Village policeman

A real photograph postcard of Brislington Brook running through Water Lane carries no indication of its publisher or anyone else, but a handwritten note on the back gives us a clue - it says the picture was taken by the 'village policeman'.

The script in which our key message was written is distinctly different from that of the sender, and it adds another - somewhat teasing - note indicating the reader should be able to identify the younger of the two girls in the photograph. Neither the sender nor the author of the two notes are named on the postcard, but it's addressed to Miss A Mugford of Ashton Lodge, Francombe Road, Worthing. She, Ada, was born in Brislington in or around 1898, the daughter of Emily (nee Radford, also from Brislington) and Henry, who were married in the church of St Luke, Brislington, in April 1895.

It's possible the two girls in the photograph are Ada and her younger sister Eileen, who were aged twelve and ten respectively at the time of the census in 1911 (living with their parents in Wick Road, Brislington). This postcard is full of valuable clues, yet they're all tantalisingly insufficient to provide any sure identification of the people involved.


Brislington postcard