Lydia Symonds Possible Daguerreo type - help with date please

[Lesley.Lynch]

Hi
I am wondering if anyone can help date this photograph.  I don't have the original but I'm attaching the copy I received from my cousin and my cropped version.
This is my Gt Gt Grandmother, Lydia Symonds born in Norfolk in 1830.  She looks very young in the photograph so my guess is around 1850 at the latest.
Any help would be really appreciated.
Thank you.

[Treetotal]

Hi Lesley and welcome to Rootschat..How lovely...my guess would be 1850s and if it is on glass it will be an ambrotype if it's metal then it's a daguerreotype and will attract a magnet.
Carol

[Lesley.Lynch]

Thank you for your reply Treetotal.  My very elderly cousin has the original and I shall try to contact her to see if she is able to give me details of the original which she has. 

[DrDude45]

I cleaned up the photo for you (also it was reversed so I fixed that as well). She does look very young, I'd say early 20s at the latest. She wears a ring on the middle finger of her left hand, but I didn't see one on her ring finger so it's possible if she was married this was taken before that. If you know her wedding date, you can use that to narrow it in.

Just my two cents.

[Treetotal]

I understand that girls wore their hair up when they reached marriageable age so I would judge her to be in her early teens.
Carol

[Lesley.Lynch]

Thank you so much for your reply Treetotal, that is useful to know about the hair. 

[Lesley.Lynch]

Gosh, thank you so much for helping with the photograph.  The enhancements are just great and I will be sending the photo through to my cousins who I'm sure will be as pleased as I am. 
As Lydia married in November 1850 it does look like this photo was taken before her marriage.  She was baptised in March 1830 but potentially could have been born a bit before that.  However, she does look very young in the photograph so with your help I'm leaning towards her being around 18 at the most. 
My feelings are that if the photograph was taken at the time of her marriage then both her and her husband would be in the photo. 
Incidentally, she had her first child in January 1851 and as she would have been quite heavily pregnant on marriage in 1850 I doubt a photograph would have been taken then.
Thank you again for your help.  I shall dig out a couple more photos in the coming days.
 

[Gadget]

To fit your dates, here's a piece about ladies' hairstyles in the 1840s-early 1850s. A period when ringlets were worn with a high bun. The hat could probably cover the bun.

http://www.sewhistorically.com/1840s-and-1850s-hairstyles/

Scroll down to the ringlet section. There are also links to a couple of paintings.

She does look very young in your photo.


Gadget

[Lesley.Lynch]

Thank you Gadget,
That is really useful information.  The hairstyle does fit with the time period.

I am now pondering why the photo was taken.  Her father was just an Ag Lab and her husband to be a Railway Gate keeper.  However, I am also now considering whether this was taken on the ocassion of her father passing away on 22 October 1850 a month before she married.  If so, she was a young looking 20 year old and her baby bump was well hidden.

I don't think it will be possible to get a "reason" or an exact date, but at least I have a much better idea on the date now.