My cousin very generously gave me this photograph of my great-grandmother Lois. I have no idea when it was taken,. although I do know who framed the photograph; Arthur Staples, a practical carver, gilder and picture frame maker, who had his business at 201 High Road, Kilburn, NW (now a Lebanese restaurant) two doors from Willesden Lane. Staples offered regilding of every description, pictures cleaned, lined and restored, estimates free. I could have rung the business on Hampstead 2708… but sadly there is no date on either the photo or the frame.
I wonder when this was taken; Lois was born in 1853, and she looks quite young to me, maybe only twenty? You may be able to make out a horseshoe broach at her neck – I have that broach, given to me by my mum, Lois’s granddaughter.
I have another picture of her… and somehow she doesn’t look quite the same – the other picture is a painting, so maybe the artist changed it slightly.
Lois Elsden 