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More than 211,000 new West Yorkshire parish baptism records

Search for your ancestors in 211,905 new West Yorkshire parish baptism records on findmypast.co.uk

The Huddersfield & District Family History Society provided findmypast.co.uk with these records, in association with the Federation of Family History Societies.

The table below provides further details of these baptism records:

Search our baptism records for your West Yorkshire ancestors now – how many will you find?

Celebrate the royal wedding on findmypast.co.uk

With the royal wedding almost upon us, we’ve been getting in the mood by exploring our marriage records.

When you search for your ancestors’ marriage records on findmypast.co.uk, we will actually match up their marriage records for you. We’ve chosen a royal wedding-themed example to demonstrate how this will benefit your family history research…

We searched for ‘Catherine Middleton’ marrying ‘William’ to see what our search returned. Note that we’re able to search for both spouses at once. Previously you had to search for both spouses separately then match up their records yourself.

Our first few search results look like this:

Looking in the ‘marriage matched’ column, the results with three green ticks show us the definite matches for Catherine Middleton marrying William. The results with one or two green ticks will display a list of all the people that Catherine might have married. This is a great way of solving those marriage mysteries – you can search using one partner’s name and we will show you all the possible people they could have married.

Now is the perfect time to search for your ancestors’ marriages. Try our free trial to access our marriage records for free for two weeks. Have you come across any royal-themed marriages in your family tree?

Family photos: what style of mount?

Welcome to the third in our series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist, photo detective and regular contributor to Family Tree, Your Family History and Family History Monthly magazines, dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.

Jayne Shrimpton

The previous two blogs have focused on how to identify photographic formats and how to discover the photographer’s operational dates. These techniques both offer the potential for broadly or, sometimes, fairly closely dating a family photograph. Another effective method of determining the circa date of an unidentified card mounted studio photograph is recognising the style of the mount.

The main card formats of the Victorian and Edwardian eras – the carte de visite and larger cabinet print – were in use for several decades, but their physical characteristics, especially their shape, colour and reverse design, changed significantly over time, providing helpful clues as to approximately when they were produced. Some photographers may occasionally have used slightly old-fashioned mounts but usually they updated their stocks regularly, so the style of a card mount generally offers an accurate dating guide. Looking closely at the mount can be especially helpful if the photographer in question was in business for a long time, as he or she would have used a succession of different mounts over the years.

Card thickness and corner shapes

The earliest cartes de visite always have square corners and the card is usually quite thin and flexible, bending easily, like a playing card. The square-cornered shape prevailed from the beginning of the 1860s until the late 1870s. Around this time rounded corners began to be used, although they were uncommon before the early 1880s. Cartes de visite and larger cabinet prints dating from the 1880s until the early 1900s usually have rounded corners, although square corners did appear periodically, so a square-cornered photograph could occasionally date from these years.

The card used by the late 19th century was generally much thicker and sturdier than that used for earlier mounts, a development that facilitated bevelled edges that were often finished in silver or gold. In the 1880s and 1890s, some cartes and cabinet prints were also protected by a flyleaf – a covering of fine protective tissue pasted along the top edge of the reverse and folded over the front of the photograph. Usually the tissue has not survived (often it was removed when the photograph was placed in an album) but signs of its earlier presence may remain on the back of the mount.

Colours

The colour of photographic mounts is a more obvious, recognisable feature than card quality. 1860s mounts are usually very pale in colour – off-white, ivory, light cream and slightly pinkish tones (fig.s 1-3). These neutral shades continued into the 1870s, although during this decade there emerged a vogue for coloured card, especially turquoise, gold-yellow and sugar pink (fig.s 4-6), the latter being used for both male and female subjects. Of these colours, pink was most popular, remaining in use throughout the 1880s and even into the very early 1890s.

