Help identify faces in old Dungog or Gloucester photo

Dear News Of The Area,

I AM writing to ask whether your newspaper might be willing to publish an old family photograph in the hope that members of the community may be able to help identify some of the people pictured.

The photograph is believed to include my husband’s great-grandfather, Robert Alexander Laurie, who was born in 1878 at Rawdon Vale, Gloucester.

Based on his apparent age in the image, we estimate the photograph was taken when he was between 30 and 40 years old.

We believe this means the photograph may have been taken somewhere between 1908 and 1918, before World War I.

We have reason to believe the photograph may have been taken in the Dungog district.

Written on the photograph are the names Lin Smith and Dick Abbott, both of which appear to be Dungog family names.

Unfortunately, beyond that, we have very little information about the image, the occasion, or the identities of the other people shown.

As local newspapers are often read by people with long family connections to the area, we are hoping that someone may recognise a face, a family name, a location, or perhaps even have a similar photograph tucked away in a family album.

If you would be willing to publish the photograph, we would be incredibly grateful.

Any information that helps us better understand the people and story behind this image would be greatly appreciated and would help preserve a small piece of local history.

Thank you for considering our request.

Hayley Laurie,

Gloucester.