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Old Photographs, Recognition, Handwriting Deciphering => Handwriting Deciphering & Recognition => Topic started by: PaddyInWales on Tuesday 21 February 12 15:19 GMT (UK)
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Here's a poser for you: can you identify this event, from the soldiers, their insignia, or other people present? There appear to be some British top-brass, some civilians, some wives, some politicians, maybe an American with a bow tie/plus fours? And I'm sure Lord Lucan is in there!!! No inscription on reverse.
From a small collection of photos mounted by an ASC Captain in charge of transporting horses in the Boer and then Gallipoli in WW1. He was also based in Malta for some time as his wife had 2 children there.
Thanks in anticipation of your help
Paddy
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This looks just post WW1 & possibly into the early 20's.There are medal ribbons on display with one officer with a medal so maybe a medal ceremony.
jim
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The man on the front row second from the right as you look at it looks like Rudyard Kipling
James
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Thanks James, and thanks Jim: you could both be right! This is Rudyard Kipling in the 1920s:
Paddy
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At least x2 senior officers in the front...generals....
What we could do with is a higher resolution scan pse...might be able to confirm ID on the brass
dont think its a medal pde....more likely a sports event...
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Thanks for the suggestion of a sports event, it caused me to have a eureka moment at 4am: another photo in the album is of our ASC Captain on horseback leaping over a hedge/brook, showjumping style. It's titled "Near Eastbourne, around 1920" (the album was compiled by his son after he died.
I reckon the sports event you suggest may well be equine: Rudyard Kipling (if it be he) was very keen on and wrote about horse sports and lived close by at Burwash.
We think we may have another identification: Lt-Col John Henry Patterson, seated front far left (image below) - he and our Captain worked with the Zion Mule Corps in Gallipoli.
There is another, sharper (and wider: 4 more people) scan on its way to me, will put it here when it arrives.
Paddy
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Here's a turnout for the books: the National Army Museum say "The dignitary seated left of centre is Arthur, Duke of Connaught." Who happens to be Queen Victoria's youngest son. And seated next to him looks like Princess Mary, aunt to our present Queen.
I've updated the original picture with something a bit more hi-res: below is the dignitary and for comparison his public image.
This looks more and more like an early meeting of the Royal Horse Show, which started 1907 but went to several venues after WW1. Anyone know where?
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What a fascinating photo...just bookmarking.
That couldn't be Queen Mary in the front row with the dark hat, could it??
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Good point: it looks remarkably like her! But surely real royalty wouldn't just perch on chairs on the grass, or maybe they would if there were horses involved! I'll put a piccy of Queen and Princess on this reply, so others can compare.
Got to work out who the other top brass is now, with the prominent walking stick. And what about that American with the fashionable plus-fours and bow tie. Bit early for Bob Hope...
Paddy
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Pretty sure that is Kipling, flanked by his daughter Elsie and her husband George Bambridge.
See wedding photo at http://www.bambridge.org/php/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=576
The lady on Elsie's right could be Rudyard's wife Carrie, but it's hard to tell.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_dHMUkWjxiWM/TOCDN1i-DbI/AAAAAAAAHZQ/NaRYmfp_m8U/s1600/U101129P-A.jpg
Elsie and George were married in 1924, so the photo is probably after that.
Adrian
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I think you're onto something, Adrian! :)
And George Bambridge died in 1934 so before that, obviously. He looks quite a bit older in this than in his wedding photo.
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Adrian, spot on, thanks for confirming Kipling Corner! Well done.
And I think you might be right too about Carrie Kipling: do you know what year the photo you linked of her was taken? She appears to have the same face but different body...
I've noticed that five of the men have got round disks suspended from their breast pocket (eg far right, and the man standing next to the vicar) - anyone got any thoughts?
Thanks to all contributors to this thread: a great place to solve problems!
Paddy
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And the photo owner (my bro-in-law) points out "fantastic research - I understand that Arthur Connaught's letters to Kipling are in the National archive and there was a long standing connection between them"
So you were right then! Please keep up the good work, this is better than the Sgt Pepper album cover!
Thanks again
Paddy
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;D
BTW I think I see Lord Lucan too :o :o :o ;D
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I've been told that we also have a spitting image of General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, front row with walking stick: see below.
Someone also pointed out that the Duke of Connaught appears to be wearing a black armband, which might help with dating (his wife died 1817, probably a bit early as we are looking at mid 20s, so maybe another royal?).
