Thursday 5 May 2011

An Unknown Lady

My correspondent to whom I referred in my last blog has kindly sent me some photographs of the clan family who resided in Courtrai, Belgium. The one I have put at the head of today's piece is marked 'unknown'. Most of us are very bad at not writing the names of the people on the backs of our photos. Perhaps it is for fear of spoiling them, and we should certainly not use the kind of pen or pencil which would leave an indentation. I recently attended a Family History Fair in Port Sunlight, Cheshire, where I found the catalogue of a firm called 'My History' from which I bought some acid free pens which won't damage documents. They are really for writing on charts and acid free (archive) paper. The ink is water resistant and archive safe. However, they have ball-points and might I think dent a photograph. Fortunately 'My History' also had a felt-tip safe for use on the backs of photos. Its trade mark is ZIG. I must get busy! And if anyone knows the name of the lady in the above photo, please tell me. From the style of her clothes, and therefore my guess at a date, I suspect she was Grace Marrs who married Samuel McIlhaga about 1870. You can just see at the right foot of the photo that it was taken by a professional photographer in Courtrai, where she and Samuel lived.

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