new books and reviews

Shitten Street – Growing up in Stanningley in the 1930’s, Elizabeth Naylor, Pudsey Civic Society 2008, ISBN 978-1-898082-0206; 47 pages, A5, paperback.

Known locally as ‘Shitten Street’ because of the ducks, hens and other animals that shared its living space, Vickers Place was where Elizabeth Naylor was born and grew up. This book is an account of her early years from the 1930’s to the mid-1950’s as a member of a remarkable family whose strength and fortitude carried them through a time of great hardship.

Elizabeth was born in her grandmother’s house, a one up one down cottage with one cold water tap and an outside toilet. The extended family of nine lived in very cramped conditions – her grandma and uncle slept in two rocking chairs by the side of the fireplace. Money and food were scarce, and poor living conditions were a health hazard.

You might think that all this makes for grim reading about a time best forgotten, but you would be wrong. There is not the slightest hint of desperation in this book. Elizabeth’s account of her childhood is told with good humour and affection and a recognition that most people were in the same situation. I have never subscribed to the idea of the ‘good old days’, but shared hardships did create a sense of family and community from which people gained comfort and pleasure.

Many of the places mentioned were demolished in the 1960’s, to facilitate ‘improvements’, and along with them of course, the community. Elizabeth’s account of growing up in Stanningley with its schools, shops, businesses, mills and churches provides us with a picture of how it once was and what it was like living there. This is well illustrated with old photographs depicting all aspects of local life.

The book will appeal to those who have their own memories of the place as well as those who live there now and would like to know what it was like in earlier times. It is also a very good read.

The book is available from Pudsey Civic Society Price £4.00 + £1.50 P&P see their website www.pcs-online.org.uk for more information. Or from our bookstall at meetings.

Family Photographs & How to Date Them, Jayne Shrimpton, Countryside Books, 2008, ISBN 978 1 84674 099 2; 192 pages, soft cover.

I am sure that many of you, like me, have experienced the frustration of being presented with an bundle of old family photos only to find that non of them have a name, date or place attached. All is not lost. There are clues in what our ancestors are wearing, Their clothes provide a wealth of information about the period and the person. Although it may not be possible to assign a precise year to an image, fashions changed then as now and these changes make it possible to place a photograph within a reasonable time period.

The book does not go into any great detail about different types of photographs or mounts but concentrates on the important, from our point of view, detail of the dress. Dress in this case, as Jayne Shrimpton points out, includes all elements of a person’s appearance - clothing, accessories, jewellery and hairstyles.

The book covers the period from 1850 to 1950 and is divided into chapters each covering one decade - 1850s, 1860s etc. The introduction provides an interesting overview of the subject and how the style of the photograph and dress of the subjects changed over time. Each chapter has its own introduction describing the changes in photographic and dress style for that period. The rest of the chapter is comprised of photographs each with text describing the photograph in general and, in detail, the style of the various items of dress that date the photo to a particular period. There are over 230 photographs, each one chosen because it is typical of its time and reflects the kind of portrait photograph which may be found in any family collection.

I found this book absolutely fascinating and put it to the test with two of my own family photos. One was a portrait of my great-grandfather, chosen because I know he died in 1890 at the age of 51. By comparing it with the illustrations in the book, a date of around the mid 1880s was suggested which, given that he looks to be in his late thirties to early forties , is spot on.

This is an excellent book for anyone researching their family history and those who would just like to know more about their old family photographs.

Jayne Shrimpton attained an MA in the History of Dress at the Courtauld Institute of Art and worked for the National Portrait Gallery in London. An experienced fashion historian and portrait specialist, she has been dating and analysing old photographs and paintings for 20 years

Family Photographs and How To Date Them by Jayne Shrimpton is published by Countryside Books at £12.99 and is available from local booksellers and direct from the publishers on www.countrysidebooks.co.uk