Christine Hood writes: Please can you assist with this query. Clearing out my deceased mother’s house I found a Book of Common Prayer with a dedication on the flyleaf which reads: ‘Mr E Osborne from J CFHare’. It is undated, unfortunately, but I’ve identified J CFHare as the Revd. John Church Francis Hare (1857-1935), Rector of Bircham Newton, Norfolk, 1894-1923. I’m fairly sure that ‘Mr E Osborne’ is my great-grandfather Edward Jacob Osborne (1851- 1924), who lived at Bircham Newton from 1874 until his death in 1924. The two men were therefore contemporaries, although from very different social backgrounds: John Hare being an Oxfordeducated clergyman, my ancestor an agricultural labourer. Within the book was the carte de visite photograph shown below. The
Jayne Shrimpton is a professional dress historian and ‘photo detective’, photograph consultant for TV series ‘Who Do You Think You Are?’ and her books include ‘Tracing Your Ancestors Through Family Photographs’. jayneshrimpton. co.uk
sitter is unidentified, there is nothing on the reverse and I’ve been unable to discover anything about the photographer, M Hughes of Thurmston (Lancs). I’m wondering whether the photo is of Edward Jacob as a young man but can think of no reason why he should have been in Lancashire, unless M Hughes was a travelling photographer? A date would be helpful in supporting or demolishing my theory, and some comment on the sitter’s dress. To me, these look like the Sunday best clothes of a working man. I’m also attaching the only confirmed photo of Edward Jacob, taken at his daughter Mary’s wedding in 1914. He is the older seated man, far left. The other adult males are his sons, which might be helpful in determining what Edward Jacob looked like as a young man.
Photodating puzzle