Sepia Saturday 281: Home Duties

I recently purchased a box containing nineteen exposed 4" x 5" glass plate negatives. They depict various women and children, some of whom appear to be members of the same family. Sadly there are no notes or provenance to provide clues as to their origin but, as I will show, the batch appears to have survived as an intact collection. In other words, they probably belong together. They have little in common with this week's Sepia Saturday theme, except that two of the images show children engaged in what might with some latitude be called "home duties."


As with my recent studies of small photographic collections, A Grand Tour of Europe and Summer Holidays in Derbyshire, this group appears to have been taken in the early years of the twentieth century. Unlike the other two groups, these 19 photographs appear to have been taken over and extended period of time, covering several years in the lives of a family living somewhere in New Zealand. None of the photographs are annotated, nor is the box that they arrived in, so all provenance has unfortunately been lost.

One of the purposes for my showing these images is to demonstrate the process that I go through when researching such collections, in an an attempt to decide whether they are linked to each other in any way and, if so, then to try and establish a theoretical framework around the subjects. In many cases this may never lead to an positive identification but occasionally I have breakthroughs.


Image #09 - Three teenage children ("Agnes," "Charlie" and "Bertha")
5" x 4" (127 x 102mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
I'll start with this nicely focussed snapshot of three teenage children, two girls and a boy, seated on a grassy bank in the shade of tree. Just for convenience I'l call them "Agnes" (left), "Bertha" (right) and "Charlie." The girls have taken their hats off, while the boy, who looks as though he never bothered with one, is eating what looks to me like a dark-skinned plum. The clear images of these three individuals allows us to follow them through several years.


Image #14 - Three young children ("Agnes," "Bertha" and "Charlie")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
This image is partly out of focus, possibly blurred from movement and slightly over-exposed, but I think that the same three children are pictured hanging up the washing, although this must have a few years earlier. "Agnes" is handing a peg to "Bertha" and barefooted "Charlie" appears to have carelessly dropped the tin of pegs on the ground.


Image #05 - Three young children ("Bertha," "Agnes" and "Charlie")
5" x 4" (127 x 102mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
The trio are probably at the beach on this occasion, younger still, with one of the girls wearing a rather impractical cap which must have been difficult to control when the wind got up. "Charlie," seated with legs apart at right, is "unbreeched."


Image #16 - Young boy ("Charlie"), possibly with his mother ("Doris")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
Young "Charlie," here dressed in a Fauntleroy suit popular in the 1890s and early 1900s, appears with a young woman aged in her late twenties or early thirties, seated on a wicker chair, who I think might be his mother and who we will call "Doris."


Image #08 - Young child with doll on wicker chair (possibly "Charlie")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
An even younger child sits confidently in a different wicker chair placed on the lawn, holding a doll. Despite the presence of the doll, the child's facial features suggest to me that this, too, is our "Charlie."


Image #10 - Young boy in school uniform ("Charlie")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
Here is "Charlie" dressed in somewhat smarter attire, perhaps ready for his first day at school. The background to this photograph includes the wall of a house, possibly on a verandah or adjacent to an extrance, an upholstered straight-backed chair and a floral carpet.


Image #04 - Older woman ("Eliza") & teenage girl ("Frances") on verandah
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
An almost identical background, only the chair having been changed, appears in two further photographs depicting three more women. In the first portrait an older woman (I'll call her "Eliza"), perhaps in her sixties, is sitting on the chair, while a different teenage girl (say "Frances") is seated on the carpet at her feet.


Image #17 - Middle-aged woman seated on verandah ("Doris")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
The third verandah portrait shows the middle-aged woman - I'm guessing she is in her late thirties to early forties - we've previous identified as the boy's mother ("Doris") sitting in the same chair. Unlike the others photographed on what may be the same occasion, who face directly into the camera lens, her gaze is off to the right of the photographer.


