Bombing aftermath

Thanks, Helen, I'm very happy to be able to participate in this fascinating forum. I love poring over old photographs and noticing subtle changes in townscapes and sometimes being able to date them as well as place them. I'm glad you mention Hertford Street, I put an appeal in the CET asking if anyone had memories or info about a hairdresser's which took my eye. At first it was the name which drew me. Marguerita Piquerez, was she French? Spanish? was she born in UK or did she come here from abroad?. Her salon was at 54, next to Johnson & Mason, wine merchants: It's a zoomable image and her shop is in the darker building in the centre. Unfortunately the salon was hit by a bomb: but amazingly, along with a lot of other traders who lost upper floors she was back in business in a few months:

Sorry Helen (and everyone else). I made a bit of a pig's ear of that last post, I haven't yet quite got the hang of how to upload Hope to do better next time!

No probs rocksolid. Instead of copying the web page, when you are in Coventry Digital, there is a button on the bottom right 'Embed'. Press that and it gives the chance to copy the embed code. Just paste that into your comment.

Thanks for that tip, Helen, actually the pics have come out fine, I was worrying unduly. Isn't it marvellous how well we can view them close up without losing any definition?

Madame Piquerez was on Hertford Street at least as far back as 1926 but at that point she was at 58/59 Hertford Street in a building that had multiple businesses. She doesn't appear in the earlier directories at all. I can't find a resident called Piquerez in 1926 or 1937, so it may not even have been her real name, although it wouldn't be odd not to find people in the directory. Usual thanks to Heathite for the directories.

Welcome to the forum rocksolid.

Thanks, Helen, actually an amateur genealogist friend tried tracing her but could find no registered birth. She died in 1960 aged 63 under her married name Mullen, born 29 Sept 1897 but I don't know where, was living in Meriden in 1939 (from 1939 Register), married in 1941 and was still operating her salon in Hertford Street in 1950s, presumably on just the ground floor (it later became part of Ristorante Etna, now demolished for student flats; This is taken from the same spot as the photo showing the bomb damage.

There is a Margerite Piquerez born in France in 1891, the date given in 1939. She is still on the French census in 1911.

That's interesting, I don't have access to the French census. Do you have any more detail? Parents/siblings names etc?

Thanks, Anne, looking forward to it.

Hi Rocksolid. Sorry I could not do this last night, we were in the middle of watching the 1966 Batman film ! This is what I found. It was all I could find in France for a Margarita Piquerez for that date but I would normally like a bit more evidence to make 100% sure. The area of France is Tarn et Garonne and the census is for the Village de Vazerac. The spelling of the names may not be perfect as it is difficult to read. Louis P Piquerez 1863 Chef (Head), Proprieteur Cherise Piquerez 1869 Famme (Wife) Christine Piquerez 1890 Margarita Piquerez 1891 Madelaine Piquerez 1892 Isabelle Piquerez 1897 Lugama ? Piquerez 1900 Gustave Piquerez 1910 Bathilda Piquerez 1836, this says Belle Mama, mother in law ! Hope this helps, Anne

Many thanks Anne, I hope you enjoyed the Batman film. I get the feeling Piquerez is quite an unusual name, it could be her, allowing for variation in spelling of her forename. I also think she may have had a middle name initial E. As for her year of birth it would be easy to mistake 1 for 7, bearing in mind the way Europeans spell their 1s with the (sometimes) exaggerated upstroke at the top. I shall pass this info to my genealogist friend who tried before and came up against a brick wall so well done for finding these names, How did you find them? do you have access to European censuses? Thanks again, Rocksolid

Yes, thank you Rocksolid, very silly but funny, our sort of film ! Yes there is an E on the 1939 census. The spelling of the forename might be something to do with the writing, I may have transcribed it wrong. I thought it was 1897 on the 1939 census when I first looked but if you look closely it looks like a squiggle on the brown tape which has been stuck across it, and also it is transcribed as 1891, so I am happy with that. I have worldwide Ancestry so I found the information on there. You don't get a lot of information from other countries but sometimes it helps. I have also looked through the newspaper archive but although there are a few articles that mention her there is nothing that would help. It would be worth looking at the 1921 census but I don't pay for that. If I can be of any more help let me know, regards, Anne.

They still haven't actually built anything yet on the site of Etna's. My mate reckons it's a tax avoidance thing with it being an empty plot over a developed building. It's a real eyesore and getting well overgrown with weeds etc.