This record asks for information about Bessie Hirst (Mary Elizabeth Leith-Hay), George Leslie Leith Hay, Jean and Doreen, and Elizabeth Edwards, who died in the United Kingdom in 1997.
The photograph appeared in January 2013. Its Queensland setting, date, appearance, style and the apparent ages of its subjects invite comparison, but the identification cannot yet be confirmed. Further information is sought through the family archive.
Image credited to the person who originally posted and emailed it.
A confirmed image of Norma Leith-Hay from about 1882, together with another family image, was used for comparison. Norma was born in April 1857 after Maria and James returned from Rannes, two years after her elder sister Mary.
A confirmed 1908 image of Bessie Hirst leaves a gap of about 28 years, making any comparison of facial features difficult. There are similarities, but no linking image has yet established an identification.
A portrait of Alexander Sebastian Leith-Hay, held by the National Trust for Scotland and reportedly painted by John McLaren Barclay in 1868, is also stylistically comparable. Its suggested date is uncertain: Alexander Sebastian would have been about 50, and the portrait appears to show an older man.
A border collie or sheepdog appears in both images. The family’s long association with sheep and pastoral work in Australia connects the images with the work of William and James Leith Hay, George Erskine Knight Fairholme and the Toolburra partnership on the Darling Downs between 1845 and 1851.
Portrait credited to the National Trust for Scotland.
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