Family Trees

Monday 8 September 2008

Arthur Belton


The next photograph (I think this blog is probably better read in reverse order!) is still firmly ensconced in its frame and, having been stored safely for 50 years, has acquired some obscurity in the glass. As I was not going to tackle a dis-framing or risk anything more than an e-dust over the glass, the quality of my photograph is not good - but the original is not very clear and sharp either.

The subject is a really beautiful studio protrait of my grandfather, Arthur Belton, looking every bit like my father; my grandmother, Edith (nee Edith Davies Williams), their two sons, Horace and Harold (my father was yet to arrive), and, appearing a bit spooky because of reflections, the little dog posing at Edith's feet.

I never knew these grandparents, or Horace, but my cousin always refers to them by their proper Welsh titles of Taid and Nain. Arthur Belton and his family lived at 17 Wesley Road, Bwlchgwyn and this picture was taken between about 1913 and 1918.