Margaret Brown nee Rae - date of the photo - and is she wearing mourning dress

[Gmac101]

Dear All
This is Margaret Brown my 3 X Great Grandmother.
She lived from 1814 (approx)-1906 in the Scottish Borders.
She was married to William Brown, a successful woollen manufacturer
He died in 1894 and left her amongst other things an amount of money to buy her mournings.
Is she wearing them?
Does her dress tie up with the death of her husband?
If you could let me know what gives you the clues to the date of the photograph
 

[Kay99]

To me the dress doesn't look black enough to be worn as mourning dress although the black ribbons on the lace bonnet could indicate that she was a widow at the time of the photograph

Kay

Edit - this link might  be of use http://www.fashion-era.com/mourning_fashion.htm

John Clapperton b 1856 Galashiels was a photograper in 1891/1901 living at 23 Albert Place, Galashiels

[Findmypast2016]

What a great picture to have. Wish I could find a photo like this of my relatives.

[jaybelnz]

It's lovely isn't it, and in such beautiful condition. Lucky you Gmac!

[jim1]

It wouldn't have been the etiquette of the day to wear this amount of lace while in mourning.The outfit could be any colour.
The backdrop & 3/4 pose is typical of the 1870's & you won't see it much in the 1880's, however her dress style suggests early-mid 1880's.
So it could be v. late 1870's but more likely into the 80's depending on how fashionable she was & she does have the income to be right up to date.
She's holding a letter & this photo is probably in reply.

[Gmac101]

Thank you everybody for your replies. 

She certainly had the income to keep up to date with fashion and her Husband had access to plenty of cloth, and the family firm had offices in London she could keep up to date with the latest fashions - but did she choose to? 

In the 1881 census the photographer was living at a different address (Sime Place) so the photograph was taken after that date.

One of her sons was missionary in was is now Pakistan  and he married in 1885 so the photograph may have been taken to send with the congratulations on the news of his wedding.
It is a lovely photograph but the original is a bit more spotted - I've cleaned it up and I've been lucky as my grandfather was always interested in family history and kept lots of photos!

Thanks again

Gavin

[Treetotal]

What a lovely photo to have....she looks so sweet too and is almost smiling.
Carol

[Seoras]

Quite a bit of info on the printer, Percy Lund, which might help you narrow it down.

https://sites.google.com/site/leedsandbradfordstudios/home/percy-lund

Percy Lund and Co was founded January 1884.

The Passingham mentioned patented his mounts in March 1888. There is a similar card back at the bottom of this link under the date for the patent.

https://sites.google.com/site/leedsandbradfordstudios/home/edmund-passingham

Percy Lund & Co became Percy Lund & Co Ltd in 1895 so it looks like you have between 1888 and 1895 to choose from.

Personally I am leaning toward the 1880's.

[Gmac101]

Thanks Seoras - that's a lot of really useful information. And some useful links. So it's more than likely a photo from the late 1880's and she's not in mourning.

Thank you everybody and good luck findmypast2016 in finding photos of your relatives. I once found some posted by somebody in Australia!