Blaydes House was built in the late 1730s or early 1740s (the precise date is unknown) to the designs of the architect
Joseph Page as the residence and business premises of the Blaydes family, one of the leading merchant families in the town and also owners of two shipyards,
Blaydes Yard: the North End Dock on the
River Hull, near the house, and another at Hessle Cliff, close to the northern end of the present-day
Humber Bridge. The yards turned out vessels for the
Royal Navy from the 1740s, but their main output was merchant ships, most famous among which was a collier named
Bethia, which was purchased by the Navy in 1787, adapted and renamed
HMS Bounty. The Blaydes family were also prominent in town politics, Benjamin Blaydes (whose initials can be seen in a carved monogram in the hallway ceiling) serving as Chamberlain in 1736. The family probably remained at the house until the early 19th century, by that time trading as part of the Blaydes Loft Gee & Company partnership. After this firm was wound up the family left Hull and sold the house. Subsequently, it was used as office space by a number of local businesses. In May 1941, during the
Hull Blitz, a large office building immediately to the south was destroyed by a direct hit, but Blaydes House received only light damage. ==Current use==