Ann Caithness b Scorey (1796-1889) ca 1863
Born at Marchwood, Hampshire and baptised at Eling, Ann was the daughter of John Scorey and Elizabeth nee Pyboul. Ann married in 1814 at Eling, Hampshire, James Caithness (1786-1826). Widowed at 30, Ann raised five children: James Ramsey Caithness b 1815, George b 1818, Mary Anne b 1820 (married William Bell), William b 1824 and Charles b 1826.
Ann was the sister of James Pyboul Scorey b 1792. Ann's granddaughter was Caroline Ann Caithness, 4th Marchioness of Ely.
The original carte de visite shown above, by S J Wiseman, 9 Bernard St., Southampton, has square corners: this suggests a date pre 1870. Wiseman's studio moved from Bernard St, where he had operated from the late 1850s, to 15 Above the Bar in September 1863. Even if the photographer was using up old stock of cartes in his new premises for a year or two, the neutral background and simple setting with curtain, table and books, and the seated full length figure all point to the 1860s. Ann would have been aged about 67 when this photograph was taken.
The redoubtable, prematurely-aged women wearing their 1850s and 1860s bonnets and shawls and flowing skirts are those I truly admire - and Ann is one. Her face is a sensitive indicator of a battle endured but a battle won.
Acknowledgements:
Tom Sheldon
Anita Caithness
Steve Steere
Peter Hay
Lorna Cowan
Donald Gaff
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Bonnet similar to Ann Scorey's. This is a tintype, a photographic process begun in 1852. |
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