Following my aunt’s funeral, I have been sent some family photographs, always helpful in getting a sense of my mother’s family, how she was brought up – still fairly Edwardian; who they were; the family’s relationships.
My mother is on the left, her older sister, Mary, on the right:-
Here they are with my grandmother and their younger brother, John:-
Here is my uncle John as a youth. He was head boy:-
I assume this is of my grandparents with two of their children on either side, but I never met my grandmother and have no sense of her:-
The next one is intriguing. Following my grandmother’s death in Anglesey (I have never managed to locate her grave), my aunt Mary looked after my grandfather. Here they are on the way to church:-
And here’s the next generation, including me, at an occasion which, not surprisingly, I don’t remember:-
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
So fascinating to see these photos…. The first two very staged… and the second of the children with the grandmother…. I have a very similar photo of my grandmother standing in front of one of those painted backdrops. My condolences for your aunt’s passing. And not sure whether I ever wrote you after the RA tour of your house last June…. And then I went out to Bruton for artist and H&W visit with the RA. Impressed by the entire operation… the art complex, lovely restaurant — great exhibit. Jean (— who I first saw at Dwan Gallery in LA when I was 15!!!) and Niki de Saint Phalle… I hadn’t known they were married. For me, it was perfect, and with the Piet Ouldof garden as well…. Hope to make it back to London late summer and would love to see you and Rommilly Best. Leslie