Photo Date?

I'm not very good on clothing, but from a quick glance at a couple of books I'd hazard a guess at about 1850-1870. (Hairstyle can also be a good indicator of date, but I'm not very good at that either.)

The dark (?black) dresses, sad faces and fairly prominent wedding ring suggest to me that this could be a mother and child in mourning. The flowers that the girl is holding are almost certainly significant: they've been hand-coloured to make them more prominent, but as well as that there was a whole language of flowers. If they can be identified, it should be possible to decode some meaning from them.

Finally, the physical image itself can provide good dating clues. Printing processes changed over time, as did the medium (glass, card etc), and the size and style of mount. So if you're able to scan the whole mount, and anything on the back, and tell us its size, that might be helpful.
 
This site might help
Code: 
http://freepages.family.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~victorianphotographs/



Mods - I tried to break the link (honest) but never seem to get it right, so if it needs breaking, please can you help?
(Sorted ;))
 
Being up close Andrew, can you see much to describe of the brooch the Lady is wearing a her neck?
Is the child's dress skirt a tartan pattern of just stripes ? -which may be green.

edit photos 1865-70 show little girls with the straight across neckline, ruffled petticoats & or longer bloomers. Also the similar hair styling.
 
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Here is the crux though...........The family story is that the little girl is Millicent Hutchinson and she was brought up by an uncle who was the governor of a London prison. I have worked back through my tree with concrete connections from my Great Grandmother and have her in all the Census' to 1861. Millicent Hodgkinson was born in 1856 in Milford, Derbyshire. She married William Butler in 1877, her father, William died in 1888. I am at a loss as to why the picture is a mournful one. Although a lovely gift, it has asked more questions than it has answered.
 
Sometimes in family history some questions we have are never answered.:( But that doesn't mean that I stop trying to find out, even if I revisit some ways down the track.:)
 
Sis said:
Sometimes in family history some questions we have are never answered.:( But that doesn't mean that I stop trying to find out, even if I revisit some ways down the track.:)
Click to expand...
I believe there is no smoke without fire with these family stories and they have some origin yet to be discovered.
 
Bear in mind that the technology back then required the subject to stay very still lest they become a blur. Millicent (was she a Millie?) seems to be focused on something ahead and to her right, and might even be propped against something in the chair to encourage her to be still. A serious look is easier to maintain than a smile.

In my photo, little May looks almost scared. My "new" cousin (he's in his 80's) also included a close-up of her face - and she is a little blurred - which just enhances the frightened appearance. :nailbiting:

Just a thot. ;)
 
Well done with the snips of such a small photo Andrew. Yesterday the similar photos I found were mainly from USA & again today from Civil War. The site link is way too long so I will try to give an idea here:civil war mourners.JPG
The broach wasn't easy as there are so many of them, I keyed in Ladies broaches /& mourning from 1800s & found many similar. They were probably such an individual thing so many styles. It may have been a gift especially chosen for her. Clothing however seemed to fit the time.
 
Does anyone have any idea what the flowers are? I did a quick search for language of flowers etc, and there seems to be plenty of info out there - my problem is that I'm not a keen gardener, so I'm not sure what they are.
 
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