Photo 01-12-01

This photo was sent to me by Lynda Temple, from the estate of her uncle, Harry Temple. It has a distinctly foreign feel to it, exemplified by the ornate background, so I am sure the photo was not taken in England.

The boy on the left is almost certainly Harry's father, Chaim Tempelchof, who was born in Konstantynow Lodzki in 1881. His family moved to Lodz in the next few years and he emigrated to London at some point before 1905. His age in this photo dates it to the late 1890s.

The other people in the photo appear to be a mother and two daughters. Although Chaim had two younger sisters, they are clearly not the girls in this photo, and the woman is clearly not Chaim's mother, Tauba Ryfka. It is unusual that Chaim should be photographed with someone else's family, so perhaps the other people were relatives of his. There is another Tempelchof family from around the same area of Poland who also came to London and who are believed to be related in some way, but the connection has yet to be proven. This photo might be important evidence in establishing that link; it is a real mystery!

• Who are the women in this photo?

• Where was the photo taken?

• Have you seen this photo before?

If you can suggest answers to any of these questions, please contact me at saulmarks@hotmail.com.

Photo 01-12-02

This photo was sent to me by Lynda Temple, so it probably relates to the Tempelchof of Woolfson families. Very little can be established from the photo itself: the child looks female but could have be a boy with long hair, following the Jewish tradition of not cutting a baby's hair until the age of three. The studio where the photo was taken was called Schiller and includes the word "photograph". The crest in the bottom left-hand corner looks Germanic, but the spelling of "photograph" using "PH" and not "F" suggests it was more likely to be taken in England.

• Who is this child?

• Where was the photo taken?

• Have you seen this photo before?

If you can suggest answers to any of these questions, please contact me at saulmarks@hotmail.com.

Photo 01-12-03

This photo was sent to me by Lynda Temple, from the estate of her uncle, Harry Temple. The man on the left is Harry's father, Chaim Tempelchof, who was born in Konstantynow Lodzki in 1881. His family moved to Lodz in the next few years and he emigrated to London at some point before 1905. His age in this photo dates it to around 1930. The other men are probably friends of his, but it not known why they are all dressed for travelling or what the connection is between them.

Chaim fought and was captured at the Battle of Mukden in 1905, where the Russians were defeated by the Japanese. Chaim and several friends were photographed around that time, displaying medals, and that photo can be seen here. Perhaps the two men in this picture were two of the three in that photo?

• Who are the other men in this photo?

• What is the connection amongst these three men? Did they serve in the Russian Army together?

• Have you seen this photo before?

If you can suggest answers to any of these questions, please contact me at saulmarks@hotmail.com.

Photo 01-12-04

This photo was sent to me by Lynda Temple, from the estate of her uncle, Harry Temple. It is clearly a school room from around the time of World War I. It is likely that one of the boys is either Harry or one of his brothers, but it is not known which brother or which boy! It was almost certainly taken in London.

• Do you recognise anyone in this photo?

• What school is this?

If you can suggest answers to either of these questions, please contact me at saulmarks@hotmail.com.

Photo 01-12-05

This photo was given to me by Manis Goldberg in the mid-1990s, in the belief that the couple shown were Chaim Szyia Goldberg and his wife Esther - the lost branch of the Goldberg family who emigrated to New York. However, in 2002, Anthea Gerrie produced photos also claiming to be Chaim Szyia and his family, taken in New York, and the people in Anthea's photos looked nothing like this couple. Since Chaim Szyia's descendants have been rediscovered, I have sent a scan of this photo to his daughter, Gert Hausbach. She assures me these people are not her parents. Therefore, the question remains, who are they?

The couple are standing in front of a monument that bears a French inscription that appears to commemorate an event in World War I, and images of World War I soldiers form part of the monument itself. The gentleman is wearing shoes typical of the 1930s, which dates the photo quite well. Perhaps the gentleman in the photo fought in a battle during World War I, which this monument commemorates?

The reverse of the photo has a few dotted lines for an address, as on a postcard, but no more.

• Who are these people?

• Where was the photo taken?

• Was it taken for a particular reason, such as to commemorate an event earlier in the lives of the people in the photo?

If you can suggest answers to any of these questions, please contact me at saulmarks@hotmail.com.

Photo 01-12-06

There are a number a copies of this photo in existence. This particular copy was found in the affairs of my late grandmother, Marie Marks. The gentleman on the left is my grandfather, Sam Marks, and the gentleman in the middle is Kaye Goldberg. The gentleman on the right was, for some time, thought to be Dinty Lewis, Kaye's first cousin on his mother's side. However, Dinty's daughter, Valerie Bell, has said this is definitely not her father. Therefore, who is he? Sam and Kaye were both professional musicians, so he could have been a colleague of theirs.

The ages of Sam and Kaye date the photo as being taken around the mid-1930s.

• Who is the mystery gentleman?

If you can suggest an answer to this question, please contact me at saulmarks@hotmail.com.

Photo 01-12-07

This photo was also found in the affairs of Marie Marks. She is immediately recognisable as the woman in black with a white brooch, sitting on the sofa. My grandfather, Sam, is the gentleman second from the left. However, I have been unable to obtain identifications for any of the other people in the photo.

The ages of my grandparents date this photo as probably from the late 1960s.

• Who are these people?

• At whose house was the photo taken?

• Why were they gathered there?

If you can suggest answers to any of these questions, please contact me at saulmarks@hotmail.com.