Historic photo mysteries
by Metropol | February 4, 2026 8:36 am
Can you help staff at Rangiora Museum identify any of the people in a collection of historic local photos?
Words: Tamara Pitelen | Images: Courtesy of the Rangiora & Districts Early Records Society
Did a ghost at the historic Rangiora Museum help solve the mystery surrounding an unknown couple in two old photographs with matching frames?
Photographer curator Bev McLean isn’t sure about that, but she admits it was a spooky coincidence when one of the framed photos in question ‘fell’ off the wall one night. It happened just after the great-granddaughter of the woman pictured had told museum staff that the man in the other photo was not her great-grandfather. So staff took his photo off the wall, effectively separating the mystery couple.
So who was he?
Written on the back: ‘To May from Nell’, photographer was E Watkins, West Oxford.
Written on the back: ‘Merry Christmas and a happy New Year’ could be from Frances or Jessie in 1910.
Photography studio was Julius Frank, Lilienthal.
Postcard taken in Cairo, name of Ryde on back.
Associated with photo of Jessie Ross, photographed by The Mora Studio (Gore).
The mystery was solved when the photograph of the great-grandmother then inexplicably fell to the floor. The impact broke the glass, which allowed museum staff to discover notes written on the back. Sure enough, the gentleman in the other photo was the woman’s husband, so the great-granddaughter could be assured he was in fact her ancestor. The two photos were reunited on the wall.
One mystery down… 300 to go. That’s the number of old photographs of people that volunteer staff at the museum are seeking to identify. They are part of a larger collection of more than 10,000 historic photographs that provide an invaluable record of local families, businesses and organisations. “A lot of people will clean out their grandparents’ house and give us a suitcase of old photos.”
Like Bev, all museum staff are volunteers who spend countless hours scanning photos, cross-referencing, and getting them catalogued for putting in a database. Eventually, the team hope that all this work will mean that someone could one day do an internet search and find a long-forgotten photo of their ancestor.
“That’s the part I love,” says Bev. “It’s about connection, roots and family. I had a photo postcard in my own family that was sent from Germany in the 1920s. Through that photo, we managed to track down and visit the little German town and church where my great-great-grandparents were married. It gives me goose bumps. It’s just a lovely way to connect with your past, your history and your ancestors.”
The Rangiora Museum at 29 Good Street is open Wednesdays and Sundays from 1.30pm to 4pm. All are welcome to peruse the photo collection. visitwaimakariri.co.nz
Do you have information about the people in any of these photographs?
The staff at Rangiora Museum would love to hear from you, email them at rangioramuseum@xtra.co.nz.
Source URL: https://metropol.co.nz/historic-photo-mysteries/