Saturday, February 27, 2010

female generations - Sepia Saturday



This is my paternal grandmother again - Winifred, Winnie - as seen in my last Sepia Saturday post. In this photo, I can see definately my gran as I knew her, especially around her eyes. She was always "Gran" - my other grandmother was "Nan".

Here Gran is with her mother, Annie, in 1917 when she was 16:

What a world away from my daughter, who will be 16 this September !


This was Gran's maternal grandmother, Annie's mother.



She seems to have lived a fairly long life, there are some photos of her in later years,
with her hair still just like this - piled up on her head.




And this is her paternal grandmother, my great-grandmother Margaret France, born 1850 and died 1874. I don't know how or why she died so tragically young.







you will find more Sepia Saturday posts here

28 comments:

Dumdad said...

"my great-grandmother Margaret France, born 1950 and died 1974"

Surely, 1850 and 1874?

Akelamalu said...

Your Gran was really pretty!

It's fantastic that you have these photographic memories of your ancestors Lettuce. :)

Martin said...

Lovely photographs. Your Gran was a natural beauty.

lettuce said...

oops, thanks dumdad! that would have been some kind of timewarp....

corrected now.

Harnett-Hargrove said...

She looks like an (Imogen Cunningham) angel in the first photograph. Beautiful. -J

Anonymous said...

I was just going over what diseases were rampant back in the 19th century...hmmmm...

Never-the-less she was a beauty :)

And the image of your great-gran? on the right...she looks like she's floating in the hedge there ( at least on my screen )...

Jill from Killeny Glen said...

Lettuce...what absolute treasures you have in these photographs. Simply wonderful.

My grandmother was Winifred as well...yours is strikingly lovely! Her eyes...SO sweet.

mouse (aka kimy) said...

wonderful treasure trove.

i can so see both you and your daughter in gran - beauties all of you.

ah, and poor margaret france - 24! a mere child herself - considering the year and her age, she could have very well have died in childbirth - the rates of maternal mortality were quite high in places at that time....

Elizabeth Seaver said...

How absolutely fabulous that you have such a great pictorial record of your female forebears. To echo earlier comments here, they are a handsome lot! It's lovely to get to meet them.

Barry said...

Winnie was an absolutely stunningly woman. There is an almost aching sense of innocence in the top photo.

Anonymous said...

these are wonderful lettuce x

Vicki Lane said...

What Barry said! Oh my but Winifred was a beauty!

The Silver Fox said...

I've only read a handful of SS posts so far today, and I've already encountered a lot of women that briefly make me wish I'd been born 50 or so years earlier!

Kat Mortensen said...

Your "Gran" was so lovely and there is a real sensitivity about those eyes.
What does your 16 year old think when she sees these photos?

Kat

Mel said...

Winnie was stunning, she must have been amazing. You made me laugh with the hair commentary! Thanks for sharing such great photos.

Betsy Brock said...

Gorgeous! I love their clothes and jewelry, too.

Gran and Nan...how cute! I had an Aunt Winnie. :)

The Clever Pup said...

I said it last week but I'll say it again - your Gran was very pretty.

Your GGGrandmother may have succumbed during childbirth perhaps.

Ladrón de Basura (a.k.a. Junk Thief) said...

I love all of these photos, but the one at the top is especially compelling. There is something about her gaze that is so fresh and seemingly ready to encounter the world. A winsome Winnie, I guess. Thanks for sharing.

Tess Kincaid said...

What a stunning line of women in your family tree!

Giulia said...

I'll be back but wanted to say, wow your gran was so beautiful.

ciao

Stephanie said...

Both your grandmothers were lovely girls. Love the up-do of your grand!

e said...

Now I know where the spark in your humour and the sparkle in your eyes come from. What an amazing line of women, and it's continuing in you and your lovely girl.

Happy Weekend!

Megan said...

Lovely ladies! Thanks for sharing them with us!

Alan Burnett said...

I love the way in which these old photographs by their use of fading and cut-outs focus attention on the faces. And faces so full of character and beauty.

Deb said...

I love old family photos...thank you for stopping by to visit...

Unknown said...

The eyes struck me right away; from a time without eye makeup yet. Lovely.

Shammickite said...

Lucky you, to have such treasures. Lovely ladies, all of them. A photograph was a valuable and rare thing back in those far-off days, no wonder they all look so serious. It was a serious and costly process. Only the well-off could afford to visit the photographer's studio. That's why I have no pictures at all of my father's family.... too poor, and spending all their waking hours working on the land.

Vintage to Victorian said...

Isn't it wonderful to have photos of our ancestors. I have a boxful, too. I spent 2 or 3 years researching the family around the millennium and, although I can't remember offhand how you go about it, you can find out causes of death.

My Mum is a Winifred (Win).

Sx