A family carte de visite / cabinet card album with portraits of the children, siblings, nephews and nieces of Thomas Ruffin Carty (1810-1889).
The album contains 92 portraits, mostly identified, though some of the identifications are problematic. I think the identifications were all written long after the album was compiled, probably by one of Carty's grandchildren — some inscriptions refer to ‘my grandfather' — who did his or her best to supply identifications, though he or she relied to a certain extent on supposition and conjecture.
The majority of the inscriptions are in pencil on the album pages but there are also some in ball point pen on the backs of a few of the mounts.
Here are the names which seem right to me. I've omitted the ones which are obviously wrong (for example, one woman is identified as ‘TRC's mother' but Thomas Ruffin Carty's mother died in 1856, before the advent of the carte de visite phenomenon.
Thomas Ruffin Carty (2 cabinet card portraits, in old age, with a full white beard)
A back and vat maker' in Southwark, who at the time of the 1861 census was employing 46 men,
Lilian Thompson née Carty (one of TRC's daughters)
Her portrait, a cabinet card, is the first in the album. A pencilled inscription verso reads: ‘Lilian Carty/ (Mrs Frank Thompson) / This photo was a personal gift to me when abt. 18.'
Born 18 March 1870. Married Francis Barrier Thompson in 1898. According to the 1911 census her husband was a ‘Physician & Surgeon' and their marriage had produced three children, all living in 1911.
Reginald Carty (4, at various ages)
Lilian (5, at various ages)
Leslie
Edith
A cabinet card portrait of Herbert Thomas Carty (1854-1951)
A cabinet card portrait of Leslie Carty (1875-1914) as a young man with a dog. Inscribed ‘born 26 Jan 1875' (Various trees on Ancestry confirm this).
These are all children of TRC.
According to an inscription below one of his portraits, TRC was the only son among nine children. Again, Ancestry confirms this (his only brother had died in infancy). The album contains portraits of several of his eight sisters:
Mary Carty (1812-1865)
Elizabeth Carty (1808-1860), married Charles Chetham Lawrence. [This is probably wrong, given the sitter's age.] A pencilled inscription verso reads: ‘Important. / Not known, but possibly / Aunt Lawrence / (Elizabeth Carty, 2nd of the / 8 Carty sisters).
Harriet Carty (1819-1883)
Caroline Carty (1818-1886)
Ah! I've just found a CDV of three women, outdoors, with three children. An inscription verso (in ball point pen) reads: ‘Sarah, head nurse / Louise, 2nd nurse / Mrs Cooper, Father's housekeeper / Baby Leslie, me and Reginald.' Another inscription, in pencil, on the album page, reads: ‘Baby Leslie, Lilian, Reginald.' So the inscription was written by Lilian.
In pulling that one out, I noticed the back of another. This one, of a mature woman, is inscribed (in the same handwriting): ‘Miss Loag, cousin / of my Father, / for very many years / Matron of Guy's Hospital.'
The next portrait in the album is Clementina Stamper ‘Cousin to Lilian Carty' — this is Clementina Stacy Stamper (1864-1958), niece of TRC and cousin of Lilian Carty. Her father was Joseph Taylor, her mother was Clementina Carty, one of TRC's sisters. She married William James Stamper. The album contains portraits of their children:
William Stamper
Russell Carty Stamper (at least 5 portraits)
Thomas Stamper
Clementina Stamper (at least 7 portraits)
Two loose CDVs:
A young boy inscribed verso in pencil ‘Leslie Carty' and in ball point pen ‘My youngest brother Leslie'. Leslie Carty was the youngest child of TRC. Born 26 January 1875 in Southwark, died 9 May 1914.
A woman with a baby on her lap. Inscribed in pencil in the lower margin: ‘Lilian as Baby? / Anna Carty née Keen?'
I'm just going to list a few more names without trying to explain their position on the family tree in any great detail:
Alfred Keen, ‘Bro. to Anna'
Albert Keen ‘Unc. to Anna'
Clara Keen
Lizzie Keen
Gertrude Keen
[TRC's wife was born Anna Louisa Keen]
James Laurence, ‘only son of Elizabeth Laurence, 2nd Carty sis.'
Florence D'Ombrian (3), ‘Lilian's cous. Nov. 1886'
Agnes D'Ombrian (3, including a cabinet card with her husband and baby)
Mary D'Ombrian (2), ‘Mrs Phillips'
John Hambledon Kitchen
Annie Arnell (Mrs Kitchen), 1885
Charles Arnell Carty
Florence Aikman, ‘cou. to Lilian'
I think you've probably got the idea by now. This album will be of great interest to anyone who is descended from Thomas Ruffin Carty or from one his sisters but of little interest to anyone else.
As the sitters are the main point of interest in the album, I haven't attempted to list any of the photographers who took the various portraits.
Condition:please see photos. Obviously some of the cartes and cabinets are in better condition than others, but by and large the majority are in very fine to excellent condition. The last ten pages of the album are empty and elsewhere there are two gaps where presumably one carte and one cabinet card have been removed.
Dimensions: the dimensions of a standardcarte de visiteare approximately 4.1" by 2.5" (10.5 cm by 6.3 cm).
