Image A: This fellow is a Cordell family member, but nobody seems to know exactly which Cordell he is. His facial features do look like the man in Image B, except for the hairline. Maybe they're brothers? AI tells me that his tie is typical of the 1890s, being narrow and neatly tied. His soft and slightly textured lounge jacket was increasingly common post-1885. The boutonniere was very fashionable in 1890s studio portraits. The style of the moustache indicates a classic late-Victorian mode, 1885-1900. An oval vignette on mount was extremely common in cabinet cards of the 1890s. The most likely date range for this photo is 1892-1896.
Image B:
Many people have attached this image to the profile of Joseph Chidley CORDELL. He was born in Bermondsey, London in 1800, made various sea voyages to Australia as ship's crew, and married Elizabeth PITCHER in Launceston, Tasmania, in 1825. Together they had 10 children, and I'm descended from their youngest, Martha Ann. He was a river pilot along the Tamar, until his move to Victoria, where he died at the Ararat Asylum in 1868. Joseph's brother, Robert CORDELL (1811-1843), also came to Tasmania, but I don't think these are the men pictured above. Image B is from the personal collection of the late Alan Gill CORDELL (1928-2016) and appears in the anthology On the Tide: stories of the Tamar, edited by Peter Richardson, labelled as being of Joseph Cordell.
AI tells me that this image is a typical studio portrait, like a late 19th-century cabinet card rather than an earlier daguerrotype or ambrotype. The high, stiff collar and patterned tie/cravat are consistent with 1880-1890s fashion. The jacket lapels and tailoring also align with that period. Having a neatly trimmed moustache without a beard became especially common in the 1880s-1890s. It is suggested that this image was probably taken between 1885-1900. Unfortunately, the studio name is illegible.
As Joseph died in 1868, this image is highly unlikely to be of him. Say this man is aged 40, and the photo was taken in the middle of the range, 1892, giving him an estimated DOB of 1850. While Joseph did have a son born in 1847, James Charles CORDELL, he died at age 25, so this can't be him. I believe that the images are of Joseph's grandsons, of whom there were many. To be in Alan Cordell's personal collection, it may well have come from his direct line. Alan's great-grandfather was Joseph and Elizabeth's eldest child, John Henry CORDELL (1826-1898). With his wife, Mary HUBBARD, John had seven children, and all but two were sons. These boys were born between 1847 and 1867, making them potential candidates to be the dapper good-looking men in Images A & B.
If anyone recognises who these men actually are, please let me know!
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| Image C |
Image C:
This gorgeous photo is most likely dated in the early 1890s. His three-piece suit with waistcoat and watch chain indicate a date of 1885-1900. Having a short, neat moustache with no beard was common around 1885-1900. His trousers being made of a more lightweight fabric than his jacket was fashionable in the same era. Holding his bowler-style hat in his hand was very typical in portraits of urban men around this time. The woman's high neckline with ruffles was classic late 1880s to early 1890s. A very fitted bodice with strong waist shaping was a pre-1895 silhouette. Also pointing to this date range was the fact that the sleeves were not yet of the leg-of-mutton style. Having a bustle was also popular there, and AI has used her clothing as the strongest dating clue from the image.
The earliest date estimated is c.1887, the latest c.1895, with the sweet spot being 1890-1893. Alan's grandparents, George Basey CORDELL and Kate Ellen KITTO married in Launceston, Tasmania in 1889, so this could well be them. I think I'll assign this photo to them in my public Ancestry tree and see if I get any comments refuting it. He has a very similar hairline to my chap in Image A, so my money is on them being the same guy.
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| Image D |
Image D:
Here AI is using the clothing to diagnose a date range of 1893-1896. This is based on the very puffy sleeve style, a high collar with fitted neckband, and a decorative front, including applied round motifs and a central brooch/clasp. Her hair has a centre part and is pulled tightly back, which was fashionable before the looser Edwardian fullness of the 1900s. AI is suggesting to me that it is the same woman as in Image C, just with a different hairstyle. I'm not convinced. I think they have different chin shapes. I'm reluctant to ascribe the image to being Kate Cordell nee Kitto. If it is Kate, and Image A is George, maybe they had studio portraits done a few years after their marriage.
Images E1 & E2:
Finally, I used ChatGPT to enhance this image, to change it from being quite orange, to being more sepia-toned.
This image was most likely taken in the mid-late 1860s. AI tells me that having a full beard suggests a 1855-1870 date range, whereas the very long "patriarch" type of beards were popular after that. He is wearing a short fitted jacket with narrow lapels, typical of the 1860s. His visible waistcoat and high fastening also align with that period. High-waisted and fairly straight trousers also align with that period.
Joseph CORDELL was admitted firstly to Collingwood Asylum and then Yarra Bend Asylum in Victoria on 21 Dec 1867, and a month later was transferred to the newly built Ararat Asylum where he died from cancer on 6 Dec 1868. His death certificate records him as being 50 years of age, but he was actually 68. The Superintendent of the asylum was the registered informant, so they may have known little biographical detail about him.
The timing aligns for this image to be of "my" Joseph. He certainly looks to be in his 60s. If anyone knows for sure that it's NOT my Joseph, please get in touch, but for now I'm going to claim him.
