We welcome any query on Who When Where. If you have previously posted it on another forum (including the old WDYTYA forum), please state this in your opening post - this will save people redoing the research which has been done before: they can look at it and possibly go further with it.

Any clues?

This is the place for your genealogy-related photos.
Post Reply
paulH01
Posts: 18
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 09:41

Any clues?

Post by paulH01 »

I have one mystery photo in my family history collection.
Can anyone give me any clues e.g. date of photo, any idea as to location?
The boy at the front looks a bit different to the others, there's a faint possibility he may be one of my uncles.
Thanks for any ideas!
PaulH01
mystery.jpeg
mystery.jpeg (264.75 KiB) Viewed 2751 times
Norfolk Nan
Posts: 506
Joined: 16 Jun 2020, 11:54
Location: A Londoner lost in Norfolk

Re: Any clues?

Post by Norfolk Nan »

Hi Paul

I'm no expert but my feeling is this was taken in the 1930s, it has that feel to it. You asked where - is there any reason to think it might have been taken outside the UK (I'm not sure where you are, sorry :D ).
paulH01
Posts: 18
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 09:41

Re: Any clues?

Post by paulH01 »

Thanks Nan, 1930s is helpful. The uncle I was thinking of was born late 1920s, so could well have been him.
Do you think the dress style is particularly well-to-do?

Most likely to have been taken in England, Scotland, possibly Ireland, there is a faint possibility of Russia as well (but doesn't look like the style?).
Norfolk Nan
Posts: 506
Joined: 16 Jun 2020, 11:54
Location: A Londoner lost in Norfolk

Re: Any clues?

Post by Norfolk Nan »

They do look well heeled, in my opinion. A very nice family by the look of them. :D
devonliz
Posts: 60
Joined: 13 Jun 2020, 20:31

Re: Any clues?

Post by devonliz »

The people are nicely dressed and seem prosperous - but I don't think this is their own panelled drawing room - it is probably a studio backdrop (the light from the window seems unnatural).
The boy in front resembles the man (his father?) while the two younger boys resemble their mother.
All the boys are wearing smart shorts with matching jackets. At what age would a young man start wearing long trousers? Say 16 or so? But the photos does not celebrate this rite of passage!!

I have only seen the wavy edge to photographic prints in Germany in the 1950s, but the clothing seems earlier than that.
Mick Loney
Posts: 371
Joined: 15 Jun 2020, 07:27

Re: Any clues?

Post by Mick Loney »

devonliz wrote: 28 Sep 2021, 18:33 At what age would a young man start wearing long trousers?
Well, during WW2, to save material, we were not allowed to wear long trousers with our school uniform until 3rd year of secondary school, when we were about 13. This was still the practise in 1958, but not sure when it ended.
paulH01
Posts: 18
Joined: 26 Jun 2020, 09:41

Re: Any clues?

Post by paulH01 »

Thanks, all for your comments, yes, the background does look a bit 'contrived'.

Interesting comment about the boy at the front resembling his father - now you come to mention it... yes, the other boys' resemblance to their mother I can definitely get.
phsvm
Posts: 81
Joined: 07 Jun 2020, 15:51
Location: Oxfordshire

Re: Any clues?

Post by phsvm »

Looking at the two boys on the left of the photo, I would say they both had a slight under bite. In other words a slightly protruding bottom jaw. To me, I would think of this as a 'family trait' so suggesting that they are brothers.
Post Reply