Photo from Forres' past turns up in Surrey
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A PHOTOGRAPH of cyclists from the Forres area in the late 1800s has been found stuffing the back of a family photo in Surrey.
Roger Lindsay, who lives 580 miles away in East Horsley, discovered the late Victorian picture taken outside the Royal Station Hotel when he opened up a photo frame which was passed down to him years ago.
The image shows 19 men lined up with their bicycles, including one with a penny-farthing.
Mr Lindsay said: "I'm guessing that it was taken around 1890 when clearly there was a craze for cycling just as there is now.
"The family connection may be my great-grandfather, Reverend Alexander Watt, who was the minister of Edinkillie Kirk for many years and, I'm guessing, would have been in his 60s when this photo was taken.
"Did ministers join cycling clubs in the 1890s?
"Or his son-in-law Edward Lindsay, my grandfather, who would have been in his 30s but who died of Bright's Disease around 1902.
"The family lived at a house (post Edinkillie) called Louisville in Forres – since, I believe, knocked down."
Mr Lindsay, whose family are buried at Edinkillie Kirkyard, hopes the photo will be of interest to local residents and particularly members of the local cycling club or those with an interest in local history.
