Many
families are fortunate to have photos of extended families. When my parents
grew up, in a rural area east of Calgary, there were innumerable family
get-togethers and there always seemed to be a camera around to record the
event.
My
father had twelve first-cousins on his mother’s side, as I described in my April
14, 2015 post, Growing up With
Cousins.
The parents of these cousins, all siblings, lived close to one-another and frequently
socialized together. They were good friends, as well as relatives.
Some
of the things that are important to me, as a family historian, are the pictures
of the families that have come down to me, many taken at those times when so
many people were present. They are the Classic Family Photos – group shots of
multiple families and multiple generations.
I
remember many of those aunts, uncles and cousins on my father’s side because
they lived closer to us and because we continued to visit with them when we
were growing up. I only know of some individuals, such as my
great-grandparents, through the group photographs as they had passed away long
before I was born. So these pictures have an extra special importance.
A
few of my old group family photos are studio portraits, like the one in the
background of this blog. Most, though, were snapshots taken on various farms
where family members gathered.
Some
of the photos are of great quality – you can see details of individuals’ faces
clearly. Some are not quite as good. Most of the very old photos were probably
taken with an old brownie camera. I still have some of my dad’s old cameras
that were used to take many of these photos, including the old Brownie. He also
took tons of 8mm moves most of which I have now put on to DVDs. The still and
movie cameras are special memorabilia and all on display in a glass-front
cabinet in our home. Dad used to take pictures of family outings, both still
and movie, and then come home and develop them in his darkroom so that everyone could look at them the same day.
Pictured
above are two old Kodak cameras from my collection. The folding, bellows camera
probably dates from the early 1900s but I know it was still in use in the
1940s. The Brownie box camera was introduced in 1908 and discontinue in 1934.
This particular camera was very likely the one used for most of the photos of
our family through the 1920s and 1930s.
I
was lucky that I had more than a few cousins help put names to all of the
people pictured. Those details are now recorded for posterity – digitally as
well as in the family albums.
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1926
– Thompson family (my father's mother's side of the family) near Keoma, Alberta
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1939
- Thompson family near Kathyrn school, Alberta
|
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1942
– Slemp family (my mother's mothers side of the family) picnic at Hannah, Alberta
|
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2005
– Thompson family reunion, Keoma, Alberta
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As
might be common in many families, I also have a number of really wonderful
group photos but don’t have a clue who any of the pictured are are! Maybe one
day someone will come along and tell me.
 |
1920s
– A great period photo. If I only knew who they were!
Wayne
Shepheard is a volunteer with the Online Parish Clerk program in
England, handling four parishes in Devon, England. He has
published a number of articles about various aspects of genealogy and is a past
Editor of Chinook, the quarterly
journal of the Alberta Family Histories Society. Wayne also provides
genealogical consulting services through his business, Family History Facilitated
