Dating Photographs

A REID roadside picnic - 1928/9

A lot of magazine articles dedicated to the subject of dating photographs, would use clues such as fashion and the model of the car to date this photograph.  Fortunately, my grandmother wrote on the back of almost every photo so I can use my family tree to make the job a bit easier:

"Grandad Reid; Grandma Reid; Aunt Mona; & probably Ron; & Eric; Uncle Walter's car"

'Grandad and Grandma Reid' are Alexander Gibson REID and Janet HUNTER who married in Glasgow 1886 and emigrated to New Zealand soon after.  It's quite exciting to have photographs of people who for a long time were only names on the 1871 and 1881 censuses.

'Aunt Mona' was mentioned in my previous post so it is also quite exciting to have a picture of her.  'Uncle Walter' must have been taking the photo.  They married in 1925 - my grandmother and her older sister were flowergirls for their wedding - so the photo is obviously post 1925. 

Eric BRUNDELL, the baby being held by 'Grandma Reid', was born in October 1928 which means this photograph was taken late 1928 or early 1929.

'Grandad Reid' died in late 1929 which to me makes this photo as poignant as the one of Ngaire (see here).

I'd love to know the make and model of 'Uncle Walter's car'.  Any vintage car enthusiasts care to hasten a guess?

Member DISconnect

When I log on to ancestry.co.uk nowadays, it shows me 'Recent Member Connect Activity'. Amongst other things, this means I'm notified when people attach records to their trees that I have also attached to mine. I think that's actually quite a cool feature. I can now connect with people who are more likely to be family members .

The idea seems to be to make connections with possible family members, however I think it may have another useful purpose - identifying those who are NOT connected to your tree.

For example, I can see that one particular user has added two of my ALLEN census records to their own tree. One record is for William H Allen but this user has added it to a William G Allen in their tree. The same user has added an 1861 certificate to another person who I do not recognise as a member of this branch.

It is possible that this user has added these records to their tree in error - probably misreading the handwriting (Who hasn't done that?). With this feature, we can make contact quickly and establish whether a mistake has been made so the user does not have to waste any further time, money and energy.

I must confess that I've let my ancestry membership lapse so I can't actually check these tree 'connections'. They may very well be true connections or it is possible that I am the one who is incorrect. Nevertheless, I think it is extremely helpful to find out sooner rather than later that you are barking up 'the wrong tree'.