20th October 2021
A mysterious object
We received some fascinating photos of the Page family of Price St, Nunnery Lane recently, from Gill and Brian Hughes, and a strange object caught our eye on one of them.
This beautifully detailed interior shot shows family members at a table in the early 1900s, with some sort of wooden instrument.
Thinking it was some sort of craft tool, we asked Gill about it, and it turns out to be an Edwardian stereoscopic viewer, which is still in the family. Using this, families could view a stereograph, two photos, through square apertures, which merged the two into one three-dimensional image. They were really popular at the time, pre-dating motion pictures, and many homes had one, to look at card-mounted views.
Photography is a theme in the family. Many people will know Gill's husband, Brian Hughes, as a hairdresser in South Bank Avenue for 30 years, now retired, but he is an accomplished photographer himself, specialising in wildlife photography. Also memorable is that Brian started the renowned Knavesmire Harriers, back in 1979.
Gill's grandfather was Ernest Page, and he was living with his parents William Robert and Harriett at 23 Price St, at the turn of the 20th century.
This picture from August 1907 shows William Robert Page, Gill's great-grandfather, outside the house in Price St. Next to him as a boy is his son, Gill's grandfather, Ernest Page. Harriet Page, her great-grandmother, is standing near Ernest.
In September 1904 William Robert and Harriet are sitting down, with Ernest crouching holding the cat.
William Page was a Master of the Order of Oddfellows locally.
Sadly most of Price St has now gone, demolished in the 1930s and 1960s, with only no. 50 left standing.
Ernest became a master plumber, and by the 1930s the family were living at 41 Bishopthorpe Rd, where Ernest based his trade. Again that row of houses has been demolished and is now the front of the car park on the corner of Scarcroft Rd.
Ernest was married to Edith, who much later became the landlady of the Cygnet Inn in Cygnet St. She was followed by their son Ron Page and his wife Eileen, who were Gill's parents. The Page family were at the pub from the 1940s until 1976, and Gill was born there. They feature in our new book about Nunnery Lane and Clementhorpe.*
