Mrs Dohoo’s Needlework Depot, 96 Victoria Street West, Grimsby, during the Coronation Procession, 22 June 1911 (colourised).

Photographer: Harry Shaw, 54 Durban Road, Grimsby.

This detail from a photographic postcard (unposted), taken by local photographer Harry Shaw of 54 Durban Road, Grimsby, captures spectators gathered outside Mrs Dohoo’s shop at 96 Victoria Street West, on the corner of New Street, during the celebrations for the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary on 22 June 1911. The street is crowded with well-dressed men, women and children, all waiting to watch the procession pass through the town.

The shop fascia advertises “Mrs Dohoo. Baby Linen &c.”, reflecting the business’s specialism in ladies’ and children’s goods. Contemporary trade directories describe the premises as Mrs Dohoo’s Berlin Wool and Art Needlework Depot, while other directory entries identify the proprietor as Charles Dohoo, ladies’ outfitter or draper. Bankruptcy records later confirmed that Charles was “trading as Mrs Dohoo”, indicating that although he was the legal proprietor, the business traded under his wife’s name.

Charles Dohoo was born in Stepney, London, in 1852, and married Amy Florence Watson of Donington-on-Bain, Lincolnshire, in 1887. Census records show the couple living in Coventry in both 1891 and 1901, where Charles worked in the city’s ribbon trade as a warehouseman. Sometime between 1901 and 1908 they moved to Grimsby and established their own business at 96 Victoria Street West. Charles’s experience in Coventry’s textile and haberdashery trade almost certainly provided the knowledge required to run a specialist drapery and needlework business.

By 1908, Charles was listed in the Grimsby electoral register at 96 Victoria Street, while trade directories described him as a ladies’ outfitter. The business sold Berlin wool, art needlework materials, baby linen and other drapery goods, and acted as a local agent for nationally advertised products such as Southalls’ Towels.

Only a few months after this photograph was taken, the business encountered serious financial difficulties. In September 1911, Charles Dohoo was declared bankrupt while trading as Mrs Dohoo. The bankruptcy proceedings continued until 1913, when he successfully obtained his discharge.

The setback did not end the Dohoos’ working lives. By the 1921 Census, Charles and Amy had re-established themselves at 448 Cleethorpe Road, where Charles was once again working on his own account as a needlework dealer, with Amy assisting in the business. Local directories of 1922–23 described him as a draper, and electoral registers show the couple still living at 448 Cleethorpe Road in 1929. Charles died in Cleethorpes on 9 March 1942, aged 89, and Amy died on 28 January 1951, aged 88. They are buried together in Waltham Cemetery, Lincolnshire.

Today, this photograph is much more than a record of a royal celebration. It preserves the frontage of a small Edwardian family business and tells the story of Charles and Amy Dohoo—two independent shopkeepers whose lives spanned London, Coventry and Grimsby, and whose determination enabled them to rebuild their livelihood after financial hardship. It is also a fine example of the work of local photographer Harry Shaw, whose photographs provide an invaluable record of Grimsby and its people during the early twentieth century.