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On 21st October 1805, the day of the Battle of Trafalgar, Francis William Truefitt opened a small gentlemen's salon at 2 Cross Lane, Long Acre. He styled himself Court Wigmaker, Court Hair Cutter and Court Head Dresser, and put his brother Peter to work beside him. Within the same rooms, Francis began mixing his own colognes and pomades, following recipes of his own devising.
The shop prospered. Francis was soon appointed Wigmaker to George III, and later generations of Truefitts would dress the hair of George IV and William IV. Word of the salon reached well beyond Long Acre. Thackeray placed it in two of his novels, and Charles Dickens gave it a knowing mention in The Uncommercial Traveller, noting that the barbers there kept themselves entertained learning French between customers.
Peter's business, renamed H.P. Truefitt Ltd after his son Henry Paul, moved to grander premises at 1 New Bond Street in 1826 and flourished under royal patronage. It was here that Henry Paul built the reputation that would carry the family name forward: he helped found the Hairdressers' Benevolent and Provident Institution in 1831, and served 25 years as its first President.
In 1860, Henry Paul drew up a contract with his manager, John B. Donnell. It survives today in the City of Westminster Archives, thought to be the oldest employment contract of its kind in hairdressing anywhere in the world. Its terms were exacting: Donnell was bound to work "diligently and faithfully", forbidden from taking other work, and barred from setting up within thirty miles of Old Bond Street for three years should he ever leave.
For most of the century, a barbershop was a gentleman's preserve. Fashionable ladies had their hair dressed at home, and the idea of being seen having it done in public was considered, by the standards of the day, thoroughly indelicate.
Truefitt's broke that convention in 1870, opening the first Ladies' Salon on the upper floors of 23 Old Bond Street. It became the address to be seen at. A character in Grant Allen's 1899 novel Wolverden Tower complains, half admiringly, about a young woman's hair being "so evidently turned out by Truefitt's".
Two Centuries, Year by Year
Truefitt kept meticulous stock books throughout its history. This is the short version.
Francis William Truefitt opens his first salon at 2 Cross Lane, Long Acre, on the day of Trafalgar.
Peter Truefitt leaves the family business to open his own salon in Burlington Arcade.
Henry Paul Truefitt helps found the Hairdressers' Benevolent and Provident Institution.
H.P. Truefitt signs a binding contract with manager J.B. Donnell, one of the oldest surviving employment contracts in hairdressing.
The first Ladies' Salon opens above 23 Old Bond Street.
Truefitt's stock books record the first lipstick made in Bond Street.
H.P. Truefitt founds the Incorporated Guild of Hairdressers, Wigmakers and Perfumers, and becomes its first Master.
The firm marks its 100th anniversary at new premises, 13 & 14 Old Bond Street.
Walter Truefitt's Charity for Poor Hairdressers is founded. It still operates today.
H.P. Truefitt Ltd merges with Edwin Hill, forming Truefitt & Hill at 23 Old Bond Street.
The salon stays open through the Blitz, moving briefly to Burlington Gardens after bomb damage.
Field Marshal Montgomery unveils a plaque marking 150 years, at a dinner held in his honour.
Truefitt & Hill opens its first American shop, in Chicago.
The London shop moves to its present home at 71 St James's Street.
A second North American shop opens in Toronto, at Scotia Plaza.
Guinness World Records names Truefitt & Hill the oldest barbering business in the world.
Churchill sat in Truefitt's chairs for decades, one of a long line of statesmen and public figures who came through the doors alongside Oscar Wilde, Lord Byron and nine consecutive generations of British monarchs.
When Churchill died in January 1965, Truefitt & Hill closed for the day out of respect. Across two centuries of trade, through wars, house moves and a changing Bond Street, it remains the only time the firm has shut its doors for a single customer.
From wigs for George III to grooming for Queen Elizabeth II, Truefitt & Hill has attended the British monarchy across nine consecutive reigns. Mr Sahli, the firm's chiropodist for 55 years, was a regular guest at Balmoral, and the manicurist Miss Christine Drew served the salon's clients, including Tsar Nicholas II, for 62 years before retiring in 1973.
Clients from further afield left their own mark on the firm's history. Truefitt & Hill lost patrons aboard the Titanic in 1912, and salvaged bottles from the wreck now sit in the Maritime Museum at Greenwich and in New York's Titanic exhibition.
Truefitt & Hill moved to its present address, 71 St James's Street, in 1994. The lower stretch of the street holds eight traditional outlets within a hundred paces of each other, Truefitt's among them, with a combined history running past 1,700 years of trade: wine merchants, hatters, boot makers, gunsmiths and tobacconists, each still practising the craft it was founded on.
Some of today's barbers have served for over 60 years. Add up the tenure of the six most senior barbers currently at Truefitt's, and the total passes 350 years of combined service. None of them, by all accounts, is in any hurry to retire.