Image #02 - Middle-aged woman seated outdoors ("Doris")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
Within the same general time frame, but probably on a different occasion, "Doris" sat for another portrait outside her home. The same mouldings that appear in other images of their home are featured prominently in this shot, taken when the shadows were long, but still with enough light to make a decent picture. She has a low pompadour hairstyle and is wearing a leather-cased ladies' fob watch, both of which were popular in the decade immediately preceding the Great War, i.e. between c. 1905 and 1915. The jigsaw embroidery on the front of her blouse and hobble skirt with large buttons are typical of the same period.


Image #01 - Two young women reading ("Agnes" and "Bertha")
5" x 4" (127 x 102mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
Relatively few shots in this series show the surroundings of the house, but one that does is this view of the two girls ("Agnes" and "Bertha") seated in the garden, reading. "Bertha" has bagged the comfortable canvas folding deck chair, while "Agnes" has to make do with a dining room chair set partially in the shade. The presence of tree ferns indicates a strong likelihood that these photos originate here in New Zealand, where they were purchased. They both wear sensible wide-brimmed hats, Bertha's being of the distinctive cartwheel type. The house itself has a wide verandah along at least two sides, and a wooden railing in a stylish geometric pattern.


Image #12 - Teenage girl and apple tree ("Agnes")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
There are two further portraits of "Agnes" on her own. In the first of these she is standing next to what I believe to be an apple tree, dressed in the same clothing as Image #09, but with her hat on. More prominent in this photo is the narrow velvet choker around her neck, a fashion that arose with the appearance of lower necklines around 1905 to 1910.


Image #19 - Teenage girl, possibly in school uniform ("Agnes")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
In the next photo "Agnes" is seated in a chair, possibly on the verandah of the house, but in a different location from portraits #04, #08 & #10 displayed above. She is wearing what I think might be a school uniform, with a smart jacket or blazer, dark leather gloves, a tie with a shield and emblem embroidered on it, a straw boater with a broad striped hat band, and her hair tied up with a large bow at the back of her neck.


Image #11 - Three women in the garden ("Agnes", "Eliza" and "Gertrude")
5" x 4" (127 x 102mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
In a group portrait "Agnes" is seated with two older women, both on chairs placed on the path in front of the house, one of whom is "Eliza" from Image #04. She has a high-necked collar and is holding a pair of spectacles in her lap. The third woman, wearing a white blouse and tie, I will call "Gertrude."


Image #03 - Two women on the garden pth ("Gertrude" and "Eliza")
5" x 4" (127 x 102mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
A view of the garden path immediately to the right of the previous image shows "Eliza" and "Gertrude" dressed warmly in furs and large feathered hats walking towards the house.


Image #18 - Teenage girl on windowsill ("Frances")
4" x 5" (102 x 127mm) glass plate negative, unknown photographer
Image © Copyright & collection of Brett Payne
The third girl ("Frances") is depicted in another portrait, also taken on the verandah, although she is seated precariously on the wide windowsill. Her clothing and hair style are identical with that worn in Image #04, and the two photographs are likely to have been taken on the same occasion.



The Picasa album slideshow above shows the full set of images in the approximate order that I believe they were taken, probably over a period about a decade some time between the years of c.1900 and 1915.

My analysis of the family is as follows:
- Agnes, Bertha and Charlie are siblings, probably born in the late 1890s to early 1900s
- Doris is the children's mother, probably born in the mid- to late 1870s
- Eliza is the children's grandmother, probably born in the 1850s
- Frances is possibly a cousin of Agnes, Bertha and Charlie, and a similar age to them
- Gertrude may be a friend or a relative, possibly a maiden aunt
I must reiterate that these aren't their real names; I've merely invented them for the sake of convenience.

It's possible that a positive identification of this family may be made eventually but, in the mean time, if you spot any further clues or even disagree with any of my rather tenuous deductions, please don't hesitate to get in touch or leave a comment below.

