Please Identify
 

Hi , is there anyone able to identify the background of where this photo was taken in Accrington.thank you http://www.the-bee.com/

Re: Please Identify
 

Hi nsha.
I think you will be very lucky if anyone can identify the location of the photo.
I have brightened it up a bit to make it a bit easier to see.
Good luck!

Re: Please Identify
 

I think your right there Len, I would suggest that it maybe one of the old lodging house although it looks as if it may have been quite high status at one time due to the size of the door, alas falling on harder times judging by the state of the step. If the property survives it would be possible to match the stone work of the current building with the photo. Maybe a look through the local picture library and the more recent books of old photographs may help.

All the best with this nsha, I’m sure if anyone on here can help you with this they will. What’s the connection by the way, maybe some more information of the family back ground may help.

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The success we have with Acrylic-bob's quizzes I'm sure that if that door still exists then somebody will be able to tell you where it is before long.

Re: Please Identify
 

...wouldnt have a clue, i dont recognise it at all

Re: Please Identify
 

Thank you Doug for the reply, here is the information, this is a photo of my great Grandfather William Haythornwhite and his wife Betty. Betty died in 1930 aged 81 this means she was born in 1849. I'm not good at guessing ages, but what would you say Betty's age is in the phote? Add this to 1849 and we have the date the photo was taken. Would it be outside a photo studio of that time? If I could work out the date the photo was taken I could perhaps search the Accrington library when I visit on holiday next year for studios in operation at that time. William is holding a child. I believe from my Grandfather he was one of 11 or 12 children I only came accross this photo recently though it had been in my possession for 50 years! It had been inadvertently sealed in a large cardboard photoframe whick I was going to discard when I examined it more closely. Inside was this photo and a silk tassel which give the information on Betty I mentioned. They lived in Ormerod Street, and it cannot be the door at that address!
Thank you for your interest.

Re: Please Identify
 

I wouldn't have thought it was a photo studio. They look far too casual for that. Usually people dressed up and posed very formally which makes this photo all the more interesting.

I agree with you that it doesn't look like any house in Ormerod Street which exists today, but could it have been there and been demolished?

A good way to find out where they were living if they didn't always live in Ormerod Street is to check the census returns. I'd have a stab at the 1881 first because that one is completely indexed.

Re: Please Identify
 

Thanks WillowTheWisp I know my grandfather lived at another address in Ormerod street than Betty and it seems safe to assume that this is the area where the family lived, on the silk tassel the address for Great Grandmother Betty is 115 Ormerod St.

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115 Ormerod St, earlier today. :)

Re: Please Identify
 

There are no Haythornwhites in the 1851 Census for Accrington, it is not a name I'm familiar with for Accrington. Could it be Haythornthwaite. I've checked the parts of the 1891 census I've indexed & found a Haythornthwaite in Burnley Rd. Emma a widow age 36 with 2 children.
Retlaw

Re: Please Identify
 

>>Thanks WillowTheWisp I know my grandfather lived at another address in Ormerod street than Betty and it seems safe to assume that this is the area where the family lived, on the silk tassel the address for Great Grandmother Betty is 115 Ormerod St.<<

Hi nsha,
I've had a look at the photograph and it does not seem to be consistent with any of the houses on Ormerod Street which is quite a steep street and there appears to be no indication of a slope. The quality of the stone work is too well dressed for that street, compare it with the photo Willow took earlier today. The door is fairly common to the area as is the doorknocker. The panelled light above the door is unusual, I have not noticed that type before.

The manner of dress would seem to indicate a date for the photograph prior to 1914.
Looking at Betty, I would not put her age at any more than around thirty-ish. Which would give a date for the photograph of around 1880-1885. If you had a date of death for your grandfather this might help narrow the date down somewhat.

In 1890 Ormerod Street only extended up the hillside as far as it's junction with Perth Street. You mention a silk tassle bearing Betty's details, would this be the sort of thing commonly handed out to friends and relatives as a memorial following a persons death? If so, then it is highly likley that while 115 Ormerod Street may have been her last known address, it may not have always been her address. A great number of the houses built for mill workers were rented and both she and your grandfather may have moved around quite a lot.

Another thing to consider is the difference in the quality of dress of Betty and your grandfather. Betty is, by comparison, smartly dressed and gives the impression of being "in service", might the photograph have been taken outside her employer's house in another part of the town? Until the introduction of the mass produced kodak box cameras at the turn of the century, photography was a relatively expensive hobby and for that reason was not something that the working classes might indulge in.

These are just my thoughts on the issue, I hope they help.

Re: Please Identify
 

The photo of 115 Ormerod Street was much appreciated, it did bring back memories of Accrington, my Grandfather lived at 127 Ormerod and I often visited him. The light in the photo is nostalgic to me. I now live in the tropics and as you would know the light is strong. I loved to see the October light of Accrington in October! Thank you. Stuart

Re: Please Identify
 

Hi Acrylic-bob,
Thank you for the information, I now remember that my Grandfather said his Father had lived or born elsewhere than Accrington. I was very young at the time probably under the age of 9, and do not recall much. However it now seems that Betty may have resided at 115 Ormerod in 1930 at her death, so the photo (which puts Betty in her 30's) must be dated in 1880's. So the backgroung to the photo would probably not be in Accrington.It would still be interesting to find out where it was taken. there is some information on the web to the name Haythornwhite and the name did originate in Lancashire and has various endings.

