HO 144/846/148829 and HO 334/44/16701
For Agop’s brother Balthazar, click here. For Agop’s brother Gregory, click here.
Agop Agopian was born in Smyrna, the Ottoman Empire, on June 20, 1870 to Garabet and Takouhi Agopian, variably identified in the file as Ottoman and Armenian Turkish. Agop Agopian used the name Agop Garabet Agopian in all important documents because, as his agent explained, it was usual to do so “in the East” to indicate whose son a person was.
Agopian arrived in Manchester in November 1895 as the English Representative of G. M. Agopian & Son of Smyrna, in which position he remained until February 1903, when the firm closed. He then entered the employ of M. Tokatian, a shipping merchant in Manchester, and worked as an Assistant Buyer or Merchant’s Buyer. He resided in West Didsbury, Manchester. He spent a month in Smyrna in 1898 on business and two months there in 1902 to be married. His wife’s name is not mentioned; the woman in the front row on the far left in the image below, identified as “Mrs Agopian,” may be she.[1] The couple had no children at the time of his naturalization.
Armenian Ladies Association, 1918. Courtesy: Manchester Archives.
Agopian was 36 when he applied for citizenship in 1907. He decided to apply because his parents and brothers then resided in Manchester and he had only one married sister abroad. His five referees included a Managing Director, a cashier, a manufacturer’s salesman, a salesman, and Agop’s physician, who was also his neighbor. These men frequently encountered Agopian on the Royal Stock Exchange in London. One of these referees had purchased a house in his wife’s name, although he paid the rates and taxes of the house. In this case, an exception was made to the rule that referees had to be householders. Agop was naturalized in 1907 after 11 years in England.
[1] Manchester Archives, GB124.DPA/1817/1, “Manchester Armenian History,” https://www.flickr.com/photos/manchesterarchiveplus/9356244785 (accessed 9/27/2025).