Sepia Saturday 187: Ephemera and the preservation of family photo albums

The image prompt for Sepia Saturday this week gives me an opportunity to look at some of the non-photographic material often found in family photo albums, as well as to show off some of the photo-related ephemera in my collection. Although Victorian carte de visite and cabinet portrait albums contain largely that, i.e. photographic portraits - the purpose-designed sleeves weren't really suitable for flimsy pieces of paper and arbitrarily sized cards - one does often find a variety of family history-related ephemera in them.


Edith Mary Morton's photo album
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
This album was an eBay purchase a few years ago. It is in a rather dilapidated state, but in addition to 45 cartes de visite, five cabinet cards and a postcard format photo, the album also contains an ornate baptism card and a printed memorial card.


An inscription on the front page of the album demonstrates that it was a birthday gift to Edith Morton from her sister Amy.

May 19th 1895
To Edith Morton
With best wishes For a
Happy Birthday
From her sister Amy.

Baptism certificate for Sidney Stephen Sears
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Near the front of the album, and loose between the pages, I found a brightly coloured baptismal certificate for Sidney Stephen Sears, dated April 12th 1903 at St James Enfield Highway, filled in and signed by the vicar, J. Leonard Boulden. The baptismal certificate is of a type that appears to have been used quite commonly in parish churches in the early twentieth century. I have found almost identical examples from as late as 1933. [1,2] Boulden was vicar of St James until at least 1922. [3]


Entry in baptism register for Sidney Stephen Sears
Enfield Highway St James, Register of Baptism, Ref. DRO/054, Item 007
Image © London Metropolitan Archives and courtesy of Ancestry.com [4]
The entry in the baptism register for St James, archived at the London Metropolital Archives, is in the same handwriting. Not only does it confirm the baptism date, but it also provides the very useful information - not given on the certificate - that Sidney Stephen was born on 16th February 1903, the son of Stephen and Edith Mary Sears of 22 Durrants Road.


Edith Mary Sears, c. 1897-1901
Albumen print (96 x 139mm), probably detached from cabinet card
Attrib. Henry Bown, 31/33 Jamaica Rd & 43 New Kent Rd, S.E. London
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Using this information, I was able to identify the owner of the album as Edith Mary Morton (1874-1944). Edith was born in 1874 at Riverhead in Kent, to a railway clerk Frederick William Morton (1843-1891) and his wife Emily Wanstall née Andrews (1843-1896). She grew up with her six sisters and three brothers in Sevenoaks and Deptford in Kent and as a young woman worked as a book folder. [5]


Stephen George Sears, c.1896-1900
Cabinet card (107 x 166mm) by W.H. Fawn, 13 Evelyn Street, Deptford
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
On Christmas Day 1897 Eadie married Stephen George Sears (1875-1934). They lived at 22 Durants Road, Ponders End, Enfield Highway in Middlesex and had three children, Ethel Edith (born 15 November 1898), Helen Amy (born 27 August 1900) and the youngest Sidney Stephen.


Roadworkers in Church Street, Ashover, c.1900-1910
Mounted albumen print by J.J. Shipman of Ashover
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
Stephen Sears' occupation is listed in various records (marriage, baptisms of children, etc.) as engine driver or engineer, but in 1891 he was employed as a "plowing portable engine boy," i.e. an agricultural traction engine, and by the time of the 1901 census he described himself as a "steam road roller driver." This gives me the chance to re-use this excellent image of a steam road roller at work, albeit in a small Derbyshire village, which I wrote about for Sepia Saturday a couple of years ago. The 1911 Census shows him as an "engineer fireman" working for the District Council.


Four unidentified women from Edith Sears' photo album
Cabinet cards from the studio of Henry Bown, S.E. London
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Sadly, the album doesn't seem to contain photographs of any children that I can identify unequivocally as Ethel, Helen or Sidney. In fact, the bulk of the portraits are of young women dressed to the nines, taken between the late 1880s and the late 1890s, probably Edith's sisters and possibly including some of her friends. There are a few photos of children, but I suspect they are Edith's nephews and nieces.