Paddy
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From what I've come across, originally the black mourning armband was considered only suitable for military or other uniformed men. In later periods it became acceptable for civilian men. The mourning period for widowers was, I think, a year...so this could be within that time frame.
If that's actually Princess Mary beside him and the armband were in honor of some royal, I wouldn't expect to see her dressed in such a light colour.
Just a thought :)
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Thanks, a good thought.
Something else that occurs to me is that all the people identified so far are high-echelon freemasons. Another one I've identified today in the photo is William Howard Taft, one-time US president, who was in the UK in 1922 to work on a justice system - he's the chap in the boater, and he's a mason.
Also Googling around, I find that the Duke of Connaught popped up fairly regularly at horse shows, including one in France in 1917.
Paddy
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That's amazing...I do think it's him. He was Chief Justice after leaving the presidency and lost a few pounds.
Here he is as a Justice and below is a crop from the big photo.
I think he's even wearing the same shirt as above ;D ;D
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I've brightened up the original image a bit and am reposting it here for comparison so we don't have to keep flipping back to Page 1 :)
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So you've pretty well pinned down the date...in that case, who was the Duke's armband for, do you suppose?
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Thanks for sharpening and reposting the group photo Chinakay: yes that is definitely Taft, I have just found an image of him on horseback in the same boater! Also an image of his daughter Helen Taft (married name Taft-Manning) sidesaddle on horseback: though she's much older in the group photo I'm sure it her to the right of William Taft.
The picture seems to be full of celebs, and based on a horse show: but still not 100% sure of date (though 1922 is looking good) and no idea of location, though Sussex is the most likely since the original owner of it served in the RASC in Eastbourne 1918/19 and Brighton 1919/1923.
We're getting there, thanks to help in this Forum!
Paddy
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I've noticed that five of the men have got round disks suspended from their breast pocket (eg far right, and the man standing next to the vicar) - anyone got any thoughts?
Running with the idea that this may be an equine event, then perhaps they are similar to what is used these days to show the holder has access to a particular enclosure, i.e. winner's enclosure, royal enclosure.
Also, given the suspected area is Sussex, what about Hickstead - when were events first held there??
And there is someone, possibly a waitress in black with a white pinny on the veranda, perhaps the purpose of the building was to provide refreshments etc.
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Could the man with the white hair standing to the left of Howard Taft be William Ferguson Massey - who was Prime Minister of New Zealand until 1925.
Yorkslass
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Yes, thanks to Chief Justice Taft and the New York Times archive, I've pinned the dates to between June 16th and July 8th 1922. He had a pretty full itinerary, but apart from speaking and lunches I haven't yet found anything remotely equestrian!
Paddy
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Could the man with the white hair standing to the left of Howard Taft be William Ferguson Massey - who was Prime Minister of New Zealand until 1925.
Yorkslass
Certainly does look like him, thanks for the tipoff: I'll see if he could be around in late June 1922.
Paddy
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If anyone has access to The Times archive, could they perhaps look in the issue of 21 June 1922 for the report on (and maybe a guest list from) the wedding the previous day of Leonora "Lorna" Stanley Baldwin, daughter of 'the' Stanley Baldwin, and Capt. Hon. Arthur Jared Palmer Howard, son of Margaret Baroness Strathcona, at St Margaret's, Westminster.
According to Kipling's Letters, the Kiplings were all present and Elsie was a bridesmaid. She subsequently accompanied the couple on their honeymoon to Colonsay, Argyll.
The Lord Lucan-alike in the doorway at the back bears more than a passing resemblance to the bridegroom's brother Donald Sterling Palmer Howard!
http://thepeerage.com/p7745.htm#i77444
Adrian
P.S. Stanley Baldwin and Kipling were cousins, and George Bambridge was a close family friend of the Baldwins, having served with Leonora's brother Oliver in the Irish Guards in WW1.
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Doesn't he just!
Drat, I was hoping it was Lucan...I used to work in the pub where his wife ran after he murdered the nanny. Not at that time, though :)
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Good evening,
Not hickstead I would say, Duggie Bunn was born 1928 at Selsey. I don't know what year he purchased Hickstead but it started life as a horse events arena about 1960. I dont recognise that building as being there.
John915
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Thanks to all for contribitions: will look up the 21 June wedding.
The black armband on the Duke of Connaught's arm is for soldier Sir Henry Wilson, who was shot in London on 22 June 1922 (the Duke was a pall bearer at his funeral).
