Spotlight on ... Who's In The Middle?

I've decided to branch off for a while and share things other than just the stories of my direct ancestors.  The main motivation for this is my desire to share some of the many wonderful photos I've found of my extended family (not too many degrees of separation from my direct ancestors).  These photos deserve to be in the spotlight, so I thought long and hard about an interesting way to do this.

I've decided to put together collections of photos that all share a common thread.

For the second of these collection posts, the spotlight is on ... Who's In The Middle? 

Going through old family photos, I've noticed that sometimes the people in the middle of a group photo just seem to stand out and become the focus of the shot for me.  I've put together a collection of photos where the person in the middle really draws my eye!

Who is that amazing looking woman in the middle?

Those polka dots, those sunglasses, that hat!

That's Lily Mary Anderson nee Wright

1875-1957

my paternal 1st cousin 3x removed

Born and died in New South Wales, Australia.

Lily was the last born of eight children and she became the mother of eight herself, after marrying at the age of 18.  

She was also grandmother to thirteen, and she's with two of her grandsons, Keith and Bruce Anderson, in this photo.

Shared Ancestors:  James Hukins and Susannah Fullagar   (my paternal 3x great grandparents)

Now, a complete opposite.  Who is that rather refined and poised woman in the centre of this family photo?

That's Elizabeth Shaw nee Farrell

1873-1934

my maternal great great aunt

Born in Durham, England.

Elizabeth emigrated to Australia with her family when she was 14.  She married when she was 24 and settled into married life in Innisfail, Queensland.

She's posing with her five children Frank, Edwin, Mary, Margaret and Dorothy.

Photo is c. 1911 when Elizabeth would have been aged 37.  

Shared Ancestors:  Michael Farrell and Susan Downey/Muldowney  (my maternal 2x great grandparents)

The young man in the middle of this photo would have held a special place in his mother's heart.

That is Edward Joseph McCane

1907-1983

my maternal great uncle

Born and died in Queensland, Australia. He is posing with his mother, Margaret McCane nee Farrell (my great grandmother) and his brothers Thomas, John (known as Jack) and James (known as Jim).

Edward Joseph was the second Edward born to my great grandparents.  Sadly, their first born Edward, Edward William, died by accidental drowning, about four years before this photo was taken.

Shared Ancestors:  Owen McCane/Muckian and Margaret Farrell (my maternal great grandparents)

Can you see her?  The rather diminutive old lady sitting in the centre of this group?

That's Margaret Jane Brown nee Bustard

1853-1931

the wife of my paternal 2nd great uncle

Alexander Johnson (known as Sandy) Brown

He is also in the photo, standing tall on the right; but my eye is always drawn to Margaret in her hat.  Without that hat, she'd be even smaller!

This photo was taken in 1929.  Little Margaret and tall Alexander were posing with their daughter Sarah and their grandchildren Eric, Alan, Hilton (known as Bill) Keith, Mabel, and Dorthea. The other girl is unknown.  Margaret would have been 76 years old.  She lived all her life in New South Wales, Australia.

Shared Ancestors (with Margaret's husband):  Henry Johnson Brown and Caroline Penelope Browning  (my paternal 2x great grandparents)

The lady in the middle has a rather weary look about her.  To me, that's a face that has seen a full life.

The lady is Esther McCann nee Johnson

1860-1937

She is the mother-in-law to two of my paternal 2nd cousins 2x removed, brother and sister, Alfred Barrow Jr. and Alma Florence Barrow.

Alfred married Esther's daughter, Mary Ellen (Nell) McCann and Alma married Esther's son, Charles John McCann. 

This remarkable old woman married Charles McCann in 1876 when she was 15 years old.  They had at least 5 children together, including Mary Ellen and Charles John mentioned above.  Eight months after her husband Charles's death in April 1889, Esther re-married at the age of 29.  She became the wife of her first husband's brother, John Beale McCann.  They wed on December 31st, 1889 and went on to have three children together, but only one survived into adulthood.

Esther survived both her husbands and died in 1937 when she was aged 76.  She was born in Victoria, but lived most of her life in New South Wales. In the photo she is posing with her grandson Les and her great grandchildren Nita, Dawn and Cecily McCann.

Shared Ancestors (with her son-in-law Alfred and daughter-in-law Alma):  James Exton and Susannah Lancaster (my 3x great grandparents) 

Look at the gorgeous baby perched between her parents.  That is baby Ethel, but my eye is always drawn to her sister sitting on the chair in between her parents.  

She's sitting slightly askew, with the face of a cherub that's framed by a mass of curls.  

That young lady is Violet May Browning 

1896-1974

She is my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, born in New South Wales, but died in Queensland.

In the photo, Violet May (known as May) is with her father Joseph William Browning, her mother Ellen Frances Browning nee Redmond and her younger sister Ethel Frances Browning.

Her parents went on to have another five daughters, although their last two died as babies. 

Shared Ancestors:  William Henry Browning and Anna (Nancy) Littlejohns  (my paternal 3x great grandparents)

Here is that family again, in a portrait taken about twelve years later.

My eye is drawn again to the little one sitting on the chair in between her parents nonchalantly leaning on her mother's knee, with her face framed by masses of ringlets.

That little girl is Josephine Dulcie Ellen Browning 1906-1969.  Her sister Violet May (highlighted in the photo above this one) is the young lady standing to the right, next to her mother.  Baby Ethel ( also from the photo above this one) is standing next to her father; and the other two daughters are Elsie Margaret, sitting to the right, and Eileen Roxena Maud standing between her mother and father.  All these young ladies are, of course, my second cousins 2x removed.

