Strangers in a Box: Unknown Photographs of the MAXTON Family of Wairarapa

30 March 2009

Unknown Photographs of the MAXTON Family of Wairarapa

I've finally scanned the rest of the photographs in my possession of the Maxton Family, none of them are identified except where I have hazarded a guess as to who they might be.

I'm starting with the matriarch of the family - Susannah Martha Maxton nee Dunn. She has been identified from previous photos, the first two are definately her, the third one is possibly her when she was a young girl before she left England as it was taken in Notting Hill. However, she was only 14 when she migrated to NZ with her parents and the girl in the photo looks to be older than 14, doesn't she?

Is this a photo of daughter Rosa Elizabeth Earle with her two children? There are identified photos of the children here. The boy looks similar but the girl doesn't.

These are a few photos of young children, the first three look very similar to the two above:-

These next few look like a set of twins, unfortunately I haven't been able to find twins in the Maxton family but I'm sure they belong there somewhere:-

The two older boys seem to be sitting on the same chair that the young girl is standing on above so possibly she's their sister. Maybe they aren't twins, just that one grew faster than the other?

Then we have the young women, the first two the same person perhaps:-

This next one I've identified as daughter Mary from the brooch she is wearing, I didn't notice it at first until I scanned the photo and enlarged it, you can just make out the word Mary in the enlargement. Mary is the grandmother of Alan McKenzie so he'll be able to tell me for sure.

The next two look to have been taken in the same place, maybe not on the same day?

These next two are a bit of a mystery, on the photo back of the young man it says - J. Bateman, 51 St George's Street, Canterbury. Patronized by The Royal Family. - and the back of the other one says - Mr J Batemann, 51 St George's Street, Canterbury. Gentlemen's Mansions & Estates Photographed.

Mr Bateman(n) seems to have either added or removed an N at the end of his name at some stage! The funny thing is I'm not sure whether the address refers to the Canterbury in NZ or the one in England! One would presume it was England because of the Royal Family being mentioned, but who knows?

Are they the same person taken at different times or perhaps father & son on the same day? If so why the difference in the spelling of the photographer's name? Taken from different angles it looks to me like there is no curtain in the second one with a different wall.

A couple of odd ones.

If you have a mind to please look back to this page on my blog where there are many more Maxton Family photos that need to be identified. There are two of them taken in the same place as the one of the young man with a cutlass/sword above, they all look to be siblings.

These last two are quite strange and I don't know if they are connected or not. The second one seems to be a photograph of a sketch of Te Whiti the Maori prophet of Parihaka. The man in the first photo seems to be on a mission of some sort!