Flashback Friday: Baby photos

My grandmother is celebrating her 94th birthday with the family this weekend so its a great excuse to dig out her earliest photograph from 1918:

A typical photograph of the era being very formal. I love her little boots and the way she is clutching her cuddly toy. She has changed a bit since then and has produced 3 sons and has 7 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. Would be fabulous to create a family tree showing us all with baby photographs to compare our looks and clothes!

Happy birthday Granny M! I'd better get off and bake your birthday cakes now...

Flashback Friday: Military men

For Karin's Flashback Friday I am again delving into the family archives to look at some photographs of my family when they were serving their country.

Firstly my great grandfather Charles Band who served during the first World War. Here he is on his wedding day in 1915 proudly wearing his uniform:

I must try and find out more about his military service using Ancestry.co.uk. His son my great uncle - also Charles Band - served in the Second World War:

He served in Burma but luckily wasn't captured by the Japanese. He was working with the ghurkas and had lots of tales to tell.

Most of us have had service men (and women) in our family with two World Wars. Do you have photographs of yours to share?

Flashback Friday:Siblings

Not going so back up my family tree today as when searching for old photographs I came across this one and couldn't resist posting it instead:

This is my big girl cuddling her baby brother when he was 1 day old. The look on her face shows love and amazement - he doesn't look quite as impressed! This was taken almost 4.5 years ago and my son wouldn't fit on his big sister's knee any more. At the time he was a whopping 10 lb so doesn't look like a newborn baby but this was taken on the maternity ward at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings and St Leonards. Both of them are so much bigger and growing up fast but I hope the love is still there.

Please click on the logo above to find some more lovely blogposts on Flashback Friday.

Flashback Friday: What's in a name?

Another trawl through my genealogical archives this week for Karin to produce this photo:

You maybe wondering why I have a photograph of a horse as part of my family tree! It's all because of my great, great grandfather Mark Kellett who was rather fond of gambling on horse races. On one occasion he bet on Lily Agnes as she came up trumps, so when my great grandmother was born she was called Lillie Agnes in honour of the win. The horse went on to produce one of the greatest ever race horses Ormonde and my great grandmother went on to marry Charles Band and produce my granny and my great uncle.

Flash Back Friday: Romantic Student Break

I am really loving this idea of Karin's and hope I can keep on joining in! Today I have to show a snap I've taken of adjacent pictures in my photo album from 1991:

The occasion of the joint photos was my first ever romantic break away with a boyfriend! For some reason we had detoured to Iron Bridge on our way to have a day at Alton Towers... Being a pair of equally impoverished students we were taking turns at paying for our accommodation and it fell to me to book a B&B via the Tourist Office. At the time my surname was Jones and when we arrived at the B&B the owner said she had expected us to arrive under cover of darkness as she thought it was a cover name! I was only 20 at the time so it was embarrassing enough having my first double room booking without such a comment....

Flash Back Friday: Victorian Ladies

This is the second week of Karin's Flashback Friday were we choose a photo or photographs from the archives that has a special story or meaning behind it. As I haven't yet had a chance to scan my old school photos I am once again delving into the really old family photos.


So I am pleased to present my great grandmother Margaret Amy Brading (1885-1975) and her older sisters Hilda and Elsie:

The daughters had quite a tough later childhood as their father had vanished so when their mother died in 1895 they were packed off to orphanages. They had 4 older brothers so no-one in the family was able to care for all of them.

Flash Back Friday: Weddings

Lovely new idea from Karin at Cafe Bebe! For my first Flash Back Friday here are some wedding photos from my family across the generations:

Great Grandparents 1915

Grandparents 1939