Genealogy Chat

Think we're sorted now, many thanks to MERRY, SNOWDROPS and LISA :)

I was thinking about a particular photograph today and then saw another thread on here asking for help with dating photos – could SKS help with mine please? My Dad gave me a big box of assorted photos, none of them named or dated, naturally! We’ve been through the first bundle together and managed to name a few of the people he remembers, but we’re having a disagreement over one of them. He insists that it’s a picture of Grace, his great-grandmother, but I say it isn’t. For a start, Grace died nearly 30 years before he was born, so he doesn’t actually remember her in person. Secondly, Grace lived from 1818-1902 and I think that although it’s an informal photograph, her clothes are too informal for the 1800s. Lastly (but this is only a guess on my part), this isn’t a studio photo, and I wouldn’t have thought that Mr & Mrs Average had cameras that far back. I’m more inclined to think that it’s his grandma, Amelia, born 1852 (sorry, still searching for her death lol!). Any offers of help please? Thanks Mandy :)

Am pming you!!! Love a good nosey at others pics! Merry

Ooh lovely, thanks Merry! Could send you zillions more, along with a list of ancestors, and maybe you could try and match them up for me LOL?! Mandy :)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!! Merry

ooh, ooh I'll have a look - will pm my addy

I've pm'd you as well, but the others would probably have a better idea than I would. :)

Thank you so much for those three very prompt replies, I had no idea that anyone else was as nosey as me LOL!! Emails on the way to you all now. Grateful thanks, Mandy :)

Welll....my jacket potato is done.....but I'd say there's a good 15 years between the two photos. The later one being after WW1. Note.....dress def above ankles ....no waist band to the dress. Lady looks about 70 or so. Other pic....Edwardian.....full length skirt.....blouse is a bit casual, but maybe not her best one! Liked the mug!! lol Eating now.....back in a few mins.... Merry

Have to agree with Merry, first one probably around mid 1920's second one around the time of the first world war maybe a little earlier but not much.

Wow, you're both brilliant! I don't have much experience at all with photos, because only my Dad has been able to provide any. If you think she looks about 70, that would tie in with Dad's grandma being born in 1852. If it was her, then it wasn't her husband she was with, because he died in 1915 (teehee, must ask Dad if there were any 'uncles'!). Mandy :)

I think the earlier photo would probably be before 1915! (but not a lot earlier) Did he like his scotch (or whatever)?? Note the bottle! lol Merry

I know!! We had a good laugh at the bottle and mug pmsl! I'll take it with me when I go over to Mum and Dad's tomorrow, and see if I can convince Dad that it's his grandma and not his great-grandma. He might then suddenly remember that the man IS grandad after all (and who probably died of a pickled liver!). Mandy :))

I do think they are husband and wife. Note she has been made to sit just behind him! lol If they were brother and sister, or any other relations, the woman would be in the front! (unless she was with her father, which, clearly she isn't!) Merry

I couldn't even take a guess on the later photo. My guess originally for the two people together was 1935, because the man looked like people in my family around that time. However, I thought the female wasn't from that era (clothing style), so I've changed my guess to 1910. Obviously, I must get reacquainted with dating photos, eh? PS Mandy, have you scrutinized the photo with a magnifying glass? I found a couple of clues when I did that once. (Rings and brooches.)

Hi Merry Many thanks, I'm pretty sure from what you've said that it is Dad's grandparents, and that the photo of grandma on her own was taken after grandad's death in 1915 - that all fits very nicely! Hi Lisa Thanks for your help too, and for advice on looking with a magnifying glass - that's something I hadn't thought of so will give it a go. Hi Snowdrops Thanks for your help, your suggestions match Merry's. Mandy :)

Mandy Have you got a programme for looking at photos such as Microsoft Editor or one specific to a digital camera? The reason being is if you have you can have a look at the photos through those programmes and blow them up much larger than with a magnifying glass and get better detail. Snowdrops

Hi Snowdrops Yes, we have - and thanks for the suggestion to view the photos in this way, again something else that I hadn't thought of doing. Mandy :)

Mandy, my family is Canadian and most ancestors settled in Canada around 1845. We have a family photo from 1901/1902 with three generations in it (about 21 people). After enlarging the photograph I found that my dad's great aunt was wearing a little maple leaf pin. The pin didn't give me any clues about who she was, but it made her more 'personal' (rather than just a name and a face). On another photo, I noticed the man was wearing a ring on his pinkie finger. In a photo dated decades later, was a man wearing what appeared to be the same ring, on the same finger. I already was fairly certain who the man was, but this helped prove that it was the same person.