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Hi Cardiff

This may be somewhat irrelevant but in my childhood we used to often be visited by Horace and Florence Probert, who lived in Kidderminster. Florence went to school with my Mother back in the early 1900's.

Now Horace was at one time a very good boxer and had fought Jack Hood who was famous in his day.

He was the quietest mildest man that you could wish to meet but his features told of some of the punishment that it must have received. His hands were enormous.

I do believe that he ran a Plumbing company in Kidderminster at that time.

The time of these visits was back in the 1940's but I believe the Proberts had a son, Peter. It is possible that he may be still alive although I have no further knowledge of this.

Kind regards
Robert

The alias looks like JAUNCEY to me. A not uncommon name.

Strangely enough someone else asked about a similar looking name some time back.

Regards
Robert

Hi Debbie

I found this on the net, it may be of interest

An itinerant dealer or peddler.
Higgler has survived in the West Indies, especially Jamaica, in the sense of a market trader, but has disappeared everywhere else. But only a century ago, most English market towns had their higglers. They were middlemen—they went round the farms of the local area, buying up produce such as poultry, rabbits, eggs and cheese to sell in the market. In return they supplied goods the household needed. Some of the trade was done by barter rather than by money changing hands, but all of it involved haggling—which is where the name came from, as it’s just a variant spelling of haggler.
In The Surgeon’s Daughter (1827), Sir Walter Scott spoke of: “The labours of a higgler, who travels scores of miles to barter pins, ribbons, snuff and tobacco, against the housewife’s private stock of eggs, mort-skins, and tallow” [mort-skin: the skin of a sheep or lamb that has died a natural death].
In some places, higglers had a bad reputation, because they were thought to manipulate prices to their own benefit. The Times of London dated 10 June 1800 reports a small-scale consumer revolt against them:
A Meeting was held at Poole, on Friday last, to take into consideration the propriety of the Inhabitants in general refraining from the use of Butter, till the price is reduced to One Shilling a pound; when it was unanimously resolved by all present, not to purchase any till the price shall be so reduced, and even then, to use it in their families with great economy and moderation ... and proper people are appointed to keep a constant watch on the Higglers on Market-day, who are the principal cause of the great prices of many of the necessaries of life.

I am sure there is a book, or maybe a play called, "The Higgler"

Regards
Robert

A very interesting site, even more so seeing the ones that you have never heard of.

In fact running down the lists, I only spotted about ten that I did recognise.

Thanks for that.
Robert

A tricky one this.

The date suggested is probably about right.

I was wondering if it might in fact be a 'staff outing' from maybe a 'gentleman's' residence. No uniforms, so not taken on the premises. The two gentlemen appear to be wearing riding boots which might indicate that they had brought the party in a carriage and were grooms at the same house.

One always tends to look at the centre person seated, yet the fact that a younger girl has a hand on her shoulder doesn't indicate that she was in a senior position.

Lovely old picture anyway.

Regards
Robert