Genealogy Chat

Hi Zoe: I've stared and stared at the photos (during the past couple of weeks), trying to pick up little clues. I just used your hints and since the photos are all different sizes, it's hard to measure, but the ear/nose suggestion fairly well confirms what I had been thinking (who's who in the pictures). It's a little harder to be exact with the eye/nose measurements, since the faces differ in size and in some they tilt their heads, while not tilting in others. However! The eyebrow shape is very helpful for whom I believe is my gt-gt-grandfather. "James" had fairly straight eyebrows, and the elderly gentleman in the 1901 photo has almost identical eyebrows. Lastly, in the photo with 19 people, I was unsure about one ancestor and since I was studying their noses so much, I think I've figured out which lady was my gt-grandmother and which was was her sister. Thanks so much for your suggestions!

Thanks for that Zoe and Lisa. Sue...............

don't know a place that does it for you - but a little hint that we used to use on my old newspaper to prove pictures were of the same people: - use a ruler to see where the top/bottom of the ears are in relation to the nose - these bits never move!! - Check the shape of eyebrows - they may have got bushier but they normally stay the same basic shape. - measure the spacing between the eyes and the nose/mouth (this bit doesnt work if your rellie has had a facelift or was a boxer)

Hi Sue. I have exactly the same problem as you. I was given photos and I just found out they are from 1860's, 1880's, 1901ish and 1915ish. I THINK the man from the 1860's is also in the 1901 photo and his son is in the 1880's photo. I haven't figured out how to confirm this. I do know that one ancestor had a ring on his "pinky" finger and in the photo from 20 years later I could see the same ring on the same finger which probably means its the same person. I also tried to compare mouths, eyes, earlobes, etc. and look for any similarities in jewelry, positioning of the body, etc. One ancestor lost an eye when he was young. In the 1901 photo he is very slightly turned away from the camera; in the 1915 photo he is definitely turned away from the camera. All I can suggest is that you look for comparisons between the people. I did bring our photos to our local museum for dating. I don't know where you could bring them for identifying people. Good luck, Lisa

Can anyone help please?

Does anyone know where you can email some old photo's? I have two old photo's with a time lapse of about 30+ years, I think the same people are on them, would a specialist be able to analise the faces? Sue