Catherine Boles is my 3rd great-grandmother.
She was born in about 1845 in St. Ninians, Stirling, Scotland to James Thomson Boles and Isabella McLaren. On 15 December 1871, she married Alexander Robertson Brown in Carluke, Lanark, Scotland. They had at least eight children, including Catherine Brown, my 2nd great-grandmother.
Catherine Boles was about eighty years old when she died 13 November 1925 in Carluke.
Isn’t this photo remarkable?
My cousin emailed it to me recently. I love it when cousins share and bring their collective pieces of the story together to make a more complete whole. ❤️
Happy Thursday! I hope a lovely cousin will share a photo with you very soon. Or better yet, be the wonderful photo sharing cousin. It’s good genealogy karma. xoxo
When do you think it was taken? Always wonderful to see the faces of our ancestors!
Good question, Amy. I have one other photo of her that I can estimate a date on based on the children in the photo, this one seems to have been taken quite a bit later. I’m not good at guessing ages, so I may have to post them both and collect opinions. Before I do that, I am going to wait for the box of photos that are headed my way. This is among them, maybe more images will help clarify things. 🙂
That sounds good—more photos!
Yes!! ❤️
I have also had great luck with cousins sharing family information, letters, and pictures. These cousins are the gold nuggets we find as we dig into our family history.
Yes, exactly!! It is remarkable what has made its way to me since I started blogging. I believe that blogging is the best cousin bait for genealogists that there is.
Thank you for sharing Amber, love these Boles pictures!
You are so welcome, Sheila! ❤️
Interesting that it was taken outdoors, not in a studio. It looks professionally done, rather than by someone with a box brownie or equivalent.
Those were my thoughts exactly, Su! I wonder if a professional was taking photos house to house, sort of like reverse street photography…?
I wondered that too. She looks as though she may be in her “Sunday best” — or at least has taken off her apron. No hat though?
I don’t have a lot of photos of my family from Scotland so I don’t know enough about their daily attire or best clothing to analyze it that closely. But as your entire tree resided in Scotland, I will defer to your more experienced judgement. 😉
That’s a great photo! Nothing more exciting in genealogy than connecting with distant cousins who have and are willing to share treasures like this picture.
Yes! One of the best parts of genealogy and cousin connections, for sure. ❤️❤️❤️
I don’t have many photos full stop. But I have seen a lot from Scottish photo archives, and aprons were pretty universally worn day to day, while hats were equally common attire for going out.
I’m sorry, Su, that stinks. But it also encourages me to keep on sharing because I know I have cousins who didn’t inherit photos and somehow – tons have made their way to me. I hope more photos find their way to your digital door.
Thank you for the insights. I should probably familiarize myself more with Scottish photos in general now that I’m sorting through a box of unlabeled photos from my Scottish family members. Any favorite digital archives you have found?
Thanks Amberly. I know of a few groves of photos in the possession of cousins, but they are in the UK, so I have to rely on their goodwill and willingness to scan them. None are particularly interested in family history, so it’s not a priority for them.
I can’t think of any particular archives offhand, it I’ll look through my bookmarks and get back to you.
Well, I hope they will get it together or pass those precious photos on to you. 😉
Thank you, Su!
So do I, but I’m not optimistic 🙁
Shoot! 😢
The main issue is distance.
“Beam me up Scotty” would be awesome for this problem with the added bonus of being a nod to your destination. 😂
Oh absolutely! 😁