OSW-NM-O-5-15-171a – Couple unk – may be Plimmer

Portrait of a couple – The name B.M Plimmer is on the photo itself & can be seen at the bottom  below the lady. The customer assumed this was the photographer, but after a lot of research we  can’t prove this.  Information below about research 

Henry William PLIMMER  1917 & 1926  18 Church St  Boot Maker

Plimmer & Clay in 1900 – 1905

1909 & 1910  William Henry PLIMMER  Church Street

 

We don’t believe the photograph is from a marriage, the clothes don’t look correct, and if it was an engagement photograph the betrothed would be showing her ring.  We are thinking that it may be of importance to the family as the photo has been coloured in so we are guessing that it may be a memorial photograph.  The 2 families are from total different backgrounds.  Remember that you could borrow clothes from the photographer before being photographed.

Mr H BULL was a picture framer in Oswestry at 39 Willow Street from 1926 (that is the first time he appears in our Directories but we don’t hold every year).

There is a Henry William PLIMMER a bootmaker of 18 Church Street back to between 1917 & 1926 and his father William Henry PLIMMER a bootmaker back to 1900 and we believe the latter became an Alderman (but haven’t confirmed this)

I have attached some photographs of two articles from the Oswestry Border Counties newspaper for 30th June 1926 of a family tragedy where the Mrs Kate PLIMMER aged 32 the wife of George Henry PLIMMER was found dead in her house.

From the newspaper article Kate & George Henry had children, but they aren’t mentioned, we have checked the births online and couldn’t find a child with the initials of “BM” which you say is written on the back of the photograph.  George Henry PLIMMER married a Cassie WILLIAMS (attending family members at her funeral are called WILLIAMS) in April – June 1920 but we couldn’t check the marriage in Oswestry because we see from the funeral she was a non-conformist and we don’t have those records.  The “BM” may be a grand-child of the people in the photograph, we have no way of knowing.

George H can be found on the 1901 census in Oswestry as an illegitimate child of Emily PLIMMER (head of the house and single) a charwoman living with her brother Charles aged 25 and her 3 children George H aged 11  Thomas aged 6 and John William aged 3.