Then and Now: Watson and Ratcliff, ladies’ outfitters, opened in Market Place, Grantham, in 1891.

Watson and Ratcliff, ladies’ outfitters, drapers and chemist suppliers were situated at 12 Marketplace and opened in March 1891, writes Ruth Crook of Grantham Civic Society.

The two young men who opened the shop were Samuel Doughty Watson and Richard Henry Ratcliff, both aged 28 at the time, and lived they together above the shop with their two shop assistants.

Surprisingly for the times, the shop took out a weekly advertisement in the Grantham Journal for sanitary products, which were only newly commercially available.

The elastic belts cost between 1/- to 3/- and towels between 3/- and 3/6 for a pack of 6. The men advertised that together they formed ‘a combination unequalled for comfort and utility’ and were ‘invaluable for Ladies’ Schools and Colleges’.

The men dissolved their partnership on 31 July 1894 and Samuel took over the business and any debts that they had incurred. He continued to run the business until he retired, and never married. Richard went to live on a dairy farm in Irnhamand later in life became the farm manager. He too remained unmarried.