Who's that in the garden?

This was taken in the back garden at 84 Basildon Road but it is not anyone I recognise.

A few more "unknowns"

These are all from the Crown Lane archive so they could be related to either Ada McCann/Mackie/Warden or Bill Warden. The top picture has "Flo's" written on the back, but that is not a name that rings bells with me.

The middle picture could be relatives of Bill Warden. If that is the Anchor Hotel, Shepperton in the background, then the church is St. Nicholas C of E Church.

A load of blokes in a charabanc

I do not know who these people are or what the occasion is. I presume it is workplace-based, as the passengers are all male. Many of them are conspicuously brandishing short rods. Maybe they have been involved in the manufacture of this device, whatever it may be. They all seem to be wearing overcoats, so it is not exactly the best weather to be riding in an open-topped vehicle. The name on the side of the charabanc looks like "C.G. Lewis".

The picture came from the "Crown Lane" archive, so possibly Albert Mackie is here somewhere. If so, this could be a party from the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich.

Update

I have now made contact with Chris Lewis, nephew of Charles George Lewis and suggested a possible connection with Woolwich Arsenal. Chris has provided some interesting further information.

A little research and the vehicle in your photo is a Karrier KL type. One of the very first forward control vehicles ever built. Reg no. YN7601. New June 1926 and cost £1250.
In 1927 C. G. Lewis’ phone number had a 0 added to the front making it Greenwich 0220. In your photo it still reads 220. Since all his vehicles were re-varnished every year, I think the year could be 1926-27 as photos of this vehicle in 1928 show the new number.

The full company title at this time was C. G. Lewis safety coaches. With the name in a triangle base side down, later wings were added to this as the wings of speed (28 mph legal speed limit). He also did a lot of work for Ministry of Defence: - RN stores Deptford, Royal Naval College Greenwich, Royal Artillery Woolwich, & Royal Arsenal, so possible.

A cottage somewhere

I do not recognise this place and there are no notes on the back. There are two figures at the downstairs window. They look like an adult and a young child, but they are small and indistinct in this picture.

This little lad has been in the wars

Notice the plaster casts on both feet. Another photo from Ada's archives. The fashions look 1920s or 1930s. I don't think mum is one of the McCann girls - definitely not Ada, Annie, Ethel or Linda. I have not seen any pictures of Elizabeth, but she was born in 1880 so would have been in her 40s or 50s when these photos were taken. Or it could be one of Bill Warden's family. Or somebody not related at all.

An odd Australian photo

What is this picture about? I thought the chap in the background looked a bit Australian. There is a stamp on the back "J.H. Carr & Co, Bunbury" so I did a Google search on that. Bunbury is a city in Western Australia. And there was a Chemist's called J.H. Carr there (Victoria Street [76-78] cnr Wellington Street). Collectibles from J.H. Carr turn up on eBay or similar sites.

The only Australian connection I know of is Velda, a granddaughter of Annie Precious (nee McCann.) I have a few pictures from her in the archive, but this is not the kind of happy family snap (often helpfully labelled with names) I associate with her. And I don't think she emigrated until the 1960s at least; this picture looks much older.

Boy on a tricycle

That's a very old-looking trike. Must be 1930s vintage at least. I think it is the same boy at the front of the line-up. (The photos have the same number stamped on the back, so I presume they are from the same roll of film.)

Various "Who's that?"s

er

Again, sorry they are a bit wonky.

By comparing with other pictures, I have now identified the young lad as my cousin Peter Alan Mackie.

Some soldiers

They look like Americans. Maybe there is a tie-in with Ethel, the McCann sister who went to Hollywood. There is still a great batch of her photos to work through.

Who is this baby?

A wedding

Does anyone recognise the happy couple?

