Genealogy Chat

As suggested, try rootschat


As an example, you can see the tremendous help that I was given:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,385977.0.html

Just a suggestion - photocopy the photo, and sen it to the National Photographic Museum in Bradford - they will study the picture, and give you an estimated date according to the clothing, style, etc......worth a try, and free - don't forget to enclose an SAE for their reply.

Thankyou for everyone's help. I have found some other good resources on the web for this, which I will add later for others which have found this thread while searching for answers to similar problems.

Thanks again, and good luck
Andrew

You could also try posting them on Rootschat which is freesite and very helpful.

On the fashion side, the 1850s/1860s were the time when the crinoline was popular - it was a kind of bell-shaped cage worn under the skirt and made them look a little like a lampshade.

In the 1870s, the bustle came in which was a padded thing worn at the back of the skirt to make it stick out and wealthy ladies often had trains etc sweeping out at the back. By the 1890s, the puffed-out sleeve on blouses with a fairly straight skirt was in and often they had wide-brimmed hats, too.

This, obviously is going to vary depending on whether your ancestors were well-off or not and I think older ladies sometimes got to a point where they would stop following fashion. I've got a photo of my great-grandma born in 1879 which was taken in 1949 and she looks like she's wearing the kind of straight-skirted, not-quite floor length dress that came into fashion in the 1910s.

I was trying to think of period films that might give you a hand - Titanic was obviously 1912 (and the clothes Kate Winslet's character wore were supposed to be very up-to-the minute) and the 1964 My Fair Lady was set in about 1910. Jane Eyre was set in the 1820s/1830s and anything based on Jane Austen is usually 1800-1820 or so.

Do any of them have the photographer's name? It may sound surprising but there are A FEW old-established firms around who still have records and may even have negatives - though probably not much from before 1890. Look in your local library: it may have books of local history in photographs from the collections of local photographers which might give you a lead.

Andrew this site may help

http://www.cartes.freeuk.com/time/date.htm

Simon

We have a number of old classical formal portrait photographs, I would guess from about 1860/70 onwards, but I really have no idea. I wondered if there were any general tips, in photographic technique, formal composition, clothing and fashion, photo size or photographic quality which might portray the age of the photo. Has anyone had any luck identifying people from old photographs (pre 1900), and if so, how was it done?
Any ideas or expert experience much appreciated!
Best wishes,