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Posts Tagged ‘ Ask the photo expert ’
Ask the photo expert – ancestor’s engagement?
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Janice Horne sent us her photo and asked:
‘I would be very grateful if you could identify the era that this photo was taken. I have two more of the same woman in our family, one with small child and one that might appear to be in the 1910-20 period. Many thanks for any help you can give to start me off.’
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Jayne says:
‘Unlike our other photograph this month, yours is a professional studio portrait, as seen from the card mount naming the photographer as J S Protheroe of Swindon. Judging from its appearance, this is probably a cabinet print or cabinet card – a standard card-mounted photograph measuring around 16.5 x 11.5cms.
The cabinet, first introduced in 1866, took a while to become established. It became more popular from the later 1870s onwards and by the 1890s was the most favoured photographic format for studio portraits. Cabinet prints continued to be produced in the early 1900s, finally becoming obsolete around the beginning of WWI. Many late Victorian and Edwardian examples survive in family and public collections today.
We don’t have a view of the reverse of this photograph, the design of which would help with ascertaining a timeframe; nor is there a handy online database offering operational data for early Swindon photographers. The various clues that are present here, however, are very useful and date this photograph firmly to the 1890s.
The pale grey card mount with rounded corners is typical of the 1890s and early 1900s, while the three-quarter length composition of the subject was popular at that time. We also notice certain studio props relating to this period – a potted palm and an exotic screen, the screen especially fashionable during the late 1880s and 1890s.
Jayne Shrimpton
The fashionable appearance of the young woman in the photograph narrows the date range to within just a few years. Female dress and hairstyles generally offer an accurate date for a photograph, especially when the subject is young. Even ordinary working girls and women in the Victorian era often enjoyed spending their income on stylish, up-to-date clothes, especially when single, before they gained family responsibilities.
Here, this attractive young lady wears a formal bodice and skirt typical of the 1890s. We see the shapely silhouette admired around the turn of the century and, in particular, the style of her puffed gigot or ‘leg-o’-mutton’ sleeves confirm that she was photographed some time between 1893 and 1897.
Formal studio portraits were very often taken to signify a special occasion and the floral bodice corsage worn here supports the notion of celebration – the marking of an important event. We notice that this ancestor places her left hand carefully on the screen, so as to show a ring on her engagement/wedding finger. We cannot see the details of the ring very clearly but since she is posing alone in the studio, it is highly likely to be her engagement ring, since wedding couples were usually pictured together.
Hopefully this image of a young forebear who became engaged some time between 1893 and 1897 and who lived in the Swindon area will be possible for you to identify. The close timeframe here should also help you to pinpoint the likely period of your other photographs of the same person.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – Somerset village
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Gordon Martin sent us his photo and asked:
‘I would be grateful of your expert opinion as to when this family photograph was taken. The photograph includes my great-grandmother Mary Martin (nee Biggs) who was the postmistress at Mells, Somerset. Mary died in 1914.’
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Jayne says:
‘This is a picturesque scene depicting Somerset village life at the beginning of the 20th century. An amateur photographer may have taken the photograph using a new camera such as the Box Brownie, introduced in 1900. Amateur snapshot photography was still relatively uncommon in the Edwardian era, however, so I think it is more likely to be the work of an itinerant operator.
Travelling photographers would tour rural areas with their equipment, photographing residents and tradesmen in villages and hamlets that had no permanent photographic studio. Usually subjects were photographed in the street, outside their home or at their place of work. The resulting images comprise some of the most interesting pictures of the past to survive today, representing everyday life and real locations.
I am not aware of the format of this photograph; if it is printed on a postcard mount with a line running down the middle, then its earliest possible date is 1902. Otherwise, where information is lacking, the only way of dating such scenes accurately is to date the visual image.
In the vast majority of cases, this entails establishing a timeframe for the dress that the people in the picture wear – their hairstyles, clothing and accessories. The most fashionably-dressed person here is the young woman to the right, with the dog. She is rather formally attired in a smart bodice, skirt and hat characteristic of the early Edwardian era. In particular, her wide flat collar, the style of her sleeves and shape of her wide-brimmed hat date this image firmly to c.1901-05.
