Help needed dating an old family photo

[genenut]

Can anyone help me date this old family photograph? It was found with my nan's possessions, and no one knows who it is!
Nan lived from 1911 -1983, but we have an inkling it may have belonged to her father in law 1883 -1968 as he was a bit of a photo fanatic.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated

[slightlyfoxed]

Terribly difficult to date as there are so few clues. Id say it could be anywhere between 1930 and 1950. The suit looks like it was made for a bigger man so maybe the chap had had it for a long time and shrunk in his old age. Its a great pity there's nothing in the background to give clues.
It has the feel of a family photograph. The chap looks fairly comfortable and at ease in the surroundings , even if he's not very happy being photographed. The subject is well  posed  and the composition is good so maybe the photo fanatic was taking a photo of a brother or uncle?

[genechaser]

I would say between 1945/55

[genenut]

I've been staring at this photo for so long now, and I think that you both may just have something in what you say. The are are 2 possible residences that this photo could have been taken at, and both would have been around the 1930 -40 era. The man who we think possibly took the photograph -Herbert Bethell 1883 -1968, really loved his photography, and I'm now wondering if it's possibly his father as I've never found a death record for him. His father George was born 1851, I'm attaching a photo of him in his younger days to compare, let me know what you think -are these 2 photographs one and the same man?

[slightlyfoxed]

 I think there is a possibilty these are the same man. I took the faces and over laid them and there are similarities. The eyebrows  and the cheek outline. If they arent the same man I d say they were related. I reverse the earleir image so that the  faces were facing the same direction.
The length of the face, and the nose and chin do change with age and weight loss. However the length of the nose, not including the nostrils, and distances between the nose and the top lip don't.
The ears are the best guide but they also change in length with age, the lobes lengthen.  The ears do look the same although its difficult to be certain because of the different way the head is being held . The older man in the younger picture is obviously sitting freely and in the other image the photographer  may have been using one of those neck clamps! They certainly looked somewhat impaled in the older picture!

[genenut]

absolutely wonderful, thank you so much for your help. Talking this over with family members who remember Herbert and his 'camera' I do thinks it's quite possible he persuaded his elderly father to have his photo taken. If not him, then there is a possibility that the man is Herbert's uncle, who was a few years younger than his brother George. Otherwise, we can find no other possible relatives who it could be.
Thanks again, I really appreciate all your help 

[bradleyt]

I think the clues may very well be in the film itself - the texture and sheen - that sort of thing. I'm thinking around 1938ish based on the pants style and hat and taking into consideration the gentleman's age and their love of sicking true to their styles.

[ainslie]

Is that the same watch-chain and medallion?

[slightlyfoxed]

If the fob was visible in the later picture you could be right as the earlier image its distinctive enough to identify  but as fob watches were fairly universal, it's hard to be sure.