The other two photographs which I acquired with the picture of Water Street, Liverpool in 1902 shown in the previous post (and it definitely is a picture of the festivities surrounding the coronation in 1902) are posted on this page.
They obviously date from around the same time, and may actually depict elements of the celebrations surrounding the same event. Both unfortunately have suffered damage when they were torn from their album. But one has no features that could be used to accurately locate it. It is in fact a pretty grim picture by our standards. Like the Water Street photograph it is a quickly taken snap, probably of part of a parade. A man and a boy stare straight into the camera from the right. On the left a policeman has his back to the photographer. In the centre is a large caged trailer carrying two beasts, so far as I can tell they are bears. These unfortunate animals were being dragged through the city presumably as part of some publicity for a circus or similar event, probably not I would guess a coronation float. In many ways it is an image more redolent of the sixteenth rather than the twentieth century.
The other picture certainly looks like it was taken in Liverpool and could well be part of the parade for the coronation of Edward VII. I haven’t, so far, been able to find any details of exactly what took place in Liverpool at this time but there is extant film of a large parade in Bradford for instance which gives a good idea of the sort of thing that happened in large cities to mark the coronation of the new monarch. Bands were intermixed with floats representing aspects of civic history or different industries or companies. In this picture the photographer has caught a military style band resting, the road is festooned with flags and bunting, and a large crowd looks on.
It could well be part of the Liverpool parade to mark the coronation and that seems likely since it came with another picture of that day. However, there are other alternatives. Patriotic and religious parades were a big deal in Liverpool at the time. This one does not look like it might have been ‘contentious’, as we would say today. So it could be linked to some church event. Unfortunately the details on the banner are not remotely legible but I would guess it is a church related banner rather than an Orange one (there are no signs of any sashes or collarettes in the parade so it is not an Orange parade).
But I am reminded by Giles Fraser on Radio 4’s ‘Thought for the Day’ today (29th May) that today is Oak Apple Day, once a public holiday to celebrate the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. There were groups in Liverpool who marked this day and if you look closely at the two well-dressed men on the left (both of African or Caribbean origin by the way) you can see that one of them is wearing some kind of flower or emblem that resembles oak leaves. The older man on the right with a beard also seems to be wearing the same emblem/oak leaves. The lapels of the other men in the parade are not visible unfortunately.
So is this an Oak Apple Day parade? It could be. But then what is the large object that looks a bit like a railway signal in the centre of the cropped image above? I am not at all sure. But it could be something from the end of a float. If that was the case then this might be a picture of part of the 1902 Liverpool parade for the coronation of Edward VII.
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