Category: Family Photographs

Gladys Beanland – The Prequel

Old family photographs are a little like film prequels. Take, for example, this photograph of three young girls enjoying a day out at the seaside in the late 1920s. Two of the subjects are characters we are familiar with due to their starring role in that well-known epic "My Life". The one on the left … Continue reading Gladys Beanland – The Prequel

Licence To Drive A Motor Car

Sorting through some recently acquired papers of my Great Uncle Albert, I find his driving licence from 1912. This was a time when licences were issued by local authorities (in this case, Bradford), and had to be renewed every year.

Ivy The Musician

There are the faces you can't put names to and then there are the names you don't have a face for. Yesterday, however, after a trip to meet a generous distant relative in Wales, I was finally able to put a face to my father's cousin Ivy Miriam Burnett. And not only did I get … Continue reading Ivy The Musician

Eunice And Leslie

Any box of old family photographs contains pictures of people you recognise and a few that you don’t. Those are the challenges, the pieces of the jig-saw puzzle that don’t easily fit. Who were Eunice and Leslie, and why do I have two copies of this same photograph; one dedicated to Peggy and the other … Continue reading Eunice And Leslie

Statues, Cousins And Bill Bailey

The Duke Of Wellington’s Regiment Memorial, Halifax, by Andrew Sinclair, 2019 Sculpture belongs in towns, on the streets, in the squares; not stuck away atop bronze horses in distant parks. It needs to be touched and spoken to. It needs to be a repository of thanks, of memories, and of empty coffee cups. The Empty … Continue reading Statues, Cousins And Bill Bailey

Assessing The Lie

My Great-Uncle, Fowler Beanland, was a crown green bowler. In his youth, he played bowls in his native Keighley, in his thirties he played bowls in Cumbria where he was working, and in his later years he returned to the crown greens of Yorkshire. He was also a great postcard collector and his collection of … Continue reading Assessing The Lie

An Arctic Refuge

I've always followed the general rule in life that states that if something looks like it won't be there for long, take a photograph of it. It is a lot easier to follow such a rule in the era of digital photography than it was in the days when films, not to mention developing and … Continue reading An Arctic Refuge

Fruit Inflation And Silhouettes

This is a “Cabinet Card” - a pasteboard-backed Victorian photograph - of an unknown woman sat reading under a tree. I suspect it might be from an amateur photographer - clues being the outdoor location and the lack of studio details on the rear of the card. Halifax Borough Market. Not sure exactly when I … Continue reading Fruit Inflation And Silhouettes

The Milliner’s Wedding