Cando, I think you may have hit the nail on the head with your newspaper clipping from the Police Gazette. Edward may have been regarded as the black sheep of the family because of this incident, given that they were staunch Methodists, and perhaps this is why he is so difficult to pin down. Perhaps he was "edited out" of family recollections at some stage then reinstated later?
I have James Douglas Landell's wife down as Sarah Jane Singleton on my database, but this is open to correction as I have very little other information on her.
Westernwombat and JM: Edward George Landells married Elizabeth Cutting who was South African-born and bred, and the sponsors at their children's baptisms were mostly relations on her side of the family. I'm not aware of there being any Australian Cutting relatives. As far as contact between the families goes, a James Landells is named on the baptism of the eldest child, Edward George junior, but this could be Edward's possible twin brother Adam James Landells, rather than the father James. After that point the Landells don't seem to have featured in family events, so perhaps there was no further contact. Edward senior died in 1952, several years before my late husband was born, and his family appear to have subsequently distanced themselves from the Cutting side, which is why we had so very little information on him.
As far as the photo goes, there is another pic of Edward on that same site, on his own in a slightly different pose but with the same buttonhole, so it's probable that his image was added to the group photo for one of the reasons Debra suggests.