Jayne Shrimpton
Also pictured here is a middle-aged lady, wearing the sober black garments that were often favoured by older Victorian and Edwardian ladies. I am guessing from her comfortable seated position in the front garden of the post office that she may be your ancestor, the postmistress. Perhaps the young man next to her is a post office assistant or her son, while the fashionable young woman could be her daughter. Hopefully you will know from your family records whether these suggestions are plausible.
Outside in the road are passers by who were no doubt known to Mary Martin and who appear to have stopped to be included in the photograph. The lady wears the usual everyday Edwardian outfit of blouse and tailored skirt, while, judging from this digital scan, her child could be a boy or a girl. Her bicycle would have been a convenient and modern way of travelling around at a time when only a wealthy few owned motor cars. Bicycles were seen as affording women more freedom and independence and came to be associated with the so-called ‘new woman’ of the early 20th century.
As we know from the book and TV series Lark Rise to Candleford, set during the 1890s, just a few years before this photograph was taken, the post office was often the hub of village life and no doubt your great-grandmother was a prominent member of her community. This photograph demonstrates the strong links that exist between family history and local history. If you haven’t already done so, it might be good to share this image with local and family history societies covering the Mells area.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – mining gathering
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Ray Woodward-Clarke sent us his photo and asked:
‘This family group photograph was taken in Brownhills, Staffordshire – a mining community. I would like to know approximately when it was taken, please.’
Jayne says:
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‘This is a wonderful scene, showing an extended family, or perhaps members of more than one family, posing outside what appears to be a family home, in a genuine working-class setting. It would not have been easy composing this number of people so that all were clearly visible in the frame, so I am certain that this was a professional photograph, taken either by an itinerant photographer or by a representative from a local studio, hired to visit these folk and photograph them in their own environment. It would have been impossible to picture them all successfully in a studio.
Everyone is dressed up here for the photograph, wearing their ‘Sunday best’ clothing – decent outfits kept for church and other occasions demanding a smart appearance. Although there are few adult males here, I am assuming from the location that they would have been miners, so the men and older boys in the middle and towards the back here would have looked very different when working in the mines. Most of them are wearing respectable hats, the boys the peaked ‘kepi’ style caps popular before the cloth cap became established around the turn of the century, while the man in the centre wears a bowler hat, the tall crown of which confirms a late-19th century date.
Three or, probably, four generations are pictured here, from infants to elderly matrons, and are all dressed according to their age. It is interesting, for example, to see how the two older ladies in the group are wearing their woollen shawls: young women would not have worn these homely, traditional accessories for a special photograph at this time, although they may well have worn them for everyday work wear, with aprons over their dresses.
In a mixed group like this, it is the appearance of the younger women that provides the most accurate dating clues, as even our ordinary working ancestors often followed fashion closely when aged in their late ‘teens’ and early 20s. The most fashionable females here are the two young women on the right, one standing, one seated. Their dark cloth bodice and skirt outfits both feature sleeves that are slightly puffed at the shoulder: this signifies the early phase of the puffed ‘leg-o-mutton’ sleeves that came to dominate the 1890s. Usually this small vertical puff would indicate a year of c.1890-92. I doubt that these women are very far behind the times, despite being from a labouring background, but we might add a couple of years in case, so I would suggest a date range of c.1890-94 for this scene.
Jayne Shrimpton
Clearly this photograph was taken to mark a particular occasion, although we can only really guess at what that may have been. An important family celebration such as a wedding or christening is not evident here, so perhaps the occasion was a landmark birthday – or just possibly a work-related event that involved more than one family. The semi-formal bowler hat that one of the men wears almost certainly marks him out as the senior or most important member of the group and he does seem to occupy a prominent position here. He also holds a large book: I wonder if this was a family bible, or another kind of volume that was connected in some way with this scene. Hopefully the close timeframe for this fascinating photograph may give you some idea of which of your ancestors are pictured and what may have been happening.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – governess ancestor?
