Mystery photos

 

(Delia Robertson has very kindly posted these pictures to her website at a higher resolution – you can view them at http://www.geocities.com/deliaarobertson/ -- although please note that the e-mail address for me posted there is out of date. I'm now at J2964x17w@shaw.ca )

 

Do you know who these people are?

I'd be very grateful if anyone who recognizes any of the people in these two photographs could get in touch with me at the e-mail address below.

The photographs turned up in an old suitcase left by my 1820-Settler-descended grandfather, Ryno Neville Fuller of Stutterheim (1893-1987).

I’m told by an expert on fashion history who lives in Natal that the picture on the left , judging by the little frill around the lady's neck, the shape of her sleeves and the style of the gentleman's collar and tie, was probably taken in the period 1890-1900. The taking of pictures was quite rare in those days and tended to be arranged to mark an important date, so it’s a pretty good bet that an engagement or wedding was behind this photo.

Likewise, the picture on the right, she believes, with the tailor-made look of the dress, tight corset and exotic indoor setting, has the look of the mid-1890s, although the hat is puzzling, possibly pointing to a few years before that. On the other hand, fashions used to lag in the colonies, so the mid-90s could be correct.

Known family haunts back in those times were Stutterheim, Queenstown, King William's Town, Grahamstown, Bedford, Adelaide, Kei Road and parts of Transkei -- that's the general territory.

Although they may of course be entirely unrelated to my grandparents, it's possible that one or more of the following surnames from my family tree might be relevant to their identity:

Adcock, Austen, Bertram, Blunden, Booth, Botha, Brown, Callaghan, Copeman, Davies, Driver, Deal, De Wet, Dwyer, Filmer, Fry, Fuller, Fynn, Haywood, Hill, Hutchinson, Jessup, Kemlo, Ker, King, Lanham, Liddle, Maasdorp, Mclachlan, Nettleton, Northcote, Palmer, Parrott, Penny, Reedy, Rous, Scandrett, Shepstone, Shirley, Stegmann, Stockenstrom, Stone, Truter, Van der Riet, Van Ryneveld, Vercueil, Wiggins, Wylde

If you can help, please e-mail me here.