Nottingham Past and Present', published in 1926.