Description:The Grade II* listed Georgian townhouse at 19 Eastgate Street, Stafford, pictured before it was occupied by the William Salt Library. The house was probably re-fronted and remodelled in the 1730s. Adjoining it, to the left, is the smaller late 18th or early 19th century house at 18 Eastgate Street. At the time of this photograph both properties were owned by Dr Francis Herbert Marson (1862-1939) a surgeon who lived in no.19 until 1918. he was medical officer of heath to the Rural District Council and public vaccinator for Stafford district, and surgeon to the County Infirmary. No.18 was a tobacconist and small ware shop run by John Vincent who lived above the shop with his wife Mary and a boarder.
Both houses were acquired by the William Salt Library Trust in 1918, having outgrown their previous premises in Market Square. The library collections extended into no.18 in 1934.
Photograph donated by Stafford Historical and Civic Society, who retain copyright ownership.