Edward Leftwich recently commented on our Facebook page, “The William Leftwich who initiated the ice business was the great grandfather of my grandfather, Charles Leftwich CBE, who was born in London, as was my father, who was born at Clarence Gate, very close to where the ice house was near Regents Canal.” 

• Wikipedia story on an ancient ice well used by William Leftwich as early as 1826 as a pioneer in the London ice trade, bringing tons of ice from Norway for various uses.

• Chilling discovery of ice house found under London Street – The Guardian.
• Leftwich, baker and confectioner, and the only ice cellar in the London directories in the 1830s …  began to import ice from lakes in the clean Norwegian countryside. This was crystal clear, and soon became very popular. The frozen lakes were ploughed in two directions with narrow cutters to divide the ice into blocks. These were then wrapped and brought by sea to Limehouse and along the Regent’s Canal. Besides ordinary ice, Leftwich advertised Ice Pyramids, large blocks of ice carved to shape and decorated with flowers. These were used as table decorations at banquets and, as they melted, served to keep the air cool.

Pictures courtesy of https://www.canalmuseum.org.uk/ice/iceimport.htm