Frederick William Morton, c. December 1908
Postcard portrait (87 x 138mm) by unidentified photographer
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
This postcard addressed to Edith was sent from Toronto, Canada by her younger brother Frederick William Morton in 1908.

124 John St, Toronto, Canada, Dec 8th 12/08.
Dear Eadie.
Just a line hoping you are quite well as it leaves me the same hoping steve and the children are the same and wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year we have got winter here now and the sleighs out with the Bells Jingling and nice frosty air hoping you will know this photo allright I remain your affectionate Brother.
Fred Morton

Memorial card for Emily Wanstall Morton (1843-1896)
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Also found loose in the album was this memorial card for Edith's mother, who died in August 1896, only fifteen months after Edith had received the photo album as a gift for her 23rd birthday.

IN LOVING REMEMBRANCE
OF
Emily Wanstall Morton,
Who died 12th August, 1896,
AGED 53 YEARS.
--x--
INTERRED IN BROCKLEY CEMETERY,
No. OF GRAVE 718A, PLOT P.

Probably Emily Wanstall Morton, c.1892-1896
Carte de visite portrait by Parisian School of Photography, London
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
There are two photographs in the album which could be of Edith's mother. This carte de visite portrait shows a middle-age woman dressed in rather heavy clothing, perhaps even mourning dress, and was taken in the early to mid-1890s. Emily was widowed in 1891.


Possibly Emily Wanstall Morton, c.1866-1871
Carte de visite portrait by Hellis & Sons, London
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
Another carte de visite portrait, of which there are two similar copies, may also be of Emily. It was printed at one of the Hellis & Sons branch studios, judging by the addresses list on the reverse of the card mount, probably between 1899 and 1901. However, I can tell from the hair, clothing and pose styles, as well as the studio furniture, oval vignetting (a technique commonly employed to hide the edges of the original) and faded nature, that it was almost certainly copied from a much earlier photographic portrait, perhaps taken in the late 1860s or very early 1870s.


View Larger Map
22 Durants Road, Ponders End, Enfield
Sidney died in 1920, aged only 16. For the rest of their lives, his parents continued to love in the same house at Ponders End that they had moved into after their marriage in 1897 [6]. Stephen Sears died in 1934, aged 59, while Edith lived to the age of 70; she died in 1944. Ethel and Helen never married, and passed away in 1976 and 1991 respectively. Presumably the lack of any surviving descendants is what resulted in the album eventually finding its way onto eBay.


Morton-Sears Album
I find it interesting that there don't appear to be any photographs in the album of the Sears family after their marriage, except perhaps the portraits of Stephen and Edith Sears. Why would this be? After a lengthy contemplation of the album's contents I've come to the conclusion that it has survived largely intact since the most recent photograph (Fred's postcard sent from Canada in 1908) was inserted in it. There are some portraits taken after her wedding in 1897, but these are probably of her siblings and their children. Edith may have kept this album as a record of her life prior to becoming a wife and mother.


Sears family at 22 Durants Road, Ponders End, Sunday, 2 April 1911
Image © The National Archives and courtesy of Ancestry.com
Even though the album contains very few items with inscriptions - effectively three photographs and a further three pieces of documentary ephemera - I was able to identify the original owner of the album with a high degree of confidence. Using census and birth, marriage and death records, it was then possible to build up an extensive tree of both Edith and her husband's families. Quite apart from generating a list of potential candidates for the remaining photographs in the album, it also enabled me to locate and contact a descendant of one of Edith's sisters.


Group at front door of 22 Durants Road, Ponders End, c.1915-1920
Loose amateur print by unidentified photographer
Image © and courtesy of Ron Plumley
Ron Plumley is the grandson of Edith's sister Emily, and among his Nan's photographs he found this snapshot, which turns out to have have been taken outside the Sears family's front door at 22 Durants Road - compare this with the modern Streetview image above. Although it isn't a very high resolution scan, it's detailed enough to see that the clothing of the woman (at left), the man (at right) and three possible teenagers standing in the doorway equates with the fashions worn immediately before and during the Great War.

