This elegant young woman is standing on Grainger Street, the photo can be dated to 1902 because the Earl Grey Monument has been decorated for the coronation of King Edward VII. But it’s impossible to give a more specific date because the Monument was decorated twice that year for his coronation, due to a national crisis.
There hadn’t been a coronation in the country since Queen Victoria took the throne over sixty years previously, so there was huge excitement in Newcastle when it was announced that Edward would be crowned as their king on June 26th, 1902. The town was gripped by patriotic fervour and the streets were decked out in flags and bunting for weeks beforehand, while shops vied with each to fill their windows with the most extravagant displays of loyalty to the crown.
However, a fortnight before the coronation, Edward was diagnosed with appendicitis and needed an urgent operation. This was a very dangerous procedure with a poor rate of survival, so the coronation was postponed. Newcastle Corporation decided it was disrespectful for the town to be in celebration mode while the king was at death’s door, so all the decorations were taken down.
Edward survived the operation and his coronation was rescheduled to August 9th 1902. The decorations went back up in Newcastle, with rather less enthusiasm after the disappointment of the postponement. The Earl Grey Monument used the same decorations as it had in June and was illuminated at night by an electric lamp, but there were complaints in the local press about the meagerness of the displays elsewhere.
The Town Hall had been festooned with decorations in June but there were only a couple of flags in August, and the Central Station was notably less festive than it had been the first time around. Newgate Street had been a sea of flags, but the only one flying in August was outside the Mason’s Arms. The pub was owned by the Bourgogne family from France and they had the largest flag in Newcastle, but hadn’t realised it was the Dutch flag.
There’s no way of knowing for certain if this photo was taken when the Earl Grey Monument was decorated in June or August of 1902, but the young woman may provide a clue. The weather was described by local newspapers as “gloriously fine” in June, whereas there were heavy downpours in Newcastle around the time of the coronation.