I started researching my family history some years ago now, and one thing which has stood out to me is the fact that…they never smiled in photos!
Every photo I have of my ancestors and their families show them as stiff, proper, and very very serious.
It’s a shame really, because I’m sure they weren’t really like that all the time. They would have laughed and smiled and joked around like we do today. I wish they could have recorded themselves that way, like we do, so we could see today what they were really like. Their character and humour, or even sadness and anger.
But no…we only have them at their Sunday best…so we have to make the best of what we have.
My great great great grandparents came to Australia as free settlers (not like a lot of my other ancestors who were naughty and were sent here as convicts). They settled in a small town west of Sydney by the name of Carcoar and became prominent citizens of the town.
John was a blacksmith, actually Carcoar’s first blacksmith, and of course Martha stayed at home and ran the household. He went off to the goldfields for a while, and came back with enough money to buy a house and blacksmith’s shop….but I still don’t see them smiling about it.
I had to restore the photo I had of them before I could use it.
And used it to create this layout.
John and Martha Gorringe
I created this digital scrapbook kit especially for them.
$3.00 Australian
Have you ever taken a look at your family history?
Are you the exception? the one with ancestors who are actually smiling?
I’d love to see them.
A Moment In Time 