Family History Archiving

Family History ArchivingAuthor(s): Harry HunterSource: North Irish Roots, Vol. 18, No. 2 (2007), pp. 11-15Published by: North of Ireland Family History Society (NIFHS)Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27697730 .

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FAMILY HISTORY ARCHIVING

Recovering and improving old photos

Only the actual, original photograph is a true historical document. Once you remove

telegraph poles growing out of someone's head or correct a skewed horizon or even

remove creases or water spots you have diminished the historical value of the copy.

Always keep your original photos and, if possible, the negatives. Remember, this equally applies to your most recent photos as to your older ones.

However, I personally see little harm in "improving" old photos, provided you also

keep the original. You can sometimes bring out details not seen before by improving the contrast or colour balance of the photo or by enlarging it and creating presents like portrait style vignettes, calendars, or albums of photos can be charming and

bring great pleasure to the recipients.

Storing old photographs Never use glue or Sellotape. Always use acid free paper and conservation grade

plastics. If you need to hold them in place that you should use strips of conservation

grade plastic.

Photographs will always deteriorate with age. This includes negatives, glass plates, colour prints and slides.

The main forms of deterioration are -

Discolouration; Tearing; Cracking; water spot

damage; loosening of the emulsion from the celluloid.

Discolouration includes fading of old black and white photographs and a change in the colour balance of colour photographs

Water spot damage and tearing are probably the most difficult forms of deterioration to repair.

Once the information on an old photograph is gone it can never be recovered again. It is lost forever. Unfortunately, even the best methods of storage will eventually lead to deterioration, although using the materials suggested above, and keeping the

photographs in a dark place will slow down the eventual deterioration.

While far from perfect, computers are one good way of translating old photographic material into a digitised form, which has lost some of the information but preserves what it can in a form which is likely to remain readable for many years to come. The current best methods of storage, include CDs and DVDs and modern computers can

often write to these discs. If your computer has a CD writer you merely need to add a fairly moderately priced scanner to create a simple photo studio, as many of these

come supplied with photo correction software.

It is not my purpose to the go into the details of photo correction as this can be a

long and complex job, but I can show you the results available if you take some time to learn how to carry out corrections and have the time and patience to work on your

own photographs.

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Some of the simplest tasks to carry out which even beginners can do include

correcting red eye

correcting fading correcting colour balance.

Most photographic packages have simple methods of carrying these out.

This will also help to improve images, which appear to have been almost lost as a

result of loss of emulsion. Indeed, this may be the only way to correct such images. The results are far from perfect, but are as close as anyone can get. At least, you will

get an image, which is hopefully recognisable.

Water spot damage is much more difficult and time-consuming to correct as are

tearing and fold marks. In the severest of cases, some artistic talent is required to correct these problems, with the repair of faces a particular difficulty.

If you feel unable to carry out such repairs yourself, there are commercial

photographers, who will make repairs and can store your photographs on new film, or

even enlarge them. However, this can become costly if you have many photographs to repair.

Why store digitally? It is easier these days to store, reproduce, and publish photos in digital form. In the

near future, film cameras will be obsolete and only digital imaging will be possible. For example, Kodak has stopped making film cameras!

Also, you can easily add information -

dates, places, names and relationships to

digital records. You can even create presents for your relatives -

Photo albums,

Scrapbooks, calendars, videos, decorated T-shirts and mugs.

Computers You may have little interest or knowledge in computers but your children and

grandchildren are already fully competent in computer usage. Anyway, you do not need to be a computer whiz, or even own a computer to take advantage of the

advances that computers are bringing to photo manipulation, etc.

For example, many photo shops and Boots the chemist have automatic printing machines for digital photos, and you can buy dedicated photo printers, which take the images off the memory card in your camera and print it at a standard size. The

price for commercial printing at standard 6x4 size is very reasonable. Buying a

dedicated printer is probably not great value for most of us as the cost per print is

high if you factor in the cost of the printer.

Scanners

For turning old photos into digital form you need access to a scanner, preferably a

flat bed type for photographic prints and a dedicated film scanner for negatives. This is also the best method of digitising documents.

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Cracks and folds repaired. (Eileen & Leslie Waugh ca. 1920)

Printers

Remarkably high quality inkjet printers are now so cheap to buy (but not so cheap to run) that anyone with a computer is mad not to have one. However, while these

a great for quick and very good reproductions, the jury is still out on the long-term survival of inkjet photos. Some makers are claiming over 100 years life for their

prints, done on their specific archive quality papers and stored correctly but most

cheap inkjet pictures can start to fade with 3-4 weeks after printing if they are left out in the air and sunlight. This is improving all the time but, in my view, is not yet a

permanent method of storage and can be fairly expensive if using fop quality inks and paper.

