General Chat

I was sent a picture of my grandparents that was took with my dad and his siblings and another one with my gr gran and my grandmother and her sister annie as I have just made contact with my gran's sister's grandson they live in New Zealand and I have just made contact with my dad's cousins I seen them when I was 4yrs old

Hi Elaine. My study wall is full of them. Some are of my Ozzie Ancestors. Some are of my Canadian Ancestors. ( Winnipeg,) But the majority are U.K sent to me, by Relo connections in England and Ireland. I am very proud and lucky to have them, and display them on my study wall. Cheers. Tony Oz

I have one ,hung on the wall of my gt grandfather ,his wife and all their children [5] taken in High wycombe in the late 1800s,this was my mothers family [Barnes] But the baird side is photo free for some reason,apart from my parents wedding whick does have the parents of both families.Fred.ptfg.

I have quite a lot of pictures from about 1880 onwards. My Great Grandparents Wedding photo 1896, my Nan when she was 2 years old in 1899, Mum and her sisters and brother when they were growing up in the 20's and 30's. As Ive managed to track more family down they have been sending me pictures of Great Uncles and cousins too. Sheila

Yes - I was very pleased at Christmas when my mum produced another box of family stuff and we found a photo of my gt grandfather. Very interesting as I hadn't known it existed and he looks decidedly Welsh - widow's peak and v. dark hair. As his surname was Williams and he lived in Gloucestershire, I had often surmised that the family were originally Welsh and he certainly looks it! My grandfather took after his mother's side though. I also have a photo of my other gt grandfather on my mother's side, on his wedding day with his bride. For some unaccountable reason she is wearing her veil over her face, so you can't see what she looks like, though I do have another photo of her and she is very like her daughter my grandmother. On my dad's side I have photos of his parents, and his dad's parents. They, and my grandfather and some siblings, are grouped on and around a cart and donkey outside what looks like a barn. As the men are wearing buttonholes and the women look smart I assume it was a family wedding, but no idea whose. Sadly, I have no photos of my dad's mum's parents - although her mother looked after my dad when he was little, she died when he was 7. Even sadder, her first husband, my gt grandfather, died at the age of 40 in 1879 and all that is left of him - apart from his descendants - is his name on 3 certificates, 3 censuses, and a small para about his inquest in the local paper. nell

We Have lots of photos and lithographs - one back to the late 1700's. I have also received photos from rellies who found me on GC. Couple of suggestions. When you write the names on the back of photos don't use an ordinary pen! The ink could, in time, leach through. Use an acid free pen you can buy from many photographer's, good stationery stores or stores that deal in genealogy books. Another tip I got from a genealogy session - NEVER ever put your photos in one of the cheap albums they sell which use a plastic cover sheet. They are not acid free and the photos stick like glue to the plastic and the acid in the back ruins the photo. We were told to garbage them and get black, acid free or good cartridge paper (even the coloured sketch pads) and use corners, not glue, to attach. I had lots of photos ruined by my mother because she stuck them in an album using sellotape. Wrecked the front and left a sticky mess.

Like most folk here I've got lots of old photos with no names on them so being a trusting soul I asked my mother if she could name them - big mistake - she wrote their names on the FRONT, well she tried! The oldest picture we have is my gran with her mother in 1902/3 also one in about 1927 with my mum age about 4/5, with her mum, grandmother and ggran. Very buxom women in those days. Jean

Hi yes I do of my gr gr gr grandparents and I scarily a spitting image of my gr gr gr grandma!

Elaine Are you still there? For a birthday present, my wife made me a patchwork quilt using photos of 4 generations from my family. I offered her more but she said it would make too big a quilt. Len

I thought this was an apt. verse for this topic. STRANGERS IN THE BOX. Come look with me inside this drawer, In this box I've often seen, At the pictures,black and white, Faces proud, still, serene. I wish I knew the people, These strangers in the box. Their names and all their memories Are lost among my socks. I wonder what their lives were like, How did they spend their days? What about their special times? I'll never know their ways. If only someone had taken time to tell, Who, what, where or when, These faces of my heritage Would come to like again. Could this become the fate Of the pictures we take today? The faces and the memories, Someday to be passed away? Make time to save your stories, Seize the opportunity when it knocks, Or someday you and yours could be THE STRANGERS IN THE BOX. Sorry it's so long but I thought it was very sad. Jill

agree with you there darren. i've got a picture of my grandparents wedding from 1926. they are the only ones i know on the foto of about 40 people. what a real shame they didn't write on the back.

I have just been given a photo of my Gt Grandad's family taken around 1904 when he was a young lad. it also has his mum & dad and all his brothers and sisters, so at long last I can put a face to the names that I have been searching for. I also have one of Gt Grandad when he was 18 posing with his future wife. Have lots of other pictures but there is no longer any one left alive who can put names to any of them! Why oh why didn't anyone write names and dates on them!! Darren(nuneaton)

Hi, I had several photos of my grandmother, but mostly of when she was middle aged, so I had no idea of what she would have looked like when young, however, to my great delight after communicating with Barnardos (after a wait of over a year) I received from them a report of my g.mother`s time in Canada, she was sent there from a childrens home in Edinburgh in 1889 (her name was Mabel Grant b.1874 in Derby) I was "over the moon" when I received with the report, two photos, one of her age 14, taken shortly after her arrival in Canada, and another taken before her marriage in 1894 to Stephen Gagan (previously name was Geoghan, he also had been sent to Canada from Stoke on Trent workhouse in 1885) so now I know what she looked like, and she was a beautiful young lady when young.

My Mum passed away last year and at the moment my older sister has the photograph album. There is one photo of my grandfather. Only just remembered this existed. He was a photographer and his father before him. It's such a shame that I don't have any of their work. My Dad left home aged 12 and lived with his Mum's family(she died) so there were never any family photos from his side.

Elaine Do you have a scanner - or could someone put the photo you referred to (unknown lady with a girl) onto a floppy disc ? Its a long shot but if you could e-mail it to me I could ask my wife if its anyone in the village she knows. If you are able to do that, make it small and in Jpeg format. How are you progressing with the tree? Len

Hi everyone. I have a photo of my father in his navy uniform and one of his father in his uniform and also a photo of his father in his navy uniform. Taken around WW1. I also have a photo of his mother in law who was born in 1856. I also have a few of his family taken around 1900.

I have a few of my grandparents and one of a gr grandfather and gr gr grandmother on my dad's side. That's funny really because I don't have any of my dad before he met mum. Mum has loads of her side of the family but not all of them are people she knows and they don't have names on them. I seem to remember reading somewhere that you should write in pencil if you are going to write on the back of photo's because the ink can come through. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong because I can't remember where I saw it but if it is true I thought you should know. Mel

Have just got back from visiting my Dad`s cousin and she WAS able to identify several of the photos. In particular my gt.grandparents, which I am absolutely thrilled about, even though I still don`t have a date of birth or anything much to go on. It has given me the incentive to go on with that branch of the family. Frances

I have old tins full of photos and a log basket filled with them plus letters and post-cards! Any suggestions as to displaying them and storing them will be greatly appreciated! Isobel

I have lots of photos of my family, going back several generations but also of many of their friends. I was idly looking at various names and came across the family of my Mum's oldest friend and bridesmaid on GC. I have been able to pass on some pictures, from 1910-6O era to a relative of the lady. She is only a twig on the edge of Sheila's tree, but now she has a face!