I estimate that it was taken between 1915 and 1920 and it's difficult to be sure, but I think this must be the Sears family. Apart, that is, from the man standing at the right, who seems to be too old to be Stephen Sears, then in his early 40s. Perhaps that is Ron's grandfather William Henry Plumley (1869-1919), who would then have been in his late 40s or early 50s, and the Plumleys could have been on a day visit to the Sears family on the northern outskirts of London from their home in Deptford, also in London, but just south of the Thames?


The Morton sisters: Grace Harriett Jenkins? (1870-1945), Agnes Helen Wright (1882-1947), Amy Maria Morton (1875-1963), Florence Maud Zillwood (1866-1946) and Emily Wanstall Plumley (1872-1958)
Postcard portrait by unidentified photographer, c.1930s
Image © and courtesy of Ron Plumley
Finally, this image also shared by Ron shows his grandmother (at far right) with her sisters. It's quite a contrast with the photographs of the Morton sisters taken four decades earlier, naturally, but they look like they are having a lot more fun.

One day this album will return to a family member, but it is only by a stroke of luck that this has been possible. It could easily have been broken up and offered for sale on eBay as individual photos, as many such albums in a somewhat worn state clearly are. If that had happened, almost all of the photographs would have lost all connection with the provenance, history and genealogy that it has been possible to deduce from them as an intact collection.


I cannot stress enough how important it is not to break up albums, even if the paucity of documentation suggests there is little chance of identifying the subjects of the portraits, as clues may only become apparent at a future date. Sadly, inevitable financial imperatives will result in the continued dissolution of many such family collections from deceased estates and yard sales via eBay, but we can all do our part to make sure those in our own families do not share the same fate.

I hope you'll join the other Sepia Saturday enthusiasts this week presenting their own family heirlooms, bibles, books, letters and a variety of other ephemera.

References

[1] Baptism certificate for Hilda Charlson, 12 April 1911, on Hindsford St Anne Parish Page, Lancashire Online Parish Clerk Project.

[2] Baptism certificate for Ian Brackenbury Channell, Easter Day 1933, St Michael's Framlingham, Website of the Wizard of New Zealand.

[3] Licence from Bishop of London to Joseph Leonard Boulden, Vicar of St James, (To officiate in the district chapel of St Peter and St Paul, Enfield Lock, in the parish of St James), The National Archives, Ref. DRO54/45/2, 18 Aug 1922.

[4] London, England, Births and Baptisms, 1813-1906 database, from Ancestry.com.

[5] 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911 Census records, UK Census Collection from Ancestry.com.

[6] London, England, Electoral Registers, 1832-1965, from Ancestry.com

RAF Volunteer Reserve at Derby, 1939

This large mounted print of a group of mostly young men in uniform was also a recent eBay find, and was purchased from the same person as the postcard described in a previous blog post, Derby School O.T.C., July 1938. Unfortunately, the vendor was unable to provide any information on the subjects or the provenance of the photograph.


The photograph measures 372 x 140 mm with a 3 mm margin, and is mounted on 2mm thick, plain white card with a brown reverse, measuring 451 x 230 mm. The print is annotated, probably on the original negative, "W.W. WINTER. PHOTO. DERBY." Written in pencil on the reverse is, "Derby School OTC 1935ish." However, I am not confident that the writing is contemporary with the photograph, and as will be explained in more detail below, have decided that the identification is very dubious.

Due to the size of the photograph, it has been scanned in sections. Clicking on the photo above will show a more detailed version which has the scanned areas marked out, from 1 to 8. I should point that the groups are purely arbitrary, created for scanning convenience only. lick on the images below for detailed individual scans as well.