Justice Taft went back to the US on July 8th 1922.
So this photo was taken between those dates.
Could it be Newmarket? The Royals and the Duke were reported returning from there on July 1st. Those circles could be royal enclosure passes.
Paddy
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If anyone has access to The Times archive, could they perhaps look in the issue of 21 June 1922 for the report on (and maybe a guest list from) the wedding the previous day of Leonora "Lorna" Stanley Baldwin, daughter of 'the' Stanley Baldwin, and Capt. Hon. Arthur Jared Palmer Howard, son of Margaret Baroness Strathcona, at St Margaret's, Westminster.
According to Kipling's Letters, the Kiplings were all present and Elsie was a bridesmaid. She subsequently accompanied the couple on their honeymoon to Colonsay, Argyll.
The Lord Lucan-alike in the doorway at the back bears more than a passing resemblance to the bridegroom's brother Donald Sterling Palmer Howard!
http://thepeerage.com/p7745.htm#i77444
Adrian
P.S. Stanley Baldwin and Kipling were cousins, and George Bambridge was a close family friend of the Baldwins, having served with Leonora's brother Oliver in the Irish Guards in WW1.
Thanks Adrian, yes I did get the Times report, and have been able to add a couple of ringers to the list...
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You have all been so helpful here in the Forum, from start to finish. I have now solved the major where/when problem with your help, so thought you deserved a progress report! I will still be working on naming those faces though, and would be very glad for any thoughts you have too. Here is the list to date, and below I will repeat the photo and my mapping image. William Howard Taft is The Key that unlocked the mystery!!!
Paddy
Group photo taken at or near Fritwell Manor, Oxford, home of John Simon (6)
on July 1st or 2nd 1922. Note round passes worn by some people suggesting an army equine event of some kind, perhaps organised for the Tafts (14 & 15)
1 ?
2 ? Uniformed
3 ?
4 ? Uniformed
5 Donald Sterling Palmer Howard, 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.
6 John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, host of this gathering. He was later to become Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer. He had “an unfortunately chilly manner”: in 1922 he was MP for Spen Valley and deputy leader of the Liberal Party. Husband of 25.
7 ?
8 ?
9 ?
10 ?
11 ?
12 ?
13 ? Possibly William Ferguson Massey, Prime Minister Of New Zealand 1912 – 1925: made at least five visits to UK during this time, not yet been able to prove presence in 1922
14 US Chief Justice William Howard Taft, formerly US President. On three week fact-finding visit to Britain, 16th June-8th July 1922
15 Helen (“Nellie”) Taft, wife of 14
16 ? Uniformed
17 ?
18 ? Uniformed
19 Bonar Law?
20 ?
21 ? Uniformed
22 Captain William Masters, R.A.S.C.
23 ?
24 ? Uniformed
25 Kathleen, Viscountess Simon, hostess of this gathering. Wife of 6
26 Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, favourite son of Queen Victoria. Note black armband: he is in mourning for the death of his close friend Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, shot by IRA gunmen in London, June 22nd 1922.
27 General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, great friend of Lord Kitchener
28 Carrie Kipling, wife of 30
29 Elsie Kipling, daughter of 30 and 28
30 Rudyard Kipling
31 Captain George Louis St Clair Bambridge, Diplomat, of Wimpole Hall, near Cambridge: will marry 29 in 1924
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No 23 looks like Miss Bowes-Lyon
http://www.google.co.uk/search?rls=com.microsoft&hl=en&q=queen%20mum&spell=1&sa=X
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Wow, what a gathering :o :D
Great sleuthing, everyone, I've been following along and am very impressed.
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According to the NZ papers available on http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/ Mr Massey was still in NZ on the 29th June, so I don't think he's in the photo :-\
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No 23 looks like Miss Bowes-Lyon
http://www.google.co.uk/search?rls=com.microsoft&hl=en&q=queen%20mum&spell=1&sa=X
I have to say, I agree with you, though the image is rather blurred, that it does look like the Queen Mum at 22 years old (a year before she married Albert, Duke of York. I reproduce it below in higher resolution. I would assume she is sitting next to a partner of some kind, but it doesn't look much like Bertie, also his uniform would have RAF wings above the breast pocket.
Comments welcome!
Paddy
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Her left arm is behind hold some sort of stick or rail as if she is sat slight behind the army officer, also the officer stands out (Sort of 3 D effect infont of her) he seems a lot older to be her man but not impossible.
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Doesn't look to me like Bertie.
