Tuckey Oakes Family Tree

Fred Tuckey told his son John that Louisa Tuckey (Fred's aunt) became very keen on photography as a youngster and set up a dark room in her home. Photography was a largely male dominated profession in those days and it was thought most unlikely she could get work in that line. She took examples of her work to one of the major photographers in Edinburgh. They were so impressed that they took her on and she remained a photographer all her life.

Ross Tuckey (Fred's brother) thought that Louisa had just "dressed up" for the photograph of her in gypsy dress. He thought it likely she had painted the photo by hand herself - that was the only way of getting colour in photographs in those days. Considering Fred's comments above, that photo would have been the kind of example she would have shown to get her first job.

Fred said his Aunt Louisa was a very religious woman. He told of an occasion when,as youngsters, he and his brothers and sister were playing tiddly winks in her hallway and she was appalled to find they were playing for money!

Louisa died in August 1943, at the age of 47 - of "Chronic bedsores, Disseminated Gangrene and Toxaemia". The technology for mass production of penicillin, which could have saved her life, wasn't developed until late 1943.