The theme of this week’s 52 Ancestors Challenge is ‘My Favourite Photograph’.

I previously posted about this photograph which was sent to me by my second cousin, Frances. The photograph was taken about 1912.  The lady is my 2x great grandmother,  Sarah McLauchlan (1839-1916), my great grandfather, Daniel Brawley (1864-1935) his eldest son, Daniel Brawley (1887-1971) and young Daniel’s daughter, Margaret Corrigan Brawley (1912-1998).

I first made contact with Frances shortly after I started my research and it came about through a simple internet search.  I had not even been aware of her side of the family. More than 10 years before Frances had posted on a genealogy site looking for information on Daniel Brawley.  I contacted her and we began corresponding by email which led to Skype chats and eventually we got to meet when she came to Lanarkshire and I was able to give her a bit of a family history tour.  It was so nice to meet her and amazing to see the family resemblance which had been apparent on our video chats but undeniable in person.

I was then invited to a big family reunion which came about after one of her aunts died in Canada.   The son wished to bring his mum’s ashes back to Scotland and hold a memorial service for the family in Scotland.  I have to admit I was nervous meeting all those cousins but it was such a lovely afternoon.  They were all interested in my research and I was able to solve a bit of a family mystery for them.

There are very few photographs of my ancestors in existence (that I know of) and this was the first time I had seen a picture of Sarah or Daniel.  Frances had a copy because young Daniel is her grandfather and the baby is her aunt.  I would love to uncover more but in the meantime I am so happy to have this and to have made such a fabulous connection and friendship with my cousin.