Opinions of any sort on this photo, please!

[Olde Crone Holden]

Rachel

Oh, well spotted! And that would make it a pork pie hat, which pushes it later rather than earlier, ho hum.

OC

[Rachel Scand]

a quick enlargement ... but not fiddled with too much
Looks as if his hair is combed forwards ....

[Guinevere]

The clothes seem too tight for him and a bit short in the sleeves so, if they are his, I'd say he would have bought them to fit but has had another growth spurt since. This would put him in his late teens/early 20s.

I'm not convinced that they aren't a borrowed outfit.

The jacket is velvet I'd say.

[Just Barbara]

I honestly think the clothes are his, now I also at first thought it was an earlier image, and glass plate negatives were invented in 1851, and I agree he looks like he has helmet hair (from wearing a hat),.........hum now I'm not sure.......... where's Don?

[Olde Crone Holden]

What's that splodge on his shoulder (our right)? It isn't the tip of a pigtail, is it? Cos if so, that pushes it right back again in time.

OC

[Rachel Scand]

What's that splodge on his shoulder (our right)? It isn't the tip of a pigtail, is it? Cos if so, that pushes it right back again in time.OC

Impossible to tell ... very likely just a splodge

I was hoping the collar on the jacket might show up better ....

[Jill on the A272]

They use to use a rest on a stand behind the neck to keep the head still because of the long exposure time, the splodge might be the edge of one of these.

[Just Barbara]

Good observation Jill, you're right it is probably the edge of the neck rest....

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

They use to use a rest on a stand behind the neck to keep the head still because of the long exposure time, the splodge might be the edge of one of these.

Yes, and they stopped using them when exposures got shorter.

Does anyone know when that was?? (1860's or 1870's??) It would help us to know, wouldn't it!

He was a man of vastly changing occupations and eventually he disappeared...(maybe he's still alive! pmsl...in which case he's about 163-ish!)

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

Doesn't you think his body looks like that of someone much older? His shoulders and upper arms look quite weak, yet round his waist he isn't skinny is he? He looks healthy enough in the face though!

[Just Barbara]

Early photograph exposures could be minutes rather than seconds, try to stay absolutely still without blinking for 40 seconds................Merry I know you have many early photos, I am now torn..............could he be the end of the 1860s?

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

The man it's supposed to be was born in about 1844 in Clutton, Somerset.

He was the son of a schoolmaster. His parents died when he was about 10 and by the following census (1861) he was an errand boy in Wiltshire

By 1871 he had married and had moved to Wales where he was coalmining.

By 1878 they had moved to Bristol (his wife was from Bristol) and he registered the birth of a daughter (my connection's grandmother). He says he's an insurance agent.

1881 wife said she was married, but he is missing. Two children are in the workhouse.

1891 wife said she was married, but he is missing.

1895 wife marries someone else (says she's a widow). No death for 1st husband anywhere I can see.

1896 the girl born in 1878 marries and says her father is dec'd and his occ was a traveller.

The daughter used to tell her grandson (my contact) that her father was a superintendent at an Insurance Company in Bristol. She never said he vanished or anything!! lol

[Just Barbara]

Well that would put your chap about 1869 or 70, if not well off, in clothing that might be slightly out of fashion, but his tie pin and cravat says he was a bit of a dandy............?

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

That's what I though. Maybe why he didn't get on in coal mining!

[Just Barbara]

Wonder if that's why he ran away, didn't like responsibility.

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

I wish I knew where he went :(

[Jessbowbag]

Looks to me like his hiar is combed forward to cover a high forehead ( that what my OH calls his rapidly receding hairline)

[Merry Monty Montgomery]

lol Jess....My OH's high forehead reaches the back of his head!!

[Olde Crone Holden]

Well, that makes me spot on with the date then! *pats self on back*.

(1860s) Late teens, early 20s, still got that babyfaced look and a bit petulant with it. Doesn't surprise me a bit that he didnt like coal mining or married life!

Hiding out in London under an assumed name, I'll bet. Or gone abroad to seek his fortune.

OC

[Rachel Scand]

Hope you don't mind if I butt in with this pic of mine ....
It's a huge enlargement of part of a small photo taken abt 1900 and I'd like an opinion on his neckwear .... would it be classed as a cravat ???