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Elizabeth Cargill sent us her photo and asked:
‘I am hoping that you will be able to date this photo for me. My cousin was born in 1884 and I believe she was a governess. I have tried to research the company but haven’t found very much. Thanks for your help.’
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Jayne says:
‘This is a professional studio photograph dating from the early 20th century. As the old carte de visite and cabinet card formats began to die out during the Edwardian era, new types of portrait photograph became fashionable. One popular style was the photograph presented in a cartouche-like frame on a pale or soft-coloured mount, as we see here.
The so-called USA Studios, whose name does not represent a transatlantic business or location, but reflects the growing British interest in American culture in the early-1900s, used this format frequently, although they were equally well-known for their postcard photographs, then also coming into vogue. I have been unable to discover precise operational dates online for the USA Studios, but they were a prolific photographic chain operating from London and many different towns around the time this photograph was taken. If you wish to discover dates for individual USA Studios branches, this information can be requested from the photographic website which provides photographer data for a small fee.
Turning to the image, we see a well-dressed young woman wearing the fashions of the late-Edwardian era. Her smart ‘tailor-made’ suit – the popular term for a plain tailored skirt and matching jacket – was a stylish and respectable yet relatively practical outfit. Many Edwardian women favoured this for everyday wear when out in public, for work and even for some special occasions. An attractive blouse, like the high-necked blouse worn here, and an eye-catching hat added a formal, feminine touch and completed the ensemble.
The hat adopted here – sometimes referred to as the ‘gateau’ style due to the wide crown, which is almost as broad as the brim – offers a great dating clue, as this shape can be dated broadly to c.1907-1912. It was most fashionable during the years 1908-11. Fitting on top of a full hairstyle, such hats had to be secured by hat pins and a pin is visible here. Unusually, perhaps, this lady also wears rather chunky woollen, suede or fur mittens – slightly less elegant than the leather gloves often seen in studio photographs.
Jayne Shrimpton
You mention that this relative is believed to be a cousin born in 1884 and this seems to be a plausible identification. She would have been aged between around 24 and 28 at the time of this photograph – the kind of age that we might estimate this young woman to be. Her dress and general appearance does not indicate any particular occupation or profession, although looking at her confident pose and direct gaze, it is quite possible to imagine her as a governess. Perhaps she visited the photographer on this occasion to commemorate the start of a new job.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – hop-picking in Kent
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Katerina sent us her photo and asked:
‘This is a photo of my gran, Mary Edith Baden (third from the left) and my great gran, Emily Baden. I know it was taken in the hop fields of Kent but no-one seems to know when. Can you shed any light on this, please, and explain just what they did in the hop fields to earn money?’
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Jayne says:
‘This is a great photograph that connects your family to a fascinating aspect of our heritage and social and local history. During the 19th and early-mid 20th centuries, thousands of local Kent families and casual workers from Sussex, East Anglia and, especially, London – mainly East Enders – travelled to Kent at the end of the summer for the hop-picking season. Londoners who could afford train tickets would take the ‘hoppers specials’ trains that departed from London Bridge in the early hours of the morning, while poorer city-dwellers walked to the hop gardens of Paddock Wood, Faversham or Maidstone, sleeping en route by the roadside.
The hops were of great importance to breweries and were one of Kent’s most valuable crops. As we see from your photograph, the annual ‘hop’ mainly attracted women and children, as adult men were usually working at their regular jobs, although they might join their families at weekends. Hop-picking in Kent grew so popular with East Enders that it became known as the ‘Londoners’ holiday’ and, providing fresh air in a spacious rural environment, it was the closest thing that many working-class people ever got to a holiday.
