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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: Ed1946 on Thursday 09 February 23 04:20 GMT (UK)
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Can anyone help to identify the people in this photograph?
It's the Eggins Family from the Alumny Creek area.
I have no idea when the photo was taken; clearly it is not recent.
Alumny Creek was a farming community near Grafton, NSW. It still is a rural area with farming but not as intensive as in the past i.e. around the time this photo was taken.
Any help would be much appreciated.
Regards, Ed
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The following Eggins family lived in Alumny Creek, Grafton
Frederick Clarence Eggins (1869-1913) and wife Evalina Maud (1871-1955)
Children:
Evelyn born 1897
Iris born 1899
Thomas born 1901
Lionel born 1902
Myrtle born 1904
Lyle born 1909
Gregory born 1910
Frederick born 1911
If you post the photo on the dating board, someone will help.
Do you think the man in your photo looks like this F C Eggins?
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There is also the family of James EGGINS at Alumny Creek
James and Mary Ann had the following children:
1869 Elisha
1870 Ernest Edgar
1872 Francis B
1873 James Arthur
1875 Walter
1876 George
1877 Ida
1878 Lily H J
1880 Emily May
1881 Mary Ann
I'm not very good at dating photographs, Neale's suggestion of putting on the dating board is a good idea. The young girl looks around 12 years old to me.
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The young girl looks around 12 years old to me.
I think she looks a little more mature - perhaps closer to 15 years.
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Also a Herbert and Jane Ann EGGINS at Alumny Creek - their children:
1865 Albert E
1867 Christian E
1870 Augustus W E
1872 Rebecca A
1875 Rachel Ethel (died 1889 - https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/62108565)
1879 Robert Leslie
1884 George H
The young girl looks around 12 years old to me.
I think she looks a little more mature - perhaps closer to 15 years.
You could be right. :-\
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My guess at the date is Edwardian - possibly towards the end of the 1900s is my best guess. I have photos of my family looking very similar to this.
The hair style, the high neckline on the woman's dress, the girls hairstyle and clothes:
High wide collar on the man's shirt and the three piece suit with fob chain (just visible I think)
Wiggy.
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Hard to say if "Neale's" Frederick is the person in ‘my’ photo. There were so many Eggins family groups living in the Alumny Creek area – and all large groups.
It seems odd that the portrait only includes one child – all the groups had large families.
I think that the only chance I have of identifying the subjects is to find someone with the same photo or photos of one of the people at the same age.
Many thanks everyone for your help.
Regards, Ed
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I suspect the girl isn't much older than 12-13. Her dress is still quite short and her hair still 'down'.
Wiggy
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Hi Ed1946
I only have"impressions" to offer. My thoughts.
The girl is 13 to 15 years.
Her dress is not new, a hand-me down possibly from a sister. It ooks a little jaded.
She wears a single piece of simple jewelley, a bar pin at her neck which may be a pearl.
She possibly has a mole or prominent freckle on her left chin.
(If you have other Eggin pictures, both pin and freckle might identify her at a later age. Do you have any?)
The father somehow does not look like a farming man. His suit is well-tailored and he wears it comfortably. I think too (per wiggy) I see a glint of a gold fob watch inside his jacket.
The woman is into her forties and father is a little older than her.
Somewhat oddly, both women conceal the top joint of their right thumb. This probably is pure coincidence.
I think the era is early Edwardian. Between 1900 and 1905.
Only random thinkings.
Sue
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Hi Sue,
Wow, your ‘impressions’ are comprehensive – thanks for the trouble you have taken.
Unfortunately I don’t have any other Eggins photos for comparison.
I agree with you that the photo is probably circa 1900-ish.
I did a search of the NSW Birth Register using some ‘educated’ assumptions.
i.e. assuming the girl is 14 and the photograph was taken in 1903 – her birth would be 1889.
A search using a five year variation from 1889 i.e. 1884-1894 resulted in 17 female Eggins births in Grafton.
A search using a three year variation from 1889 i.e. 1886-1892 resulted in 13 Eggins births in Grafton. (Any births at Alumny Creek would have been registered at Grafton).
My problem is that the small community of Alumny Creek was ‘awash’ with Eggins inhabitants so it is impossible to narrow it down enough using assumptions to achieve any meaningful result.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Kind regards,
Ed
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Some other thoughts for consideration:
A William EGGINS of Alumny Creek had his left ear badly damaged in a accident in 1885. I think this is the William married to Susan.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18883895
The man in the photo has both ears that look the same.
Also, Susan (Susie) EGGINS died in 1913 aged 43 (after an operation for goitre).
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/235419401
William and Martha EGGINS were having marital problems in 1882, unsure whether they reunited. Also, unclear whether they were in Alumny Creek.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/235155648
James EGGINS (husband of Mary A) died in 1904 (deceased when daughter Annie married in 1906).
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/127709608
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/61451106
So depending on when the photo was taken, it is possibly not James.
