Figure 1. Trade card of the partnership between William Bithray and Thomas Steane. Adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from an image made available by The British Museum.
Bithray & Steane
William Bithray, 1816 - 1855
Thomas Steane, 1825 - 1886
by Brian Stevenson
last updated January, 2026
William Bithray and Thomas Steane were long-time employees of Thomas Rubergall (1775-1854), a noted London manufacturer and retailer of eyeglasses and scientific instruments. Bithray served an apprenticeship as an optical and scientific instrument-maker with his uncle, Stephen Bithray (ca. 1789 - 1858), then went to work for Rubergall. Steane worked in the shop since his early teens, described variously as “male servant” and “optician’s assistant”. Both men undoubtedly contributed to the manufacture of eyeglasses at Rubergall’s, as well as any other items that were produced in his shop.
Bithray and Steane advertised that they were “mathematical and philosophical instrument makers”, with emphasis on eye glasses, as well as “barometers, thermometers, opera-glasses, and telescopes” (Figures 1-2).
The Bithray and Steane partnership lasted for less than a year, due to Bithray’s untimely death, and the business probably closed soon afterward. But they are included in this series of historical essays as an example of how a manufacturer/retailer’s business was not necessarily a single craftsman.
Figure 1.
Trade card of the partnership between William Bithray and Thomas Steane. Adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from an image made available by The British Museum.
Figure 2.
1855 advertisement from Bithray & Steane, from “The Lancet”. Such advertisements continued for several months after Bithray’s death, indicating that Steane continued the business at 24 Coventry Street under the partnership’s name for some time. It was included in the 1856 “London Post Office Directory”, which would have been printed in late 1855.
Figure 3.
A selection of microscopes and other items that are signed by Thomas Rubergall. William Bithray and Thomas Steane would have participated in their manufacture and/or retail (it is likely that many of the microscopes and other instruments sold by Rubergall were acquired by him from wholesale makers). The Bithray and Steane business would have sold similar items. Images adapted by permission from https://www.antique-microscopes.com/photos/Rubergall.htm or for nonprofit, educational purposes from internet sale sites.
Figure 4.
Thomas Rubergall, and later Bithray & Steane, operated from 24 Coventry Street, London. In addition to the shop on the ground floor, the building included an additional three storeys of living and storage space. From “Tallis London Street Views, 1838-1840”.
William Bithray was born on May 21, 1816, son of Thomas and Joanna Bithray. William’s baptism record stated that the father worked as a “glass drop cutter”, fashioning cut glass drops and lustres for chandeliers. Thomas was a brother of Stephen Bithray, who, as an optician, was also skilled in cutting and shaping glass.
William was bound to a seven-year apprenticeship with his uncle Stephen in 1831 (Figure 5). He probably went to work for Thomas Rubergall soon after completing the apprenticeship, as William Bithray was recorded as living at Rubergall’s 24 Coventry Street home/shop at the time of the 1841 census. Bithray was recorded on the census as “apprentice optician”, implying that he was receiving additional training from Rubergall.
William Bithray married Martha Greenhow during late 1841. Taking a wife was usually a serious undertaking, and indicated that Bithray was then enjoying a decent degree of financial stability. William and Martha had seven children. Their birth records indicate that William and Martha did not live at the Rubergall shop after their marriage, a further indication of financial independence. The 1851 census showed them living at 9 Walbrook Place, Shoreditch, and employing a domestic servant.
Thomas Steane was born in 1825 in Buckinghamshire. His father’s name was given as “Thomas” on his marriage record, so our man may have been the boy born to Thomas and Mary “Staines” on July 7, 1825, in Buckingham.
Steane was employed by Rubergall by 1840. The National Library of Ireland holds a receipt for several pair of spectacles purchased from Rubergall’s business on August 31, 1840, which is signed by Thomas Steane.
The 1841 national census listed Steane as a “male servant” in Rubergall’s home/shop. The 1851 showed that he still lived at the 24 Coventry Street shop, working as an “optician’s assistant”. The house/shop also included a female house servant and a 16 year-old “errand boy”.
Thomas Rubergall died on April 25, 1854, at the age of 79. Bithray and Steane are not mentioned in Rubergall’s will, so they presumably purchased their master’s business from the heirs. Advertisements from the partnership are known to have appeared in early 1855 (Figure 2).
William Bithray died on January 3, 1855 of “acute bronchitis”. He and his family had moved back to the shop at 24 Coventry by that time. It can be assumed that Thomas Steane also lived at the shop.
Bithray and Steane were included in the 1856 London Post Office Directory, which was assembled in late 1855. They are not known to be mentioned in any later directory or advertisement.