Living conditions on the farms were often basic, however, and hop-picking was tough and dirty work. Hop plants are climbing bines with stalks that cling to the growing wires with tiny hairs that irritate the bare hands and the hop cones leak an acidic tar that clings to the skin. Typically, pickers worked from 7am or 8am until around 5pm, with a lunch break for sandwiches and tea. They were paid by the bushel (eight gallons) and throughout the six weeks of the harvest, experienced hop-picking families could earn at least double an average working man’s wages. The extra money often made a vital contribution to the family’s annual household income, perhaps ensuring new coats and boots for the winter ahead.
Jayne Shrimpton
Your photograph showing your great-grandmother and grandmother may also include a great-aunt as the two younger women look similar to one another. With them are three boys and two small girls who may also be identifiable as family members. The appearance of the two young women, who manage to look reasonably fashionable even in the hop fields, offers a close date range for this photograph, their distinctive hairstyles suggesting that the photograph was taken between about 1910 and 1914. Your grandmother and great-grandmother both wear coarse aprons, a common precaution with this kind of work, to help protect the clothes from hop juice stains.
Hopefully this scene and what it represents will add to your understanding of your forebears’ activities around a century ago. The same families tended to work for the same hop farmers every year and often travelled to Kent together with their neighbours, setting up as their living quarters rows of temporary ‘hop huts’ that replicated their terraces at home. It may well be that hop-picking was a long-standing tradition in your family and a significant part of their lives for several generations – a month of arduous outdoor work but a welcome break from the urban hardships to which they were accustomed and a rewarding and sociable experience.
There is a great deal of information available online about hop-picking and the ‘hoppers’ of past eras. Try Hopping down in Kent or relevant pages from the History of Yalding, Kent website‘
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – traditional Welsh costumes
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Sarah Bassett sent us her photo and asked:
‘This is a photo of my great-grandmother (standing), born in 1876. We think that the lady seated is her mother, who died in 1891. We believe the photo dates from around 1889/90, but any extra opinions and views would be lovely. We assume the clothing and hats were props used in the studio by the photographer.’
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Jayne says:
‘This is a formal studio portrait and, judging from its appearance, probably a cabinet card measuring 16.5 x 11cms – the most popular photographic format of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. We see from the details at the bottom of the mount that the photographer had branches in both Llanelly and Birmingham. An online database that covers Welsh studios is Victorian Professional Photographers in Wales, 1850-1925. This provides photographer data organised by region and under Carmarthenshire it states that McLucas & Co. operated for almost 40 years, between 1884 and 1923. The style of the mount, however, is much more closely dateable: this type of design, pressed into the card, can be dated to just a few years – 1899-1906.
The image itself is hard to date precisely because, as we see, the ladies aren’t dressed in ordinary fashionable clothes but wear traditional Welsh costume comprising short-sleeved dresses, checked and striped aprons, white caps and the iconic Welsh hat. Welsh women had worn men’s felt hats since the at least the 1700s, but this distinctive tall style with a stiff brim, made of linen buckram covered with silk plush (like men’s top hats), was first introduced in the 1830s.
It is believed to have been worn mainly by women of middling status, such as successful farmer’s wives, for example, to market, at chapel and church and for special occasions.
Jayne Shrimpton
The c.1899-1906 date of this photograph means that, unfortunately the seated lady cannot possibly be your 2 x great-grandmother, who died in 1891, although I see no reason to doubt that the standing lady is your great-grandmother, who would have been aged in her 20s when this was taken. Her companion is likely to be older than her as, according to photographic convention, senior members of a pair or group were usually positioned sitting down. In my opinion, however, the seated lady may not be very much older, so I wonder whether she could be a sister, cousin or even a friend.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – intriguing pen-nib badge
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Nigel Evans of the Pen Museum, Birmingham sent us this photo and asked:
‘We have recently received an enquiry from a Heritage Lottery Fund-funded community project recording the history of Hartlepool primarily through family photographs, but also using images from the Hartlepool Library and Museum Service collections.
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They have found an unusual image in the Library Service collection, showing a group of men, presumably on an outing, each wearing what appears to be an over-sized pen-nib on their lapels. The only information is on the reverse side of photograph “Hartlepool Specials – Cycling 1895″.
