While I’ve had this postcard photograph for many years since purchasing it at a Victoria, BC antique store, I have never attempted to research it. Admittedly, I had a defeatist attitude about it right from the get-go. These adorable children are only identified by first name on the reverse of the postcard. I thought, without a surname, I would never find out who they are. And the postcard has been sitting, ignored, in my little postcard archive ever since.
A few days ago, I pulled it out and considered writing a “What a Shame Wednesday” post to lament the absence of useful information on the reverse. Such posts are meant to serve as cautionary tales against the incomplete labelling of photos. Just to be thorough, I felt I should at least go through the motions of researching this photo. So, I looked into the photographer’s imprint, “Hargreaves, Photographer, Clitheroe.” Thomas Stephen Hargreaves operated his studio at 3 King Street in Clitheroe. According to the Historic Building Recording Report commissioned by the Ribble Valley Borough Council, the property was first developed into a photographic studio sometime around 1880 and continued to be used for that purpose until around the end of World War I. The photographer resided there from at least 1911 to 1922. The Historic Building Report contains photographs of the studio area today, and my imagination feels it knows exactly where this image was taken within the room. Have a look yourself and tell me your thoughts.
https://webportal.ribblevalley.gov.uk/planx_downloads/19_0406_Historic_Building_Record.pdf
But, back to the children. Before I started any research, I recorded my guesses as to the ages of each of the children as identified on the reverse:
Front Bertha [2] Beteras [Beatrice, 1] Ruth [4-5] Tom [4?].
Top Frank [7] Willie [10] Jack [John? 8]
The second list on the photograph includes a few extra names: Jim, Hilda, Harry, and May. Perhaps these were younger siblings.
We know that this postcard dates to after 1907 because of the divided back which allowed a side for the address and one for the correspondence. The image itself is a “full bleed,” that is, the photograph goes to the edge of the card stock. After 1910 or more and more postcards began to include a white border, but it was by no means a hard change. I have real picture postcards from later in the decade that were also full bleed. Unfortunately, our postcard has a generic back, so it doesn’t really offer us more clues. But judging by the outfits, I’d date this image to the mid-1910s. Frank’s double-breasted “Russian” suit with sailor-style lapels was current at that time. I found a similar suit in several department store catalogues from 1914 and 1916.
My strategy was simple. Type in all the sibling’s names in a UK census search to see if anything pops up. And something did. One hit matched perfectly: the family of Joseph Henry Chadwick (b. 1878) and his wife, Sarah Jane (b. 1879), living in Bacup, Lancashire in 1921. Their children Bertha, b. 1914; Willie, b. 1907, John, b. 1908, Frank, b. 1910; Ruth, b. 1911; Tom, b. 1913; Beatrice M., b. 1916; Hilda, b. 1918, and James, b. 1920. The dates are remarkably close to my estimates. If these are the same people, the image would date to approximately 1916-17. The only hiccup was the appearance of a Lilian Chadwick, now with the surname Maden, born 13 May 1916 in the 1939 England and Wales Register in her parent’s home. Both Beatrice M. and Lilian Chadwick appear in the April/May/June 1916 Birth Registrations Index. Both are from Clitheroe, and both have a mother whose surname was Blacka.
It also appears that there are two death registrations. One for Lilian Maden, who died in October of 2002. And, yes, one for Beatrice Margaret Maden, who died that same month and year. Their birth dates are identical. We are either dealing with twins who never appear on the same census, who married men with the same surname Maden, and died in the same month, in the same year, or we have a name change.
It appears that the other children listed but not featured in the photograph were siblings. Some of them can be found in the 1939 England and Wales Register as part of the household of Joseph Henry and Sarah Jane Chadwick at Dowell House Farm in Radcliffe, Lancashire.
Is this a photograph of Joseph Henry and Sarah Jane’s children? I think there’s a good chance it is. However, I would like to see other images of the family from other sources to be certain. And I would really like to know what was going on with Lilian aka Beatrice.
Sources:
"England and Wales, Census, 1911", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X4MG-B5D : Thu Feb 13 08:31:17 UTC 2025), Entry for Thomas Stephen Hargreaves and Clara Hardiker Hargreaves, 1911.
1921 census of England, Lancashire, Haslingden, Bacup, , [database on-line], Ancestry (www.ancestry.ca : accessed 04 Oct 2025); citing RG 15/20081 Sch 22, Book 20081. Entry for household of Joseph Henry Chadwick.
Ancestry.com. 1939 England and Wales Register [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Lancashire. Burnley Rd, Nzcm. Entry for Household of Joseph Henry Chadwick.
"England and Wales, Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FTY-4M2 : 1 October 2014), Beatrice M Chadwick, 1916; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Clitheroe, Lancashire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
"England and Wales, Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2FTY-4SZ : 1 October 2014), Lilian Chadwick, 1916; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Clitheroe, Lancashire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England.
"England and Wales, Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV8K-MQ5S : 8 October 2014), Lillian Chadwick and null, 1939; from "England & Wales Marriages, 1837-2005," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing 1939, quarter 4, vol. 8E, p. 427, Haslingden, Lancashire, England, General Register Office, Southport, England.
"England and Wales, Death Registration Index 1837-2007", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZJ-MDQ3 : Sat Mar 01 02:08:54 UTC 2025), Entry for Lilian Maden, 2002.
"England and Wales, Death Registration Index 1837-2007", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVZJ-MD3T : Sat Mar 01 02:08:54 UTC 2025), Entry for Beatrice Margaret Maden, 2002.
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