Could this be great-granny Jenny?
QThis is one of our family photos, handed down, without – as is so often the case – any useful details written on it. However, my father and I are fairly convinced that is shows my greatgranny Janet/jenny Foster sitting in the bottom right of the picture as a young girl (as it has a great likeness to named photos of Janet/ Jenny in her 20s). Janet/jenny was born in 1887. Do you feel that her appearance and fashions in the picture would be consistent with someone born in 1887? If it is Jenny, then could the girl bottom left be her younger sister Grace (b1889), and could the older woman be her mother (b1856)? Very much looking forward to hearing what you think. Helen Tovey A Like most family photographs surviving from the 1800s and early-1900s, this lovely scene is carefully posed in a professional photographer’s studio.
All female family group
It is a particularly picturesque image displaying an artistic painted backcloth evoking a wooded glade opening out towards a distant cottage, while the subjects of the picture gather in the foreground around a solid bench-like structure in a pleasing composition appropriate for this all-female family group. Seven figures would once have been a large number to successfully picture inside the studio, but extended family group photographs were becoming more common by the late-1800s.
late leg-o’-mutton sleeves
Fortunately we can date this photograph very closely from the smart appearance of your ancestors, especially the three adult women wearing dark-coloured bodices. Their costumes differ in that the younger ladies wear bodices/blouses and contrasting tailored skirts, whereas the older seated lady wears a more formal ensemble of matching black bodice and skirt. However all three clearly display sleeve shapes that confirm a year at the close of the Victorian era: firmly 1898-1901. The seated lady and lady far left wear the late version of the 1890s leg-o’-mutton sleeve featuring a high shoulder frill or epaulette typical of 1898/99, while the plainer sleeves of the lady centre-back could suggest the years 1900 or 1901.
Might the most senior figure be in mourning?
Comprising four grown women and three girls, we can reasonably assume that this represents a family group portrait: indeed, there seems a good facial resemblance between several of the females here. Following convention, the photographer has placed at least some of the children on the floor in front (although a young girl is also seated right), younger/taller adults behind, while the most senior figure is seated – the older lady centre-right, the family matriarch, who may also be the main focus of the picture. She appears broadly middle-aged and could perhaps be, as you suggest, your 2x greatgrandmother (b.1856): for instance, she may have commissioned this photograph to mark her milestone 45th birthday in 1901. However, I believe she could be wearing a form of mourning dress – possibly black crepe-trimmed garments and a headdress resembling a white crepe widow’s cap. If you can establish that she (name not given) was a widow at this time – c.1898-1901 – then her attire would support her identity; otherwise, I wonder if perhaps she represents an older generation.
Thoughts on ages & relationships
In truth, it is hard to work out all of the relationships here, as some ladies look to be aged in their 30s or thereabouts, so cannot all be the daughters of a 40-something widow: perhaps they are the matriarch’s younger sisters, with one of their daughters in fashionable sailor costume (right)? Or is the mature seated lady in fact older and possibly mother to all of the adult women? That could make her your 3 x great-grandmother. Either way, the girls in white calf-length frocks do match, as you suspect, your great-granny Janet/jenny, who would be aged about 11-14 and her sister Grace, aged 9-12. Hopefully there are enough clues here to help you firmly identify more of these ancestors and perhaps work out the likely occasion.