We are particularly interested in solving the mystery of the pen nib lapel badge. Can you assist in helping to solve some of the mystery? Hartlepool Library Service supplied the image.’
Jayne says:
‘This well-posed outdoor group photograph looks like the work of a professional photographer, suggesting that this was a pre-mediated photograph, taken to record a special event. Reading the inscription on the back of the print, firstly the 1895 date provided looks absolutely fine, judging from the appearance of these men. Most have grown the simple moustache that was typical of this era, while one sports the more conservative beard and two have more modern clean-shaven faces.
They all wear short sporting blazers or lounge jackets, teamed with knee breeches or knickerbockers tucked into socks and some have also adopted gaiter-style protective leg coverings. One man, left, wears a comfortable woollen sweater – a garment popular for certain sports by the late-Victorian era – while the others wear more formal shirts and ties. Many wear straw boater hats, suggesting that this was a summer occasion, although a few men wear the round peaked cap that was initially a sporting style.
Jayne Shrimpton
This presents quite an assortment of styles, although the outfits these men wore would have been considered suitable for cycling in the late-19th century. Despite the absence of any bicycles in the photograph, therefore, the reference to ‘Cycling’ looks perfectly plausible, their bicycles no doubt resting close by. Cycling as a hobby became especially popular from the 1880s onwards, following the introduction of the ‘safety bicycle’ and many local cycling clubs were formed around this time, including Hartlepool’s own cycling club, which dates back to at least the 1880s.
We can reasonably assume that these men were connected with Hartlepool since they were known as the ‘Hartlepool Specials’ and this photograph belongs to the Hartlepool Library and Museum Service collections. Online investigations have yielded nothing by this name (except this photograph again, uploaded onto the Pen Museum’s website): perhaps it was simply a made-up name for their cycling group or club.
I wonder, however, whether perhaps the term ‘Specials’ refers to Special Constables – the local volunteer police forces established throughout Britain during the 19th century. Often the title ‘Special Constables’ was shortened to ‘Specials’. Many police forces had their own sports teams and so it seems conceivable that the Hartlepool Special Constabulary may have had its own cycle team, group or club.
Many cycling photographs survive from the 1880s onwards and may depict individuals or, quite often, organised groups or clubs, usually comprising mainly men but sometimes women. Some clubs or teams wore a uniform of sorts to identify their members and many wore a small round badge or badges on their lapels, as we see here.
The most prominent symbol here, however, is the enormous pen-nib lapel badge or pin worn by every man here, except the bearded gent at the back, who wears his pen-nib suspended around his neck on a ribbon. This seems to set him apart from the others and, along with his authoritative-looking beard, could well imply that he is the leader of group or club.
I’m afraid that I can’t positively identify this curious pen-nib symbol: I have never come across anything remotely like this before in a family or local photograph, although presumably it had a clear and very specific meaning at the time. Does anyone from the Hartlepool area have any ideas as to what this might mean? I chose to cover this photograph in this month’s blog because it needs to be circulated widely: there are probably several extant copies of this photograph around and hopefully someone with an ancestor pictured here may be able to solve this intriguing mystery.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – mystery occasion
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Sally Griffiths sent us her photo and asked:
‘I’d love to have a date for this picture, please. I think it may have been taken during WWI as there are no sons in the picture. My great-grandfather married twice and had two sons and three daughters by his first marriage.
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The three younger women here are those daughters: two of them died in the Spanish flu epidemic after the war and the third never married. My great-grandfather’s second wife, my great grandmother, is with him in this photograph.
Their son – my grandfather – and his brother, John, both fought in WWI. Both John and his father died in 1915 so the photograph was certainly taken before then. I’d be interested to know what the occasion was and if it is a studio portrait. The writing at the bottom of the picture is in my mother’s handwriting.’
