dating of photograph of Emily possibly my Great Grandmother

[JanStef]

Hello
I was wondering if someone could date this photo, please. It is about an inch in width and about 2 inches in length. It was probably taken sometime before 1940,  probably much earlier. I believe it was taken in NSW Australia and that it is of my great grandmother.
Thanks
Jan

[Wiggy]

Hi Jan,

It's an odd one - the girl's clothing looks far more modern than the woman's -  length of skirt wise  - to me anyway.     

Can't help with date but maybe this will make it easier to see.   I think it is marginally out of focus and there's isn't anything you can do about that.  And I now see the woman is wearing specs!   

Sorry  - not sure about background but tried to get all ladies head in! 

Wiggy   

[JanStef]

Thanks Wiggy
I does make it easier to identify. I believe it is a photo of Emily King and if that is her  daughter Hermione then the date would be about 1900. I inherited a lot of photos when Mum passed with no names on the back so I'm doing my best to identify them.
regards
Jan

[Wiggy]

I hope China or someone comes in to see this - I doubt the girl is dressed in 1900s style - but I may very well be wrong.


Don't you wish they'd labelled their photos!!!   

 . . . .  quick . . .  better go and label all mine!       


Wiggy   

[IgorStrav]

Just bringing this one back up to the top for the daters.

I am not an expert, but I think this is much later than 1900 when skirts even for a small girl would have been much longer.

My initial thought was 1940's/1950's - but you say it must be earlier than 1940?

[Wiggy]

My thinking re dates too IgorStrav.   

[JanStef]

Hello,

Thanks for bringing this to the attention of others.

I afraid I'll have to respectfully disagree with both of you.

Here's my logic. Firstly there's the size of the photo. I have others around this size and they date back to the 1920's. Photos from the 30's and 40's and 50's that I have are much larger.

Secondly there is the length of the Emily's skirt. I have photos of my grandmother (Elsie) in skirts that are just below her knees. Those photos must be about 1926 because Mum is in them and she must be aged about 10 - 12yrs. Other photos such as Mum's wedding photo (1949) the skirts are mid calf. Her army uniform skirt (pre 1945) is just below her knees. There isn't one photo of my mother or grandmother in floor length skirts. My mother's maternal grandmother, Isabella, wore skirts above her ankles c 1920's.

Emily died in 1947 at the age of 88. I'm guessing the woman in the photo would be between 30 and 40 years of age. Emily, my mother's paternal grandmother, was 37 when Hermione was born.

Then there is the little girl. The length of the skirt is a little short but she was one 11 children so it could be have belonged to her older sisters which may explain the length. Their background is Swedish maybe it's part of their national dress. Mum's skirts in the 1920's were knee length.

Thirdly, I have just learnt to use photo recognition software. I tried it out on photos of my Mother, my husband and myself. Each time it was correct. I have a photo of Emily in her younger days and one I thought might be her because standing next to her is her son.  So I ran the software. It did a comparison with the one I thought to be her and the one I would like dated. They were identified as Emily.

I have one photo of Emily's daughter Hermione in later life. Again ran the software and the photo was identified as Hermione. Hermione was born in 1886. She looks about 10 in the photo so that dates it around 1896.

There's too much evidence against 1930's, 1940's or 50's dates or at least not in NSW Australia.  From other photos I have, skirts of that length were worn around 1900.

I'm more than willing to hear varying opinions. There is always the possibility I have made an error in judgement.
Thanks and regards
Jan

[maddys52]

I'm no expert, but the collar, sleeves, shape and fabric of the woman's dress look 1930s to me, albeit a bit long for day wear. It also looks a lot like some photos in my family collection from rural Queensland in the 1930s. 

[JanStef]

Thanks every one
Jan