Rosamond Martin

A carte-de-visite portrait of a baby in a pushchair. Inked inscriptions on the reverse of the mount identify the baby as 'R.M. / Aged 2 years' and give the date, 11 September 1874.

This must be Rosamond Martin, born in Evesham in 1872, the daughter of Dr Anthony Herbert Martin, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, Licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries and the GP for Evesham. According to a memorial tablet in the Unitarian Church at Evesham: 'High principle, large-heartedness, and an ardent love of liberty and independence marked his career in this borough, thirty years of which were spent in professional labours, public affairs, and acts of benevolence, followed by seven years of suffering, borne with Christian faith and patience'. Rosamund's mother was Mary Emma née Le Breton, who as Mrs Herbert Martin wrote a great many books for girls. The family appear on the 1881 census living at 66 High Street, Evesham.

Rosamond was married at Evesham in 1898 to Arthur Cliff. She and her husband appear on the 1901 census living at Hampton, just to the south of Evesham. Arthur was a 'builder and contractor' by trade. Rosamund had just had her first child, a daughter named Rosemary, less than a month before the census was taken. By the time the 1911 census was taken, she had given birth to two more daughters.

Photographed by R.A. Reeks of Evesham in Worcestershire.