Jayne says:
‘Firstly, I think this is probably not a studio portrait, but seems to be a photograph set in natural surroundings – most likely the garden of the family home. The building in the background perhaps looks a little artificial; however, the group looks to me to be posed in a paved garden with real flowerbeds in the foreground. I believe this is a genuine location: at the time this photograph was taken, a contrived studio setting replicating such realistic-looking scenery and ‘props’ would have been rather unusual. The photograph looks to be professionally composed, however, so either an itinerant photographer took this photograph, or a photographer from a local studio was hired to visit the family at home.
Everyone is well-dressed for the photograph. In a mixed group it is always the appearance of the women that offers a close date range for the scene, as female fashions altered regularly in the past and can usually be dated accurately to within a few years.
Your great-grandmother and one of her step-daughters wear formal dresses, while the other two ladies wear blouses and skirts, the more regular clothing combination of the early 20th century. The most helpful fashion dating clue is the layered style of their dress bodices and blouses: three or perhaps all four of the women wear elbow-length sleeves, the outer layer worn over a white chemisette or under-blouse, visible at the neck and on the lower arm in some cases. This particular arrangement of garments was fashionable for just a short period between about 1909 and 1914, especially during 1910-13, so these are the years within which this photograph was taken.
Jayne Shrimpton
This timeframe accords with your statement that your grandfather, pictured here, died in 1915. Perhaps, as you suggest, the absence of young men suggests that the year is 1914, although I understand that at that initial stage of the war many or most recruits were professional soldiers, so I’m not sure whether the sons would yet have been actively involved. Possibly there was another reason why they weren’t present with the rest of their family in the photograph: for example, perhaps they were working away from home.
It is hard to know exactly what occasion is represented here, although some kind of special event is likely to have prompted this photograph. Might a date between 1909 and 1914 coincide with your great-grandparents celebrating a landmark wedding anniversary?’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – staff day out?
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Peter Ashley sent us his photo and asked:
‘The attached picture was among the effects of an aunt. I would like to think that the maid on the right is my maternal grandmother, who was in service at the household of a master cotton spinner in Stockport around the time of the 1881 census.
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The terrain and presence of dry stone walls would suggest an outing in the Peak District, Stockport being on the edge of the Derbyshire Peak District. The photograph is printed on a postcard, however, which I understand was not in use until 1902. My grandmother was back in Clay Cross, Derbyshire in 1886, when she produced the first of nine healthy and successful children. This photograph has been the cause of puzzlement and speculation for several years and your opinion would be much appreciated.’
Jayne says:
‘You are quite right about the date of postcard photographs. Souvenir picture postcards were current during the Victorian era; however, the practise of printing photographic portraits onto postcard mounts only began when the new style of postcard with a divided back was introduced in 1902. This new design, with a line running down the middle, provided separate spaces for an address and any written message, whereas previously if the postcard was sent through the post, the message had to be written across the picture on the front. Both professional photographers and amateurs used postcard mounts and the new format became especially popular from 1906/7 onwards, finally dying out after WWII.
Here we see a group of men and women and in a mixed group it is always the appearance of the women that offers the closest date range for the image. The two house maids in uniform and the two fashionably-dressed young women standing at the back, centre left, are dressed in the styles of the mid-late Edwardian era. Their hair is drawn up in the full, soft style typical of the early-1900s, while the full sleeves of the blouse worn by the young woman third from left at the back confirm that the date range of this scene is c.1904-09.
Jayne Shrimpton
The man seated between the maids has brass buttons to his jacket, suggesting that he could also be a domestic servant, for example, a footman. Two other young women are dressed more plainly in regular blouses, skirts and the practical headscarves or shawls often worn by country women or those working in outdoor occupations. A slightly older lady wears an old-fashioned but fine-looking paisley shawl and a rural sun bonnet.
Clearly this group represents two or more domestic servants so perhaps all of these people comprised the staff of a country house, enjoying a day out in the local countryside. You may well be correct about the geographical location but the timeframe means that unfortunately one of the maids cannot be your grandmother, who had left service by 1886.
This photograph is a generation later and so I wonder whether one of her children may perhaps be present here? Do please let us know if the date range and other picture clues give you any ideas as to who might be depicted in this interesting photograph.’