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/The_Independent_Air_Force_Dinner_-_Prince_Albert%2C_Trenchard_and_Courtney.jpg)
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?
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Her left arm is behind hold some sort of stick or rail
Umbrella.
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Good morning,
One of the unidentified officers is possibly the dukes equerry who would have gone where ever the duke went. Eric Henry Bonham 3rd Bt was equerry but I can't find what date up to.
John915
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James Stuart, Earl of Findhorn up until 1922/1923 was Duke of York's equerry.
He was about 23 yrs old at the time so I don't think any of those officers were equerries.
James
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Good morning,
That is true but the Duke of York is not in this picture! Major Bonham was in the Scots Guards, Duke of Connaught was colonel of the Scots Guards until 1908. A great many equerries were and are older than 23 and are usually drawn from a regt of which the personage is or has been the Colonel.
John915
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Good morning,
One of the unidentified officers is possibly the dukes equerry who would have gone where ever the duke went. Eric Henry Bonham 3rd Bt was equerry but I can't find what date up to.
John915
From the London Gazette:
Prince Arthur of Connaught has been pleased
to appoint Major John Lamplugh Wickham,
Reserve of Officers, Scots Guards, to be
Equerry to His Royal Highness in the room of
Major Eric Henry Bonham, M.V.O., resigned.
Prince Arthur of Connaught has been pleased
to appoint Major Eric Henry Bonham, M.V.O.,
lately Comptroller and Equerry to His Royal
Highness, to be an Extra Equerry.
These appointments to date from the 1st
July 1926
So there we have it: he would have been equerry in 1922 and so we would expect him to be present. I haven't found an image of him en regalia but will attach an image from the National Gallery taken 1928 - he certainly looks like front row 2nd from left (#24).
Thanks John915!
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The man on the front row second from the right as you look at it looks like Rudyard Kipling
James
Well James, thanks for your help right at the beginning! You will see that gradually the identity of many other people present have been revealed... but we still don't know for sure where and what the event was, though we know it was taken between June 22 and July 7, most likely the weekend of July 1st/2nd.
Back to Rudyard: he was a major freemason, as were all the the men so far identified in the group: indeed the Duke of Connaught was a grand master. Lots of the people in the photo worked on the Imperial War Graves Commission, as did Kipling. He founded "The Builders of the Silent Cities Lodge No 12" in St Omer, France, in January 1922, a condition of membership being a connection with the IWGC.
I know very little about the freemasons, especially where to find archives: but perhaps they organised an equestrian event, followed by a lodge lunch?
Paddy
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Paddy, can you identify #21's cap badge on the original?
Look's a bit Royal Berks-ish to me. If so, then I'd hazard the man could be Lt.-Col. Herbert Thomas "Tom" Goodland, 5th Bn Royal Berkshire Regiment and, from 1919 to 1928, Deputy Controller of the Imperial War Graves Commission.
Pre-WW1: http://www.chilliwackmuseum.ca/War_Mem_ss2.html
Post-WW1: http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/research/the-collection/detail/21829
Adrian
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Thanks for those kind remarks Paddy, it has been a pleasure watching the whole story unfold with input from a lot of knowledgeable people,
James
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Paddy, can you identify #21's cap badge on the original?
Look's a bit Royal Berks-ish to me. If so, then I'd hazard the man could be Lt.-Col. Herbert Thomas "Tom" Goodland, 5th Bn Royal Berkshire Regiment and, from 1919 to 1928, Deputy Controller of the Imperial War Graves Commission.
Pre-WW1: http://www.chilliwackmuseum.ca/War_Mem_ss2.html
Post-WW1: http://www.thewardrobe.org.uk/research/the-collection/detail/21829
Adrian
Adrian, can't quite get a sharp enough image of the badge: but I am absolutely convinced you are right, many many thanks! Comparison photo below. A key (and almost final) piece of the jigsaw in place...
Colonel Goodland gets a mention in a letter from Kipling to Elsie on 19 July 1922. Also see the linkage in this text:
"From THE KIPLING JOURNAL No 63, October, 1942
Extract from a lecture by ALBERT FROST entitled Rudyard Kipling’s Masonic Allusions
INTEREST IN WAR GRAVES COMMISSION.