Mystery Lady

I did a Google search for the address given on the card and this led me to David Simkin's site about photographers in Brighton http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Brighton-Photographers.htm

I e-mailed the picture to David and he sent back a very detailed reply:

Here are a few snippets of information relating to the small photographic portrait you submitted :
1) Mora - Photographer and Studio
The photographer's name of "Mora" was an invented one.
The origin of the Mora studio is quite interesting.
The studio was founded around 1891 by Percy Cocker Mitchell (born 1840 or 1846, London - died on 15th December 1899 in Hove, Sussex).
Percy Cocker Mitchell, who originally operated studios in the Lewisham / Sydenham area, established a studio in Brighton at 127 Western Road around 1890. Mitchell adopted the name "Mora" (**) for his photographic work the following year.
(**) NOTE [ "Mora" was the actual surname of a well-known Cuban photographer Jose Maria Mora (1849-1926), who established a fashionable portrait studio in New York in 1870 and I have always assumed that he was emulating this famous photographer. It was quite common for photographers to adopt exotic sounding names. Other Brighton examples include "Eugene De Fontaine" (William Kessler)and "Naroly" (Edward Carr).]
The studio of "Mora" continued after Percy Mitchell's death in December 1899 and it ventually became a Limited
Company. The studio of "Mora" at 127 Western Road, Brighton was in business for a very long time - from around 1891 until after 1939 .
2) The Format of your Photograph
The small format measuring 1.5/8" x 3" or 42mm x 76mm with rounded corners was generally known as the "midget" or "midget carte".
The "Midget Carte" was the smallest format available for commercial portrait photography. The "Midget Carte" format was introduced in the early 1880s, but these tiny photographs did not become widely popular until the 1890s. Measuring 3 inches by 1 5/8 inches, the "midget"
portrait was much smaller than the carte-de-visite and was significantly cheaper than the other popular portrait formats.
John H. Blomfield* *of Hastings was probably the first studio photographer in Sussex to advertise "midget cartes". In 1883, Blomfield was offering "/the/ / new size, Midget Cartes/" at 4s 6d a dozen. This was at a time when cartes-de-visite were sold for anything up to 10s 6d a dozen. In the early 1880s, twelve copies of a cabinet portrait would cost around 20 shillings. By the mid 1890s, the cost of portrait photographs had fallen. In 1894, a typical mid-range Sussex studio charged 10 shillings for a dozen cabinets and 5 shillings for a set of twelve carte-de-visite portraits. The same studio priced the Midget portrait at 3s 6d per dozen.

3) The portrait of a member of your family
I would suggest that the portrait of the young woman dates from around 1892 and so was produced at the very beginning of Percy Cocker Mitchell's / Mora's career in Brighton. The style of the young woman's hat and clothing suggests the period 1890-1893. This date would be consistent with the format of the photograph - "Midget" photographs were very popular in the period 1890-1902.
If you want to try to identify the subject of the portrait you need to look for a female in your family who was born around 1872 [ I would suggest a possible birth year range of 1870-1874 as the young woman looks to me to be between 18 and 22, but you could add a few years either side of the range].

This is another picture from Ada, so it can only be from the McCann or Mackie line. (There is an outside chance it could be a relative of Ada's second husband Bill Warden.) But I don't have any ladies born near those dates in either tree. Also, the formal nature of the portrait would suggest the sitter lived in or near Brighton and I can't place any of my relatives in Sussex.

East Wittering - "Mum" - Bracklesham Bay

But whose mum? I think it must be someone related to Ada.

Connie & Jack's wedding

At first, I could only recognise Velda, the younger bridesmaid, in this group. But a Google search for various members of my family tree led me to this item about Constance (Connie) Precious http://www.kettlenet.co.uk/kettle/tree/037.htm
I compared notes with Anna Kettle and can now identify the bride as Constance and the groom as Jack Kettle. The best man on the left is Jack's brother-in-law William Woods. The older bridesmaid could be another of Connie's nieces - perhaps Joyce or Evelyn Smith or Kathleen Hunt, but I cannot be sure. And I think it is highly likely that the older man in the right of the picture is Connie's father George Precious.