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Previous:     Part 1 of the Blake story

The Blake Story, Part 7

Photos

The originals of these photos are owned by Julie Davis and are in her custody.

The first three are said to be of Queen Victoria's funeral. There is an oral tradition in the family that Charles Blake was a pall bearer at the funeral. Despite the note on the back of the first photo (written by Charles Henry Blake, a grandchild of Charles) the story seems unlikely to be true.

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It seems highly unlikely that a sergeant of the Ordnance Corps would have been selected for such a role.  It was probably performed by one of Guards Regiments; according to Wikipedia the pall bearers were equerries.  The man in the picture is an officer rather than a sergeant and does not look like Charles.  The clergy look under-dressed for such an occasion and it seems most unlikely that an amateur photographer would have taken snapshots.

Nor is the church in the external photos St Georges chapel at Windsor.  It is the cathedral at Worcester. My suggestion is that the occassion is the laying up of the regiment's or one of the battalion's colours.  On the second photo there appear to be flags being carried in through the doorway, being saluted by two officers.

If Charles was not the man in the picture, was he the the photographer?  They appear to be amateur prints, as are others from South Africa shown in a separate article.  They are not mounted as professional photos nor printed as postcards.  Yet the photographer was clearly allowed into the heart of the service, apparently standing inside the alter rail.

The next question is when they were taken.  The regiment was in South Africa from 1900 to 1904, after which it went to Ceylon.  Before going to South Africa they were stationed at Plymouth.  As for Charles, he ceased to be attached to the Worcestershire regiment in March 1899 and not rejoin them until April 1901.  Which may suggest that it was between November 1896 and March 1899.