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.

His lordship taking his rum ration

This image, much later than any of those presented in this blog thus far, is one taken from my own collection. I have included it, as it is an example of how many different aspects, some perhaps not directly related to the photograph itself, may be used to discover more about the incident represented in a photo. It is sometimes astonishing how much can be ascertained.

I knew who it was - my grandfather Charles Leslie Lionel Payne (1892-1975) - and approximately when and where it was taken, as it had the following inscription on the reverse:

Will... (?sp) Kent, August 1915

However, I never really knew my grandfather, having grown up thousands of miles away from Derbyshire, where he and my grandmother lived. During my investigations into his life, and more specifically while researching his military service during the First World War, I decided that there must be more to to be found.

First, I looked at the style of the photograph - it was a standard print of the times, probably taken with a cheap camera by an amateur. There were therefore no markings such as a studio name to assist further in that direction.

Secondly, I investigated the provenance. My father was able to refer me to a letter in the collection of family papers. It was written to Leslie Payne in 1936 by an old friend of his, Ed Pye. As young men they had worked together for the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1912 and 1913, and both subsequently served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) - although in different units - during the Great War. Obviously written after they had been out of touch for many years, the letter reminisces on some of their shared experiences, both before and during the war, and mentions several photos which Ed Pye had enclosed with the letter, including the one shown above:

"His lordship taking his rum ration - The latter I have removed from my war picture album."

Presumably Ed Pye was present at the time the photo was taken, indeed he may have taken the picture himself.

Next, I looked at the photograph itself. The photo shows Leslie, dressed in typical CEF military uniform, sitting on the grass in a field, legs outstretched, and holding a mess tin (or billy can) in his right hand, presumably containing his "rum ration." Unfortunately the scan that I have is not clear enough to show what the items are on the ground next to him, but his boots are hob-nailed, and he appears to be wearing spurs. In the background, there are a couple of horses grazing, and at least three other soldiers, lounging around in the shade of a belt of trees, which appear to mark the edge of the field. The image below, from the web site of the PPCLI Living History Unit, shows the standard "D" model mess tin in use by the British and Canadian Forces at the time:


The inscription on the reverse of the print suggests that it was taken in August 1915. Certainly Leslie looks much the same as in another photo of him in the family collection (see below). This was taken at the studio of E.M. Treble in Derby, and I believe the sitting was probably during a visit home on leave from the army in June or July of 1915.

To investigate further the movements of my grandfather in the spring and summer of 1915, I resorted to his CEF war service records and the war diaries of the unit in which he was serving at the time, the 2nd Divisional Train, Canadian Army Service Corps (CASC). His service records I had previously ordered from the Library & Archives of Canada (LAC), and scanned images of the CEF War Diaries are now available online from the same source.

Leslie Payne and his unit spent four and a half months in the south of England training with the Canadian forces prior to their embarkation for France in mid-September 1915. They were based mainly at Dibgate Camp, near Shorncliffe, west of Folkestone in Kent. According to the War Diary for August 1915, the entire Canadian Second Division including my grandfather's unit, spent four days from 23rd to 26th August doing "manoeuvres."

The entries show that the 2nd Div. Train bivouacked at Willisborough Lees for two nights on the 24th and 25th August. They camped at nearby Hatch Park on the 23rd. It is clear that the inscription "Will... (?sp) Kent, August 1915" is in fact "Willisborough Lees" - or Willesborough Lees as it is spelled on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps.

The hamlet of this name is located just to the north-west of the town of Willesborough, near Ashford in Kent (see portion of 1945 one inch to a mile Ordnance Survey map, above). From what I can tell, this is the only occasion that they were near this location, or indeed near anywhere with a name starting "Will.."

While I am unlikely to ever find the exact location of my grandfather's bivouack site in a paddock near Willesborough Lees on the 24th and 25th August, I am confident that the photo was taken there. I will be visiting the Shorncliffe area briefly in October, and may get the opportunity to at least drive through the Willesborough Lees area. It will provide a fitting conclusion to my research into this photo.