Regimental Museum Photo Archive Goes Digital
We don't actually own our own photos, we simply look after them for future generations
Friday 20 April 2012
Saturday 14 April 2012
Titanic:Unlikey Friendship in Lifeboat Eight
I saw this story broadcast on the BBC news.
Able Seaman Thomas Jones and the Countess of Rothes became friends after surviving the tragedy
He was a crewman from Wales, she was a countess from London travelling first class on the biggest passenger liner of the time.
But aboard Titanic's lifeboat number eight Able Seaman Thomas Jones and Lucy Noël Martha, Countess of Rothes, struck up an unlikely friendship that would last for the rest of their lives.
And now 100 years later their descendants have met for the first time. Thomas William Jones was 32 years old when he boarded the Titanic as a member of the deck crew at Southampton.
The Countess of Rothes, who was "of independent means", was just a year older than the crewman when she boarded at the same port with her Scottish husband's cousin and her maid.
Ms Young promised Ms Jones she will keep the collection together
Five days after he left England, Mr Jones, who was known as Tommy, was put in charge of a lifeboat which contained 35 women, including the countess and her travelling companions, and three stewards, after the ship struck an iceberg.
He put the countess in charge of steering the boat because her husband had a yacht and she knew how to take a tiller and row.
Mr Jones, along with the countess and two others, wanted to go back to the scene of the sinking to rescue those who had ended up in the water but they were overruled by others on the boat.
In a letter published in a number of newspapers at the time the countess's husband's cousin, Gladys Cherry, praised the crewman and exonerated him from any blame.
The rescued passengers and crew were taken to New York where Tommy Jones and the countess went their separate ways, never to meet again.
As a parting gift the countess presented the crewman with a silver pocket watch as a thank you for saving her life and he gave her a plaque displaying the number eight taken from the lifeboat they had met in.
They maintained correspondence for the rest of their lives. Mr Jones later moved to Liverpool, where his daughter Nell still lives.
She said: "He was a lovely dad. I'm very proud of him.
"It must have been awful for them - you don't see these things and forget them."
She added: "The countess used to send us a letter at Christmas and she always put a pound coin in."
She said her father had treasured his watch but 15 years ago she sold it at auction to raise some money.
The family had no idea where it ended up and Ms Jones was resigned to the fact she would never see it again.
The countess presented Tommy Jones with a watch as a thank you for saving her life
But the countess's own family had kept a record of their
ancestor's Titanic story and when they saw the watch was for sale they
bought it to add to the lifeboat plaque and letters they already had in
their collection.Angela Young, the great granddaughter of the countess, travelled to Liverpool to surprise Ms Jones with a visit and show her the watch, plaque and letters from her father.
She said: "She (the countess) was quite courageous but she never talked about it. She was only 33 and she didn't expect to find herself in a lifeboat and in a lifeboat where nobody knew how to row.
"An unlikely bond was formed (between the countess and Thomas Jones) and she had enormous respect for him.
"In her report to the inquiry she made a point of saying he wanted to go back."
She has promised Ms Jones she will keep the collection together to preserve the story of the countess and the crewman.
BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17583924
Thursday 12 April 2012
Digitise & Restore
We would like to share with our friends another stunning example of how digitisation can bring an old photo back to life!
The example displayed above clearly shows how adding colour to an original black & white photo dramatically transforms the photograph. In this instance our customer was able to recall the colour of the clothes even though the original photograph had been taken in 1936!
In the second example (below) you can see that the original photograph had been retouched in order to bring some subtle colour to the picture. The restoration process enabled the customer to request additional colourisation, further transforming it while keeping it true to the original.
The digitisation and scanning of your old photos & slides is only the first step in bringing these precious memories back to life.
If you would like to discuss bringing your own photo memories back to life with one of our experienced team please feel free to call or email us using the details below.
Customer Services: 01926-810604
Email: support@savephoto.com
www.photolegacy.com
In the second example (below) you can see that the original photograph had been retouched in order to bring some subtle colour to the picture. The restoration process enabled the customer to request additional colourisation, further transforming it while keeping it true to the original.
If you would like to discuss bringing your own photo memories back to life with one of our experienced team please feel free to call or email us using the details below.
Customer Services: 01926-810604
Email: support@savephoto.com
www.photolegacy.com
Saturday 7 April 2012
Restoring the 'Titanic!
The 'Unsinkable Ship' setting sail for
her fateful maiden voyage a century ago is an image those who waved her
off will never forget.
But while the enduring memory of the Titanic is of the famous liner sinking into the North Atlantic, one man captured a rare snapshot of the moment she set off on her one and only journey.
Sailing smoothly through the waves just off Southampton, this 100-year-old photograph shows the doomed boat taking to the icy seas on April 10th, 1912.
It was captured by then 15-year-old Elliot Brown, who used the picturesque scene of his uncle's sea-facing back garden on the Isle of Wight to photograph the giant vessel as it loomed into view off the south coast.
Mr Brown's uncle's house on the
Isle of Wight offered spectacular views of ships sailing from
Southampton out towards the English Channel, with the teenager using a
brownie box camera to immortalise the moment.
