Below is a photograph from the album of my great grandfather Thomas Anslow Hitchcox. The album was given to Thomas by his mother (my 2nd great grandmother) whose maiden name was Emma Symons Treloar Billin on 5 Feb 1890 (his 22nd birthday).
The photograph was near the back of the album in an area where a number of photos have an "X" written on them, meaning that my grandfather (son of the album owner) did not know who they were, and a number of others like this one having no markings. In the front of the album there tend to be labelled photographs of Thomas and his siblings and his wife but one of his mother is also near the back. Any labels in the album were by my grandfather (son of the album owner) and were probably added in the 1960s. This one was on the same page as the photographs discussed in Dating and identifying Penzance photos – are they of George and Fanny Wills?.
On 7 Feb 1894, at Angaston, South Australia, Thomas married Mary Ellen Nettell whose parents Matthew Nettell and Grace Martin Wills arrived at Port Adelaide, South Australia on 23 Dec 1865 (see Did uncle of Grace Martin Wills (or perhaps of Matthew Nettell) own the Gosforth?).
I do not think that this photo relates to Thomas' father's family because they came from Staffordshire. His mother's family, named Billin, came from Helston, but her father died in Adelaide in 1853 and her two grandfathers died in Helston in 1839 and 1840. I cannot rule out other members of her family because Helston is only about 10 miles from Redruth in Cornwall (where the photo was taken) but I think there are better candidates.
I suspect that these photos are of Matthew's parents Edward Nettell (1812-1879) and Maria Hocking (1811-1902) which would make them Thomas' wife's grandparents.
During his life Edward was recorded as having the occupations of Cooper or Wood Turner.
Both Edward and Maria appear to have lived their lives predominantly at Illogan (3 miles from Redruth) but I suspect that these may have been photographs taken shortly before Grace and Matthew left for Australia, and probably around the time they married on 23 Sep 1865, at Redruth.
From the reverse of the photograph and something I found at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CORNISH-GEN/2000-02/0951179306 I think their photographer was only operating at that address (Bullers Row) in Redruth for a very short time which happened to be very near the time of that marriage.
James Chenhall was born at Redruth in 1845, son of James and Grace Chenhall. His photographic career probably started with his acting as an assistant to one of the older Redruth photographers, and he first appears in 1866, when he was aged 21, as 'photographic artist, Buller's Row, Redruth'. A few years later, James Chenhall moved to No. 11 West End, a better address in the same town and an index of commercial success. He continued there until 1910, after which he is not mentioned, and had either retired or died.
Can anyone suggest whether the ages, dress, photo date/location, etc of these two people can be used to support/refute my theory that they might be Edward Nettell (1812-1879) and Maria Hocking (1811-1902)?
The size of the photo and some other requested information:
The 'texture' of the photograph is matte
It appears to be glued onto the paper, and uniformly so.
No light passes through it i.e. if I hold it up to the sun and hold my finger behind it there is no shadow.
The smell is of old paper/cardboard.
The height of the card is 10.2 mm and the photo itself is 8.9 mm. The width of the card is 6.2 mm and the photo itself is 5.4 mm.