Photo Album: Ebenezer and Annie Trower

When I wrote about the importance of Betley a couple of days ago I mentioned my 2x great-grandparents Ebenezer Trower and Annie Fairs. The photo below shows this couple, I don’t remember showing this photo before, but apologies if I have.

Ebenezer and Annie Trower

I believe this photo dates from July/August 1911 and the marriage of their son Henry John Trower to Dorothy May Bateman. I have several other photos which seem to have been taken at the same time including a photo of the wedding group. Ebenezer would have been 45 years old in 1911 and Annie was a couple of years older.

I have always admired Ebenezer’s moustache and if I ever decide to grow a moustache then I would love to have one like his.

Copyright © 2012 John Gasson.

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Who are this happy couple?

This is a lovely photo, but like so many family photos there are no clues as to who the couple are or when and where it was taken.

I am not 100% certain that it is the couple’s wedding day yet, I need to do some more work on that, but it seems likely to me that this was the occasion. There may be clues in the clothing that would enable me to narrow down a timescale for the photo. The background doesn’t offer many clues, except that it was a rural location.

This photo however might embody a much deeper mystery. It has been suggested that the young woman is my grandmother’s adopted sister (or possibly her half-sister or step-sister). My grandmother Annie HEMSLEY was as far as we know an only child, but she grew up with a “sister”.

No-one seems to know exactly what the relationship was, was she adopted and if so was it official or unofficial? It has been suggested that she might be the illegitimate daughter of one of my great-grandparents siblings, but in truth she might not even have been related.

Annie’s father died young and her mother re-married, so it is conceivable that the “sister” might have come from her step-father’s family. The possibilities are almost endless.

To make matters worse no-one seems to be certain of their names. Her first name was said to be Minnie, the same as my great-grandmother (Minnie DRIVER) and her husband was possibly Fred or Stan. Perhaps the best clue is the fact that they had a garage (possibly a specialist Jaguar garage) in East or West Meon in Hampshire. If I remember the story correctly the couple did have a son.

They are such a lovely couple that I would really like to find out who they were and what became of them. So if you recognise the photo or any of the names then let me know. There are no prizes, only my eternal gratitude.