I should be lacking if I did not mention the interest in, and the influence he had over, the Imperial War Graves Commission. It was on his suggestion that the " Stone of Remembrance "in each war cemetery bears the inscription : " Their name liveth for evermore." No more fragrant or appropriate inscription could have been found for the War Graves of France and Flanders than that. When I was personally conducted over several cemeteries a few years ago, I raised my hat in admiration and reverence, and thanked God for Rudyard Kipling. On being subsequently requested by the Staff of this same Commission [Herbert Goodland] to select the name for a Masonic Lodge he said, "I would call it ' The Builders of the Silent Cities'," and so it is. Think of it ! Of this Lodge Kipling was a Founder—membership being open to only those who have taken some active interest in the War Graves Commission."
This tallies with the last paragraph in your chilliwackmuseum link.
And looking at the group photo with new eyes, Colonel Goodland has a key and prominent position.
Everything now points to this photo being taken after a masonic luncheon for The Builders...
Paddy
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I don't think #24 can be Maj. Bonham, because he's wearing the collar insignia of a general or field marshal, so how about
Maj.Gen. Sir Fabian Arthur Goulstone Ware, Vice–Chairman of the IWGC.
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw53167/Sir-Fabian-Arthur-Goulstone-Ware
http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/ware.htm
(though, looking again at the 2nd link, he could also be in civvies as #20. Except I've got another suggestion for #20 below!)
A few more suggestions (all IWGC people):
Alternative for #13: Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield, architect for the IWGC (designed the Menin Gate).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Blomfield
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/reginaldblomfield.htm
#20: perhaps Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, architect.
http://home.btconnect.com/standrewsgc/architect.htm
http://www.scottisharchitects.org.uk/de/image_archive/a_200052_robert_lorimer/scr_Sir%20Robert%20Lorimer.jpg
Alternative for #19: Sir John James Burnet, architect.
http://www.rootschat.com/links/0kyz/
#12: Sir Frederic Kenyon, Director of the British Museum and Adviser to the IWGC.
http://www.britishempire.co.uk/forces/frederickenyon.htm
Adrian
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Although I just said that #20 could be Fabian Ware in civvies, I'll now retract that after finding the photo below of Fabian Ware (left, pulling a face unfortunately!) and the King (right) at Tyne Cot in May 1922.
Note the similarity of Ware's medal bar with #24, and also the overseas service chevrons on his right sleeve, which I think you can see on #24 as a light patch beside the adjacent lady's hand.
The two men in the middle here are Haig (right) and an unlabeled officer - though he could easily be Goodland.
For #20 I'll stick with Lorimer.
Adrian
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And this pic of Reginald Blomfield and His Maj at Ypres in 1922 convinces me that Blomfield is your #13.
I think you should email the CWGC!
Adrian
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I might be clutching at straws here, but for #11 maybe Sir James Allen, New Zealand's High Commissioner to the UK from 1920, and associated with the IWGC?
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portraitLarge/mw97631/Sir-James-Allen
Adrian
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Thanks for all your thoughts Adrian, you make some very convincing arguments! Yes I am preparing to contact the War Graves Commission, just need to put together a sensible and detailed approach, to grab their interest right from the start. Your latest revelations make an even more convincing argument. Hopefully they will respond positively, and we can all start sleeping through the night once again :)
Sorry to have missed replying before, the sunshine drew me away to the coast for the weekend!
Regards
Paddy in Wales
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The guy right at the back looks like Dulles, but it isn't - wrong date.
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Here is an update, with current thinking on identities:
Identified group members in photo taken early July 1922
5 Donald Sterling Palmer Howard, 3rd Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.
6 John Simon, 1st Viscount Simon, later to become Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor of the Exchequer: in 1922 he was MP for Spen Valley and deputy leader of the Liberal Party. Husband of No 25.
11 Sir James Allen, NZ High Commissioner. He was appointed an Officer of the Legion of Honour in February 1922 when he was High Commissioner in London.
12 Sir Frederic Kenyon, Director, British Museum
13 Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (architect of Menin Gate, Ypres)
14 US Chief Justice William Howard Taft, formerly US President. On three week fact-finding visit to Britain, 16th June-8th July 1922
15 Helen (“Nellie”) Taft, wife of No 14
19 Sir John James Burnett, architect of War memorials at Gallipoli, and Jerusalem
20 Sir Robert Stodard Lorimer, architect of the Scottish National War Memorial at Edinburgh Castle
21 Lt.-Col. Herbert Thomas "Tom" Goodland, Deputy Controller IWGC
22 Captain William Masters, R.A.S.C.
24 Major General Sir Fabian Arthur Goulstone Ware KCVO, KBE, CB, CMG, founder of the Imperial War Graves Commission, now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
25 Kathleen, Viscountess Simon, Wife of No 6
26 Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, son of Queen Victoria. Note black armband: he is in mourning for the death of his close friend Field Marshal Sir Henry Hughes Wilson, shot by IRA gunmen in London, June 22nd 1922.