Otherwise, soft colours gave way c.1884/5 to deep, strong shades such as blood-red, bottle-green, black and chocolate brown (fig.s 8 and 9). The red was only popular for around 10 years, until the mid-1890s, but the other dark colours remained fashionable until the early 1900s, especially green. In addition, strong creams, beiges and apricots were common between the 1880s and early 1900s (fig.s 7 and 10-12), while different shades of grey, from pale to dark, were very popular around the turn of the century (fig.s 13 and 14).

Reverse designs

Occasionally cartes and cabinet photographs were left blank on the back, but more often the reverse was, as we saw in my second blog, printed with the photographer’s details. The style of the lettering and any accompanying designs changed dramatically throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, broadly becoming more and more elaborate over time. Some mount designs dovetailed with others, or spanned more than one decade, and a number of different styles were popular at any given time, yet it is still possible to discern and date the main design trends.

The earliest cartes, dating from the early-mid 1860s, were printed or stamped neatly in small letters with the photographer’s name and address (and a crown or royal coat of arms, if the studio boasted royal patronage), the details usually placed in the centre of the mount, or occasionally at the top or bottom (fig.1). After the mid-1860s, the text expanded outwards from the centre, often incorporating flowing font styles, while business information concerning additional copies and or/prices was sometimes added at the bottom of the mount (fig.2).

By the late 1860s, further design features were also beginning to appear, especially representations of photography exhibition medals awarded to the studio: being dated, these provide a helpful post quem date for the mount (fig.3). By the turn of the 1860s/1870s, delicate filigree scrollwork and ribbon-like banners may also occur on mounts (fig.4), these motifs and medals all being used throughout the 1870s. Also popular during the 1870s were crests, coats of arms and shields – emblems which may be combined with the other decorative forms – while three or four different font styles were often used together, producing an increasingly eclectic and busy effect (fig.5).

By the later Victorian era, typically photographic mounts were highly elaborate, with complex lettering and expansive decoration usually filling the whole of the back of the mount. During the 1880s and 1890s, designs were very diverse, with many variations occurring. One popular style shows the studio or photographer’s name sprawled diagonally across the mount: between the 1880s and early 1890s the slanting name may be bordered by ornate filigree work and embellished with a decorated capital letter S or P (fig.6).

Another characteristic design of the 1880s/1890s is the card decorated with an elaborate outer border, the text and any other motifs contained within (fig.s 7 and 12). By this time it was also common for photographers to promote their artistic skills through use of the appellation ‘Artist’, ‘Art photographer’ or similar, expressing concern to emphasise their superior, professional status in the face of perceived competition from a new wave of amateur photographers (fig.s 7, 9 and 14).

Reinforcing the artistic theme, many mounts incorporated artists’ palettes or easels (fig.s 12 and13), while other pictures also began to appear. During the 1880s and early 1890s scenes depicting swimming or flying water birds among reeds or bamboo were popular, often accompanied by fans or parasols in the corners, expressing the contemporary vogue for Japanese imagery (fig.10). Alternatively, classically-draped female figures, cherubs and fairies may occur on some mounts of the mid-1880s through to the late-1890s (fig.s 8 and 13).

Meanwhile a printed detail noticed on some late-1880s and, especially, 1890s and early-1900s mounts is the promotion of ‘electric studios’ or ‘electric lighting’, a helpful dating feature which reflects the new, modern method of illuminating photographic studios (fig.11). By the late 1890s, mounts were losing their most exuberant decoration and those dating from the turn of century or early 1900s often appear more ‘modern’: font styles are usually plainer, typically demonstrating shaded effects, and bunches of flowers or other botanical motifs are common (fig.14).

