Mystery Picture

[acceber]

Hello,

Can any rootschatters help solve a little mystery and identify what is going on in this picture?

I estimate it to date from between 1890-1900, guessing by the age of my Grt Grandfather who is standing behind the man on the chair with his head tilted. Apart from him, I have no idea who anyone else is in the picture or what they are doing, or what the picture would have been taken for.

I don't need this picture edited, just a bit of insight into its possible purpose!

Any input is much appreciated! 

Thanks,
acceber

[Arranroots]

Looks like a hunt, Rebecca.  The guy with the hat will be the master and it looks like a stable yard or hounds kennels.

 

[acceber]

A hunt, now that is something I hadn't thought of! Thanks Arranroots

Yes I thought it was probably a stable, which is more than likely, as my Grt Grandfather came from a big farming family. At this time, they were based in South Glous, so if this is a hunt scene, it could possibly be for the Beaufort Hunt.

Is it possible that the man on the chair was the farmer/stable owner then? and that any of the men were related?

Thanks,
acceber

[Arranroots]

Your guess is as good as mine, lol!

It reminds me of the Berkeley Hunt kennels but it could be any kind of yard, I suppose.

Might be worth contacting local hunts to see whether they have records of your grandfather?  What was his occupation?

[deb usa]

Hi

It looks like they may have known each other quite well, as your Great Grandfather has his hand on the seated man's shoulder.

I doubt that he would have done that if the seated man had been his employer.

Do you have your Gr grandfather in the 1891/1901 census? If so you could possibly look at the neighbours he had, that may have owned farms/stables or lived in the 'big House' of the parish.

Nice photo!

deb

[acceber]

Thank you both for your replies. 

Arran - Yes I will have a search and see if the Berkley (I'd forgotten about that one) and the Beaufort have any records.

On the 1901 census my Grt Grandfather was 19 and is down as 'Farmer's Son', he was the eldest of 10 and had 8 brothers who also helped on the farm. His father was (I think) tenant farmer, or at least started out so in Wick, but his uncle, inherited the freehold farm of 200+ acres in Bitton.

Deb - thats a good point, that it is unlikely the seated man was his employer, so it may have been his uncle, or possibly his father (unfortuntaly I dont have any pictures of them to ascertain this)? I did think the younger boys looked as though they may be related?

Thanks,
acceber

[stoney]

I thought it might be something to do with a hunt but possibly a gathering of "beaters" prior to a "shoot"?  Does G-Grandfather have any connection with the landed gentry and big estates that might have held regular shoots?


It seems to be a fairly informal picture - the chap with the bowler-style hat appears to have a ciggie in his right hand!

[deb usa]

just a thought ...the guy to the far right is not wearing boots .... I recall on the armed forces boards that military guys wore 'something' that looked like what he is wearing.

For the life of me can't remember what they were called.

were any of your gr grandda's siblings military guys?

Also, to me, it looks like the man in tophatbowler hat (thanks Stoney  ), left of your gr grandad, may have been a gentleman/owner ...his boots are highly polished and his clothing seems to be that of a wealthy man.

deb

[acceber]

Many thanks everyone for all your continued input!

Stoney -yes a shoot, that may be another possibility, as for any connections to big estates and the gentry, that would be a nice connection!! but not any that I know of.

His family paternal family were reasonably well off farmers, who mainly owned their farms freehold and moved from north Somerset to south glous in the 1860's. His maternal family were larger farmers, my grt grandfather's maternal grandfather inherited his father's large farm in Doynton Glous and was the Gloucestershire Farmer's Delegate to Canada and was invited to travel the country and sent reports of his experiences back to the local papers.

His uncle, inherited his paternal grandfather's farm and when he died suddenly in 1902, the estate amounted to approx. half a million pounds in todays money. So they may have allowed the hunt to use their land, or similarly a shoot to take place. Or they may have stabled some of the horses used in the hunt?

Deb - Yes some of them joined the army in WW1 and I can see what you mean with the strapping on his legs, but none were in the army (to my knowledge prior to the war.

Yes I wondered about the identity of the two older men, the smartly dressed guy who could either be as arran suggested, a hunt master, or a gentleman land owner, and the man on the chair who looks like he was a farmer or stable owner. As far as I have found out the family were well regarded locally, so it could have been a local landowner who had called in. - So perhaps some of them in the picture are related?

So far then it seems that we may have the stables for a hunt, the beaters for a shoot or a local gentleman/land owner and farmer.

Also was photography at that time (c.1890-1900) still done with a tripod camera with a man under a cloth?

Thanks,
acceber