March 3, 1886 was the wedding day of George Robert Smith, aged 26 to Isabella Frances Parker, aged 18.
Together, George & Isabella (known as Fannie, much to her dismay) had nine children. Two of those children, Benjamin & Norman Parker, died in infancy. The rest lived to adulthood, two girls and five boys.
Here they are all together on Christmas day in what Mum and I have decided must be 1913 at the earliest.
Although this particular copy does not come from Grandpa's albums, there is a copy in there. I chose this one because it shows who everyone is.
As the story goes, my grandfather was given this camera for Christmas that day. He took a number of pictures of the family (some of which are below) and at some point Grandfather decreed that there would be a formal family portrait taken when they were all dressed for dinner.
This did not please Granny, who was in the kitchen supervising the preparations. The children remembered her being annoyed at this interruption, which does show on her face.
At any rate, my grandfather's best friend, the station master's son who lived across the street, was recruited to shoot the picture after my grandfather had it all set up.
The pictures in my grandfather's albums date from 1911 - 1919 and we think my Great Aunt Ruth may have been responsible for taking the earlier pictures.
Unfortunately, these hundreds of wonderful photos are not in chronological order, so mine will not be either.
I believe this is one of the earliest pictures I have of my grandfather and his siblings. From right to left, this is Francis Parker (Parker), William John White (Pin), George Washington (my grandfather) and Frances Ruth.
Here are Herb, Great Grandfather, and my grandfather, George. We're not sure that the little girl is Ruth, but it could be.
This is Lucy with an unnamed dog. There were quite a few dogs around the Smith household it seems. My grandmother used to talk about Granny's yapping Chihuahua, but that would have been much later.
These three are Kim, Lena and Terry.
And this adorable Boston Terrier shows up in at least half a dozen pictures, but none of them are captioned with his or her name.
And here he/she is again being held by my Great Uncle Parker in a photo with Aunt Ruth's friend Freda, dated 1919.
Pin, the baby, and Lannie (Orlando Chauncey), the eldest boy.
Lucy, Father, Mother, Herb
Ruth & Parker
Herb & Pin
You may remember that Herb and my grandfather served in World War I. Herb was captured by the Germans and spend the end of the war in a POW camp.
Lucy & Fred
Since I don't know when this was taken, I can't say if Fred is yet Lucy's husband, but he would be. I never knew either of them as they both died four years before I was born.
I wish I had known Lucy though, she surely appears to have been quite a character.
I asked my mother if there was any significance to these pictures. She said no, but that it seemed like a Lucy thing to do.
I didn't know Lannie either, he died in 1951. I did know his widow, Rachel (pronounced like Rachelle). She was the great aunt who always had sweets or money to get some when my cousin, Trevor, and I would visit. Lannie and Rachel had three children, George Robert Louis (Bobby), Pauline Louise & Walter Herbert.
Here he is in later years.
I didn't know Herb either, but his school photos showed that he was something of a character like most of the family. He married Georgia Talbot and had a daughter, June Monro.
As Chief Photographer, pictures of my grandfather are few and far between and you've seen most of them. George and his wife Marjorie Dean, had one daughter, my mother Janet Isabella. Here he is as I remember him.
Ruth died in 1974. I have only vague memories of her, but they are very pleasant; filled with warmth and love. She and her husband adopted a girl, Philippa. I should also say that I do have later portraits of the women as well as the men, but I didn't set out to find them in time for this post.
Uncle Parker was the survivor of his siblings. He married Ruby Lavers. They did not have children.
And here he is as I knew him.
And last but not least, the baby, Uncle Pin. He married Mary Emmeline Hurley one of the most warm, wonderful and down-to-earth people you could ever meet. Together they had four children; George Robert Hodgson (Young George), John Lannie Hume, Mary Frances & William Frederick Hurley (Bill).
As an only child I can only guess at what it must have been like to grow up in such a large family. I'm sure it was fun and loud!
There are so many great pictures, I almost can't stop adding them. But I'll save them for another post on a different theme.
Unnamed doggie says, "Until Next Time!"
Take a tour of vintage goodness by joining the party at Vintage Thingie Thursday.
Anna