Tuesday 8 December 2015

A Vintage Gallery Celebrating Friendship and Love


Mr D. Gibson & an Unknown Man,
Lanarkshire, Scotland, c.1910


These vintage photographs display something of the close bonds of friendship, love, brotherly and sisterly love, and 'mateship'. Unless otherwise stated, all images are from my own collections.



Sisters Margaret & Wilhelmina Oughton
of "Roslyn Lea", Southland,
New Zealand, c.1880's


“For there is no friend like a sister, 
In calm or stormy weather; 
To cheer one on the tedious way, 
To fetch one if one goes astray,
To lift one if one totters down, 
To strengthen whilst one stands” 
- Christina Rossetti (English Poet)



Brothers and Friends resting during a Sunday Afternoon walk.
Taken near Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, c.1905.  Photographer
Jack Watson, Taken from the original glass negative, c.1905

(L to R) : Samuel Finnie, James Letham Watson, unknown,
unknown boy, James Lohoar, William Letham Watson,
Robert Lohoar, George Jackson, Gavin Watson (Burnhead).


"There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship" - Thomas Aquinas (Medieval Italian Dominican Friar, Philosopher and Theologian)



Unknown Sisters,
Turnbull & Sons Photo,
Glasgow, c.1880's
[Dougall Family collection,
Australia]


“A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.”– Isadora James (American Author)



Friends from the Heddon Bush district of Southern
New Zealand pictured during a wild pig hunting trip, 
Photo taken by Jimmie Watson, c.1916-1918


"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives" - Euripides (Athenian Playright and Poet of Ancient Greece)



My Grandfather & his Sister Ann,
taken in Edinburgh, c.1879 My grand-
father emigrated the same year and they
never saw each other again. c.1879


"Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend." - Albert Camus (French Nobel Prize–winning author, journalist, and philosopher)


Friends with their "Faithful Ford" car enjoying a picnic
luncheon at Lake Hauroko, Southland, New Zealand. 
My Uncle Robert appears seated second from left. 
Taken 10th March 1918.  


"Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious." - Thomas Aquinas (Medieval Italian Dominican Friar, Philosopher and Theologian)



My Great Aunts Marion and Elizabeth Watson,
Lanarkshire, Scotland. Neither married and
remained devoted to each other for the
rest of their lives. Taken c.1906


“Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply.”– Jane Austen (English Novelist)



Thomas Watson (at left) and his friend George Jackson (at right),
Taken by Jack Watson, Stonehouse, Scotland, c.1906
Photographer Jack Watson, Taken from the original 
glass plate negative, c.1905


"One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood." - Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Roman Philosopher, Statesman, Orator, and Dramatist of Latin Literature. He was also a Tutor and later Advisor to the Emperor Nero)



John Barrie & William Baird of Canderside,
Lanarkshire, Scotland, c.1870 - 1880


"Friends are the siblings God never gave us" - Mencius (Chinese Philosopher and Confucian, 372 - 289 BC)



Miss Margaret Frame, Hallhill &
Watchknowe, Crossford & Mrs Baxter,
Lanark, Scotland, c.1870's
(possibly sisters)


"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." - Albert Schweitzer (Theologian, Organist, Philosopher, Physician, and Medical Missionary in Africa)



My Aunt (at left) and her best friend, Dot Shaw
(at right) playing "dress ups" in military uniform,
taken c. 1918


"I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that one had to explain nothing." - Katherine Mansfield (New Zealand born Modernist Short Story Writer)



George Jackson of Lockhart Street, Stonehouse,
Scotland (at left) with his brother (possibly James Jackson).
Both served in the Great War and George (at least)
survived. Taken c.1905-1910 


“Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and an be of service to him. And blessed is he who loves his brother as well when he is afar off as when he is by his side, and who would say nothing behind his back he might not, in love, say before his face.”– St. Francis of Assisi (Italian Catholic Friar and Preacher who founded a number of Orders)


Friends on a large rock on the Avon Water,
Stonehouse, Scotland. Photographer Jack Watson,
Taken from the original glass negative, c.1905


"Nothing but heaven itself is better than a friend who is really a friend." - Plautus (Roman playwright of the Old Latin period, 255 - 185 BC)



Two unknown women, believed to be sisters,
taken Glasgow, c.1870's


“…she'll go and fall in love, and there's an end of peace and fun, and cozy times together.” - Louisa May Alcott (American Novelist and Poet)



Unless otherwise stated, all images are from my own collections and may be freely copied for personal use provided this site is acknowledged. Please contact me regarding any commercial use.



1 comment:

  1. The ones that were least posed and most meaningful to me were:
    1.Brothers and Friends resting during a Sunday Afternoon walk. Stonehouse, Lanarkshire, c1905. These young men were having fun, bonding, looking after each other's safety. They will remember the experience for the rest of their lives. And
    2. Friends from the Heddon Bush district on a wild pig hunting trip, c1916-8. Going into the bush with guns is just the sort of fun and dangerous activity that would have made young men bond. Fantastic photos.

    ReplyDelete