My great uncle, Walter Athill – the man on the right, ran this shop for his wider family who owned the business, and had shops and a wholesale business in the East End of London in about 1903/4.
I believe he had been ill for some time; perhaps he was sent to Brighton to benefit from the sea air. He died in 1904 so I guess the premises changed hands then.
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It must have been a very short tenure indeed – the premises were only listed to Athill in 1904, so that solves the dating of the picture.
Regards, Andy
Thanks Andy, we weren’t sure of dates. Walter died on 7th April 1904 – he had been ill for a couple of years but contracted meningitis in December 1903. I guess they leased the property in the hopes he would recover. Amazing that we have the photo when they were there for such a short time. Thanks for the information.
Hi again Margaret. The snow on the ground is an indicator that it must have been taken during the winter months – so probably not long after he contracted meningitis.
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