Izaak Walio 



London seeking fame and fortune some 

 time about his thirtieth year. There he 

 established himself in business as a linen- 

 draper, or sempster, a lucrative business 

 even in these days. His " establishment " 

 at first was situated in the upper story of 

 the Royal Exchange, or Bourse, on Corn- 

 hill, erected by Sir Thomas Gresham, and 

 consisted of a small compartment, " seven 

 feet and a half long and five wide ; an 

 economy," according to Sir John Haw- 

 kins, one of Walton's earliest biographers, 

 " that would scarcely allow him to have 

 elbow-room. Yet here did he carry on his 

 trade till some time before the year 1624, 

 when he dwelt on the north side of Fleet 

 Street, in a house two doors west of the 

 end of Chancery Lane. It further appears 

 that the place was in the joint occupation 

 of Izaak Walton and John Mason, hosier, 

 from whence we may conclude that half- 

 a-shop was sufficient for the business of 

 Walton." This conclusion has, however, 

 been dissented from by later biographers, 

 who incline to the opinion that the " half- 

 shop " was merely an office, while the 

 business itself was carried on elsewhere. 

 In December, 1626, when in his thirty- 

 third year, Walton married his first wife, 

 a Miss Rachel Floud or Flood or Floyd, 



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