Fig.1 Carte de visite, early 1860s - click to enlarge. This shows the pale card with square corners and neat, centrally-placed printed photographer details that was typical of the earliest cartes de visite (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.2 Carte de visite, mid 1860s - click to enlarge. Another pale, square-cornered mount, this demonstrates how, from the mid 1860s, the reverse design was expanding and additional features such as copies were often noted (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.3 Carte de visite, mid-late 1860s - click to enlarge. By the late 1860s/1870s, some studios were entering photography exhibitions. They depicted any medals on their mounts, the years of which offer a useful post quem date (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.4 Carte de visite, early 1870s - click to enlarge. Alongside pale cards, bright coloured mounts were in vogue during the 1870s. This filigree design incorporating a ribbon-like banner was popular in the early-mid 1870s (Jon Easter)

Fig.5 Carte de visite, mid-late 1870s - click to enlarge. Card corners were still usually square in the 1870s. This golden yellow card was a fashionable colour, as was the design incorporating different fonts, crest and banner (Drs Barbara and Gerald Hargreaves)

Fig.6 Carte de visite, 1880s - click to enlarge. Pink was the most common early card colour, remaining in use throughout the 1870s/1880s. Designs were usually very elaborate by the 1880s and filled the entire mount. Note the slanting writing and ornate capital letter S in this popular style (Fiona Adams)

Fig.7 Carte de visite, early 1880s - click to enlarge. Card colours could be strong cream or apricot during the 1880s and 1890s. Designs varied hugely by this era, but this style, with a decorative border, crops up frequently (Fiona Adams)

Fig.8 Cabinet print, mid-late 1880s - click to enlarge. Corners of both cabinet prints and cartes were often rounded by the 1880s. This strong red coloured card was fashionable for only about 10 years, c.1885-1895, while the design shows the new vogue for pictures of classically-draped figures (Fiona Adams)

Fig.9 Cabinet print, late 1880s - click to enlarge. Dark-coloured mounts were fashionable from the mid-1880s until the early 1900s only, offering an important dating clue. This mount is printed with the photographer’s details, although dark mounts were often left blank on the back (Private collection)

Fig.10 Carte de visite, 1889-90 - click to enlarge. This design with birds, bamboo and fan was hugely popular during the 1880s and very early 1890s, used by many different photographers. Note the rounded corners, usual by late-century, and the strong peach-cream colour of the card (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.11 Cabinet print, early 1890s - click to enlarge. Mounts of the 1890s often mention the new electric lighting method, reflecting the fact that electricity was beginning to arrive in many towns during that decade (Katharine Williams)

Fig.12 Cabinet print, mid 1890s - click to enlarge. This round-corned card in the strong cream colour fashionable in the 1890s also demonstrates a version of the bordered mount style, the inside area also very ornate (Katharine Williams)

Fig.13 Cabinet print, late 1890s - click to enlarge. Shades of grey were very popular for mounts around the century’s turn. The design shows the mid 1880s-late 1890s fashion for classically-draped figures and cherubs (Jon Easter)

Fig.14 Cabinet print, early 1900s - click to enlarge. Mounts of the early 1900s often look more modern, the font styles plainer and shaded effects common. Note the grey card again – typical of the late 1890s and early 1900s (Katharine Williams)

For more information and/or further pictorial examples of mount styles see:

Books

Audrey Linkman, The Expert Guide to Dating Victorian Family Photographs (Greater Manchester County Record Office, 2000)

Jayne Shrimpton, How to get the most from Family Pictures (Society of Genealogists, 2011)

Websites/blogs

Roger Vaughan Picture Library

Watch the Birdie

Glasgow’s Victorian Photographers

Look out for the fourth blog in this series, coming soon. View Jayne’s website here

March newsletter competition winners

We’ve picked the winners of our March newsletter competition in which we asked you this question:

‘We’ve found an at-sea birth record for John Montague Morris. Can you tell us in which year he was born? ‘

Congratulations go to Henry Burgess from London and Pat Holmes from Walsall who correctly answered ’1867′.

Henry and Pat found out the answer by searching our births at sea records. They each win a copy of Jayne Shrimpton‘s book, ‘How to get the most from family pictures’.

Many thanks to all of you who entered – look out for the next competition question in our newsletter this Friday.

Ask the Expert – Indian mystery

Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Margaret Taylor in Bournemouth:

‘I am trying to trace details for Anne Singer, nee Ogilvie.

Anne Ogilvie, spinster, was married by license to George Singer, a bachelor, on 13 July 1840 at Fort William, Calcutta, West Bengal, India. No parentage or age was given. Their daughter, Emily Singer, was born at Fort William India on 20 July 1841.