If you’d like to send your photo to Jayne Shrimpton, please register or opt to receive newsletters in ‘my account’. Jayne only has time to analyse two photos each month, but if yours wasn’t chosen this time, you could be lucky next month!
Ask the photo expert – ‘coming of age’ portrait
Our photo dating expert, Jayne Shrimpton, analyses your family photos.
Anne Lo Forte Willson sent us her photo and asked:
‘This image is a scan my cousin made some years ago and we do not know which family member owns the original photograph now. There was reportedly no photographer’s stamp on the image but written on the back is: ‘Mary, half-sister to Charles.’
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One person that I spoke with mentioned that a pendant on a black velvet ribbon came into vogue after King William’s death in 1837. What I understand about clothing says that this girl’s dress must be around 1875-1880, yet clearly Mary Collis Taylor (b.1846) would not have been as young as this girl at that time. Mary married Edward Francis Dickins in 1880; they had no daughters and their three sons were born 1882-1886. This photograph was in my family’s possession when they emigrated to the US in 1885. Can you verify the date of this image and the age of this girl as matching – or not matching – the woman she is attributed to be?’
Jayne says:
‘This query raises the tricky but important question concerning how far we can trust hand-written information on the backs of old photographs. Quite often a past family member has named the subject of a picture but we should treat their identification with caution. I often work on photographs that have been ‘named’, but accurate dating of the image reveals that in a large number of cases, the identification can’t possibly be correct.
Of course, the writer was trying to be helpful, but perhaps they were elderly and their powers of recognition were failing, or they had ‘remembered’ the wrong person – or maybe they were themselves given the wrong information. When inheriting a photograph with a name written on the back, it is always best to start by having the photograph accurately dated and then consider whether that ancestor could conceivably fit the timeframe.
Your estimate of the date of this photograph, based on the fashion clues, is spot on. We see here the fashionable narrow silhouette that evolved following the introduction of the elongated cuirass bodice or corset in 1874/5. Tightly encasing the body and creating a smooth line that extended over the hips, this new, elongated foundation garment effectively forced downwards the early-1870s bustle but leaving a residual cascade of drapery at the back, as seen here. This back drapery extended into a long train behind the skirt (not visible here), until c.1880 when the train began to disappear from day wear, leaving a narrow skirt. The fashionable look is well established here, so I would suggest that the earliest likely year is 1876, while the latest is 1880, so we have a probable date range of c.1876-80 for this photograph.
Jayne Shrimpton
I’m afraid that the advice about the pendant on a black ribbon being introduced in 1837 is misleading: this style of chunky jewellery – especially a large pendant or locket on a short silk or velvet ribbon or a metal chain – was very fashionable in the late-1870s and early-1880s and is completely in keeping with the outfit worn here. Incidentally, the velvet tasselled chair with a rolled back was a very popular studio prop during the 1870s, offering another useful picture dating clue.
This ancestor looks rather young, evidently still in her ‘teens’, although she is dressed in adult clothing. It seems very likely that this was her ‘coming of age’ photographic portrait, taken to mark the point at which she officially progressed from adolescent styles to full adult dress. This important Victorian and Edwardian rite of passage usually occurred when a girl was aged about 15 or 16 years old and that sort of age seems to fit well the appearance of this girl. As you point out, therefore, she cannot be Charles’s half-sister, Mary Collis Taylor, born in 1846, but must be an ancestor born c.1860-65.
Reading through the family story – and bearing in mind that this photograph is closely linked to your great-great-grandfather, Charles Taylor (born in 1868) – it seems possible to me that this girl was one of Charles’ full sisters, born to the same father and mother as he: Charles senior and his second wife, Mary Ann Moore. Often children were named after a parent, so did Charles perhaps have a slightly older full sister named Mary, after her mother? Another Mary might explain the confusion over identity. Since this photograph was taken to the US in 1885, I believe it could represent another sister who did not accompany Charles and two sisters overseas. Often family photographs travelled far and wide across continents, to keep relatives in touch with one another and to stand in for absent loved ones.’
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