My grandfather, GW Johnson (1857-1926), was presented a photo album on the occasion of his wedding in 1883, containing some even older photographs of his parents. I am trying to date these older photographs by their content.

Photo 1) above is of the cover of this album. Photo 2) is what my grandfather looked like (just so that there is no doubt that photo 3 is not of him). Photos 3) and 4) are thought to be my great-grandparents, i.e. the parents of GW Johnson. Photo 5) is thought to be of my grandfather (GW Johnson) as a child, sitting on the knee of his father. Photo 6) is of the back of each photo, showing that they were taken by Hills and Saunders. Photos 7) and 8) are taken from the National Archives of Canada, Costume Collection, which are sorted by date. Photos in this collection before and after this period are quite different.

If the boy in photo 5) is 8-10 years old, then if he is GW Johnson who was born in 1857, that would date the photo as 1865-1867. Hills and Saunders were established in 1852.

If photos 3) and 4) were also taken about 1865, then WHF Johnson would be 40 years old, and Harriet Brimley would be 36.

I am looking for 19th century fashion expertise to determine if the fashion style of the clothes worn by Harriet Brimley (1829-1887) in photo 4) is consistent with these photos (3, 4 and 5) all having been taken in the period 1865-67. The costume styles in photos 7) and 8), dated circa 1860-65, and 1867 respectively, are, I think, sufficiently similar to that worn by Harriet Brimley in photo 4), to confirm that the photos 3, 4 and 5 were taken in 1865-67. Note that the style of tassles on the stool in photo 8) is identical to that on the table in photo 4).

If you have such expertise, please contact Micheline Johnson. You can click on each picture to see a larger image.