Compare with Dye Sublimation and Colour Laser printers. Dye subs are best for

long-term photos and give the best, most photographic reproduction to the naked

eye -

but are expensive to buy and run. Lasers are getting better but are not as good as inkjets for photos but give long-lasting images and cheap prints; and prices are

dropping daily!

Storage There are arguments galore as to the best method of storing the digital information

you have gathered. Unfortunately, not having a crystal ball and with technologies changing all the time, one cannot say with certainty what systems we will be using in even 5 years time to store information, nor can one say what format would be best

to use. By format I mean the type of computer data files which will be still readable in the future.

However, pessimistic as this sounds, it is true that, while change is inevitable, it is not instant and you will always have years of time to transfer from old technology to the latest. Anyway for most of us, this will not be our problem as it is likely that

storage such as CDs and DVDs will be readable by computers for many years yet, and data storage file types such as JPEG and TIFF files for photos or TXT or DOC files will be readable and if necessary upgradeable during our lifetimes. But the very volatility of technology is one more reason to keep your original sources.

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Media

CDs, DVDs and Memory sticks.

CDs and DVDs are best stored in the dark at an even, cool temperature in plastic sleeves consisting of a clear front and a fabric type back, which minimises the chance of scratches from grit or dirt on the disk's surface as it is removed from and

replaced in the sleeve.

Fixing photos 1 .Corrections which correct the original.

Tears, wrinkles

Water spots, mildew

Fading -

partial or whole

Colour degradation and loss Red Eye Removal Correction of skewed vertical lines in buildings or non-horizontal horizons

Adding legends and outlines

Adapting photos to fit into family tree computer programs

2. Corrections which alter the information in the original. Removals of objects such as telegraph poles from people's heads Reconstruction of lost or damaged parts of people's bodies or costumes

Hand tinting Creating projects and gifts Getting 'arty' with photos

- vignettes, framing, etc.

NOT severe damage, poor focus, marked colour degradation -

unless the repairer

is very artistic.

Other things that you can do with old photographs include producing a DVD or CD for display purposes. There are a many computer packages which have a

slideshow component that allows you to save your photographs and show them

automatically. The ability to pass on photographs to various members of your family without the loss of the original information is a great boon. Imagine being able to send photographs to Australia, America and Canada and England while still keeping the originals for

yourself.

However, be aware that CDs and DVDs are like 78 records, there is no certain proof that 10 years from now they will be common. The chances are that the DVDs will still be

commonly used, and indeed will be the medium of choice. But who knows what new methods of storage will be available then. The great thing about digital photography and digital storage of photographs is that computer technology drives on the whole world of storage systems, and therefore it will be always possible to upgrade digitally stored photographs to the latest medium with no loss of information.

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In my opinion, old photographs are a major resource for family historians, they provide not only some historical information, but historical context and just seeing the faces of your ancestors can be a rewarding experience.

Dr Harry Hunter B1456

SEARCHING FOR ROBERT MOORE

As I have recently discovered, from the 1911 census for Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire that my elusive Grandfather Robert MOORE gives his place of birth as Mount Stewart,

County Down, I would appreciate any help that could be given in the search for his

baptism and parentage, or any helpful information to locate the staff records of Mount Stewart.

The information I have on Robert MOORE is that he was born on 2nd December 1843 Mount Stewart, Co. Down, the Estate of Lord Londonderry.

From the 1861 Census for Wynyard Park, Co. Durham, Lord Londonderry's Estate, Robert was found age 17 a blacksmith's apprentice born Ireland.

In the 1871 Census for Stockton on Tees, Co. Durham Robert is shown as age 27,

single, a Ship's Boilersmith, born Ireland.

On 18 May 1872 Robert age 29 Bat. Ship's Boilersmith of Stockton, Co. Durham married my Grandmother Mary HEWISON, 25 Spin, of Borrowby, [near Thirsk] North Yorks at Leake N.Yorks Parish Church. On his marriage certificate he gives his Father's name as David MOORE labourer. One of the witnesses is James MOORE.

On 11 May 1863 James- MOORE age 23 Bat. Ship's Plater of Partick, Glasgow married Elizabeth [Mother's maiden name Mary HILL, 19, Spin, at Partick United Presbyterian Church. James gives his mother's maiden name as Jane NELSON. His Father's name

is given as James MOORE Boot & Shoe maker, deceased. A witness to the marriage is Robert Moore.

1871 Census for Stockton on Tees shows James and Eliza (Elizabeth) also living in Stockton, both born Ireland, and there a son Robert was born in 1871, but who

died infant 1872. Then a daughter Jane was born 11 March 1872 and baptized in St Thomas Parish Church, Stockton on 27 March 1872.

Subsequent research showed James and Eliza back in Glasgow where they had other children James bom 1863, Mary born 1865, David born 1867 but died 1869. Where were James and Mary in 1871 when James and Eliza were in Stockton? Apparently

left with Eliza's parents David and Mary SIMPSON up in Glasgow.

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Family History Archiving

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