I am looking at a set of glass negatives and staring back at me are four people of whom I know nothing.
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| Unknown man, unknown date |
The images are undated, there is no hint of a location nor the name of a photographer.
All of which means my four people are and will remain a mystery.
They are part of a collection of glass negatives belonging to Phil Portus who acquired them a very long time ago.
Amongst the others there are four pictures of Worsely and Wardley Halls in Worsely which we can attribute to J.T. Sandell from South Norwood in London, who pioneered a new photographic process, but died in near poverty in 1906.*
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| Gardens, date unknown |
But it is impossible to say whether these four come from Mr. Sandell.
Three might be but one I am pretty sure dates to the Great War and will postdate Mr. Sandell.
The quality is mixed, and so the two of a man woman in their gardens lack a degree of sharpness but still offer up lots of detail, from the flowers to the rain butt, watering can and hint of their houses.
The other two are better, and the image of the man in uniform prompts so many questions, about his identity, that uniform and the location.
Equally the picture of the soldier and his wife throw up a heap more questions.
She appears to be wearing a wedding ring and he wears a red cross badge on his right arm, and carries a stick. My Wikipedia tells me that “In the British Army before World War I, swagger sticks were carried by all other ranks when off duty, as part of their walking out uniform.
The stick took the form of a short cane of polished wood, with an ornamented metal head of regimental pattern.
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| The couple, date unknown |
The usual custom was for the private soldier or non-commissioned officer (NCO) to carry the stick tucked under his arm. … Until 1939 swagger sticks were still carried by peacetime regular soldiers when ‘walking out’ of barracks, but the practice ceased with the outbreak of World War II”.**
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| The background, date unknown |
Added to which there may be a clue in the background, which has escaped me.
So, all still to play for.
Picture; four glass negatives, unknown date, courtesy of Phil Portus
*In search of Worsley mysteries …….. two halls….. five old pictures and …. an enigmatic clue, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/2023/04/in-search-of-worsley-mysteries-two.html
**Swagger stick, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swagger_stick
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