Shared Photo: William Merrill leading his troops into action

Question

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I wanted to share this family photo of William Merrill with the community. Location: Gt Gransden, Huntingdonshire. Date: 1925.

Click here for the image details page or here for the full-sized version (1484 x 1008).

Comments

This is (as some would say) a blazing picture. And the caption you gave was classic. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Pip

So much genealogy, so little time.

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And we thought we had troubles with traffic jams! Ours ain't mutton!

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Dorothy, you ought to get a trophy for that answer.

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Thanks Pip,   ;)

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William Merrill was my grandfather by the way. But by the time I arrived on the scene he'd been promoted from shepherd to ag lab!

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A bit of background to the photo. It wasn't a much cherished family picture. 40 years ago my mother and one of her sisters went to Gt Gransden museum and were looking through the photo collection when they came across this photo. "That's Dad!" they both said. No doubt about it. No-one knows who took it, or why. But I'm delighted that they did! the museum was very happy too as they could put a name to the photo (the sheep third from the left was called Lulu!)

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Great tale, David! Lulu it is. The sheep third from the left.

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This is awesome!

Answer 1

C'est Bon Magnifique Family Photo Treasure  !  Somewhere I'm believing there is a trustworthy" sheep dog .. 

Answer 2

David, I would love to know about the context of the picture. Do you know when or where it was taken? Can you tell us more about your grandfather?

Comments

Grandad was a shepherd in Gt Gransden, Huntingdonshire before WW1 and continued as such when he returned from the war. The photo was taken at some time after that, but before 1932 when the farmer he worked for moved farms 15 miles away and asked Grandad to move with him, although he was giving up with sheep. So the family  moved although Grandad became a stockman and general ag lab, which is how I remember him.