George Singer returned to England between 1841 and 1851, where he was born in 1805. He appears in the 1851 census, living in Bath with his sister. He is described as a widower and pensioner of the Hon. E. India Co. Their daughter Emily Singer is missing from the 1851 census but appears in the 1861 census.

I am desperate to find any of the following:

Date and place of birth.
Parentage.
Date, place and age at death.’

Stephen says:

‘Don’t lose heart yet! I cannot provide an instant answer to your question, although I can let you in on some good news. Findmypast.co.uk is partnering with the British Library to digitise and publish online a significant part of its collection of British in India records of interest to family historians.

The records selected for digitisation include many hundreds of thousands that relate to birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial in the Indian Subcontinent and other parts of the then Empire subordinated to the India Office, as opposed to the Colonial Office. This is an important distinction – for example, Aden in Arabia, St Helena in the South Atlantic and Fort Marlborough in Sumatra all came under the jurisdiction of the India Office, while unfortunately Ceylon, tantalisingly close to India itself, was within the ambit of the Colonial Office.

As well as actual registers of vital events, findmypast.co.uk will be publishing other records which also give rich biographical information about the British in India, whether those in the army, in the colonial administration, or planters, merchants and other civilians.

‘British’ in India is significant. The Empire was not an English but a British project and, for example, Scots were significantly over-represented in Imperial India. I mention this as the name Anne Ogilvie looks very Scottish. The task you face will still not be straightforward once we have published the records to which I have just referred. As you say, the marriage register is silent as to the age at marriage and the parentage of Anne Ogilvie. Her husband would have been about 35 at marriage; Anne may have been coeval, or she may have been 16 or indeed 45.

Perhaps the best hope is that you find the death or burial of Anne Singer between July 1841 and 1851 among the Indian death records that we will be publishing (I am assuming you have checked English death indexes for this period) and that these give at least an age at death from which you can calculate her approximate year of birth and start looking meaningfully for her birth in India, or in Scotland, or in England. Depending on how prominent her husband was, there may be an informative memorial inscription once you know place of death, or even an obituary, for his wife. East India Company records for the husband may also shed some light on his wife – in particular, pension records sometimes give information about spouse and issue and we hope to be publishing this record type in due course.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the Expert – missing family

Our resident expert Stephen Rigden, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Helen Conway-Blake in Denmark:

‘I hope you can help. My husband’s mother was born around 1907. She died on 8 April 1951 and we have her death certificate, which says that she was 44 when she died.

Her name was Vera Nellie May Slater. When she died, she was married to William George Udall – they got married in 1939. Vera died at 31 Copse Hill, Wimbledon; we think this is a hospital. My husband was only 10 years old when she died and he never knew where she was buried.

Vera had two sisters. Peggy (probably Margaret) Slater and Sissy (we don’t know her real name). Sissy married a Lovegrove and they had a daughter. We don’t know if she is still alive.

We cannot find my husband’s mother’s family anywhere. We cannot find what town/city his mother was born in and can find nothing about her sisters or parents. If you can help us we would be most grateful.’

Stephen says:

‘Thanks for your enquiry. It’s hard to know what to suggest without knowing what you have tried already. The following suggestion is what I would do were I in your shoes, starting from scratch.

Firstly, if you do not have it already, you should purchase a copy of the 1939 marriage certificate. You can do this online at the General Register Office website. The statutory fee is £9.25 at present. The purpose of getting the marriage certificate is to a) find out Vera’s age at marriage in case this suggests a different year of birth to that calculated from the recorded age at death; b) find out the name of her father and his occupation; and c) see if any of the witnesses to the marriage are the known siblings or other family.

I have looked up the marriage entry in the marriage indexes on findmypast.co.uk and her name at marriage was Vera May Slater (without Nellie as a middle name). The only individual of this name of the right era in the birth indexes for England & Wales is one born in 1904 in West Ham registration district. This, however, may not be correct (the birth is earlier than you are expecting) and it is possible that she was born as plain Vera or plain May or even as ‘female’, i.e., unnamed at registration of birth. This is not unusual and is not simply synonymous with death in early infancy.

