Identifiers on photos

[lydiaann]

Not sure how many people have seen the recent 'thread' in the Letters to the Daily Telegraph, but it was regarding identifying B&W/old photos.  There were some funny ones too:  "Here are all of us with Flossie the dog".  Flossie WAS identified but the lady who had received a package of photos from the children of a rellie who had died had no idea who "all of us" were!  Another one also received a package of photos, some of which were annotated but a lot which said "I have no idea who this is" - and, of course, neither does the recipient.  I've just got round to organising my 'Genealogy' box in my e-mail.  In there are some photos I received from a cousin who, sadly, died 18 months ago.  How I wish I had done it sooner: "Granny Taylor with Grandma Butterworth and 'Aunt Hannah' ".  I know the first 2, but not the Aunt.  As I and one 90-year-old are now 'top of the tree' and she is too frail and too far away, I guess I shall have to branch out in the Butterworths to find Aunt Hannah.  And, knowing our family, she might not be really related at all!  Happy Days!

Needless to say, I have started to go through all the B&W photos and am identifying them for the next generation, should they wish to keep them!

Stay safe, just a few more weeks...

[aghadowey]

We've got a lovely pair of photos in a family album (the two pages facing each other)- one labelled 'Father' and the other 'Mother." Sounds like the couple had at least one child but no idea who they are, no indication of photographer or anything.
Another addressed to father-in-law's uncle (born in 1850s) is signed on back 'Old Man' and even though Uncle Johnny knew him we haven't a clue- again no way to even tell where photo was taken.
Even better is one my own mother identified as me taken at Easter sitting on chair my father had as child at the steps to my grandmother's house. My mother clearly remembered the Easter outfit (pink wool coat and matching hat) so what could go wrong? A few years later cousin said it was her daughter! She'd taken the photo (still had the negative) at my grandmother's in my father's chair and purchased the outfit which was handed down to me. We look nothing alike but hat covered hair completely otherwise the mistake would have been caught quicker.

[Zaphod99]

I once read that years ago non-annotated photos are usually of people so close to the photo owner that they didn't really need notes. It sounds good advice.

Zaph

[Chris Doran]

"Granny Taylor with Grandma Butterworth and 'Aunt Hannah' ".  I know the first 2, but not the Aunt.

Snap! (sort of). We have one on which Mum wrote: "Auntie Annie", but we don't know whether she meant her aunt or ours. That aside, the most likely candidate is an Aunt Hannah.

[Ruskie]

I sympathize. I have a couple of my brother in law’s family albums. Some of the photos have obviously been identified much later with vague names like “great great grandmother”, “great grandfather” etc. Frustrating. 

[Kiltpin]

My wife's uncle was killed at the battle of Pusan, Korea, aged 19. He was in the Black Watch. He had re-badged from the Royal Corps of Transport. 

We have all sorts of pictures of his grave, his medals, school reports, autopsy report, but we have no idea what he looked like. We do have, though, 3 snapshots of 3 cheery lads in RCT uniforms recovering a Bedford lorry. On the back of each, in his own handwriting is "Me and my mates". 

Regards 

Chas

[MaecW]

And then there is the problem of all those friends of parents who were "courtesy" Uncles and Aunts.
Two of us in my family spent much time trying to link a lady identified as our mother's aunt until we finally worked out that she was not a relative at all but a close friend of mother's mother !

[Jebber]

It is one of the golden rules of Family History, note who everyone is on your photographs.

 It is something I did when I began my research over thirty years ago.
Some remain a mystery, because my mother couldn’t remember who everyone was in her photo albums.

[Kiltpin]

When I scan a photograph, I also create a Notepad document, with the same name. The computer will allow it because one is a .jpg and the other is .txt. Doing this has two advantages - 

1 - Because the names are the same, they will always stick together in the file system 

and 

2 - I can add any other information - All the Who, What, Where, When, Why and Hows 

Regards 

Chas