Bella & Lizzy

My sister Ann has an ability to put a narrative to an object
It's a way of storytelling inherited from our mother.
She is investigating our family tree and yesterday showed me a photo I had never seen before


The photo shows two teenage girls.
They are of my very Scottish great aunts. Aunt Bella and Aunt Lizzy and the photo was sent to their brother , my grandfather during World War One .
He was in hospital after being gassed in the trenches .
My sister noticed the tiny drawing pin hole in the top of the post card
" The photo was pinned over his bed when he was recuperating " my sister mused
I suspect she was right.

29 comments:

  1. The lovely lady on the left in the picture bares a striking resemblance to you I think.

    Jo in Auckland, NZ

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  2. What a wonderful story. Thank you.

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  3. It must have been a life line for your grandfather. Did they all have long and happy lives? I hope so.

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    1. I need to find out about the sisters. My grandfather died around 1965 I don't remember him

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  4. Things can't talk, but we can bring their stories to life.

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  5. Your sister's work will be appreciated by your family in years to come. Loved hearing of your kin and must admit I teared up a little over the pin hole issue.

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  6. It's so difficult to be the last person looking. Good for your sister, and good luck to her.

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  7. I have great appreciation for those engaging in family history research. It's a hard and sometimes frustrating activity, but always interesting and mind opening. Kudos to your sister for her genealogical efforts!

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  9. Please let us know which part of Scotland they hailed from.

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  10. The pin hole is almost as important as the photo itself.

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  11. And I am sure they helped that recuperation.

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  12. I have photos of my family from over 100 yrs ago & would love to meet them x

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  13. A lovely photo and a lovely story. x

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  14. How are you feeling today? Better I hope x

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    1. Not really Rosie , thank you for asking. Am off to bed , early x

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  15. That drawing pin hole says so much doesn’t it ?
    Hope you feel better in the morning John. XXXX

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  16. I love this stuff. Connections are at once tenuous and frequent. I have photos of Victorian relatives - including aspidistras.

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  17. I hope you are feeling much, much better.
    That photo is precious. I don't have any photos of relatives other than immediate family, and feel the lack.

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  18. Photos were so much rarer even one generation ago, let alone two or more. It must be lovely to see one you hadn't seen before.

    Feel better soon.

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  19. I do not have nearly as many old photos of relatives as I would like. Hope your well, ya sodding bloke ;)

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  20. Thinking of photos, don't forget I have a pile of your old photos still abandoned in my cellar.

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  21. Nice story. With the Scottish connection you must be entitled to wear a kilt made from the Gray clan tartan. But watch out for sudden gusts of wind as you are walking the dogs!

    See:- https://www.kinlochanderson.com/tartan/gray

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  22. Hope you are getting better John and now comfortable. My father always wrote on the back of our old photographs- names, location and date. It was very helpful as most of them I had never met but heard about.

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  23. I am a part of a family that is always looking at the past
    The stories are so beautiful and often so sad
    Then there are the surprises when you suddenly get to see the ancestral home!
    Just happened to me
    :)

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  24. Bella and Lizzy - interesting that they share a name. Lizzy, of course, is short for Elizabeth. Bella could be short for Isabella, which is a form of Elizabeth.

    Somebody liked that name!

    Lovely picture, John.

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  25. What a fabulous photo!

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