Figure 1.--Thi portrait of Charley weaing a suit in 1872. Note the small collar, vest, and narrow ribbon tie. Image coutesy of the MD collection.

A quick search of the 1881 census based on the Christian name of Grace, born around 1866 in the county of Cambridge (as I did not know the surname of the family). Would you believe there was only one Grace with a surname beginning with S (which is on the front of the albumn) returned in the search and that when I looked at the rest of the household, most of the other siblings appeared. The only exceptions being some of the boys who were probably away at school on Census night. The family had a butler, groom, two footmen, a housekeeper, a domestic servant, a nurse/domestic servant, an under nurse/domestic servant and a governess/teacher! There are also three more children not accounted for in the albumn. There were another nine servants listed. I'm now going to see if I can track down the boys at school. Unfortunately ther are no group photographs of this fascinating family.

Stanley Family CDV Album

The album contains portraits of the Stanley family. A HBC reader has acquired a wonderful Carte de Visite album from an English family during the 1860s and 70s. It has a tooled leather cover, a double "S" logo, ans a metal clasp. It looks to be specifically designed for CDVs. All the CDV portraits are identified by Christian name and the date the photo was taken. Family albumns were very common in the 19th century, especially after the appearance of CDVs. Dagereotypes were not easy to put in albumns. These albums might have very elaborate leather covers. They were lovingly maintained by the the family--normally the mother. The albumns were kept in the parlor and brought out for company to see. These albumns were not limited to photographic portraits, altnough this one was. Many families kept scrapbooks in which a wide variety of itms were kept, incluing photographs. Lots of other items mught be included such as theater tickets, baby ribbons, postcards, pressed flowers, amd much more. We have a complete chronplogical list of the CDVs included in the albumn.

Longstowe Hall

The Stanley family at the time of the 1881 census were living at Longstowe Hall. Longstow, Cambridge. Longstowe is a parish on the Huntingdonshire border of the county, Longstowe Hall is an ancient mansion purchased in Queen Elizabeth's reign by the Cage family, who rebuilt the house; it was acquired by W. A. Briscoe esq. in 1906: in 1907-12 new terraces and a courtyard were added and extensive interior alterations made: it stands in a park of about 175 acres, and has well laid out pleasure grounds; there are fish ponds in the park, which is well studded with timber besides having good plantations.

St. Mary the Virgin Church

The church of St Mary the Virgin is a building of brick faced with flint stone, built 1863-1864 on the site of the old church; it consists of chancel, nave, north chapel, south porch and a low embattled western tower containing one bell, and also a peal of six tubular bells presented in 1898 by Mrs. Rushton, to which two others were added in 1903 as a memorial to her: the original church was blown down in 1719, and the monuments to the Cage family which it contained are now in the chancel of the church. The small chapel on the north side was built by the late Captain Sidney Stanley

1881 Census

The 1881 Census Records recorded the following family members at Longstowe Hall on Census night: Sidney Stanley Age 52 Captain (Retired) Justice of the Peace, Deputy, Lieutenant. (No information whether that is an Army or Naval Captain), Sara Stanley Age 41, Alan S.W. Stanley Age 19 Undergraduate, Ethel W. Stanley Age 18, Ellen (Nellie) A.W. Stanley Age 16, Grace W. Stanley Age 15, Constance E.W. Stanley Age 10, Florence H.W. Stanley Age 8, Maurice W.W. Stanley Age 7, Winifred W. Stanley Age 3, and Marguerite S.W Stanley Age 2. A search for the other family members who appear in the photographs but whowere not present in the family home on census night revealed: Charles W. Stanley Age 21 Undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge. On Census night he was residing with his maternal grand-father Edmond Foster, (Solicitor and Town Clerk) at 2, Scroope Terrace, Cambridge, Herbert F.W. Stanley (Bertie) Age 17 - A pupil at Eton College, Eton, and Guy W. Stanley Age 13 at school in Collins Square, Blackheath, London. There is no photograph and he is not mentioned elsewhere, but residing at the same school as Guy on census night is John C.W. Stanley Age 12 Birthplace - Longstowe Hall, Cambridge. That makes a total of 13 children. I had an inkling that there might be more from the negative numbers on the backs of the August 1873 Cdvs taken by Henna & Kent in Brighton. You would expect the numbers to run consecutively if the family were all photographed in one sitting.

The negative numbers and sitters are as follows 33803 - Ethel 33805 - Guy 33807 - Nellie 33808 - Gracie 33821 - Alan 33822 - Bertie That leaves a lot of spaces for photos of the other family members. With a family of this size there must have been many photograph albums, I expect they could have filled up this album I have in one sitting but fortunately we have pictures covering a period of 12 years.

Wealthy Family

An indication of the wealth and standing of the Stanley family can perhaps be gauged by the number of servants in the house on Census night. James Carter Age 50 Butler / Domestic Servant John Frances Age 21 Groom / Domestic Servant Samuel Brown Age 19 Footman / Domestic Servant Henry Sutherland Age 17 Footman / Domestic Servant John Wale Age 16 Domestic Servant Rhoda Sammons Age 76 Housekeep / Domestic Servant Louisa Sparrow Age 51 Nurse / Domestic Servant Wanda Bernard Age 27 Governess Teacher Jane Walker Age 30 Under Nurse / Domestic Servant Louisa King Age 19 Under Nurse / Domestic Servant Sarah Woollard Age 21 Ladies Maid / Domestic Servant Mary Snell Age 29 Cook / Domestic Servant Clara Cooper Age 28 Housemaid / Domestic Servant Emma Wale Age 22 Housemaid / Domestic Servant - Sister of John Wale above Emma Phillips Age 23 Laundry Maid / Domestic Servant Emma Peach Age 17 Laundry Maid / Domestic Servant Lucy Burrows Age 21 Kitchen Maid / Domestic Servant Jane Moulton Age 17 Scullery Maid / Domestic Servant

That's 18 servants and I expect there were outdoor staff/gardeners too, who would not appear on the census if they did not 'live in'. If I get the time in the next few days, I'll have a look at the 1901 Census and see if I can find some of the family 20 years on.