Dating Old Photo Album - Storey side

[clmagpie]

Hello,

I recently came into possession of an old photo album from my paternal grandmother's side of the family. There are about 50 photos in all. Luckily, my great-great-grandfather wrote down who some of the people are.

The majority seem to have been taken in the 1870s, going off who is shown and ages of others.

I've attached one I'm curious about. I'd like to know thoughts on dates, etc. There is nothing on the reverse, no photographer's marks or anything. The photo is approx 10cm by 6cm.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Wiggy]

My guess is 1860s

Wiggy

[sparrett]

 
It looks a little like a wedding occaision.  the woman with posy and floral hair decorations.

An age difference between the the couple (if he is the bridegroom)

Sue

ADDING.  There is to me some similarity in the faces of the two.

Maybe he is her father?

[Neale1961]

I thought it might be a wedding photo too, due to the woman holding floral posy.

With a better quality, high resolution scan, the photo would come up so well after work by the talented restorers on this forum.

[clmagpie]

Thanks all for the responses.

Wiggy - thank you. I did think it looked older than the others in the album.

sparrett & Neal1961 - Exact same thinking as me when I saw the posy. The age difference has me stumped, but I do think there is a similarity in their faces. The roundness of the chin, the nose...

As for a better quality scan... I'll see what I can do!

I have a lot of other photos I'd appreciate some thoughts on. What's the best way to do that? Should I share them in this thread, or create a new post?

Thanks all!

[Neale1961]

I’d probably start a new post for a new photo.

[Neale1961]

Another thought - in case it helps with working out who it is.
If it is a wedding photo, I think the bride is an older woman, maybe 30s - 40s. Maybe a second marriage for her?
The man is really quite elderly, maybe 80s.

[jim1]

What you have have is a copy of an Ambrotype.
They were in use throughout the 1850's & into the early 60's.
I would suggest by the style of clothing of both that this is 1850's.
As an aside Ambrotypes were collodion positives & as such no negative was produced.
This was because the dark areas came out dark & light areas light.
The glass medium used is what you see in the photo.
The downside of Ambrotypes is what you get is a mirror image & you can tell this by his
waistcoat which appears buttoned the wrong side.

[clmagpie]

Here is what think is a better scan. Sorry, I'm a novice at this, so I hope it's alright.

That's very interesting, thank you, Jim.

I'm going to be spending the rest of the weekend looking through my research to possibly put some names to these faces. They don't make it easy, do they?

Thanks all