A tricky one in a mourning locket - any ideas of date please?

[action49]

Yesterday I very excitedly found this very poor photo in a mourning locket.

Looking at all the possible ladies it could be, I have a lady who died in 1862 - she was very young when she died, do you think this could possibly have been her?  Sarah Bridge from Durham
I couldnt get a great picture of it because it is woefully small.

[jim1]

1860's/70's looks about right however this is a girl aged around 15. You don't say how old she was when she died.

[Gadget]

Have you got any other information about her as I don't see a death registration for her in Co Durham around that time.

I may have missed it but i'bve tried different sites


Gadget

[action49]

Thanks guys!   Her maiden name was Sarah Bridge born 1834 in Hetton le Hole, Durham, married John Swinburn at 22/23 in 1857 and died in 1862 age 28 of scarlet fever.  I was thinking, given the arm across her shoulder that this would have been a wedding picture.  She does look very young but 23 could have been possible.  I cant see anyone else who would fit the bill in the family I have got on that side.  It's definitely a mourning locket because it's big and black.  I really had no idea whether people were having wedding photographs done in the late 1850s!

[Milliepede]

Ah so not very young as in a child then but a married woman.

I too think the girl in the picture looks around 15.

[Treetotal]

It's not as early as 1857, I think Jim's estimate is about right. She does look look to be about 15 tears old.
Carol

[action49]

Oh Pooh!  Back to the drawing board then I guess if you think it's after 1857. I suppose it didnt need to be a wedding photograph.

Thinking outside the box - would a better fit be a 17 year old being married in 1873?

When I was clearing out my mum's stuff I came across an in memoriam card in my grandmother's best handbag which had been in mum's drawer for over 40 years.  I knew the name on it - Tabitha Binks - but the date on the card was 1876, and my nanna wasnt born until 1897.  I did some sleuthing and found that the Tabitha Binks who was nanna's friend was named for her father's first wife Tabitha Rhodes who had died age  22.  Now, I wonder whether this may have been her instead.  Though why my nanna would have a mourning locket of someone who wasnt related is a bit of a conundrum - equally, I have no idea why she would have kept the in memoriam card of someone unrelated who had died more than 20 years before she was born.

Looks like I might never know!

[Treetotal]

It would be interesting to know if there is a name written on the back of the photo, are you able to take it out?
Carol

[action49]

Good idea, Carol, but sadly I think araldite must have been used!

Just floating another possibility - would a 21 year old in 1882 be a better fit? Still not 15 but we all look young in our family (cough!!!)