All this group of CDV’s I bought at the Matford Antiques Fair, Exeter in September, they are a fantastic collection of early images! I know the seller and he told me that they all had come from the same family, but he had no family name. That’s always great to know, but sadly not one of them has any writing on! So frustrating!

Despite this and the fact that I am unable to do a family history about them, they are just such wonderful CDV’s I thought I would share them with you all in the very slim hope that someone may recognise an Ancestor. Below are 3 of C.Smith, Vaga Place, Ross. That curtain gets everywhere!

The only clues we have to the families identity are of course where the old photos were taken, so we have 1 unknown, 1 from Brighton, 1 from Bristol area, 1 from Cheltenham, 5 from Gloucester area, 2 from Worcester, 4 from Ross (Ross on Wye) and 8 from Hereford photographers Mr & Mrs. Bustin. Lovely family group image was taken by Bustin below:

 

On the Hereford History website, they write: ‘Mr & Mrs Bustin Photographers had a business lifetime of over a century. The reputation of the Bustins as photographers of the highest order was well known. Few, though, could have anticipated the significance of their legacy. Trapped in glass for generations, the Bustin collection began to tell the story of an amazing range of people and their world‘. The other 7 Bustin images below:

They hold a huge Bustin Collection on the Herefordshire History site, you can view about 7,000 of their photos, a work in progress, some of the images are fabulous and so wonderful that they are online for everyone to enjoy.

Do take a look at their collection. Link here: Hereford History.

Here’s a little of the history of the Bustin Photographers I found on 19th Century Photos website by Paul Frecker, Link here:19th Century Photos.

‘Mr. and Mrs. Bustin of Hereford.

Richard Britton Bustin was born at Barnstaple in Devon in 1833, the son of Richard Bustin, a ‘spirit dealer’ (1851 census). On 15 April 1852, he married Mary Ann Warren at St Giles in London. The couple appear on the 1861 census living at Victoria Street in Hereford with their four daughters and one son. For his profession, Richard gave ‘Master of School of Artists.’ Mary Ann, born in London’s St Pancras district in or about 1833, described herself as a ‘Photographer.’ Their marriage eventually produced a total of thirteen children.

In 1881 Richard gave ‘Art Master‘ as his profession while Mary Ann, now calling herself Marion, described herself as an ‘Artist.’ By 1891 he was a ‘wine and spirit merchant‘ in Bristol. A trade directory for 1894 lists him as the publican at The Griffin, 41 Colston Street, Bristol. The pub, now called The Gryphon, is still there.

Richard died, aged 65, on 1 September 1898 at Hereford, though according to an announcement of his death in the Bristol Mercury (3 September 1898) his address was Cheltenham Road, Bristol‘.

Two Photographers that may be descendants of Mr & Mrs Bustin are named Bustin in Glamorgan county on the list of Victorian Professional Photographers in Wales 1850 -1925 to be found on Genuki, link here: Victorian Photographers of Wales.

Both of these links to Victorian Photographers I have on my page of Victorian Photographers Info, always handy if you are looking for more information about your own family’s old photos.

 

My thoughts on these photos are that the family who owned them are probably the family that had their photos take at Hereford by Mr & Mrs. Bustin, apart from the one taken at Brighton(maybe taken on holiday) the rest are not taken too far away from Hereford, Bristol being the farthest about 60 miles away. So likely the wider family members.

Do your Ancestors come from these areas? Have you old Victorian photos of your Ancestors that match with any of these people?

Till next time then………