Once you have the certificate, and assuming that it names Vera’s father and confirms that she was born circa 1906/07 or otherwise before 1911, you should search the 1911 census of England & Wales. First, look for her in combination with her father using the advanced person search. If you cannot find her with him, then try looking for him alone using as base information a year of birth at least 16 years before Vera’s and his occupation as per the marriage certificate of Vera.

Should you find Vera on the 1911 census, which will give her place of birth, you can then search for her birth in the birth indexes for England & Wales (or elsewhere if the census suggests she was born outside England). From there you can proceed with systematic step-by-step research.

As mentioned above, I do not know what you have done to date. It is likely, however, that the negative outcome of all your searches suggests a perhaps less than straightforward family structure. Vera and her sisters may have been born under a different last name, for example, before their mother married a Mr Slater, i.e., he could be their step-father. This would be one possible explanation why you cannot find records under the name Slater. Or the two known sisters could be half-sisters with a different maiden last name. Or Mr Slater could have been the foster parent of the three girls. Or they could have been born in Scotland or elsewhere beyond England & Wales. So there are various permutations to consider. The best way forward in problematic cases like this will almost invariably be through the kind of methodical systematic approach sketched out earlier.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Ask the Expert – mystery military marriages

Our resident military expert Paul Nixon, pictured below, answers your queries.

From Mary Doubleday:

‘I have two military marriages I am having trouble finding and wonder if you can help me.

1. My great grandparents:

Col. Sgt. John Mallon was born in 1823 in Loughall, Charlemont, Armagh. His regt. no. was 1942, 34th (Border Regt.). He enlisted in 1841 in Preston and died on 5 January 1858 at Cawnpore Hospital. His wife’s name was Mary, last name unknown. She was born in Charlemont, Armagh. They had two children born overseas: Ellen was born on 29 June 1849 in Gibraltar. She was baptised in Garrison church. Margaret was born in 1851 in Grenada, W.I.

2. My grandmother’s first marriage:

Ellen Mallon was born in 1849 in Gibraltar to a man with the last name Burgess, whose first name was probably William. He was either in the Connaught Rangers or the Royal Artillery. He is not my grandfather. He died before 1889.

There are connections to Navan, Co. Meath, Portsmouth and Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight. This is a bit vague but I would value any pointers.’

Paul says:

‘The only John Mallon I could find was a John Mallon who married in Plymouth in the June quarter of 1847. Your John Mallon probably enlisted with the 34th Regiment of Foot in September 1841, and certainly between 11 August and 5 October that year. I checked to see where the Border Regt. was between 1841 and 1858 and can report as follows:

1842 – England
1845 – Ionian Islands
1848 – West Indies
1854 – Ionian Islands
1855 – Crimea
1856 – England
1857 – India

Margaret’s birth in the West Indies in 1851 certainly ties in with the regiment’s station at the time, although Ellen’s birth in 1849 does not. It would seem probable that Mary Mallon stayed behind in Gibraltar when the 34th moved to the West Indies, joining her husband later on. None of this helps you with finding a marriage I’m afraid.

One source you might try is the General Register Office. There is a register of army registers and I see that marriages for the 34th Regiment of Foot between 1838 and 1878 are covered in Press Number 1081.

I had a similar lack of success with Ellen Mallon’s marriage but again I would point you towards the GRO. Connaught Rangers marriages should be noted in Press Number 1390, while Royal Artillery marriages cover a huge range of Press Numbers. I’d suggest you try the Connaught Rangers first and then, if you don’t find Ellen, ask the GRO for their advice on searching the Royal Artillery marriages.’

If you’d like to send your question to our experts, please register or opt to receive newsletters in My Account. Unfortunately our experts only have time to answer a few queries each month. If yours wasn’t answered this time, you could be lucky next month!