Image 1 - Central seated group of six officers and NCOs
Five of these men have winged badges above their left breast pockets, suggesting that they are in the Air Force. The three in the centre with peaked caps also have medal strips. The two men on the outside of the group have three stripes on each upper sleeve.


Image 2 - Extreme left group of 30 men & one woman
Of the 31 people in this group, twenty are in uniform. Most of those appear to have a winged badge on their left and right upper sleeves, and several also have one, two or three stripes. In addition, there are nine young men, two older men, and a young woman, all dressed in civilian clothes.


Image 3 - Upper left group of 43 men
All except two of these men are in uniform; a couple appear to have stripes and wings on their sleeves, but most do not.


Image 4 - Lower left group of 31 men
All of these are in uniform; those seated on the chairs, in the middle row, all have wings and stripes, as do some of those seated on the ground and standing. A couple of those in the front row, suh as those on the extreme left and extreme right, look particularly young, perhaps between 16 and 18.


Image 5 - Upper central group of 47 men
A mixed group of men, all in uniform, showing quite a range in height, although most appear to be in their early to mid-20s.


Image 6 - Upper right group of 41 men
A similar group to that in the previous group, although four of them are in civvies.


Image 7 - Lower central group of 33 men
A similar group to that shown in Image 4, it includes mostly men with rank in the middle row, and one or two younger men seated on the ground.


Image 8 - Extreme right group of 19 men
The last group includes 17 uniformed young men, and two older men in civilian clothes.

Fellow sleuther Nigel Aspdin and I have discussed this photograph at some considerable length over a period of several weeks and, after a couple of dead ends, Nigel made a breakthrough yesterday.

As the photo appeared to include mostly airmen and, since it had the W.W. Winter mark, was obviously taken within 25 miles or so of Derby, it occurred to us that the group might have something to do with the Rolls-Royce aero engine factory. A quick google search turned up several records of RAF men who were sent to Rolls Royce for training purposes. For example, "... proceeded to Rolls-Royce School Derby for Merlin Engine Course," and "... has gone to Rolls-Royce, Derby, for a two-weeks course on the handling of Griffon engines."

"There cannot be many places that housed so many airmen near Derby ... They all look like ground crew, it looks like a school photo. Look at any operational aircrew photo, formal or not - it was in front of a Nissen hut with a plane in the background ... I am going down town shortly, I will call in at the Industrial Museum, they have loads of Rolls-Royce exhibits.."

Nigel did indeed visit the Museum of Industry & History in Derby, originally at the Free Library, but now relocated to the Old Silk Mill. "I was faced with the huge static aero engine displays I remember as a child ... I had a chat with the man on the desk, then wandered in, it all looked unpromising that there would be anything about Rolls-Royce training RAF personnel. At the far end was a display about a Sergeant Pilot Alan Feary. I went to read it ... and suddenly I saw your photo!! The caption ... 'RAF VR Derby 1939.' The display had been put together by a Barry Marsden and a David Drake-Feary of Derbyshire Historical Aviation Society [some 25 years ago.] It was not exactly clear how the photo related to Sgt Pilot Alan Feary, but by implication Feary came through the Derby RAF VR ... and was in 609 Squadron when killed."

So now we know that the group is from the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, and the picture was taken some time in 1939. Presumably a botanical fundi could tell us what time of year it was from the state of the vegetation. It may also be possible to find out where it was taken. If you have any further information or ideas about the photograph, or can identify any of the 250 odd people in it, please email me.

Many thanks to Nigel for going the extra mile, literally, on this one.

See later post for update.

Looking for clues in a Derby building destroyed by fire

A good eye for detail and local knowledge are often vital to the unearthing of clues which will reveal the story behind a photograph. On the face of it this image offers few clues as to its location and the circumstances surrounding the catastrophe which it evidently records.


The photograph is a 4" x 3" (99 x 74.5 mm) print mounted in an album which belonged to Nigel Aspdin's relative, and keen amateur photographer, Charles Sydney Smith (1890-1918) of 8 Highfield Road, Derby. There is no caption to the photo, and little in the way of context, although many of the photographs in this album appear to have been assembled around 1914-1915.

