From a mysterious disappearance to meeting the Queen: These photographs reveal my family history

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Published: Friday, 22 March 2024 at 10:00 AM

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine reader Pamela Spencer from Lytham St Anne’s, Lancashire, shares her family photographs.

My mother, Margery, with her brother, Henry, who trained as a fighter pilot towards the end of the Second World War. 

Black and white photograph of a family group in Edwardian clothes

This photograph of the Ellis family was taken in their garden in Beeston, Leeds, in 1901. My maternal grandmother, Lillie, is at the back, behind her parents and six younger siblings.

Black and white photograph of eight men in Navy uniforms

I thought that Robert Pigg (front row, second from left) was my biological grandfather until I had a DNA test. The only thing I know about my real biological grandfather is his Cornish ancestry.

Black and white photograph of three children in old-fashioned white dresses

My paternal grandmother, Adelaide Beatrice Price (left), with her brother Percy and sister Caroline. I didn’t know her well but recall her patent-leather high-heeled shoes.

Black and white photograph of a bride and a groom in military uniform

Lillie Ellis married her first husband, William Sarginson, in March 1916. Tragically, he was killed in action at the Battle of the Somme on 10 July, just four months later.

Black and white photograph of an old bus in a field with a little girl standing outside it with her back turned to the camera

Pauline, my sister, and I at home in 1951. My mum was an adventurous soul, and when she left my father we lived in a converted bus for a short time. I loved it, but I’m not sure about Mum.

Black and white photograph of a woman with her hair pinned up wearing an old-fashioned white blouse.

During the First World War my grandmother Lillie worked in munitions somewhere in the Leeds area. After the war she worked as a bootmaker.

Black and white photograph of a group of men and women in uniform standing in front of a large plane

Mum joined the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) during the Second World War. In this photograph of a Bomber Command squadron she is standing seventh from the left in the second row from the front.

Black and white photograph of Queen Elizabeth inspecting a row of women in airforce jumpsuits during the Second World War

Here Margery (left at the front) is meeting the Queen in London in 1942. She was stationed there as a ‘balloon girl’ working with barrage balloons. She lived at Fulham Palace and knew Geoffrey Fisher, the bishop of London.

Colour-tinted photograph of a young woman with brown hair wearing an orange shawl and long blue skirt.

Here my mother is wearing one of her own creations. She loved making clothes, and my sister and I always had the prettiest dresses when we were little.

Black and white photograph of a bride posing outside a cottage with her bridesmaids and others.

This was taken outside the family’s cottage in Beeston. The happy bride is my first cousin once removed Dorothy ‘Dolly’ Bayley.

Black and white photograph of a group of men, women and children in old-fashioned clothes

The Ellis family took a trip to the seaside in the early 1930s. Lillie is standing in the second row from the back beside her son Henry.

Black and white photograph of a little boy in a suit and a little girl with a bow in her hair.

My great uncle Willie Ellis and his sister Susy. He sadly vanished in 1924 shortly after the birth of his daughter.

Black and white photograph of a woman in a dark blouse with her hair pinned up

My great grandmother Annie Larkin was born in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, in 1862. Her Irish parents had left County Mayo to escape the Great Famine.

Black and white photograph of a woman sitting on a chair and a little boy in a sailor suit

This photo shows my grand aunt, Betty Ellis, and her son Bobby Cain. Bobby spent his working life as a tram driver in the Leeds area.