Re: Please Identify
 

Hi Retlaw,
Thank you for the information and interest, I now understand that William and Betty Haythornwhite may have been born outside Accrington though they both died in Accrington. The surname is correct.

Re: Please Identify
 

If you think the photo could be around 1880 it might be an idea to check the 1881 census to see if you can find them.

Marilyn J Wright
 

I'm fairly certain that this is a picture of our Great great Grandparents. Their Grand daughter was our mother Evelyn Haythornwhite she also lived in Ormerod Street with my Grandfather another William Albert She had two brothers James Albert, yet another William Albert and a sister called Eliizabeth. My mother was the youngest of the four. Evelyn continued to live in Ormerod street after her marriage to our father George South.

Re: Please Identify
 

Hi NSHA
I found this in I think the 1881 census William and Elizabeth (Betty) Haythornwhite and 8 children living at 202 Richmond Hill street Accy.
All born in Accrington
Ive attached the census form ,I hope you can read it ....William was an Iron Planer.

Whilst we're on the iron "bit" does any one know the names of the the irons works that used to be in Accy?

Re: Please Identify
 

Hi Accypete,

Many thanks accypete for your reply and inflormation. This is a great forum and through my post I was contacted by Marilyn J Wright who is a descendent of William and Elizabeth. It was wonderful to find relations who if it was not for this forum, I would never have know.

I live in Australia and last year when I was in Accrington I was most fortunate in meeting up with Marilyn and her sister Irene.

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I am always impressed by the great spirit of help all the members give to a request for information......It,s a pleasure to belong here.....Well done everyone....

Tal

Re: Please Identify
 

Only just found this photo, and although I am only guessing, feel sure this is NOT Accrington. I have sifted through many many photos of old Accrington, but the style of the steps makes me think the photo was not taken in this town.

Atarah

Re: Please Identify
 

I know this is off thread but Atarah your link comes up with a message page cannot be found.

Re: Please Identify
 

Hi Atarah,
Thank you for your reply re my 'photo, I have since found out that my great grandparents did live in other areas of Lancashire before they settled in Accrington. Probably due to the work with the proliferation of the cotton mills. I suggest the photo was taken in or near Manchester, it does seen to be a grandeous background for any smaller town. They did live in rural Lancashire at one time, in the Ribble valley I think, I have met a cousin of mine only recently and this information was supplied to me. However again many thanks for your interest and reply.

Re: Please Identify
 

Hi NSHA
just a thought if all the children were born in Accrington, the baby in this photo dosent look much older than a year if that is their child I believe its a good chance that is was taken in Accrington.

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This is a very old thread pete, can't remember seeing NSHA on here since

Re: Please Identify
 

I feel sure that with diligent searching of censuses, this couple can be found. There is a CD on sale which tells where, in 1881, the majority of people of a particular surname lived. This is a surname associated with North Lancashire & Cumbria, although there are some over here in the Fylde. There are none of this name listed in the 1951 Accrington directory. I agree that she does have the appearaance of being in service. He looks as if he is in his working clothes, so the photo was likely taken close by where they lived at the time.

Re: Please Identify
 

Mistake on my part. There is a Henry George Haythornthwaite, a wholesale fruiterer living at 'Highbury', a splendid house on Queens Rd between Clifton Ave & Marlborough Rd in 1951. He had premises on the market and in Willows Lane. I suspect the photo is not of this house.
Ive sent a PM to NSHA to get him to look at the forum.

Re: Please Identify
 

I remember being at school with a Susan Haythornthwaite probably the High School in the late 50s/early 60s. She was born 1944 according to Lancs BMD.

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Bob I have several comments on this. First I'm assuming you mean on the north side of Queens Road as most of the houses on the south side are pretty ordinary. I used to live when young in one on the south side between Marlborough Road and Nutter Road and I wouldn't say any of the houses opposite were what you might call "splendid". The bigger ones were between Marlborough Road and Whalley Road and I don't think any of the Queen's Road houses are as old as the one in the photo. Also most of the ones on the north side are of red brick. so I'm struggling to picture where this house called Highbury was/is. Checked on Google Streetview, still can't picture it.

Re: Please Identify
 

The name is question isn't Haythorthwaite, but Haythornwhite.

Re: Please Identify
 

I know Margaret, but in post 13 the originator of this thread says:

It would still be interesting to find out where it was taken. There is some information on the web to the name Haythornwhite and the name did originate in Lancashire and has various endings.

Clutching at straws maybe, but names have been known to change over time.

Re: Please Identify
 

Just thought that Bob had got the name mixed up.

Re: Please Identify
 

Depends what you define as an Iron Works, most of the local engineering firms have been called Iron or Brass works at one time or another. Globe, Whittakers, Langs, Ewbank, Antley, Spring, [demolished to make way for market hall], Croft St, Star, Bull Bridge, Pioneer, Rothwells at Church.
Retlaw.