Photograph of Group of Children, Newhaven, C. 1921

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

52329

Title

Photograph of a group of girls and boys, possibly including Jean Crawford, c. 1921

Description

Photograph in sepia showing a mixed group of 30 girls and boys and two babies, probably a street photograph. Probably Newhaven. Various children are holding a football, a cricket ball, a skipping rope and a bicycle wheel. Girl in centre of back row is probably Jean Crawford. Girl with arms folded may be a younger Crawford sister. Boy on right is possibly Walter Liston. May be children from North Forth Street School. This photograph is part of a collection of images found in a house in Newhaven shortly before its demolition. All are believed to relate to the Crawford family.

Artist / maker

Unknown

Date

1921

Type

Photograph

Accession number

NH.2010.5

Copyright

The City of Edinburgh Council Museums & Galleries

This photograph is part of a group of photographs found in a house which was being demolished in Newhaven in the 1970s relating to the Crawford Family. They show different generations of the family, photographs taken to celebrate weddings, children in fishwives and fishermen's costume, school photographs, one relates to street games, several are World War One related with men in uniform with their wives/girlfriends. Some have identifiable Edinburgh photography studios. This photograph shows a group of children, probably while playing on the street. From comparison with other photographs the girl standing in the centre back row may be Jean Crawford and the girl with her arms folded is possibly a younger sister. Writing on the back of the card suggests the boy on the right may be Walter Liston and the photograph may relate to North Forth Street School.

During the Auld Reekie Retold project, some of these photographs were featured in a blog about the work to identify the families and locations depicted. Some of the images were shared on social media. This was during the COVID-19 pandemic and people were not allowed to meet in large numbers. The response online however gave the team some leads to investigate. The photographs were also shared as printed material with the Newhaven Heritage history group. By happy chance, the Museums & Galleries' plea for information on these images got the attention of the direct descendants of the Crawford family who appear so prominently in the photographs. As soon as restrictions allowed, the Auld Reekie Retold team arrange a story catching event, and learnt so much more about the lives of these people. Many had ceased to be anonymous, but now came to life with the stories they now could tell.

Read more about this collection and how we found out about it on the Auld Reekie Retold blog .

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Photograph of group of children, Newhaven, c. 1921