Love never dies

Now that we have left Valentine’s Day behind for us another year after being relentlessly prodded into remembering how much we all love each other, take a look at the happy couple in the picture and marvel at what love looked like in 1856.

This, according to internationally renowned wedding planner Sarah Haywood, is the oldest wedding photograph ever taken in the UK and shows two 24-year-olds, George Taylor and Hannah Pratley, on the day they took the plunge in Cheltenham.

Interestingly, given their (for the time) perceived  lowly status – George was a farmer and Hannah a maid – it’s something of a mystery as to how the couple could afford a picture at all given the costs of photography in relation to their status.

Luckily for us, the picture was taken and has survived.   

Sadly, it is unclear what became of the couple, but given the mores of the time, it’s likely that Mr and Mrs Taylor saw out their days tending the farm and raising an exceedingly large family.