Family photos

[smallhobbit]

I've been sorting through some of my mother's possessions, prior to the sale of her property, and came across some interesting family photos.  But before I share those, here are a couple of other things I found.

Firstly, a writing desk - when you first look at it, it's just a wooden box, but inside:



I'm assuming it was my grandfather's.  And then a little group of treasures: a box of cherry sticks pre-decimalisation; a set of the first decimalisation coins, which I shall pass to my granddaughter, and an old spirit level which will go to my son, who collects old tools.



And so to the photos, the first two are, I assume, my maternal grandmother's mother:



Then there are pictures of my mother and her two sisters (both older) taken in the 1930s:



My mother and her sister taken in 1944, and their oldest sister and mother from about 1950:



And my grandparents, again in the early 1950s with WT (White Trousers) the cat, and Danny, the corgi:



There's my father when he was in the Navy in WWII, and a keen cricketer:



Then we come to the wedding photos, firstly my father's brother, Jim in 1945:



Then my parents' wedding in 1954:



With their parents:



And siblings, including Jim's two children:



And the full group photo:



And lastly, a photo taken when my aunt got married in New Zealand in 1962, the family in England took this photo (I'm standing with my grandmother):



However, this is my favourite photo:

Comments

[badly_knitted]

I've got one of those sets of decimal coins!

Aren't old family photographs wonderful? I love that last one!

I've got loads of old ones like that but sadly I have no idea who a lot of the people are. Mum grew up in London during the Blitz, with her three brothers and two sisters. They lived at the Drill Hall were her father was caretaker, and during air raids they went down to the underground rifle range.

[smallhobbit]

There's quite a number of photos which I don't know who they are, but these at least I can name. My mother made a note at some point of all those who were in the group wedding photo, so I could name them, even if I don't know exactly who they were - there are wonderful names, light 'Old Till' and 'Young Till'.

[badly_knitted]

I wish mum had got around to doing something similar. She could still name all her old schoolfriends (I can't remember mine), but never wrote any of it down. I have pictures of me when I was little with the aunts and great aunts and so forth, but although I remember mot of the names, I'm not sure which is which. Some I know for sure, but there are so many mysteries and now there's nobody left to ask. I used to love listening to mum's stories of her childhood.

[smallhobbit]

My mother's side of the family was small, most of the relatives were my father's side - my dad's parents both coming from large families, so I'm not sure my mother would be able to help much now.

[badly_knitted]

I knew all of mum's side of the family, but not all of dad's - his mum got around a bit. I knew one of dad's sisters and her husband, I was very close with them, and I met his half-brother when I was eighteen but lost touch again later, but there was another sister or half-sister I never met or even spoke to. My sister met her, but never bothered to put her in touch with me. She's like that *shrugs*

Mum had the bigger family, but they're all gone on both sides now, except for a few cousins and their children.

[alisanne]

What wonderful treasures!
The photos are great. <3

[smallhobbit]

Indeed.

I was thrilled to find the photos - a real heritage.

[sanguinity]

Oh, wonderful!

And what are cherry sticks? Google suggests candy, but... yes? no?

[smallhobbit]

Thank you.

Google is mistaken - these are plain cocktail sticks.

[hardboiledbaby]

Old photos are so awesome, what a delightful find! And that last one is especially excellent :D

[smallhobbit]

Indeed. It's the combination of being another era but knowing I'm connected to it.

[vix_spes]

What amazing photos. I do so love old photos and the stories that they can tell.

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. I was so pleased when I found them.

[margaret_r]

Your mother had some wonderful treasures, love the writing desk! The photos are fantastic, such great mementos of you family and their lives. Old photos are to be much valued.

[smallhobbit]

I didn't even realise she had the writing desk - I suspect her sister had it first (from their father), but then my mother took it. I'm so pleased to have found the photos - they will be passed on to my son in time.

[castiron]

Lovely! The writing desk is great. And a facepalm photo!

[smallhobbit]

Thank you - I was quite excited to find the writing desk. Every wedding should have one!

[kat_lair]

Awesome old photos. The last one is definitely a treasure!

[smallhobbit]

Thank you. Not many people would have kept it.

[mafief]

Woo! Those are fun treasures.
Spirit levels! That’s what they are called. I just call them levels.

These are such a treasure and thank you for sharing them with us all. I wooed and cooed at them all.
- The change in fashion between the first set and the third set is impressive.
- WT is an awesome name for a cat.
- Your dad is so tall (or at least he seems to be compared to your mom).
- Aw :) They look very happy in their wedding pics. Very beautiful.
- Ack!!! Tiny Hobbitseeees! You are looking well behaved in this shot.
- The candid shot is priceless (I like these the best and most of my photos of my family are like this). ;) It’s just fun to reminder to me that humans are humans and have been acting like humans (with facepalms) for generations.

[smallhobbit]

I'm delighted you liked the pictures.

I think WT was so called because White Trousers really was too long ...

My dad was just under six foot, my mum just over five foot, hence the height difference ;) And yes, they do look happy.

It's a brilliant shot that last one!

[corvidology]

I adore that last picture. It's the man with his hand over his face that makes it perfect. :D

[smallhobbit]

That's my grandfather (my father's father). He only had one arm - he lost the other during WWI. He had an artificial arm, but he kept it in a bottom drawer.