An interesting fact ... Violet May, the eldest daughter, outlived her parents and all her sisters.  

Shared Ancestors:  William Henry Browning and Anna (Nancy) Littlejohns  (my paternal 3x great grandparents)

Here's another of my family tree photos where my eye is drawn once more to the little one sitting between her parents.

That lovely baby is Deldee Daisy (known as Della) Snedden.

1896-1967

She is my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed, daughter of Robert Snedden and Sarah  Anne Snedden nee  Exton.

Deldee Daisy is such a memorable name.  It's unlike any other names in my family tree.  I have yet to find out its origin.

Sadly, Deldee Daisy's mother, Sarah Anne, died when Deldee was just 11 years old.  

In this next photo, Deldee is once again in the middle of the shot.  She is the one seated on the chair.  The other little girl is unknown.

This photo would have been taken just a couple of years before Deldee's mother, Sarah Anne, standing to the right, died.

Deldee's father, Robert Snedden, re-married seven years later when Deldee was 18 years old. A sister named Rita was born the following year, in 1915, when Deldee was 19.  Deldee married the very next year, in 1916, when she was 20 years old.  She lived all her life in New South Wales, and died at the age of 71.

Shared Ancestors:  James Exton and Susannah Lancaster  (my paternal 3x great grandparents)

Just look at the angelic face on the little boy in the middle of this family photo.  Adorable!

That little man is George Atherton McCann

1914-1938

He was actually born in the town of Atherton, in Queensland.

This photo was taken in 1916 on the eve of his father's departure for service in WW1 and George would have been aged 2.

His father was Herbert John McCann.  His mother was Margaret McCann nee Auld Brindley.  His siblings, going left to right, were Ethel Vera (with the big bow), Jean Thelma, baby Heather Mavis, and older brother Herbert James.

George Atherton's father did return from the war and his parents went on to have another two children.  Sadly, out of all the family members, George Atherton was the first to pass away.  He died in 1938 at the age of just 24, having lived all his life in Queensland.  He never married and was survived by his father Herbert, mother Margaret and his six siblings.

Shared Ancestors (through his father's brother-in-law):  James Exton and Susannah Lancaster (my 3x great grandparents) 

The couple in the middle of this family photo are James Connors

1859-1922

my paternal 2nd great uncle

and his wife Margaret Connors nee Mulvihill

1870-1938

James and Margaret married in 1893 and went on to have six children.  This family photo includes all those children, and their son-in-law and first grandchild.

Back row L to R:  Maurice Edward (known as Bob), Thomas John, and son-in-law Thomas Francis O'Connor.

Middle row L to R:  Eilee Joan, father James, mother Margaret, Margaret Connie O'Connor nee Connors and her daughter Margaret.

Sitting on the mat in the front row L to R: Bede Anthony (known as Dick) and Frederick Archibald (known as Fred).

The photo was taken in 1920 and sadly James, the father, died just two years later at the age of 63.  

Shared Ancestors:  William Conners/Connors and Eleanor Hickey  (my paternal 2x great grandparents)

Look at the earnest young girl standing between her mother and father, with her hands on her brother's shoulders.

That is Annie Frances Bridget Cusack

1883-1979

my paternal 2nd cousin 2x removed

This photo was taken around 1896 when Annie was 12 years old.  Her mother was Emma Bridget Cusack nee Lofts and her father was John Thomas Cusack.  A mere four years later, Annie's mother died when Annie was 16.  No doubt, as the eldest, Annie would have stepped into her mother's shoes to care for her younger brother and sisters.. 

Annie married when she was 20 in 1904 and went on to become a mother of eleven children herself, although the first-born twins died when they were babies in 1905.  Annie died in 1979 at the age of 95, having outlived all of her siblings, her husband and another of her daughters who died in 1934.

Shared Ancestors: Michael Cusack and Mary Green  (my paternal 3x great grandparents)

The photo below shows an older Annie Frances Bridget with her husband James Venn, and six of their children.

This photo was taken in 1919 and it's the young man standing between his mother and father that draws my attention.

That young man is James Frederick Venn

1907-1986

my paternal 3rd cousin once removed

James was 12 years old in this photo, the same age as his mother in the last photo.  He somehow looks a lot younger though!  He, like his mother, was to be the eldest child in the family, although he had a lot more siblings than his mother had.  His role though never became that of primary caretaker for his siblings, so he would have had an easier childhood than his mother. James Frederick lived a long life and died when he was aged 79.

Look at the serious face on that young man in the middle of this family portrait.  

That is John Edward O'Donnell  

1908-1957

my maternal second cousin once removed

The photo was taken in New York in 1913, when John was 5 years old.

He is posing with his mother Catherine Ford O'Donnell nee O'Connor and his father John (known as Jack) O'Donnell; along with his brother William, sitting on his mother's lap, and sister Mae, sitting on her father's lap.

John Edward's parents went on to have another five children, with the last of John's siblings born when John himself was 18 years old.  John Edward lived his life in New York.  He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1940.

An interesting anecdote passed on by a family relative goes:

"John, his wife Mary & a female friend were walking in Greenpoint when the friend's ex-boyfriend came at them with a knife.  John ran to protect them, and was stabbed in the lung. 

Later on he developed TB and he died a long horrible death in an old TB ward." 

John died in January of 1957, aged only 48.  One of his brothers, David (known as Davey) had died the year before and they were both buried with their mother Catherine.

Shared Ancestors:  John O'Donnell and Catherine Joy  (my maternal 2x great grandparents)

Well, that's just a few short, short stories about the wonderful people found in the middle of precious family tree portraits.