William is the older man at the front left. He was born in Witham in 1865, son of John Corley, butcher, and Maria (nee Mecklenburgh) of Mill Lane (he was baptised in the Congregational church). He was in West Ham as a bootmaker in 1901 and his children were born there but he came back to Witham and lived in Etheldene in Hatfield Road and in Jackson’s farm in Maltings Lane. His son Arthur George, born in 1899, came to Witham as a builder and undertaker, and it is probably one of his sites that the photo shows.

I sent a copy to Len Corley, son of Arthur George, also a builder in Witham. He said the site is most likely to have been in Hatfield Road near Maltings Lane, and that you can see the line of Maltings Lane at the back.

In 2023 I heard from Anne Winter (nee Corley) who lives in Adelaide. She is Len’s daughter, and the great-grandaughter of William. She thought that the well-dressed boy laying a brick was probably her father. If so, Len was too modest to mention it to me when he saw the picture.

At one time I looked at all the houses along there but couldn’t spot any like this (though one has been demolished). Distinguishing features of the photo are the corner indent to the right of the little boy (too small an indent to be a door way), and the air brick/ventilators with the three flower patterns; most such bricks just have rows of holes. So it should be possible to find the place !

Ref	M1654
Date taken	1930s
Source	West, Peter