(last updated: 10 January 2010)
The photos shown below come from two trunks, one that originally belonged to Cornelius Kersley and, fortunately, was kept by his family after his death in Preston in. They have been scanned and sent to us by Con's great granddaughter Barbara Moore. The other trunk belonged to Mona ('Monie') Burns, the youngest daughter of James and Lucy Burns nee Kersley. I was able to scan them when my cousin Thelma Ryan and I visited Monie at Cobram a few years ago. Sadly Monie has since died. We are unsure where the trunk and its contents are now.
As you will see, we have been able to identify some of the people pictured but the subjects of a sizeable number of photographs remain unknown or uncertain. The task of identification is complicated by the fact that the photos are likely to include not only Kersleys but members of the Burrowes and Burns families and their various descendants as well as friends and acquaintances of the original owners. Our guesswork is aided in some instances by being able to compare the photos from the two trunks with those we have obtained from other sources (some of the latter are displayed in Kersley Photographs Part I). Knowing where the photos were taken can also be helpful as can the presence of the same photograph among the two collections. In the end though our guesswork is no more than that and the identity of many of those pictured still needs to be confirmed.
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The photo on the left was taken at the studio of W. J. Wilkins, that on the right at the studio of F. J. Stubbs of St Arnaud.
We think they may be of Emily Kersley. Emily was born at Talbot in Victoria in 1859 and died of enteric fever at Beaufort in 1886.
She had married Samuel Claxton at St Arnaud in 1883 and had one son, Thomas Edward Claxton, the year before her death.
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The four photos shown above are all from 'Con's trunk' and feature Con himself. The top two were taken by the photographers
Yeoman & Co of South Melbourne. Con the boxer was taken at West End Portrait Parlours, 112-14 Victoria Street West Melbourne.
The fourth photo, copies of which are held by other Kersley descendants, is of Con and his two sisters, Ellen Louise
Kersley and Lucy Ann Burns nee Kersley. It was taken at the studio of F. J. Stubbs at St Arnaud.
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These two photos are both, we think, of Ellen Louise Kersley. The one on the left is from 'Con's trunk' and shows her
as a pre- or early teenager. The one on the right was in 'Monie's trunk' and may be of Ellen on her wedding day.
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These four photos are all from Con's trunk. The one at top right was taken at the studio of F. J. Stubbs at St Arnaud,
the remainder at the studio of Yeoman & Co. of South Melbourne. The St Arnaud connection suggests the woman pictured
in the two top photos may be a Kersley (Lucy or Mary Jane?). Alternatively she may have been a friend of the family
who moved to or was visiting Melbourne. Or she may even have been a friend or early partner of Con's.
This group photo is from 'Con's trunk'. It shows Lucy Burns (seated on the left), her husband James Napoleon Burns
(standing behind her) and her brother Cornelius ('Con') Kersley (in the bowler hat). The second older woman is Con's wife
Wilhelmina ('Minnie') Kersley nee Burrows nee Campion. We remain uncertain about the identities of the others.
The girls seated in the centre of the photo may be Minnie's daughters by her previous marriage, Amy and Sylvia Burrows.
The young girl may be Lucy and James' youngest daughter, Monie, or one of their grandchildren.
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