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