This has been a long time coming...

During the summer and autumn months it is imperitive to make the most of the weather to do any excavation work, this despite the many and very irritable flies which enjoy biting anyone daring to break into a sweat whilst in digging in the ground, I readily appreciate why this area, so enclosed by the woods is out of bounds to sheep rearing. The flies take no prisoners and where sheep are concerned they rapidly fall victim to all manner of parasites! For me I have tried everything that can be termed a remedy, the hat featuring string and corks to mention but one. Sadly nothing deters the flies, but equally I feel that if I am ever to fully appreciate that which has gone before on this old site, I must press on despite all the drawbacks.

The excavation work comes at a cost, the price being that digging equals no writing! Since there remains little or no time to properly set out the results of my research, thus the spring, summer and autumn are largely for field work and the remainder of the year, taking out the requirements of family and work, give me a chance to add to this web site. I suspect that the long gap between the last additions will have lost me a few readers, but for those of you who check back from time to time I hope you are pleased to discover some new items.

I was dismayed to discover that the modification date of my last addition to this section of the site on the find of the stereo images was months ago, I should really have published the entire story before now. So accept my apologies dear reader.

Sadly the careful enquiry into the background of the stereo images, has been the result of a stupid error, a simple oversight due to a lost CD ROM caused me to miss a significant factor in the origin of the stereo pictures!

So what makes me think the pictures are as early as the 1860's? Well there are a number of possible hints, amongst the collection are pictures from the Gascoigne's Scottish home, Craignish, in Argyleshire, these include a few pictures of servants and gardeners, their dress suggests the 1860's. Then there is the matter of the variance of the photographic records of Parlington, images thought to be from around 1880, which show the Picture Gallery and the plans by Fowler-Jones of 1885 also show this structure, so the stereoviews must be earlier. Then there is the Brewster viewer, if this has always been with the pictures it is of a type often recorded as early as the 1860's or 1870's, possibly French.

The date of the pictures is not as significant as the route they took to being re-united with Parlington today. None of the photographs bear any sign of production by a commercial photographer, the two sisters were known to be keen photographers. So are these pictures their own efforts? Well perhaps, the collection comprises images over a period of time covering the seasons of summer and winter, therefore it is unlikely that they were taken by a guest. Is it likely that they were experiments with stereographic photography, that became household items, left to show visitors. This their purpose for years, until both Isabella and Frederick Gascoigne had died and in 1905 the effects in the Hall were recorded for purposes of probate.

The first effort in trying to establish how the photographs had passed into the hands of John Shelton, the ancestor of the contributor Don Cathie, was to yield a fruitful result. Amazingly, the record of the house contents drawn up by Hollis & Webb, Valuers, Leeds, for probate following the death of Colonel Gascoigne in June 1905, lists in the Picture Gallery a stereoscopic viewer. The title page from the probate document, below.

The details from page seventeen, set out the information of the stereoviewer, last but one item in the Gallery listed below and listed before after the reference to the Geneva Organ; a large number of photos, [Possibly the Stereoviews]

Whilst this evidence is far from conclusive, given the popularity of stereoviewers at the time, the second find, relates to the documents produced for sale by auction a month later in July 1905.

From page nineteen, items offered for sale on the second day of the sale, Tuesday 25th July 1905, lot 348, a stereoscope and mahogony box. Whilst the acompanying stereo picture cards are not mentioned, it would be reasonable to assume their lack of significance from an auctioneers perspective, particularly if they [The photographs] were not by a recognised professional photographer.

So did John Shelton visit Parlington on the occasion of the sale and purchase the stereoviewer and a collection of cards, we will never know for sure, but it fits together, so for now it seems reasonable to assume this is how they came to be in the family of Don Cathie.

Another factor in the story, is that amongst the pictures are a number of duplicates, not photographic masterpieces, just duplicates of ordinary images, typical of a private collection. Where the chaff has not been weeded out!

My email to Don Cathie on Discovering the documents.

Keeping you informed as promised, I may have discovered the link
in the mystery of how the photos came to be with John Shelton.

I have recently looked through a transcript of the probate
record for the effects at Parlington after the death in
June 1905 of Col F.C. Trench-Gascoigne. I still need to
check out the auction of the effects in the weeks following
the probate document. But interestingly in the room described
as a picture gallery is mention of photographs and a stereoscope.
It is possible that your relative could have attended the
auction and obtained the items in the sale!

Obviously it is pure conjecture at this point, but who knows,
I may come across some reference which can prove the theory one
way or the other....

One further interest in respect of the auction of July 1905, and a matter which relates to the lost Aberford Railway, the auction catalogue, provides for the potential bidders at the house sale to take advantage of the High Flyer to get to the Hall from Garforth Station. A page inserted in the auction document gives details of the Service of Trains between Leeds and Garforth. A short paragraph at the foot of the page states: Arrangements have been made for the 'High Flyer' to run to and from Aberford in connection with the trains marked with an asterisk, at a small charge.

Thus the inbound 10:28am from Leeds, and the outbounds at 4:48pm, 5:19pm, 5:25pm from Garforth were synchronized with the local Aberford line to suit the main line services of the day. I might add that the train services between Leeds and Garforth were slightly slower than the modern day equivalents in 1905 the 10:28am arrived Garforth 10:47am a duration of 19 minutes; whereas today the 10:15am from Leeds reaches Garforth at 10:27am, a gain of 5 minutes in the intervening 100 years. In the opposite direction [Although I might add generally downhill] the 4:48pm from Garforth arrived at Leeds 5:04pm some 16 minutes later, whereas today the 16:35 gets to Leeds at 16:49 14 minutes journey time, only 2 minutes better. However experience tells me that it would be advisable to factor in the No Show trains of todays service. The number of No Show trains from that era is beyond the scope of this site! But I know that if I were going to an auction, and I were keen to bid on an early item, I would go by car, so as to get a chance to make my bid.