These two ambrotypes were for sale at a local auction house, I had left a commission bid and had surprisingly won when I checked my email the next day.
This is Katherine Brierley, sister of B.C. Brierley. The main reason I wanted to buy these was for the matching close up portrait taken in the same session.
“Katherine Anne Brierley About 1860”
“Aunt Katie”
I wish I had checked the name of the auction before hand because this and other photographic material and ephemera had all come from the one family. If I had known that, I would have tried my best to keep them all together. I find it quite sad when someones family history get broken up.
“Memorabilia of the Brierley Family of Rochdate over the 18th -20th Century.”
It turns out B.C. Brierley was quite well known!
http://gerald-massey.org.uk/brierley/index.htm
If anyone reads this blog post and your researching this family, I have kept the auction catalogue with family biographies and downloaded the auction lot images for reference. Just get in touch.