I never really knew any of my four grandparents. My fathers' parents, Enoch and Harriet Ellen, both died when I was too young to retain any memory of them and of my mothers' parents - pictured above - it is only my grandmother Kate that I can vaguely remember as an old lady living with my Auntie Amy. My grandfather, Albert Beanland, died just months after I was born in 1948 and therefore I know him only through the strong, steady, sepia smile that echoes down the generations via a pile of old photographs. In this photograph he is pictured near the end of his life, smoking his pipe, wearing his favourite watch and chain and radiating a kind of Yorkshire bonhomie. It is interesting to note that this has obviously spread to Kate, his wife, because she too is smiling and from what little I can remember of her she wasn't a natural smiler. It's just a nice photograph, what we here in Yorkshire would call a grand photograph.
This is my Sepia Saturday photograph for this week because it is Saturday, the photograph has faded to sepia, and Albert is wearing a watch and smoking a pipe. I was going to Photoshop a tortoise hiding in the overgrown lawn, but I decided against it. For more Sepia Saturday posts from around the globe, make your way over to the Sepia Saturday Blog and follow the links.
What a shame you missed out on the joy that grandparents can bring to a child's life. No wonder Auntie Miriam made such an impact!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely happy photo, I'm glad you didn't add in that tortoise :)
Oh Alan don't do that. I've just been going through hundreds of family photos that go back to the 1800's and scrutinizing them for clues about our family -- and throwing out many -- we are moving --you might give your descendants the wrong impression.Suppose someone photo-shopped you in a bikini! What would that say to future generations!
ReplyDeleteoh! a lot of mischief in that smile of his!
ReplyDelete+That image of you in a bikini is going to haunt the rest of my day.........
Just as the idea of you as the next Pope is already haunting my day, Tony.
DeleteHe has a particularly nice smile, and looks as if he was a very pleasant and approachable man.
ReplyDeleteI just noticed the comments above - somehow amalgamated them into an image of the Pope in a bikini, which is worse than anything! :)
They look like a friendly pair of grandparents. The "other" images are starting to conjure up in my brain :-)
ReplyDeleteThere is something truly English about an old watch chain. Great photo, Alan.
ReplyDeleteWell I never - I found another Van Bergen via your post today!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, your grandfather has something of the Viscount Stangate (diclaimed) about him.
I feel a sadness for those who can not remember grandparents. My paternal grandfather lived with us for the last ten years of his life. My maternal grand parents were living when I was an adult. I was fortunate.
ReplyDeleteAm enjoying you post as usual, and the comments. What a bunch! I do think this picture is of a happy moment, but since I'm not Brit, wonder what Yorkshire bonhomie might mean to you?
ReplyDeleteI think I see a tortoise back there looking through the fence behind your grandmother. That is probably why she is smiling.
ReplyDeleteI like picking out the other details, too. Did they come through a picket gate behind them? Why is there a gate there? But your grandfather is so genuinely pleasant it's as if he just turned from closing the gate and encountered a friend.
ReplyDeleteA splendid photograph, Alan. I'd say your grandparents were sharing a gentle joke, a moment of mirth, sealed in sepia.
ReplyDeleteWonderful - as you say, a grand photo. I feel I might recognise your grandfather now if I passed him in the street - provided of course that he was still accessorised with cap, watch and pipe.
ReplyDeleteA lovely photo and you write about it so well.
ReplyDeleteAlan, it IS a wonderful picture; one that probably makes you sad that you never got to know any of your grandparents. Very nice that this set were so happy in this one.
ReplyDeleteKathy M.
What a great photo to have!! I love that women wore hats!!
ReplyDeleteI totally and completely agree, even by having grown up on the other side of the grand old pond, it is a grand photograph! I see where you get your charming smile from! (partly of course) I am so happy that I grew up with at least one set of grandparents, as my Omi and Opi across the ever so wide pond I didn't have a lot of visits with them, but at least some!
ReplyDeleteThey look like they are dressed up for something special!
ReplyDeleteA photoshopped tortoise would have changed the whole flavour.
ReplyDeleteI never really knew my grandparents either, living - as I did - a continent and a half away from them, but I feel that I know them a good deal better after having read a lot into their photos over the last 15 years. Perhaps I'm kidding myself?
Great photo. Hey Brett, re your comment, I think as we get older (and experience more of the world) we can empathise and therefore get to "know" relatives we never "knew" better - if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteAlex, yes I think that does make sense.
ReplyDeleteI think their smiles owe a much to the photographer, whoever he/she was. Grand indeed!
ReplyDeleteThey really do look like such a nice couple. It's too bad you never got to know them but you must have some stories about them from your mother. At least I hope so.
ReplyDeleteBarbara
I knew my grandmothers, but not my grandfathers. One of my grandfathers died before I was born, and the other died when I was only a few months old.
ReplyDeleteTiens, tiens, Alan a un spammer. Get rid of that anonymous!!
ReplyDeleteAhem...
As I was about to say, they definitely looked like a fine couple and I guess widowhood didn't agree with your grandma, hence the no smiling... Some grieve longer than others. An endearing photograph and your impression of them left unspoiled.
:)~
HUGZ
A smile is indeed contagious. They look great together. A precious photo.
ReplyDeleteA smile is indeed contagious. Probably the only contagious thing that's wonderful to have and/or spread. Your grandparents look great together. What a precious photo!
ReplyDeleteI knew my grandmothers. My maternal grandfather died in 1926 or '27 from complications of lockjaw. He was a fascinating character and I wish I'd known him even a little bit. My paternal grandfather died in 1956. I was 4. He was 85 at the time. He was born 1871. I still marvel at that.
ReplyDeleteI have a theory, based on photographs my own grandparents, that a smile is a very unique trait to each person. I can recognize my grandmother's youthful smile in her school girl photos, her shy smile as a young woman, and later the same smile as an older woman - the person I knew. What we see in your family photos Alan, is a reflection of all the Sepian people we each know. After all, smiles and frowns are a universal language.
ReplyDeleteThe only solid memory I have of my Scottish grandfather is standing next to him in his yard in Oakland, California while he talked to a neighbor who had been walking by. The one line I can still remember was how he said, "My granddaughter could beat up your grandson." I was so proud. I was probably 3-1/2 or 4.
ReplyDeleteAlan, a very nice sepia smile. Your granddad looks really nice, perhaps your grandma was a bit shy it looks a bit like it how she smiles. I am glad to be a grandma to 4 and have with all of them a good bond. I have known one Oma, as she was called. She was my step Oma , she did not love me, we were strangers to each other, so she spend sometimes holidays with us.
ReplyDeleteI like your grandparents' photo -what a shame you missed knowing them.
ReplyDeleteI thought for sure I had a photo of my granddaddy with a pipe, but no. I'm glad you have one of your grandfather, especially since you didn't have the pleasure of inhaling some of the fragrance from pipe tobacco.
ReplyDeleteYour comments about the photo giving you a memory of someone you never met. I was in the same situation. I brought to mind that I need to get in touch with cousins who hold photos of my one Grandfather. He was a jolly smiling man and I think I have only seen one photo of him like that. There must be more out there in my cousins storerooms.
ReplyDeleteYour photo is a classic and the sepia just adds to its historic feeling of the past.
What a nice jolly photo. They do look like they're sharing a joke. Maybe the photographer said "Say cheese" or something inane like that and they're both smiling about it.
ReplyDeleteNancy
At least you have the photo..he looks like a kind man:)
ReplyDeleteEven a well hidden tortoise can see that is a great watch!
ReplyDelete