A question of identity - comparing family photos

I recently received an email from a reader in Australia with an interesting enquiry. She sent me images of two different photographs. The first of these had been clearly identified as being a known family member and immigrant who arrived in Australia in early 1842, aged about 23 years old, the photo being taken some time later.


The second image, shown below, is of more uncertain origin and identity.


The suggestion had been that the man in the second photo was the same person as that shown in the first, photographed with his wife. However, there was some disagreement in the family as to whether this was a correct identification of the couple in the second image. My correspondent merely wanted my opinion on whether the two photos could be of the same person.

First, I looked at the age of the images. I believe that both photographs were probably originally taken in the 1870s. The lack of studio details and paucity of furniture, as well as the indistinctness of the woman's clothing, makes them difficult to date with any further accuracy. However, from the similarity of the poses and the mens' clothing, I believe that they could have been taken at around the same time.


The face of the man in the second photo is unfortunately very faded. I've tried some digital editing and have attached a composite image showing the faces of both men. While they are both bearded and have roughly similar hair styles, I don't believe they are likely to be the same person. Note, in particular, the vertical distance between the bottom of the nose and the top of the upper lip. I would estimate the age of the first man as around 50 to 55. The second man appears to me to be somewhat younger - perhaps in his late 30s or early 40s - although I can't be sure of this, and he could be as young as late 20s or early 30s. Also it appears that their eyes and nose are a rather different shape.

The woman's pose, with her hand resting on the seated man's shoulder, would have been carefully arranged by the photographer. She doesn't look entirely comfortable, but this was often the case with studio photographs of the era. However, the pose suggests - at least to me - that she was his wife. I would estimate that she is in her mid- to late 30s, possibly suggesting a similar age for her husband, If this is correct, then both are likely to have been born c. 1830-1845, and are unlikely to have arrived in Australia as a couple in their early 20s by ship in 1842.

On the other hand the "older" man, photographed seated on his own, possibly in the early to mid-1870s, if he is as I suggest, aged 50-55, could have been born around 1820. This makes him a likely candidate for the immigrant who was about 23 when he arrived in Tasmania in March 1842 with his wife, and therefore born around 1818-1819.

I decided to do a more quanititative examination of the facial characteristics on the men in the two photos.


I measured three distances on the portraits as follows:
- distance between the eyes (x)
- vertical distance between the line through both eyes and the tip of the nose (y)
- vertical distance between the tip of the nose and the centre of the mouth (z)
and then compared the two using the following ratios:
- x/y (distance from eyes to nose divided by distance between eyes)
- z/y (distance from mouth to nose divided by distance from eyes to nose)

If one arbitrarily takes the y distance as standard, then it is possible to equate the values of two ratios as a visual expression of the distance between the eyes (x/y) and the height of the upper lip (z/y)

The ratios were as follows:

Single portrait:
x/y = 0.741 & z/y = 0.615

Couple portrait:
x/y = 0.739 & z/y = 0.500

A simple comparison of the ratios shows clearly that, in relation to the distance between eyes and nose, the two mens' eyes are practically the same distance apart, but the man in the double portrait does indeed have a much narrower upper lip (ratio of 0.500 compared with 0.615).

The figures bear out my visual analysis, and I feel even more confident that the two men in the photos are not the same person.

Identification of photo subjects - Lessons to be learnt

In January this year, Kevin Rhodes sent me a batch of images, among which were these two cabinet cards, taken by John Mayle & Sons of 124 Parliament Street, Derby.


Kevin had the following to say about them:

These presumably are siblings taken at the same time. I am unsure of the ill-fitting uniform and the sex of its wearer. I have wondered about the possibility of this being a male-impersonator outfit from the music-hall. The uniform certainly has no insignia on it and by the address on the card we are well before both the First World War and the Boer War.

As I had no clues as to the identity of the subjects, I posted the images in the Portfolio section of my profile of this photographer, and thought nothing more of them. Then, a fews days ago, I heard from Kevin again:

A comment on the ones I previously sent at Mayles photographers - census records of the family only show four sisters in the family, and the two people in the pictures have hands and fingers that are identical; leading me to think they both are of Lucy Saddington, of whom I have later studio photos with no photographers identity on them (poss trimmed off on purpose). Also, of the three sisters Mary is older, Jane had straight hair, and Edith was much younger.

So, I had a better look at the images, in particular the faces and hands of the subject(s):



They are indeed very similar, if the absence/presence of the grin is taken into account, and the ring is present in both cases. From the similarity of the studio setting and props, the portaits were probably taken on the same occasion. Kevin had more to say on the provenance of the photographs:

Last year, on the death of two elderly relatives, I came by two photo collections. The first belonged to my Mother Betty Rhodes née Rankin (1925-2006) (daughter of Mary, the elder Saddington sister), and includes the pictures from Mayle & Sons and a carte de visite by (Thomas) Frost of Derby (see below). These were clearly of a relative of Mary, but identifying her was difficult.

The second collection was from Edith "Edie" Falconer née Smith (1912-2006), the daughter of Lucy Saddington. Amongst these photos was a studio cabinet photo of Lucy Saddington with her husband George Smith, and a postcard picture of George in uniform (presumably during the First World War.)