From these thoughts, it is possible then that the photo is of either Thomas and Eliza (with Amy, Lena or Lilly) or Albert and Sophia and daughter Linda.
However, these are just speculation.
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My money is still on it being Frederick and Evalyn, and a daughter.
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I think it very much depends if the date of the photo can be narrowed down. No offense meant to Wiggy and Sue :-*, but Jim and Carol and Gadget (and others) are really good at dating photographs, so putting it on the "dating photographs" board would be a good idea.
https://www.rootschat.com/forum/free-photo-restoration/
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I do agree Maddy.
However, more thoughts on a quiet Saturday afternoon.
Regarding Neale's thinking the couple are Frederick Clarence Eggins and wife Evelyn Maud Eggins (nee BALE)
I can see a resemblance to the seated man in the photo in Reply #1.
Also in the one I have found online which is stated to be Frederick Clarence EGGINS. See below.
Evelyn had a girl in 1889 before she was married, Muriel Florence.
BALE Florence
33818/1889
Mother EVELYN M M
At LISMORE
After the marriage between Federick and Evelyn, the girl sometimes used the surname EGGINS,
This (unpleasant) news clip confirms the relationship.
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/234800194
In the in Memoriam following Frederick's 1913 death, placed by his children, Muriel is not mentioned .
The photo may be of mother, daughter and stepfather.
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"It's the Eggins Family from the Alumny Creek area"
How do you know that they are EGGINS?.
What is on the back of the photo ie. name of photographer?
Can you scan and put here an image of the back of the photo.
If it is the EGGINS family that you have named, and there is only one child in the photo, you might suspect that the photo was taken for a particular event involving that girl....maybe a birthday?
Any noteworthy events in the family ie daughter gained music scholarship to study in Sydney etc.?
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Hello,just my tuppence worth,Strange but this family do not strike me as being from a farming background,very well fed and tailored,good leather shoes on the man,i think the girl is nearer 16 than 12,has she two different coloured buttons on her belt? best of luck,Feno.
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The man's clothing is definitely Edwardian and he does look very like Frederick. If the daughter is Evelyn, it would be (say)1908-12.
Maybe Jim and Carol could add their thoughts.
Gadget
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Thanks everyone for the thoughts and suggestions.
Maddy – Thanks for your research I will check out all the links. I appreciate the trouble you have taken. I have posted the photo on the dating photographs board but no reply as yet.
Neale – There certainly is a resemblance between the two photos but there is a possibility they could be brothers; sometimes brothers can be very similar.
Wivenhoe – The photo I have is a copy of the original which was given to me some years ago. The back of the photo is completely blank except for ‘Eggins’ hand-written. There are no other markings and no photographer name.
Feno – The photo is a studio portrait so I guess that accounts for the man in a suit and the lady ‘dressed-up’. It was very common even for farming men to go to town in a suit around the time of this photo and even much later. My grandfather farmer wore a suit to town as late as the 1950’s and early ‘60’s.
Sue – Thanks for all the trouble you have taken. The men in the photos are certainly similar but as I said to Neale there is a chance they are brothers.
Thanks again, Ed
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. I have posted the photo on the dating photographs board but no reply as yet.
Images put on the photo board take a while to appear as they have to be vetted, I have made my assessment here instead of the photo board.
The man's clothing is definitely Edwardian and he does look very like Frederick. If the daughter is Evelyn, it would be (say)1908-12.
Maybe Jim and Carol could add their thoughts.
Gadget
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. I have posted the photo on the dating photographs board but no reply as yet.
Images put on the photo board take a while to appear as they have to be vetted, I have made my assessment here instead of the photo board.
The man's clothing is definitely Edwardian and he does look very like Frederick. If the daughter is Evelyn, it would be (say)1908-12.
Maybe Jim and Carol could add their thoughts.
Gadget
;) As have I - and Gadget's asessment agrees with my guess. ;)
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A bit late to the party however I would agree mid-late Edwardian
but as that isn't quite close enough I can tweak it to around 1908-10.
The girl looks 13/14.
If this is Neale's Eggins family she could easily be the eldest daughter.
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Before I saw any replies, my guestimate would be the same as Jim's
Carol
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Hi,
Maybe the Clarence River Historical Society in Grafton can help.
https://www.clarencehistory.org.au/
Gerry
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If you are on Facebook, there is a site called. Clarence Valley history past and present.
Posting the photo there might yield results.
Regards
Jennaya
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OP has received 4 concurring results for the dating request - even on this thread. :)
I think they can have confidence is this result of the dating. ;) It should give a good era to start, along with other family info suggested.
As you say a local page might actually recognise the actual people.
Wouldn't that be great?
Wiggy.
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I think Ed must have gone away and forgotten the promise of putting the photo on the photo board, Wiggy.
Still, Frederick (if it is him) and his family are still there posing nicely in their Edwardian outfits.
:D