mystery photo

**arwen** · 29th April 2012, 17:58

hi everyone
i have photo in my family that is proving to be something of a mystery. the photo has on it ,to the very far right front my ancestor william stevenson. nothing unusual there but he appears to be in photograph with servants. william was a coal miner/hewer all his life so dont get what he was doing on the photo. i cant work out what the building is , maybe a hospital or a stately home. can anyone give there input into it, dont even know the date it was taken or how old he is. he did live to be about sixty in about 1920.
thanks arwen

---------- Post added at 18:58 ---------- Previous post was at 18:24 ----------

link to the picture

**oildrum** · 29th April 2012, 20:06

Just an idea, could it be a miners convalescence home?
Not sure when they first came into use, but most coal mining areas had them for injured or old miners.

**arwen** · 29th April 2012, 20:18

thanks for replying, i thought maybe it could be something like that as it looks a bit hospitaly in the background. the dog in the photo through me an unusual extra to a hospital. wouldnt like to be nursed by the lady at the front she looks a bit stern. i also thought that if it was a stately home there is no butler , they all look a bit down at heel. the mystery deepens. there wasnt any mention of william having an accident but i expect nobody was especially healthy being a hewer down the pit.

**oildrum** · 29th April 2012, 20:22

Have to agree the 'matron' at the front looks fearsome

Could he have been a union man, as the unions funded the homes?
Any idea as the area he worked, might help a little?

**arwen** · 29th April 2012, 21:42

william lived in oldcott green, goldenhill with his large family, quite a fearsome chap by all accounts but a lot were in those days. i was intregued by the thing they are all wearing in their lapels looks like a star or a flower of some kind.

**oildrum** · 1st May 2012, 13:59

An I right in assuming that he lived in Goldenhill, Stoke on Trent then?

If so plenty of pits around there, specially the Birchenwood Collieries.

**arwen** · 1st May 2012, 14:16

yes he lived in goldenhill, he is buried in st john cemetery but never found his grave yet although he died about age 60 .ive been trying to work out what they are all wearing looks like a flower or an emblem of somekind.