Three eldest children of John and Sarah Weston of Manor Farm, Eydon.
On the left seated we have Ernest John Weston, born 1904; then, in his sailor suit, Henry Alfred Weston born 1902; and seated, Kathleen Alice Weston, born towards the end of 1905. Cabinet portrait taken by Beales and Co of Banbury, c 1906. Family tradition identified the children as Henry with his two sisters, mistaking Ernest’s ‘unbreeched’ clothes for those of a girl. For many centuries it had been the practice to put young boys in what we mistake for girls clothes. This practice of dressing the sexes alike arose from eminently practical reasons to do with toilet training and growing out of clothes. When a young boy was breeched - i.e. had his first pair of breeches or men's clothes, it was a great occasion and was often recorded in painting and later in photographs. In the past boys had been about 7 when this took place, but over the centuries it got younger, finally taking place when the boy was 3 or 4. The practice died out in the end of the 19th/20th century, so Ernest Weston, seen here in a check ‘gown’ but betrayed by his short hair, was quite old fashioned to be unbreeched in 1906.
Photographer: Anthony Beales & Co, Banbury
Image lent by : Mr Mike Weston
Connected Photos: KL307 | KL308 | KL310 | KL312 | Kl313