Army sweethearts exhibition at the National Army Museum

The National Army Museum is currently holding a special exhibition until 30 July 2011: Wives and Sweethearts.

The exhibition explores soldiers’ relationships from the 18th century to the present day. You’ll be able to see a fantastic selection of letters, photographs, jewellery and other tokens of love. Click here to find out more about the exhibition

Have you found any army sweethearts in your family tree? Finding your ancestors’ army marriage records couldn’t be easier on findmypast.co.uk. We’ve recently improved our search so now you can look for your ancestors’ marriage records for 1796-2005 in one go. Our search will even match up your ancestors’ marriage records for you, giving you one definite marriage match or a list of possible matches. Try it now!

We’ve found our very own army sweethearts in our Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records. Joseph Grandy’s military history sheet shows his wife, Catherine Louisa, as being with his battalion:

Click to enlarge

We can see from this record that Joseph and Catherine married on 16 September 1873 in Dublin. Joseph was posted to India on 21 October 1873, so we can infer that Catherine travelled to India with Joseph, a new wife unwilling to be parted from her husband.

Here is a photograph of Joseph and Catherine from a photographer’s studio in Dublin:

Click to enlarge. Photo courtesy of Paul Blake

We’d love to hear about any army sweethearts you’ve found while researching your past.

Search more than 99,000 new Wiltshire parish baptism records

We have just published 99,717 new parish baptism records for Wiltshire on findmypast.co.uk

The Wiltshire Family History Society provided findmypast.co.uk with these records, in association with the Federation of Family History Societies.

Further details about these records are as follows:

Find your Wiltshire ancestors in these records now.

Family photos: who took the photo?

Welcome to the second in our series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist, photo detective and regular contributor to Family Tree, Your Family History and Family History Monthly magazines, dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.

Jayne Shrimpton

Many old family photographs taken in a professional studio bear the name and address of the photographer. This provides valuable historical information of two kinds: a helpful geographical location for the family member(s) depicted and the potential for determining a timeframe from the operational dates of the studio.

Photographer information

Early daguerreotype and ambrotype photos may have the studio name and address embossed on the case lid (see fig. 1), or on a printed label stuck to the back of the case or frame, although sadly such details are often absent from these metal and glass plates. This is also the case with tintypes – see my previous blog for more about formats.

Fortunately, however, most surviving 19th and early 20th century studio photographs are printed pictures on card mounts – cartes de visite, cabinet prints and the occasional non-standard sized photograph. These mounts provided commercial photographers with a perfect medium for identifying their work and advertising their business. Sometimes the studio name and address were printed beneath the image and, most commonly, on the reverse, which offered more space for publicising the details of one or more studios, and elaborating on the photographic services offered, for example, copies and enlargements (see fig.s 2-5).

Relatively few cdv and cabinet card mounted photographs (around 5-10%) were left blank on the reverse. These types of photographs continued into the very early 1900s; however, the new 20th century formats that were gaining popularity tended to be less explicit. In particular, portrait postcards sometimes omitted photographer information altogether, although occasionally a studio name and perhaps an address may be printed on the back (see fig. 6). Photographer details are also less prominent on other 20th century mounted photographs – often a single line printed in neat lettering at the bottom of the mount (see fig. 7).

Geographical location

When photographers identified their photographs, naturally they specified the town or city in which they operated. This important detail suggests a likely place of residence for the ancestor(s) represented in the photograph. Customers desiring a photograph usually visited a studio in their home town, or in their nearest urban centre if they lived in a rural area without a resident photographer. There may be exceptions to this general rule: for example, family members who travelled around with their job or attended a distant college or university may have visited a photographer’s studio while working or studying away from home.

Alternatively, family members may have had a souvenir photograph taken while enjoying a day trip or holiday to a popular resort. Picture researchers can’t expect to know of every journey ever taken by ancestors or relatives but have probably established where they were usually based and may have formed some idea of their usual travelling habits. Remember that, ultimately, the geographical location of a studio photograph positively confirms that the ancestor or relative depicted was, on that occasion, physically present in that geographical area. This should help to narrow down potential candidates when trying to identify ‘mystery’ photographs.

