A relatively new business partnership had opened on the High
Street; the milliner's shop Adeline and Estelle, on the
left of the photograph, was at what was then 72a, High Street
- behind the pony and trap and on the corner of Lower South
Street. Adeline Rose Twigg was the milliner and Estelle
Rose Chaude was the Dressmaker[1].
They had been at 65 High Street initially and whilst they were
there advertised for a millinery assistant in 1913[2].
The following year they had moved to the premises we can see
in the photo[3].
Interestingly, a delivery boy is hastily dismounting from his
bike behind the trap. Whatever he was carrying was in a large
basket strapped to his back.
The milliners' immediate neighbour, at no.72, was the tailor
and hosier William Frederick Paine[4].
The sign above his shop window next to the millinery shows
that he also made shirts.
Following the retirement of Robert Agnew Robertson in January
1914 another business had opened at the High Street/Church
Street junction behind the Pepperpot (Market Hall) in 1914[5].
Robertson's shop signs had been replaced, the outside had
been repainted and the external walls bore the words "New", "Costumes" and "Dainty".
Any other words were hidden by the Pepperpot.
This shop was now Boshiers, ready to wear specialists who
had operated from smaller premises on the High Street before
the move. Henry Boshier, who had started his business in
1899, was still running the shop in 1924[6].
His two sons continued to run the ladies' outfitters when
he passed away in 1939[7].
We know from the clock on the square tower below the Pepperpot's
domed cupola that it was 11.35a.m. - the sun was high in
the sky as the shadows are almost directly underneath the
vehicles.
The two window awnings on the right next to the parked vehicle
were part of the Godalming Drapery Company, a store that had
been set up by Mr. Ballard[8].
This, too, was still on the High Street in 1924[6].
A chauffeur, dressed in a long coat and peaked cap was patiently
waiting on the pavement for his passengers.
It is not known how the millinery fared during World War
One but by 1924 George E Ford was a milliner in their former
shop at 65 High Street[6].
The two women were by then living at The Old Cottage, Eashing.
Estelle died that year but Rose became a Red Cross Worker in
1939 and passed away in 1942[9]. |
