A date for Mary please

[sueky71]

Could someone please try and date this photo.
On the back in very faint pencil it says 'Mary'. I think it is my great grandfathers mother, Mary Cotton (b1830 - d1909)
Thanks

[jim1]

Hello Sueky
I'm sorry but I'm going to have to dissappoint you.This looks to me to be around
WW1.If you rescan it at 300dpi we can restore it for you.

jim

[Dave Hall]

A tidy with what we have
Dave

[IgorStrav]

I think the girl is in her early twenties, making a date of birth somewhere around 1890?

So if your Mary was born in 1830, this is likely to be a granddaughter of hers.

If I calculate the relationships correctly, then this could either be a sister or a cousin of your grandfather?

[PaulaToo]

Oh what a stunning photo, I so enjoyed his one.
Looks like the lady has an interesting bulge at the front of her dress, a posy of what could be forget me nots pinned there...

Just lovely, and WW1 for my betting...was it a message to a soldier....'Look what you've done?'

[sueky71]

Wow what can I say - the clean up & colour are so beautiful. Thank you Dave and Paula.

The WWI date is interesting.
I thought it said Mary on the back, but my daughter looked with a magnifying glass and said it's too long to be Mary, but it does begin with Mar
My grandad had three sisters, Martha (1894) Minnie (1897) & Margaret (1901)
so going by dates, it now looks more likely that it's Martha.

Thanks again to all who replied, and apologies for my late response, for some reason I haven't been getting any notifications.

Sueky

[IgorStrav]

Sueky, since we are all very keen on a good story, could Paula's hypothesis be correct, did your great aunt have a baby around the time of WW1?  I must say, having looked again, it IS possible the lady is pregnant, as Paula suggests!

[sueky71]

It wouldn't surprise me in the least - mums side of the family is rife with illegitimate children!
 
Martha married in 1921 & mum remembers at least 3 children. She was never really close to these cousins though as she said they were all much older than her (mum was born in 1938)

I do agree that she looks like she's expecting, it's shows much clearer now the pic has been cleaned up and enlarged, the actual photo I've got is tiny (2" x 3") and very dark.

Further investigation needed I think 

[IgorStrav]

Keep us posted!!