Cadisch Wedding- a relatively 'simple' case to solve on sunny summer's afternoon

As many photo-genealogists know, people generally don't write identifying details on their family photos and despite my hobby, I still haven't myself! With all of our collections now digitised on our phones, generations to come may never see our photographs at all... or perhaps the genealogists of the future will specialise in 'selfie analysis' and social media profiles, a whole new level of insight into our personalities!

As an aside, I am experimenting with Memory Web at the moment as a safe and intuitive cloud-based repository for my digital collection. I shall review this at a later date.

Partial information on photos is common, a tantalising and sometimes frustrating challenge. But of all of the thousands of orphaned photographs in flea markets, I relish an image found with some clear identifying information. An added bonus if the any of the names are a little unusual or an area can be identified from the photographic details. The individuals can usually be found quickly through one of the main genealogy websites. It still requires some work to check details, eliminate other possibilities and then seek out family researchers who may be interested in receiving the photograph.

When I started this hobby, I hadn't anticipated that the challenge may be a little further along in the process. After identification, finding researchers who are interested in receiving the photos often proves a challenge. I believe that this is due to a number of factors. There is a general distrust of random emails from strangers on websites. The individuals in the photographs may be very distant relatives and not of interest. I have read other photo-genealogists discussing that perhaps the individuals had no close relatives or the photos just aren't wanted, hence 'orphaned photos'. I have some cases that I am researching like this, but everyone has some relatives, no matter how distant. Family historians do like to research beyond their direct family line. So it is my experience that by finding the right person to pass the photograph to all of the efforts become worthwhile, the recipients are invariably delighted.

I tend not to contact members with published trees of tens of thousands of individuals. It does make me question the quality of the research. And they are unlikely to have a close relationship with the individuals in the photograph. I try to find the closest link in published trees or a one-name study tree. But there are inevitably some who don't respond to my queries.

This photograph was found in my go-to spot, 'Snooper's Paradise' flea market in Brighton earlier this year. It has been waiting for me to get a spare minute between my son's GCSEs and my day job. I finally found a moment of calm yesterday, whilst my son was in a lesson. I discovered a little gem of a pub with a fab beer garden and great wifi @Crown_Anchor_Brighton.

Incidentally for those who enjoy 'Who do you think you are' on BBC . This Pub featured in the Richard Osman episode. It was a meeting point for the Coroner's inquest of a particularly gruesome murder (a crime of passion) in 1831.

The Crown and Anchor at Preston – Historic images of Brighton and Hove (regencysociety.org)

Pint of shandy, researched a few records, (distracted by some fascinating WW1 Pension records about George), and 45 minutes later, an email sent to a potential relative...job done.

George and Irene Cadisch Wedding group 4th August 1915. Given the unusual surname and wedding date the potential options narrowed down easily, However, there is quite a variation in details and spellings on some of the published family trees. George R C Cadisch and Irene A Carreras were married in Edmonton, Middlesex.

If an ancestor has surviving WW1 Army pension records there is a veritable goldmine of fascinating information. (WO363 collection National Archives. These are known as 'The burnt records' as most were destroyed during the blitz of WW2). George's records survive, with details of his service, addresses, and Irene's full details. It seems that he was found to have loss of vision in one eye due to a diagnosis of choroid-retinitis (usually caused by a variety of infections) and was medically discharged in 1918.

After 24 hours, I received a response from a member of George and Irene's family. The photograph has been sent to them and hopefully they can make some educated guesses as to other members of the family. Wedding photographs can be fun to research due to the conventions of how people are posed ; Groom's side and Bride's side with younger siblings often identifiable as there are fewer and their ages can be easier to estimate. In this photograph some faces are a little indistinct but it is a wonderful group and nevertheless a great addition to their research...onto the next project.