Genealogy Chat

Hi, the link below will allow you to view a photo, taken around birmingham, after1880s.
The photographer was E.S.Baker, 82 Bristol Street, Birmingham.
I have looked up the photographer, but as yet to no avail.
Any comments on the dress, scene or photo in genearl much appreciated.

http://static.zooomr.com/images/8006244_ec068242fb_o.jpg

Thanks
Andrew

Great - so we know something about the photographer, but naturally I care more about the subject of the photo.

Andrew

Young unmarried lady, possibly 20s/30s. Could be a studio portrait, late 19th early 20th century. I thought at first a nurse but I think maybe a parlour maid in a big house. brooch holding her dress together, thought it was a badge at first but couldn't see really even when zoomed in.

Could a parlour maid afford to get her photo taken?

That did cross my mind, maybe it was paid for by her employers for some reason.

Maybe taken (why?) at the request of her employers - hence in her working dress. Or possibly something she saved up for to give her boyfriend, although one would have expected her to be in "civvies" in that case.
Date: possibly circa WW1 - especially if given to a boyfriend?
Presumably nothing written on the back to help identify it.

... and would this be any help?

www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&source=hp&ie=ISO-8859-1&fkt=9828&fsdt=41453&q=%22E+S+Baker%22+%2282+Bristol+Street%22+Birmingham.&btnG=Google+Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=

Andrew, you have heard our thoughts, do you actually know anything about her? What are your thoughts?

Well, it's certainly not a nurses uniform with that lace. From the style of the dress I'd say it was c1905. The badge at the collar looks more like a brooch. I've got one very like it from about that time.

If she had just been made head-parlour maid, or housekeeper even, maybe it was worth celebrating with a photo. She'd have had a raise in pay. Perhaps to send to folks back home.


Ozi.

Well I probably wont know now, getting late and I am off to bed. Hope Andrew comes back at some stage.

Ann

My initial thought was that I didn't have a clue, Then I found a marriage between an Attendant on the Insane and a Nurce on the Insane near Burntwood mental Asylum.
I then thought it could be a nurse, and could be her, then thought it was not the correct dress for a nurse.
I wonder now whether nurses on the insane were really just maids, I can't imagine there was much blood and guts involved!
The date is an interesting question, they married in 1916, her husband was at war.

The back of the card has an advert for the photographer, E.S Baker... with some awards they revieved, the latest of which was in 1880, and hence the photo must be after that date.
So still in the dark a little bit...

Sorry about the delay, I got stuck up a tree.... one of those trees that just isn't working out.

Maybe she was a maid at the asylum and the photo was for her fiance before they married.

I'd say she is a nurse. However, you could send it to "Your Family Tree" magazine, they do feature readers' photos each month and analyse them.
Nurses did look like maids anyway; some might say we are still skivvies!!
Jan (nurse of 30 years)

PS like the "up a tree" comment, very descriptive!

We have a lot of photos of various people in the 1880s onwards, it is entertaining to try and figure out who is who. By the way, the family didn't have much money - lots of children and Iron industry work; was it really that expensive to have a photo taken?

I havn't found a single domestic maid in the family, so I couldn't say for sure that she is a relative; her photo being in the family photos would suggest she is though. I am interested that you know something about the photographer, I can scan the back too if you like, with no problem at all.
I was first drawn to the picture because of the fair hair, most the family has dark hair.
A lovely looking lady - Is the absence of a ring a certain sign she wasn't married?

Andrew, it's a lovely photo, and even if not a relative, one to treasure.

I agree with Barry that she may have been a ladies maid which is a little classier. I disagree on the date he has given because the leg-of mutton sleeve didn't come in until about 1889. It needs to be later than this though as the hairline is softer.

Look at this image of a maid in uniform, date 1900.

http://www.cartes.freeuk.com/pete/anonf.jpg


Ozi.

Have you google searched the photographers' studio? Interesting stuff on Wiki,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Baker_(artist)
Jan

That picture looks very similar to me (it had crossed my mind that the standing position was relavent).
The sleeves are of that style, with decor at the ends...
I'm growing very unsure who this can be now!

That wiki page did proove interesting, not least because it describes the logo signiture on the bottom of the card.
Perhaps a studio with such a reputation would have taken a hefty price.
I'm searching through the census records for a gap where one of the daughters could have been a maid... would lady's maids have "lived in"?