The young Mr Brown, a
keen amateur photographer, took a picture and stowed the image away into
his album along with pictures of his friends and family, unaware of
just how significant his quickly-taken photograph would later become.
When disaster struck and the 882ft Titanic plunged into the North Atlantic Ocean four days after Mr Brown's picture, the teenager knew he had captured an iconic moment, but nonetheless opted to keep his memento safe in the family album.
The
photograph remained in his possession his entire life as Mr Brown
married, had children, and established himself as a respected GP in
Birmingham.
When his second wife Faith was moved into an old people's home, however, his children began clearing possessions from Elliot and Faith's bungalow in Galmpton, Devon.
It was then they came across the album and its rare contents belonging to their father, who died in 1967 aged 70.
Had they not saved the rare image in the album, the momentous picture could have been lost forever.
Mr
Brown's son Bruce found the picture, which had a noticeable fold down
the middle and was stuck in the album with a handwritten caption: 'RMS
'Titanic': Maiden Voyage'.
Bruce has since had the iconic photograph digitally restored in time for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking, but still plans to keep the picture in the family.
The 77-year-old retired meetings manager, from Henley-on-Thames, said: 'When I was in my mid-20s he happened to tell me in passing that he had taken a picture of the Titanic as she came out of Southampton water.
'I remember it stuck in my mind when he told me at the time, and it has been a subject which has fascinated a lot of people ever since.
'He realised how significant a picture it was some time later, but decided to keep it in his album.
'Like everyone else the Titanic had a big impact on him and he was shocked by what happened.
'My father was quite a religious man and was quite moved by the fact that the band on the Titanic apparently played 'Abide With Me' before it went down.'
Describing the moment he found the photo his father had told him about decades earlier, grandfather Bruce added: 'It was a split second decision whether to keep the album as it was his and I didn't know anyone else in the pictures, but I'm not glad I did.'
Pete Boswell, from Warwickshire-based Photo Legacy, who restored the photo, said: 'It has been a fantastic experience and a privelege to work on a picture like this one.
'When people find pictures like this one it is often a journey of discovery, and this image is no different.'
Bruce Brown revealed that he discovered the photo album in his late father's home in Devon in around 1985, but kept hold of it since then and has only recently had it digitally restored.
But while the enduring memory of the Titanic is of the famous liner sinking into the North Atlantic, one man captured a rare snapshot of the moment she set off on her one and only journey.
Sailing smoothly through the waves just off Southampton, this 100-year-old photograph shows the doomed boat taking to the icy seas on April 10th, 1912.
It was captured by then 15-year-old Elliot Brown, who used the picturesque scene of his uncle's sea-facing back garden on the Isle of Wight to photograph the giant vessel as it loomed into view off the south coast.
 |
| Iconic: A 15-year-old Elliot Brown took this picture of the Titanic as it left Southampton on its first and only voyage |
 |
| Respected: Elliot Brown, pictured here as a young man in photographs from the same album as the Titanic picture, maintained an interest in photography but went on to become a GP in Birmingham. |
When disaster struck and the 882ft Titanic plunged into the North Atlantic Ocean four days after Mr Brown's picture, the teenager knew he had captured an iconic moment, but nonetheless opted to keep his memento safe in the family album.
When his second wife Faith was moved into an old people's home, however, his children began clearing possessions from Elliot and Faith's bungalow in Galmpton, Devon.
It was then they came across the album and its rare contents belonging to their father, who died in 1967 aged 70.
Had they not saved the rare image in the album, the momentous picture could have been lost forever.
Mr
Brown's son Bruce found the picture, which had a noticeable fold down
the middle and was stuck in the album with a handwritten caption: 'RMS
'Titanic': Maiden Voyage'.Bruce has since had the iconic photograph digitally restored in time for the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking, but still plans to keep the picture in the family.
The 77-year-old retired meetings manager, from Henley-on-Thames, said: 'When I was in my mid-20s he happened to tell me in passing that he had taken a picture of the Titanic as she came out of Southampton water.
'I remember it stuck in my mind when he told me at the time, and it has been a subject which has fascinated a lot of people ever since.
'He realised how significant a picture it was some time later, but decided to keep it in his album.
'Like everyone else the Titanic had a big impact on him and he was shocked by what happened.
'My father was quite a religious man and was quite moved by the fact that the band on the Titanic apparently played 'Abide With Me' before it went down.'
Describing the moment he found the photo his father had told him about decades earlier, grandfather Bruce added: 'It was a split second decision whether to keep the album as it was his and I didn't know anyone else in the pictures, but I'm not glad I did.'
Century-old: The original image taken by Elliot
Brown has a fold down the middle next to the caption: 'RMS Titanic -
Maiden Voyage'
First and only journey: A route map of the route taken by the Titanic on its doomed maiden voyage
Pete Boswell, from Warwickshire-based Photo Legacy, who restored the photo, said: 'It has been a fantastic experience and a privelege to work on a picture like this one.
'When people find pictures like this one it is often a journey of discovery, and this image is no different.'
Bruce Brown revealed that he discovered the photo album in his late father's home in Devon in around 1985, but kept hold of it since then and has only recently had it digitally restored.
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