Now the historian in me knows I should go off and look for
the first reference to a flower seller in the square by the church.
In 1979 I did the thing, and took a series of pictures of
that flower stall.
At the time and for a long time since I thought there was
nothing remarkable about the scene.
And then recently I came across a picture post postcard from
1904 showing a flower stall in the identical spot, added to which someone else
came up with an earlier image from 1898.
So that rather begs the question of how long there has been
a business on this location and for that matter just how many images there are
of flower sellers in St Ann’s Square.
I suspect we shall find out.
And quick as a flash, Jennifer added a comment to the blog which deserved to be added in,
"Hello, hope this information my help your research. From the late 60s to the mid 70s I worked for the Halifax BS on Deansgate.
They had an account with the flower stall in St Ann's square.
The couple who ran it then where brother and sister John & Sally. I think the name on the invoice was Fitzgerald.
They told me the stall had been in their family for many years. I think the stall was taken over by John's son Roger? and then by his son. John and Sally were lovely 5.
They advised which flowers were good for the displays and how to arrange them".
"Hello, hope this information my help your research. From the late 60s to the mid 70s I worked for the Halifax BS on Deansgate.
They had an account with the flower stall in St Ann's square.
The couple who ran it then where brother and sister John & Sally. I think the name on the invoice was Fitzgerald.
They told me the stall had been in their family for many years. I think the stall was taken over by John's son Roger? and then by his son. John and Sally were lovely 5.
They advised which flowers were good for the displays and how to arrange them".
Location; Manchester
Pictures; St Ann’s Church, 1978-9 from the collection of
Andrew Simpson, and from the series Manchester, marketed by Tuck & Sons,
1904, courtesy of Tuck DB, http://tuckdb.org/
Hello, hope this information my help your research.From the late 60s to the mid 70s I worked for the Halifax BS on Deansgate. They had an account with the flower stall in St Ann's square. The couple who ran it then where brother and sister John & Sally. I think the name on the invoice was Fitzgerald. They told me the stall had been in their family for many years. I think the stall was taken over by John's son Roger? and then by his son. John and Sally were lovely 5. They advised which flowers were good for the displays and how to arrange them.
ReplyDeleteHello, hope this information my help your research.From the late 60s to the mid 70s I worked for the Halifax BS on Deansgate. They had an account with the flower stall in St Ann's square. The couple who ran it then where brother and sister John & Sally. I think the name on the invoice was Fitzgerald. They told me the stall had been in their family for many years. I think the stall was taken over by John's son Roger? and then by his son. John and Sally were lovely 5. They advised which flowers were good for the displays and how to arrange them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Jennifer, added it to the story.
ReplyDeleteI worked at Williams Deacons Bank in St Anne's Square in the 1960's and the flower stall was there each day but busiest on Friday evenings as people heading home took flowers.
ReplyDeleteThe sign in front of the stall tells another story....it is a list of local grown flower varieties and non of imported varieties. All around Manchester local nurserymen raised blooms for the different seasons, this has all gone now, partly from the rise in price of land becoming more attractive to family members than carrying on a hard 7 day week 52 weeks a year existence, and partly from the imports of flowers that go on through the winter and changes in fashion.
ReplyDelete