Operational dates

Photographer details may be very helpful when attempting to date an unmarked photograph because discovering the main operational dates of the named photographer at the stated address suggests the likely time period of the photograph. If a photographer is only known to have run a particular studio for one, or a few years (see fig.s 1 & 3), then logically this suggests a close date range for the image. If he or she is recorded as operating the same studio for many years (see fig. 2), however, then this can only offer a broad circa date for photographs taken at that address and a narrower timeframe will still need to be ascertained using other dating methods. These are covered in my first and forthcoming blogs.

Photographers who expanded their business and acquired additional studios generally reprinted their card mounts fairly swiftly to include details of the new branches. When two or more studio addresses are specified on a photograph, determining when any or all of those studios existed can help to narrow down a photograph’s date range (see fig. 5).

Researching photographers and studios

Researching the photographer or studio named on an old photograph may take time, or can be straightforward, depending upon whether accurate data is readily available. A substantial amount of information has been compiled about some past photographers and their operations. Institutions such as the National Portrait Gallery, London focus on the work of eminent society photographers and well-known studios.

Acclaimed portrait photographers, patronised by royalty and the middle/upper classes, may have photographed affluent and well-connected ancestors and if so, researchers will find much information in books, gallery and exhibition catalogues and photography blogs and websites. Most family historians, however, will be concerned with investigating names from the thousands of commercial photographers who operated popular high street studios up and down the country during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Some were short-lived or moved around regularly and left few traces of their activities but many established photographers were recorded on the census returns and may have advertised their businesses in local trade directories and newspapers, making it possible to track their operations over a period of time.

Sometimes it is necessary to consult original census returns and local trade publications, to establish when a particular photographer was recorded at a specific address. If using these primary sources, it is important to be aware of their limitations: census returns only show a place of residence every 10 years and, although trade directories and newspaper notices are very useful, not all photographers advertised in the local press every year, so dates of individual advertisements may not necessarily give the full story.

Local libraries and record offices may also hold details of photographers who worked in their respective areas and can be a good source of information. A few local organisations or individuals have published printed guides to past photographers in their city or county and some of the main publications are listed below.

Finding information online

As with many aspects of genealogy, the internet is a valuable tool and may well provide the quickest method of finding dates for a photographer or studio named on a photograph. A simple search will produce any online references to the individual or studio at the named location. Some links will be more useful than others but they should include any specialised photographer websites or databases on which the photographer/studio name appears – the results of research that has already been carried out and recorded for others to view freely.

At present there exists no handy complete online directory of 19th and early 20th century British photographers but several important photographer indexes and databases have been compiled by various national and regional organisations, local and family historians and independent photograph collectors and specialists. These cover the studios from a particular city or county, giving A-Z photographer listings with recorded dates of operation at each address, some entries also including additional biographical details.

Again, researchers should remember the limitations of the recorded data, which usually derives from census returns, trade directories and newspaper advertisements. Some databases and indexes don’t claim to supply complete photographer operational dates, while others helpfully cite their sources, in which cases researchers can judge their scope and reliability. Some of the main searchable online indexes currently available are listed below, while a full list for 2011 is provided in my book.

In general, they offer a very useful short cut and, although they may not indicate all the years of a particular photographer’s operation, if he or she is listed, they should provide an approximate timeframe for your photograph. Data for some areas of the country has not yet been compiled, however, so if a photographer’s details cannot be found on an existing index, or anywhere else on the internet, and primary research using original source material is not viable, researchers may wish to apply to a specialist website that offers photographer information for a small fee. Such services are also listed below.

