General Chat

I had a great day at my "Aunts" (Mum's cousin) yesterday. We spent the afternoon looking at old photo's. She could name quite a few people and the relationship between them and also could tell me what regiment my Grandad served in during WWII. We had a lovely afternoon and I am so glad we could do this. Naomi

I have recently been given several photos of family members by my cousin. Unfortunately she doesn`t know who any of them are! Tomorrow I am going to visit a 2nd cousin who I hope will be able to throw some light on the subject. The family name is Smith, so as you can imagine, I am desperate for ANY help! Fingers crossed! Frances

Photographs Photographs are smiles that last forever Snowmen that cannot melt away Birthday celebrations caught in amber Rescued from the vaults of yesterday. Faces that were once more dear than diamonds Boys who kept you up until the dawn Houses filled with bicycles and babies Ghosts who left their shadows on the lawn. Photographs are holes in time's grey curtain Through them we can peek into the past Call upon our parents and our children Pop a cork with members of the cast. There they are, the days of jazz and joyrides Snaps of magic moments lit by laughs. If you ever find my house on fire Leave the silver; save the photogrphs. Fran Landesman. Elaine I thought you might like Fran Landesmans poem. Take lots of photos of your family and friends - and put names and dates on the back. Len

I have a wonderful photo of my G.Grandparents wedding taken in 1896 and it wasnt until I received the wedding certificate that I was able to identify his brother and sisters too. It has been a connection for every member of the 'Bainsfair' family that Ive managed to track down (and a real god send.) I also have a photo of my Grandmother born in 1897 taken when she was about 2 years old and tons of pictures of family taken from the 1920's onwards. Also a picture of my Great Grandfather, who was one of the first Deep Sea Divers taken in about 1881. In full diver outfit. Pity no-one ever thought about putting dates or the odd name or two on the back of these things for future generations...would have saved hours of fun! Sheila

I have quite few photo's of old rellies, my Mum started writing on them before she died so I have some of my great grandparents. I'm in the middle of moving so while going through the loft at the weekend came across a box of old pics. Going to try and visit my Mum's cousin this weekend to try and put names to faces before it's too late. I also knew my Grandad was injured during military service but didn't know when. Found a pic of him in uniform with the date of 1941 stamped on the back. At least this gives me a date for when I finally get to the PRO. Does anyone see any resemblances to themselves in pics? I am the spitting image of my Mum and I have a picture of my G Grandmother 1862-1912 taken about the 1880's who I also have an uncanny resemblance. Naomi

I didnt have any until a couple of months ago,then someone sent me photocopies of my gt gt uncle and his wife and family,The earliest one I own from my direct line is my nan in 1954! I asked my mum where all the fotos were from her grandparents who didnt die til the 1970s and her reply was that they must of got throw away when my grandad died! I make sure I take lots of pictures of my children now,so future generations will know what we looked like and where we lived etc Anna

Started off with just a few but soon as I asked around the family ( and offered them a free copy ) soon had loads, but costs a fortune in ink cartridges. Thtas the beauty of my new photo scanner i only have to borrow them for a hour and they can have them straight back also i can repair any damaged ones. Also lots of the men played rugby and were in the local teams so I am busy checking the club house team photos!! I surpose this applies to other sports, may be lucky and find them in the club or local papers

I did find one photo in my mum's things of a lady and a younger girl although I have absolutely no idea who they are! Elaine

My parents have HUNDREDS of photo's, mainly from their lifetimes though (themselves, and my aunts, uncles, cousins etc), some of which I have borrowed and scanned... I have a pic of my grandparents on my dads side, and one of my mums mother (who died young) and aunt (who raised mum), and one of HER parents (my Great Grandparents), but none of my Mum's Dad (my grandfather), which is a bit of a shame. Would love to get some older ones though...

Between my husband and I we have loads going back as far as 1800's BUT with NO NAMES on them : ( We can guess at our grt Grandparents and Grandparents but beyond that we are lost. It's prompted me to write on the back of every single photo we have ever taken names and places and a rough date on some. Thank heavens for the digital camera that has the date on all our snaps these days though : ) Much happiness Debi

Yes, I have a few & will be adding them to the site when I can. So far I've added only one, my dear dad. I believe this is a wonderful way to keep them 'alive' for us.

good idea janet, something I must definately try and do with mine. Elaine

So - there's a lesson to be learnt here! Write the names and dates on the back of your photographs so that your great-great-grandchildren will know who those funny looking people are! I have quite a few old photo's that I know must be family members, but I can't identify them - yet. Let's make things easier for our descendants, eh?.

The photos i have are of my father in his early teens and my grandfather in his army uniform and g,grandmother which i never seen, i only had them sent to me 4 days ago.

Elaine Following the death of my father in 1958 I visited my mother and found her breaking up and burning a couple of old family photo albums (each about 3 inches thick) Her explanation ? "No one will want these when I am gone" One had gone into the bonfire but I managed to rescue some pages from the other so have quite a few pictures dating back to the turn of the 20th century. In latter years I have become known as the family historian and have been given quite a number of pictures. They range in size from about the size of a postage stamp to full plate. I have re-photographed many and resized them to standard 6" x 4" to illustrate my manual collection of data. Len

We were fortunate enough to have quite a few old photo albums handed down to us and for the most part they also indicate when and where the photos were taken. All of these are from my mother's side of the family. I have scanned in some of these photos. Very little from my father's side, although my aunt may have some more photos, but the family overall weren't that close.

I have just been given a copy of a picture of my ggg grandfather who was born in 1792...and does he look stearn! Lynn

I have lots of photos dating back to mid to late 1800's of my grandmothers family and unfortunately not many have names on. Some of the photos are fantastic to see though, I just wish I new who they were!!! Liz

I have recently been given a copy of my ggrandfather b 1863 Stoke Newington. The negative was on glass so it was amazing to see what he looked like - almost like someone out of a Charles Dickens' book. I have also been lucky to receive a photo of my husband's grandfather - a grandfather whom he had never met and a photo of his ggrandfather born 1850 in Keith Scotland. Christine

It was only when I came to Canada that I was given photos of my dad's side of the family, but I now have pictures going back to his great-grandparents. I have always been told that I look like my mum (and I do, I even sound like her!), but can now see that I also resemble my dad's mum, too. Patsy