These little Blantyre faces are Lizzie, James and Minnie Ritchie. A photo as clear as can be but remarkably was taken in 1895, some 125 years ago!
Their father was David Ritchie, a master joiner and likely the person who took the photo given his keen interest in photography. Their mother was Mary Ann Fleming. The parents married in Strathaven in 1888 before settling down in various places in Blantyre. The family lived at School Lane, then Broompark Avenue and later at Main Street.
The photo was likely taken near their home in this era at School Lane.
Its difficult to imagine how different the world was then. Queen Victoria still on the throne, before cars on the roads and almost a decade BEFORE trams even appeared in Blantyre. WW1 was still almost 2 decades away and Blantyre was very much, a mining village.
With thanks to Alex Bowie for sharing.