Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

Unknown Group photo


nemesis

Recommended Posts

I'm struggling with variations on the photograpy company's name, and i'm struggling to connect 36 and 38 Castle Street.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Presumably Castle Street has/had even numbered properties on one side and odd numbered on the other, so Nos 36 and 38 are/ were next to each other.

 

A 1915 Kelly's Directory for Wiltshire is available on line, but consulting it is a very clunky operation. I've researched in a hard copy in the past, and I recall that it appears to have been compiled in 1914 and does not reflect the changes in local businesses brought about by the war. No doubt one can play around with modern directories and the like, but the furthest I could bother to go is with

 

this one

 

which suggests that 36 and 38 are now not connected. No 38 now appears to be the Qudos Hotel. Of course, building numbers could have been changed in the past century, as has been pointed out in another thread (about Spitalfields in London).

 

This is an interesting diversion from the the original question, but I suspect that all we can hope to do now is to establish where the photograph was taken.

 

Moonraker

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Moonraker said:

Yes. But a local expert on the Great War in the locality tells me: " I can’t place it at Wilton House nor at the Cathedral.  The ‘tower’ behind the men is unfamiliar."

 

It would be  a very long shot, but it's a pity that we can't source photos of officers of 348 and 650 MT companies in 1916 so that comparisons could be made.

 

The British Colonial Photo Co is new to me, though I've come across most of the local postcard photographers.

 

Presumably/perhaps  the photo we're discussing was taken with one of those cameras that panned from left to right, as was used for group photos of 800 pupils at my old school. Not all/many photographers would have such a camera.

 

I can't recall such a large group photo of a Wiltshire-based unit. Most of those that I've seen are of officers and NCOs, though I do have one of  100+ members of an artillery unit outside what is now Salisbury Guildhall taken by the Central Royal or Royal Central Studio.

 

Moonraker

The spelling on the writing in the picture is Colonia so that might be a clue. Is there a Castle Street in Salisbury ?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, CountryJohn said:

This thread may be of interest:-

 

 

 

Ah - 34-36 Castle Street! Brings up plenty of results!

 

British and Colonial Photo Co.

Edited by IPT
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, CountryJohn said:

This thread may be of interest:-

 

 

Nice find, and well spotted! I missed Ian's thread back in 2010. (This shows the value of tags, introduced since then; a "Salisbury" tag would have caught my eye.)

9 hours ago, nemesis said:

The spelling on the writing in the picture is Colonia so that might be a clue. Is there a Castle Street in Salisbury ?  

Yes, follow my link in post 27.

11 hours ago, Moonraker said:

... It would be  a very long shot, but it's a pity that we can't source photos of officers of 348 and 650 MT companies in 1916 so that comparisons could be made...

Overnight I realised I had one such, of 348 Company in Marlborough (27 miles from Salisbury):

 

image.png.a2c007a61ff55ef48fe26ce7ab147a65.png

 

Moonraker

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interestingly (to me!), the National Army Museum apparently has in its collection: -

 

Long photograph, 273rd Co (MT) ASC [Army Service Corps], Mobilised for European War April 1915; presumably taken at Salisbury by The British and Colonial Photo Company, Salisbury, 1915.  The Accession Number is 2000-10-68.

 

Looks as though the B&CPC may have specialised in long photographs and ASC subjects.  Would be great to see it, in case it's one of the ones we've looked at here, but it doesn't seem to be online.

 

Moonraker - educate me, if you'd be so kind, please: does the fact that 348 company was equipped with traction engines, per your photo, rule out their also being the lorry-equipped troops in the other photos?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, CountryJohn said:

... Moonraker - educate me, if you'd be so kind, please: does the fact that 348 company was equipped with traction engines, per your photo, rule out their also being the lorry-equipped troops in the other photos?

I'm outside my comfort zone here, but I would have said not, with it being equipped with a changing variety of vehicles depending on how quickly these became available and the its changing role.

 

Moonraker

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, CountryJohn said:

... Moonraker - educate me, if you'd be so kind, please: does the fact that 348 company was equipped with traction engines, per your photo, rule out their also being the lorry-equipped troops in the other photos?

I would like to think that were someone to bring this thread - and the 2010 one - to the attention of the Museum then someone there would check the two photos we've seen against the one it has of 273 ASC. Rather than deluge the Museum with duplicate enquiries, perhaps we could leave it to the thread creator, Nemesis, should he be so inclined?

 

Moonraker

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...