Louise Rayner (1834-1934) View of Guildford High Street Watercolour 49 x 68cm; 19¼ x...

Louise Rayner (1834-1934)

View of Guildford High Street

Watercolour

49 x 68cm; 19¼ x 26¾

This unfinished view of Guildford High Street is typical of Louise Rayner's bustling street scenes. In a few areas the final detail is missing but the painting is, as always, a faithful record of the architecture and city life of the period. Louise Rayner's brother Richard Manser Rayner (1848-1908) lived for a time at Sheere near Guildford and it is possible that this painting was painted when she was visiting. He was also a painter, as was their sister Margaret and all three travelled together in the 1860's and 70's, throughout Britain on painting expeditions that often lasted a couple of months. The Shop front on the right side was that of the grocery store started by the Gates family in 1771. Charles and Leonard Gates expanded the business in 1888 into the dairy trade and named it The West Surrey Central Dairy. They were amongst the first retailers of cream and butter and their containers had the image of a cow looking through a gate, the best-selling cream became known as Cow and Gate. In 1900 they invested in newly invented milk drying equipment from America and they began to produce powdered milk. By 1908 Cow and Gate powdered baby milk is being sold nationally and it is a huge step forward in combating the high child mortality from summer fever which was spread by cow's milk being fed to children as there was no alternative.