Photograph of Crawford family

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

52334

Title

Photograph of John and Jean Crawford with a baby, probably Maggie Crawford

Description

Studio photograph in sepia on thick card showing the Crawford family, mother, father and child (John Crawford, his wife Jean Sommerville and probably their edlest child Margaret/Magge Crawford). Part of a group of photographs found in 1970 in a house which was due to be demolished. The photographs relate to the Crawford Family.

Accession number

NH.2020.001.33

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 WW I related with men in uniform with their wives/girlfriends. Some have identifiable Edinburgh photography studios. This photograph probably depicts John Crawford, his wife Jean Sommerville and probably their eldest child Margaret (Maggie). It was taken by the Parisian Photographic Company who had studios in Edinburgh from 1887 to 1914.

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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