My ‘ragamuffin’ great-grandmother

I’m interested in accurately dating this photo which I believe Jayne can do precisely by dress. My dad, aged in his mid-70s, has been going through the biscuit tin of old family photos, some of which I’ve never seen before. This photo is on metal (would it be on copper?) but backed with dark paint and measures roughly 7cm x 8cm. As far as I am aware, the child in the centre is my great-grandmother on my dad’s side, Sarah Elizabeth Hankey (1865-1953). She is pictured with her sisters Emily, 1869-1955 (on the left as viewed) and Clara, 1871-1910 (on the right as viewed). They lived in Warrington, Cheshire, though their home may have been in Lancashire at the time. I assume they are wearing their Sunday best, as having their photo taken would have been a rare occurrence for children from what was presumably quite a poor Victorian household. When I saw the photo for the first time I fell in love with it: it reminded me of how I felt watching the Stephen Poliakoff TV programme ‘Shooting the Past’ twenty years ago. I love that they look a bit, how can I put this, ragamuffin, I suppose.

Phil Boardman

AThank you for contacting us, originally via Twitter. Firstly, I’m thrilled that you mention ‘Shooting the Past’ as this a mesmerising Stephen Poliakoff TV drama (1999) that I’d recommend to any FT readers interested in old photos and the stories that they might tell.

An early tintype

Judging from your description and your full-length scans showing deterioration of the photographic emulsion (which can look like paint) at the bottom of the plate, this is a tintype – or ferrotype, to use its correct term. A photographic image struck directly onto a thin sheet of iron, this format was first patented in the United States in the mid-1850s, but did not become fashionable in the UK much before the mid-1870s. Unique ‘on-the-spot’ photographs created inside a special camera where all the operations occurred, and handed to the customer while still wet, tintypes were favoured by outdoor and travelling photographers peddling their trade on the beach, at fairgrounds, in parks and at other popular venues frequented by the masses. Established photographers were often snooty about the cheap, quick tintype photograph, although urban high street studios catering for the lower end of the market might offer tintypes to the local working-classes. The latter might explain the setting of this photograph which looks to be set in a rudimentary (or temporary) studio with draped curtain behind.

Channelling adult fashions

Going by the striking appearance of these young sisters, this is a very early British tintype dating to the early-mid 1870s. Their ornate costumes reflect the exuberant modes worn by adult women at that time, a key feature their layered garments comprising hip-length tunic-dresses arranged over tiered, flounced skirts. Whereas ladies then wore a pronounced bustle projection behind the waist, juvenile variants simply echoed the admired bouffant effect with frills and flounces and included the profuse pleated or gathered trimmings also fashionable for adult dress. Hemlines were always much shorter for girls, and we glimpse here the subtle gradations in hem lengths that existed between young children and adolescent girls. In fact, Clara (right) wears a very child-like frock with short puffed sleeves and a 1850s/1860s-style bodice. Her dress was perhaps passed down from her older sisters: indeed their clothes might all be pre-worn, although seemingly each outfit here fits its young wearer reasonably well.

Dressed up for the occasion

Usually I would date the dress here to c.1871-1876, but your great grandmother, Sarah, looks about 9/10 years old, the others around 6/7 and 4/5, so we can narrow the date of this scene to c.1875/6. The girls are certainly ‘dressed up’ in their favourite, fanciest clothes for their special portrait, profuse jewellery adding to their slight ‘ragamuffin’ look! Chunky jewellery was fashionable in the 1860s/1870s but not all young girls wore such prominent ornaments! JS

These three sisters look as though they have enjoyed decking themselves out in their fanciest clothes for their special portrait