help with photographer

[Gronk]

Hi everyone I'm a first timer here so please forgive any blues I make.
I have a photo I'm trying to identify the time period for, the photographers addrress is on the front bottom left of the photo and is "Mackay & Co. 197 Westgate Road Newcastle" I think it could be early 1900s' but searches of directories have not revealed them, as I'm 12000 miles from the UK it makes searching somewhat difficult any help would be appreciated. gronk

[dot.hawkes]

Trade Directories tend to come in two forms, the large comprehensive nationally produced ones by Slaters and Pigots or similar, and then the more locally compiled and distributed ones done mainly by the local newspapers. Copies of both types, which tended to be published erratically, should be found in the local reference libraries
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/ncl/TradeDir2 .html

The bigger directories that covered households and individuals also survive and so it is worth looking at these to see if the photographer had a seperate residence from the shop.

The other source would be the 1901 census return, the address would be listed if it was residential, you should look at the other residents of the street to see if it is mainly housing as opposed to business to get an idea on whether the business was based in his home.

If it is the family itself you are interested in, it is worth loking at the GRO index for B, M & D, for that period, any instances of that surname registering in Newcastle may lead you to a certificate containing further info.

[dotovaposted]

Hi
I replied to this before but my usual ID is still zapped due to over posting, so it will appear again when the techies get a grip, but in the meantime i have copied and pasted my reply here from my user profile:
Trade Directories tend to come in two forms, the large comprehensive nationally produced ones by Slaters and Pigots or similar, and then the more locally compiled and distributed ones done mainly by the local newspapers. Copies of both types, which tended to be published erratically, should be found in the local reference libraries
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/ncl/TradeDir2 .html

The bigger directories that covered households and individuals also survive and so it is worth looking at these to see if the photographer had a seperate residence from the shop.

The other source would be the 1901 census return, the address would be listed if it was residential, you should look at the other residents of the street to see if it is mainly housing as opposed to business to get an idea on whether the business was based in his home.

If it is the family itself you are interested in, it is worth loking at the GRO index for B, M & D, for that period, any instances of that surname registering in Newcastle may lead you to a certificate containing further info.

Dotty

[Gronk]

Hi Dotty
Thank you for your reply, unfortunately the web page link just returns an Error 404 but I will continue to look at the suggestions you made. Thanks again.
Gronk