YOUR PICTURES? If you have family photos that you need help researching, please email editorial@family-tree.co.uk and Jayne Shrimpton will be happy to help via the Family Tree Q&A pages.
Q Please can Jayne Shrimpton help me to identify the people in a set of photos found among the possessions of my grandmother, who passed away many years ago? I once took some photos of the album containing them to a ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ show and Eric Knowles identified it as probably a book of cartes de visite, but otherwise I am no further forward. Grandmother’s family came from the north coast of Scotland and were mainly agricultural labourers apart from one lady, a housekeeper in Lairg. I have tried tracking some of the studios but it still doesn’t give me much to go on. I think they mainly date to the 1800s but I’m afraid the quality isn’t great as they are photos of photos: a relative holds the originals. The wooden album is very frail and apparently it holds no other clues as to who these people are. We do, however, still have some of the jewelry and a collar that seem to appear in one photo: they must have meant a lot to my grandmother and great-grandmother. To me, the ladies’ outfits are fabulous: they look as if they are trying to tell a story, with the documents or flowers in their hands. I’d love it if Jayne could help by offering an approximate date for these photos please. Many thanks.
Chris Connearn