Look out for the third blog in this series, coming soon. View Jayne’s website here

Fig.1 Daguerreotype by Antoine Claudet, London, 1847-50 - click to enlarge. Photographer details are embossed on the lid of this leather daguerreotype case. The London database, www.photolondon.org, records that Antoine Claudet operated from both the King William Street and Colosseum studios simultaneously for only three years, between 1847 and 1850. (Chris Cobb)

Fig.2 Carte de visite by Hennah & Kent, Brighton, c.1860-62 - click to enlarge. Cdvs and cabinet prints usually bear the photographer’s details printed on the reverse of the mount. www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Brighton-Photographers.htm records Hennah & Kent’s studio at 108, Kings Road, Brighton between 1854 and 1884. When a photographer operated for many years, as here, other techniques may help to narrow down the date of the photograph - in this case the style of the mount and fashion clues: see later blogs. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.2 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge

Fig.3 Carte de visite, London Mutual Photographic Association Ltd, 1866 - click to enlarge. In stark contrast to Fig.2, researching the photographer named on the reverse of this mount using www.photolondon.org.uk revealed that the LMPA only ran their Fleet Street studio for a few months, between March and July of 1866. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.3 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge

Fig.4 Carte de visite, Lowthian Bros, Grimsby c.1889-93 - click to enlarge. There is currently no convenient online photographer database covering the Grimsby area, but data supplied by the professional website www.cartedevisite.co.uk for a small fee suggested that this studio operated for just four years, 1889-1893. (Jayne Shrimpton)

Fig.4 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge

Fig.5 Cabinet print, Mr & Mrs S G Payne & Son, Aylesbury, c.1897-1902 - click to enlarge. When multiple studio addresses appear on a card mount, this often aids photographer research. A general internet search for the Payne family of photographers led to the website, www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk. This didn’t supply full operational dates for all three branches, but confirmed that the Tring studio only existed between 1895 and 1907. Other dating techniques, including dress clues, narrowed further the date of the photograph. (Katharine Williams)

Fig.5 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge

Fig.6 Postcard photograph, USA Studios, 1907 - click to enlarge. Postcards, common for photographs in the early 20th century, aren’t always printed with the studio details, although some information appears here. A general internet search revealed the USA Studios to be operational in many different UK locations, but this was of limited help as the particular branch isn’t identified. Fortunately in this case the date, 1907, was written on the back. (Katharine Williams)

Fig.6 - the back of the photo. Click to enlarge

Fig.7 Mounted studio photograph, Navana Ltd., London, c.1929-37 - click to enlarge. Professional 20th century portraits are often blank on the back of the mount, but the studio details may be printed in small letters on the front beneath the photograph. The London database www.photolondon.org records the years 1929-37 for Navana Ltd of Oxford St, London W1 (Claire Dulanty)

Resources

General books including photographer information

The Expert Guide to Dating Victorian Family Photographs, Audrey Linkman (Greater Manchester County record Office, 2000)

How to get the most from Family Pictures by Jayne Shrimpton (Society of Genealogists, 2011) [Contains detailed advice on researching photographers and extended listings of databases and regional photographer publications]

Selected regional photographer publications

A Directory of London Photographers 1841-1908, Michael Pritchard (PhotoResearch, 1994)

Professional photographers in Birmingham 1842-1914, C E John Aston et al (RPS Historical Group, 1987)

Directory of Hampshire Photographers 1850-1969, Martin Norgate (Hampshire County Council Museums Service, 1995)

Through the brass-lidded eye: photography in Ireland 1839-1900, E Chandler & P Walsh (Guinness Museum, 1989)

Scottish Photography: A Bibliography 1839-1939, Sara Stevenson & A D Morrison-Low (Salvia Books & Scottish Society for the History of Photography, 1990)

Some free searchable photographer databases/websites

Database of 19th Century Photographers & Allied Trades in London, 1841-1901

History of Photography in Edinburgh

Victorian Professional Photographers in Wales, 1850-1925

Victorian Photography Studios…in and around Birmingham and Warwickshire

Early Photographic Studios: A-Z directories of photographers in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire

Directory of Photographic Studios in Brighton & Hove 1841-1910

Professional photographer data providers (charge a fee)

Photographers of Great Britain and Ireland, 1840-1940

Index of UK portrait & studio photographers c.1840-1950