Taking Account of our Past

The Queen Square Syndicate began in 1907 and was made up of a group of prominent local business men who worked as property developers for the purpose of the Queen Square Improvement. Sir Charles Tertius Mander acted as chairman for the Syndicate, with Albert Baldwin Bantock, Stephen Craddock and F. J. J. Gibbons as the original directors and Thomas Barnett as Secretary. They made an agreement with Wolverhampton Corporation to lease 2200 square yards of land fronting to Queen Square, Wolverhampton, in consideration of the Queen Square Syndicate erecting a Public House, Shops and other buildings in place of the existing buildings. The rent was agreed at £800 per annum for 77 years from Christmas 1907. Part of this agreement included demolition of the existing property and the rebuilding of new properties further back from the road, to widen the street from Queen Square into Victoria Street. The design of architect Fred T. Beck was chosen for the new buildings and was completed in 1910, providing an attractive shopping arcade and office space.

From 1907 – 1931 the registered office of the Queen Square Syndicate was 25 Darlington Street, moving later to 3 Waterloo Road (both the business addresses of the Secretary Thomas J Barnett) and then 5 Queen’s Arcade Chambers. In 1956 the Queen Square Syndicate sold the remaining Ground Lease for Harleys’ Vaults, 25 Queen Square for £27,700. By the early 1960s, Queens Arcade had fallen out of favour with shoppers and into disrepair. In 1961 it was decided to sell the leasehold property of the Queen Square Syndicate to Mander Holdings Ltd for £262,755. Later that year the Queen Square Syndicate went into voluntary liquidation with a payment made to shareholders of £200 per share. The area was redeveloped and incorporated into the Mander Centre development.

Board of Directors and covering years:
Albert Baldwin Bantock 1907 – 1929, (chairman) 1930 – 1938
Charles Tertius Mander (chairman) 1907 – 1929
Loftus B Moreton
F J J Gibbons 1907 – 1937, (chairman) 1938 – 1946
Thomas J Barnett (secretary) 1907 – 1918
Stephen Craddock 1907 – 1925
H Beresford Jones 1909 – 1914
Charles H Barnett (secretary) 1919 – 1957, 1938 – 1950, (chairman) 1951 – 1957
Charles A Mander 1929 – 1946, (chairman) 1947 – 1950
Paul E Gibbons 1947 – 1957, (chairman) 1958 – 1962
Colin Hugh Brodie 1951 – 1962, (secretary) 1958 – 1962
R A Brookes 1958 – 1962