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I have a number of wills I am transcribing, with some I struggle with the hand-writing but that of Basil Becon poses another problem: it is in Latin. If you may be able to help translate this I would be pleased to hear from you. (It covers 2 A4 sheets with fairly large handwriting)

I know very little about Catherine. In 2010 I found her marriage record (in 1828); disappointingly fathers were not named. She married in Newcastle but according to the censuses was born in Blyth in c.1810. I had a good look in the PRs covering Blyth but failed to find a Catherine Brown (contrary to my expectations that I would find too many!) Answer: thanks to a suggestion linked to my Ancestry DNA test (the only one so far not rubbish), I now know whose were Catherine's parents, siblings etc.

My grandmother I understand at one time had a dance band (she herself played the piano) playing for local village dances - local, that is, to Stoke Fleming, near Dartmouth, in Devon. I would love to know more about this. "Nanny" was born in 1900 and left Stoke Fleming in 1928 so I guess it would be sometime between the late 1910s and 1928. I gather there was at least once a newspaper article either about or mentioning this - but it / they have been lost (thrown out, fallen apart, etc. I don't know but I have never seen it or them), and the possible date make rather a long time to look through local papers.

I thought this was probably the wedding of my great uncle John Bailey. His granddaughter…

I don't know who this is. I guess he was a close friend of my great grandfather, James Bartlett Hambling (b 1876) - or possibly a relative?

Who are these? I can't see likeness between them so I'd guess work colleagues or similar rather than relations (and I guess relations would most likely be photographed with the women in the family). I feel I've seen the chap bottom row, second from left in other photos but not certain; hopefully will be when I've gone through and sorted them all

The note "possibly Mary Beaton" on the back of the photo was written by me; I added it when going through these old photos with my great aunt (Ivy Stainton nee Hambling) in the 1970s or 80s. (But I wasn't the person who coloured the eyes in!)

Everything about this says 1860s (the mention of 1862 on the back, the wide skirt and the backcloth), which would fit in with Mary: she was born in 1843 in Pagham, married in Chichester in 1864 and appears to have lived in Chichester until moving away c.1868-70. The age and location therefore fit, though I can't see the resemblance to the pictures of her later in life.

Although Mary's parents and younger siblings (including her sisters) were living in Havant by 1861, her sister Caroline was a lodger in Chichester by 1871 so it could be her, or it could be a sister-in-law: Ann Court was b. Chichester in 1845, Frances in abt. 1848.

Probably late 1870s or early 1880s (judging by the style of dress and 3/4 length figures in picture). Back not much help to me in dating - too different from others I have seen (but more elaborate than early 1870s or earlier) Nor do the locations of the studios help - this is probably relations on my maternal grandmother's side (Hambling or Court, etc.) but they were mostly in Sussex and Devon where no studios are shown. Of course it could have been sent by a relation who had moved away.

A photo from my Dad's photo box (i.e. Goatham, Inman etc.). This was by a photographer based in Richmond - and I have checked it is London not Yorkshire. I know of lots of various relations (on the Swan, Goatham and Hyde sides of the family) in the Wandsworth area but none that bit further west at the period of this photo. This photo has quite a plain back suggesting an earlier date, but the pointed beard, round corners and a set of dates I've seen for Byrne and Co. (1883 - 1910) would all be consistent with the 1890s. I don't know what date the unusual clothing suggests.

I know of no connections with Scotland - maybe someone in the family in service was there? Looking on a map it is in the grouse shooting / deer stalking part of Scotland so if they worked for a wealthy family they could well have been there for a time. This looks to me to be late 1860s or 1870s (full length portrait, classical backdrop, style of dress and hair; also square corners to card and back of card) In my Dad's photo box so his side of the family - Goatham, Inman, Swan etc. If I had to guess I would suggest it might be Margaret Swan, sister of my great grandmother Jane. She married in 1875 aged 24 - could the subject be no more than this in age? She certainly worked for a wealthy family.

The mob of curly hair reminds me of pictures of my Inman gt grandfather - but he was born in 1846, is this boys dress and the type of photo consistent with the 1850s? I suspect it is a fair bit later.

On the back can be seen that the photograph was by the company F. Elderfield; of the address(es) only "27 Wellingt" can be read. A quick online search shows they were in Farnham and Aldershot at least.

If these are relations they must be on my Dad's side of the family - Goatham, Inman, Hyde or Swan?
On the back is written
"170 Trevelyan Rd
Trevelyan"
- I know of no Welsh connections - was this an address they were staying at while doing training? It looks around the time of the First World War (to me - no expert in such things)

From the bottom left corner it appears the photographer was in Denmark Hill, London.

If you can help with any of these queries please send me an email or leave a comment in the Picasa album