The photograph is of a severely fire-damaged building, or series of adjacent buildings, with some piles of timber in the foreground, some sort of gantry in the right middle ground, and a large warehouse, perhaps three or four stories high, in the background. But where was the building, when was it burnt down, and was there some sort of connection with Charlie Smith? Charlie Smith lived in Derby, but this could theoretically be anywhere. However, Nigel spotted that the top of the warehouse, which looked very familiar to him, appeared to have a long sign on the top of the roof.


Enlargement of a digital image didn't help a great deal with deciphering the writing (see below), but with the aid of a jeweller's loupe and some local knowledge, Nigel was able to make out, "GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY GOODS WHARF." The building is just around the corner from where Charlie Smith was a regular visitor to the Slater family at 19 Vernon Street, the house where Nigel now lives, so he is very familiar with its shape. The photo shown below of the original Great Northern Railway Goods Wharf building, now a derelict Grade II listed awaiting renovation and development of the site, was taken by Nigel from approximately the same position, in what is now a temporary car park.


The location is shown in this satellite image from GoogleMaps.


View Larger Map
Nigel then found an entry in Hobson's Derby & District Directory for 1910-1911 which appeared to fit with the original photograph.


He also managed to locate the buildings on a contemporary Ordnance Survey Map (1913).


A search at the Derby Local Studies Library of material relating to Stafford Street and the firm of Smart & Elsom uncovered an interesting article in Derby Ram (Vol. 5, No. 11, p.8, Feb. 1997) entitled, "History on your Doorstep: Stafford Street" which included the following report from the Derby Daily Telegraph:

GREAT FIRE IN DERBY
SAW MILLS DESTROYED
EXTENSIVE DAMAGE
... the two partners in the firm Mr. A.H. Smart and Mr. W.W. Elsom, returned to the office in the evening, and with their cashier Mr. Morgan, were busy with their books when, at exactly a quarter to eight, a postman who was delivering letters told them their yard was on fire. On looking through the window the awful fact was at once manifest, for flames were already shooting high into the air. The mischief must have originated some time previously; in fact, many of the public declare that the fire was visible at half-past seven and the only explanation of the Fire Brigade not being sent for earlier is that people thought they had already been communicated with. Mr Smart and Mr Elson, on learning the news, rushed into the yard to see what could be done, Mr Morgan instantly telephoning the fire office. The brigade arrived with commendable promptitude and were soon at work, their efforts were however terribly handicapped by the encroachment of the vast crowd of sightseers. People swarmed into the yard from every direction, and it was more than the police could do to keep them back ... The extent of the damage is difficult to gauge, but the firm themselves estimate at roughly £8,000.

Nigel found the following very sad explanation of the fire in a subsequent issue of the Derby Telegraph (9 April 1906):

THE GREAT FIRE AT A DERBY SAW MILLS
---
MYSTERY OF ITS ORIGIN SOLVED.
CHILD'S CHARRED BODY FOUND.
COMPANION'S CONFESSION.
A tragic solution is furnished to the mysterious and disastrous fire which occurred on Friday night as the timber yard of Messrs. Smart and Elsom, Staffordshire, Derby. Two lads of tender years were the cause of the mischief, and one of them has paid the penalty with his life. It will be remembered that neither of the partners could offer our representative the slightest suggestion as to the origin of the outbreak; both were in the office, some 30 or 40 yards dostant at the time it was discovered, and both agreed that it was a mystery that completely baffled them. "We would rather not say what we think," said Mr. Elsom, and from this our representative could only deduce that although the firm did not desire to say so publicly without the best of reasons, they were inclined to suspect some of their own workpeople of carelessness. On this account it must be a source of deep satisfaction to the heads of the firm to learn the truth, painful though it be.