Thomas Steane continued to work as an “optician” in London, although the site of his business immediately after the end of Bithray and Steane is not known. He was visiting his sister in Oxford during the 1861 census.
He married Mary Jeayes in Rugby, Warwickshire, on June 27, 1864. He was described as “jeweler and optician” on the marriage record. Thomas and Mary were cousins.
Steane appears again in directories in 1865, as a “watchmaker” at 6 Wellington Terrace, Notting Hill, Kensington. Relatives of Steane’s also worked as watchmakers, so he may have been picking up a family trade. Liquidation proceedings by Steane’s creditors began in December, 1871. His Kensington business was listed in directories through 1875, so he may have been able to reorganize out of his debts.
Thomas and Mary’s first child, Charles, was born in Kensington in 1873, but baptized in Rugby. Their second child was born in Rugby in 1874. The 1881 census recorded the Steane family as living at 17a North Street, Rugby. Thomas was an “optician”, and Mary was a “teacher of music”. The family employed a domestic servant.
Thomas Steane died on September 24, 1886, in Rugby.
Figure 5.
The 1831 document that bound William Bithray to a seven-year apprenticeship with his uncle, Stephen Bithray. At the time of indenture, the sheet included two identical copies. These were then separated by an irregular cut, and the lower copy retained by the Guildhall. The wavy cut ensured against fraud, since both copies could be compared by aligning the cut edge.
Resources
Abney Park Trust (accessed January, 2026) William Bithray, https://abneypark.org/unearthed-stories/william-bithray-optical-instruments
Apprentice record of William Bithray to Stephen Bithray (1831) obtained through ancestry.com
Baptism record of William Bithray (1816) Parish records of St, Mary Islington, obtained through ancestry.com
Baptism record of Charles Herbert Steane (1873) Parish records of Rugby, obtained through ancestry.com
Burial record of Thomas Steane (1886) Parish records of Rugby, obtained through ancestry.com
England census and other resources, obtained through ancestry.com
The Lancet (1855) Advertisements from Bithray and Steane, multiple editions
London Tax Records (1845) Hoxton, Middlesex, Charles Square, “Wm. Bithray”, obtained through ancestry.com
Marriage record of Thomas Steane and Mary Jeayes (1864) Parish records of Rugby, obtained through ancestry.com
Morning Chronicle (1854) Deaths, “On the 25th inst., Mr. Thomas Rubergall, of 24, Coventry-street, in the 80th year of his age”, April 29 issue
National Library of Ireland (accessed January, 2026) “Major Mahon London Aug. 31st 1840 / Bot. [bought] of Tho. [Thomas] Rubergall, Optician, Mathematical & Philosophical Instrument Maker to His Majesty 24, Coventry Street, Haymarket [London]. Pair of Turpin [?] steel spectacles...case for ditto...steel spectacles, new, case...case for folding land spectacles...[Total] 1 " 7 " 0 [one pound seven shillings] Rec'd [received] for T. Rubergall Thos. Steane (Receipt, with engraved billhead (of royal coat of arms) issued by Thomas Rubergall, Optician, Mathematical & Philosophical Instrument Maker to His Majesty 24, Coventry Street, Haymarket, London to Major Mahon [a member of the Mahon family of Strokestown House, Co. Roscommon] for purchases to the value of one pound seven shillings in 1840)", https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000816674
Nunn, Lynn (accessed January, 2026) In Search of Men and Women with Initiative – Solving Family Puzzles, Keeping it in the Family, https://genielynau.wordpress.com/tag/steane/
Post Office London Directory (1850) “Rubergall Thomas, 24 Coventry st”, page 1277
Post Office London Directory (1856) “Bithray & Steane, 24 Coventry st. Haymkt”, page 1824
Post Office London Directory (1865) “Steane Thomas, watchmkr. 6 Wellington ter. Notting hill W”, page 1386
Post Office London Directory (1870) “Steane Thomas, watchmkr. 6 Wellington ter. Notting hill W”, page 1256
Post Office London Directory (1875) “Steane Thomas, watchmkr. 13 Wellington ter. Notting hill W”, page 1332
The Solicitors' Journal & Reporter (1871) Liquidation by arrangement, first meetings of creditors, “Steane, Thos., Wellington-ter, Portobello-rd, Notting-hill. Watchmaker, Dec 28 at 2, at the Inns of Court Hotel, Holborn”, Vol. 16, page 154
Tallis' London Street Views, 1838-1840 (2002) Second edition, London Topological Society
Will of Thomas Rubergall (1854) obtained through ancestry.com