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Rankin photos

Jane Lewis

New Member
I have some old family portrait photos (Victorian?), but I don't know who they are. They were taken by 'Rankin', City Chambers, 82 New St, B'ham. Does anyone know of anyway of going back to the original records to find out who they are?Scan.jpeg Most of them have a legible number on the back.
 
most frustrating to have family snaps but no names written on the back...think most of us have got some of those....given the age of them i would think it most unlikely that you can find out who they are but maybe other members could offer up some advise

lyn
 
I have some old family portrait photos (Victorian?), but I don't know who they are. They were taken by 'Rankin', City Chambers, 82 New St, B'ham. Does anyone know of anyway of going back to the original records to find out who they are?View attachment 146380 Most of them have a legible number on the back.
By the style of clothes I would date them as Edwarian, early 1900s/1910s ?
 
Such a shame.

If the numbers on the back are serial and have meaning (do they follow on from one another?) then I suppose theoretically if you came across people with other Rankin photos who did know the dates, you could narrow the date range of your own and the people they could be.

Which, admittedly, is a long shot.
 
Jane,

This site may be able to assist you - https://www.cartedevisite.co.uk/photographers-category/photographers/

If any old records do exist anywhere, and the chances are not good, they would likely know. Searching on Google is not easy because there is an unrelated modern photographer who trades as Rankin because it happens to be his second forename. Also the author Ian Rankin. A quick search of the newspapers of the time has not been productive either.

Maurice :cool:
 
My step-grandfather had a Photographer's shop around this time, he wrote numbers on the back of his photos, they were numbers of the glass negatives. If someone wanted copies even many years later they just told him this number, negatives were stored in Glass Negative Card boxes in numerical order. Shelves were bent under the very heavy weight of the glass.
According to Kelly's 1915, 80-83 New Street (near Pinfold St) was Dale, Forty & Co Ltd - Piano Manufacturers.
 
When i was a lad me and my family had photographs taken at Jeromes in town it might have been in Corporation Street , Raz x
 
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