Help dating photographs and war medal please!

[Rubina]

Hi!

Hope someone can help me out here. I was told that the couple in these photographs were Robert Leckie Monteith (Monteath) and his wife Isabella Winning but having spent some hours this afternoon attempting to recognise the medals he is wearing (5 point cross) I have realised that family information may well be incorrect!

Robert Leckie (the Scots love giving maiden names as middle names!) was born in 1855 (fact) and his wife Isabella in 1858 (ish!) and so he would have been too young for the Crimean War and too old for the Boer War (I think!)

If I am correct this would perhaps be Robert Leckie's parents William born abt 1823 and Mary Guthrie abt 1828.

Do the clothes fit in with this supposition do you think?

Hope the photos have been inserted correctly!

Rubina



http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53/lornacullen/RobertLeckieMonteathwithIsabellaWin.jpg

http://i433.photobucket.com/albums/qq53/lornacullen/IsabellaWinningandRobertLeckieMonte.jpg

[Geoffers]

The Star might be the Khedive's Star for the campaigns in Egypt from 1882 onwards.

The Khedive Star points downards (as per your photo), is suspended from a crescent moon (and your photo looks to have a slight bow beneath the medal ribbon). The medal ribbon was a single colour (blue), and I canno see a pattern in the photo.

Does the round medal have a pattern on the medal ribbon?

The top photo might be on return from campaign and possible discharge from the army? - so possibly 1890-1900

[Rubina]

Thanks Geoffers!

I think you may be correct with 1880-90 although it doesn't quite fit with what I know of their children's ages. Needs more thought earlier in the day! thinking about it though, the early 1890s does fit in well with Isabella's mutton chop sleeves so I suspect you are correct.

I will look for more children (!) and also check out service records for the campaign you mentioned. This is the Crimean war isn't it? My history is sadly lacking but improving by the day!

thank you again for your input!

Rubina :)

[Geoffers]

I think you may be correct with 1880-90 although it doesn't quite fit with what I know of their children's ages.

I think it's a bit later, see pervious message


check out service records for the campaign you mentioned.

His service record will be held at TNA, it may be possible to order it online if you know a date by which he would have left the army (see my sticky thread on the Military - Army form)


This is the Crimean war isn't it?

No, the Crimea was mid-1850's. Khedive Star dates from at least quarter of a century later.

[margarita]

Rubina,

My Grandfather was awarded the Khedive Star in 1882/4 and it looks very much like the one in your picture. He was also awarded, around the same time, the Egypt Medal which was a circular silver medal. He was in 7th Dragoon Guards at the time.

If you put the medal names in Google you will find pictures of them.

Regards,

maggie

[Rubina]

Thank you Geoffers and Maggie

I will check out the TNA sticky you have posted Geoffers and google the two medals! Looks like it is Robert Leckie after all!

Rubina

[Lesley Robertson]

Hi!

Hope someone can help me out here. I was told that the couple in these photographs were Robert Leckie Monteith (Monteath) and his wife Isabella Winning but having spent some hours this afternoon attempting to recognise the medals he is wearing (5 point cross) I have realised that family information may well be incorrect!

Robert Leckie (the Scots love giving maiden names as middle names!) was born in 1855 (fact) and his wife Isabella in 1858 (ish!) and so he would have been too young for the Crimean War and too old for the Boer War (I think!)

If I am correct this would perhaps be Robert Leckie's parents William born abt 1823 and Mary Guthrie abt 1828.

Do the clothes fit in with this supposition do you think?



If this was William and Mary, and one of the children in the picture is Robert, it must have been taken around 1860ish. I assume that it's a card photograph and not on glass or a daguerreotype? If so, it's unlikely to have been taken before the 1880s. Although Talbot had come up with a process to print on paper in the 1840s (calotype), it wan't generally in use until adapted by Eastman in 1884. Family portraits became popular for "ordinary people" after that.

Lesley

[Rubina]

Lesley

Thank you for the info on photographs! It's obviously Robert Leckie which is what I was told by my Mum.

Do you know, this site is a wealth of information and expertise

Rubina