Lucy Saddington married George Smith in 1906 and had Edie in 1912, but died of unknown causes whilst Edie was young. I have a photo of Edie as a child (see below) with a lady which could be Lucy but I am unsure. It was of course the photo of George and Lucy together which helped me in the identification process, not only tying up with George in uniform, but also if you look carefully she is wearing the same brooch as in the earlier Frost picture from my mother’s collection, and although no proof in itself, doesn’t the skirt look like the work of a proud young tailoress!

This is an excellent account of careful detective work which resulted in the provisional identification and tying together of a whole series of pictures from separate inherited family collections. It demonstrates the usefulness of examining photographs together with other family photos, and in the light of their provenance.

It also illustrates the importance of being cautious about making assumptions without reasonable cause. For example, the wearing of what appears to be a military uniform doesn't necessarily mean that the subject actually served in the military. Although the photo probably was taken during or shortly after the Boer War, it is obvious that Lucy never served in the army.

An early family portrait from Alfreton

This family portrait is an early landsape format example of the genre, probably taken in the early 1870s. The image is of a carte de visite, unfortunately not inscribed with the name of the photographer, was sent to me by Alan Craxford.


Back Row (left to right, standing): Joseph (aged 17-18) and Thomas (aged 15-16); Middle Row: Mary (standing, aged 8-9), John (standing, aged 6-7), Ann Naylor (seated, aged 37-38), Arthur (seated on his mother's lap, aged 1), John Naylor (seated, aged 38-39) and Alfred (standing, aged 5-6); Front Row: Edwin (seated on the ground) and Maurice (standing between his father's legs, aged 2)
The rudimentary setting of this photograph, with a plain backdrop, and little attention paid to the usual pretense of an artificial studio, suggests that it was almost certainly taken by a travelling photographer. Perhaps he was associated with a travelling show, but he may just as easily have been an itinerant working on his own. Such photographers became common in the 1870s and 1880s, and often serviced the smaller towns and villages in the rural English countryside which didn't have large enough populations to support a resident studio. Several aspects of the photo suggest that it may have been a "practice" shot, or at least hurried, as their has been no attempt to hide the fake window seen on a stand at the right of the image. One of the advantages of the outdoor shot, however, was that the enhanced lighting reduced the need for lengthy exposure times, and made it somewhat easier to keep young children still for the duration of the shot.

Alfreton was not well served by permanent photographic studios until the 1880s, when Robert Taylor opened for business in nearby Codnor Park. George Edgar worked briefly in the town in 1859 and 1860 as a travelling photographer, but no data is available to show who catered for the portrait photo market in Alfreton in the mid-1870s, when this picture was taken.

I found it useful to establish an outline of the family of Alan's ancestor John Naylor to identify some or all of the children by their respective ages, and therefore confirm my estimate of the age of the photograph. From the 1871, 1881 and 1891 Census records, I managed to ascertain the following:

John NAYLOR b. c.1835 Somercotes/Alfreton DBY m: Ann b. c.1836 South Normanton DBY
- Joseph NAYLOR b. c.1855 South Normanton DBY
- Thomas NAYLOR b. c.1857 South Normanton DBY
- Edwin NAYLOR b. c.1863 South Normanton DBY
- Mary NAYLOR b. c.1865 Alfreton DBY
- John Henry NAYLOR b. c.1867 Alfreton DBY
- Alfred NAYLOR b. c.1868 Alfreton DBY
- Maurice NAYLOR b. c.1871 Alfreton DBY
- Arthur NAYLOR b. c.1872 Alfreton DBY
- Miriam NAYLOR b. c.1879 Alfreton DBY

Although the hairstyle of Ann Naylor is reminiscent of the mid- to late 1860s, her clothes suggest a date closer to the mid-1870s. It's far more difficult to date the clothing of men and children with much degree of accuracy, but in general the men and older boys are dressed for this period as well. It's my estimate, therefore, that this photo was taken some time around 1872-1874. This has led to my tentative identifications of the people in the family photo above, together with their approximate ages.


(Standing) Thomas, Joseph, John Henry, Arthur, Edwin, Maurice, Alfred
(Seated) Miriam & Mary
Alan also sent me the group photograph shown above:

The family of John and Ann Naylor does appear to have been a very tightly knit unit (living in neighbouring houses through the censuses of 1881 and 1891) but after John's death the branches seem to have drifted apart. Miriam Naylor was my maternal grandmother and died five days after my mother was born in May 1916. Mum was raised by Miriam's sister, Mary and husband who by that time had two adult sons. We heard talk of Mum's older uncles. Our only link was a (I think quite remarkable) group photograph of the seven brothers and two sisters drawn together sometime around 1900. I do not know where this was taken or what the occasion was. They appear to be "dressed up" with button holes but their expressions are generally quite sombre!

I think the family resemblances among the brothers is remarkable!

Many thanks to Alan, whose maternal grandmother Miriam's album has provided a wealth of interesting material for his family history research, and some nice pictures for me to feature here.