On the evening of the fire a Mrs. Dickenson, of 28, Talbot-street, Derby, reported to the police that her child, Reginald Dickenson, aged six, was missing and the first impression very naturally was that he had been in the crowd watching the fire, and was ignorant of the time. On Saturday morning there was still no news, and the mother's alarm increased. Meanwhile, workmen were engaged at the scene of fire removing some of the debris, and on Saturday afternoon they came across some charred remains in the smaller of the two mills that had been gutted, and in which, by the way, the fire is known to have started. The discovery was made by an employee of the firm named Arthur Walker of 56, Shaw-street, and although the remains were quite unrecognisable, they were submitted to the police surgeon (Dr. G.D. Moon). The latter thought that they were the remains of a human being, but would not say positively until after a closer investigation. A professor of anatomy, who happened to be spending the week-end in Derby, also inspected the remains, and he and Dr. Moon came definitely to the conclusion that they were those of a child from five to eight years of age. All that were left were the pelvis, part of the spinal column, and a portion of the left shoulder.

This shocking discovery, coupled with the fact that a small boy whose home was in the locality was missing, caused the p[olice to institute a closer and more minute search. Supt. Riley, the senior officer of the fire brigade then on duty, Police-constable Loydell, and the man Walker carried out this gruesome task, and after very carefully removing the rubbish, they picked up the buckle of a child's brace, the heel of a child's boot (which was studded with some special kind of boot protectors), several buttons, and a small portion of shirt material. There was no clothing visible, but it is a remarkable fact that this patch of shirt material should have survived the terrific heat to which it was subjected, and it was fortunate, too, that the pattern ahould still be easily distinguishable. It was this and the small requisites of attire already mentioned that enabled Mrs. Dickenson to identify the remains as those of her missing son.

Certain information which had come to the knowledge of the police led them to pay a visit on Sunday afternoon to House 2, Court 6, Kensington-street, which is also in the same locality, where a lad named George ..., aged nine, resides with his father who is a labourer. The lad made a statement, which the police took down in writing. He said that he and Dickenson, after tea on Friday, went out together, and about seven o'clock proceeded up Great Northern-road and climbed over the foot of the bridge there, thus gaining access to the premises of Messrs. Smart and Elson. All the workmen had left the timber yard, and they climbed up a ladder, in this way reaching the interior of the smaller of the two principal saw mills. They collected some shavings and chips of wood together on the floor, and he ... struck a match and set them on fire. They at once blazed up and both he and Dickenson became terribly frightened, his little companion beginning to cry. The soke became very dense, and they tried to climb their way out. He ... ran to the other end, and climbed up a ladder, and gaining an aperture, jumped out onto a stack of coal. He had burned his hand and the side of his face, but made his way home at once, telling his mother he had met with the injuries by setting fire to a piece of paper in the Cattle Market. This story she had no reason then to disbelieve. The little boy Dickenson had been left alone in the burning mill, and without doubt he must have run as far as the window and then fallen down, suffocated by the fast-rising clouds of smoke. There he lay till the flames consumed him, practically reducing his body to a cinder.

The boy ..., in the course of his statement, also said that a fortnight or three weeks previously he and little Dickenson got into Messrs. Smart & Elsom's wood yard and made a bonfire of some wood but the fire died out. Of this fact the firm have some corroboration, for the following morning they found traces of the fire, and being unable in any way to elucidate the mystery, they caused a printed notice to be posted about the premises threatening to prosecute any persons who were caught trespassing.

We are informed by the police that it is not proposed to take any proceedings against the lad ..., on account of his yout. "If such a course had been contemplated," Superintendent Clamp informed our representative, "we should not have taken his statement in the way we did, and we should have cautioned him as to the consequences of his answers to our questions." The remains of ...'s luckless companion, which were first of all carried to Dr. Moon's surgery, were subsequently removed to the public mortuary, and await the Coroner's inquisition.

Many thanks to Nigel for providing this interesting example.