27 General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, Governor of Gibraltar. He devoted much his time to the welfare and remembrance of Great War soldiers.
28 Carrie Kipling, wife of No 30
29 Elsie Kipling, daughter of Nos 30 and 28
30 Rudyard Kipling, author. Kipling's role was to advise the IWGC on inscriptions and other literary matters, and he was a founder member together with Tom Goodland (No 21) and others of The Builders of the Silent Cities, a Masonic lodge for IWGC staff.
31 Captain George Louis St Clair Bambridge, Diplomat, of Wimpole Hall, near Cambridge: will marry No 29 in 1924
Thanks again to everyone for their help: will report back once I get a response from CWGC and the Lodge
Paddy
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Someone on the Kipling Society newsgroup advised me that Taft has written a 108 page letter to his children describing his visit to the UK - and deep joy, the British Library had a microfilm copy! So we now have a date and venue.
It seems that the lunch, partly for IWGC to thank for the King's Pilgrimage to the war graves and partly for Taft invisit, was held in a pavilion in the gardens of Clarence House, though the Royal Archive say "Due to our holding very sparse records relating to Clarence House, I have no information on what is possibly a garden pavilion in the photograph."
Lunch at Clarence House, 3rd July 1922, account by William Howard Taft, former US President.
"The Duke [of Connaught] lives at Clarence House, a very pleasant home I should judge, and he had with him at the time his daughter Patricia and her husband Captain Ramsey, for she married a commoner, as well as his daughter-in-law, Princess Arthur of Connaught. Her husband, the Duke’s son, is the Governor General of South Africa, and she had just returned from there, leaving her husband on duty. Earl Balfour, Lord Desborough, the active men of the Pilgrims, Mr and Mrs Rudyard Kipling, Winston Churchill and his wife, and an aide who had accompanied Princess Arthur from South Africa were also there. The Earl of Cavan, who is now the Chief of Staff of the British Army, and possibly one or two others, whose names I have forgotten, were also members of the party."
So here is revised listing:
1 Princess Arthur of Connaught (formerly Princess Alexandra, Duchess of Fife)
2 Earl of Cavan, Field Marshal Frederick Lambart, Chief of Army Staff
3 Lady Patricia Ramsey (formerly Princess Patricia of Connaught, daughter of Duke)
4 Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, son of Victoria, masonic Grand Master
5 General Sir Horace Lockwood Smith-Dorrien, Governor of Gibraltar
6 Caroline Starr “Carrie” Kipling, wife of Rudyard (née Balestier)
7 Elsie Kipling, daughter of Carrie and Rudyard
8 Rudyard Kipling, poet, writer, advisor to the Imperial War Graves Commission, and founder member of masonic “Builders of the Silent Cities” lodge for IWGC staff.
9 Captain George Bambridge, diplomat. Marries Elsie Kipling in 1924.
12 Helen “Nellie” Taft, wife of William [13]
13 US Chief Justice and former US President William Howard Taft, wrote about this event.
14 Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield, IWGC memorial architect (Menin Gate, Ypres)
15 Captain William Masters, R.A.S.C, in whose collection this photo was found.
16 Lt-Col Herbert “Tom” Goodland, Deputy Controller, Imperial War Graves Commission
17 Sir John Simon, Attorney General, later to become Home Secretary and Lord Chancellor
18 Sir John James Burnet, prominent Scots architect, IWCG commissions Gallipoli, Palestine
23 William Henry Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough, athlete, public servant and politician
25 Possibly Winston Churchill, said to be present with wife Clementine [24] by Taft
27 Sir Robert Stodart Lorimer, Scots Arts & Crafts architect, IWCG Naval memorials
28 Sir James Allen, High Commissioner to New Zealand, connected with IWGC
29 Sir Frederic Kenyon, Director and Principal Librarian, British Museum, IWGC advisor
30 Waitress
I've trawled and trawled for images of Clarence House gardens in the 1920s but not had luck: Am going to visit the NA in Kew in September and have a look through the "Works on Clarence House 1920-1943" file, will report back.
Meantime, see if you agree with where I think it is, building still exists but now a trellis-covered wall from the garden side.
Paddy