In a message dated 01/12/2006 04:31:58 GMT Standard Time, hsouthen@ihug.co.nz writes: In the photo Sarah looks to be in her late teens. ___________________________________________________________ In that case it would be in the early 1850s. In 1851 a new era in photography was introduced by Frederick Scott Archer, who introduced the Collodion process. This process was much faster than conventional methods, reducing exposure times to two or three seconds, thus opening up new horizons in photography. Prices for daguerreotypes varied, but in general would cost about a guinea (£1.05), which would be the weekly wage for many workers. The collodion process, however, was much cheaper; prints could be made for as little as one shilling (5p). However there are no photographers called Thirlwell in the 1858 Durham & Northumberland Trades Directory Regards Stan Mapstone http://www.mapstone.org http://www.one-name.org/profiles/mapstone.html