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Solved: The mystery identity of Mervyn O’Gorman’s ‘Christina’

A century after being photographed, she caught the attention of social media and the world’s press—but only now do we know who Christina really was.

100-year-old images of a girl in red, taken by Lieutenant Colonel Mervyn O’Gorman at Lulworth Cove in 1913, went down a storm on social media and even caught the attention of the world’s press. Some said that the photos looked almost contemporary; others called her ‘a Flickr pin-up for the 20th century’.

Christina
Christina in a Red Cloak, 1913, Mervyn O’Gorman © Royal Photographic Society Collection

One question remained: who was Christina, the star model in the captivating images on show in our Drawn by Light exhibition? Initially, she was thought to be the daughter of O’Gorman, the amateur photographer who took the photographs. But research showed he had no children, meaning her true identity remained unknown—until now.

As a result of seeing the images in a newspaper, retired technician Stephen Riddle contacted our curator of Photographs and Photographic Technology, Colin Harding, to say he had a set of stereoscopic slides by Mervyn O’Gorman, which had been passed to him by his father-in-law.

A stereo-autochrome of Christina, Daisy & Anne, walking to the beach in West Lulworth
A stereo-autochrome of Christina, Daisy and Anne, walking to the beach in West Lulworth—the location of Christina’s portrait shots—August 1913. By Mervyn O’Gorman, courtesy of Stephen Riddle.

Colin picks up the story:

We’re very grateful to Stephen for contacting us and were genuinely thrilled to see the images. After all the recent attention Christina had been getting I hoped they’d give us sufficient clues to finally confirm her identity. It turns out Christina wasn’t O’Gorman’s daughter. Indeed, she wasn’t a relative—either close or distant.

From piecing together caption information from the stereo-autochromes we’ve been able to solve the mystery of Christina’s identity. Her full name was Christina Elizabeth Frances Bevan and she was born in Harrow on 8 March 1897. Christina was the daughter of Edwyn Robert Bevan and Hon. Mary Waldegrave, who was known to family and friends as Daisy. They had two daughters—Christina, and Anne Bevan—and lived just a two-minute walk from the O’Gormans’ family home.

A stereo-autochrome of Christina’s younger sister, Anne Bevan, on Victor outside 6 Chelsea Embankment with a Chelsea Pensioner
A stereo-autochrome of Christina’s younger sister, Anne Bevan, on Victor outside 6 Chelsea Embankment with a Chelsea Pensioner, Edwyn and Daisy, 1913. By Mervyn O’Gorman, courtesy of Stephen Riddle.

We might never know what the precise relationship was between the two families but, whatever the link, both families were clearly on friendly, first-name terms. Certainly, the friendship was sufficient for Mervyn to accompany Daisy and her two daughters on a trip to Lulworth Cove in August 1913, where he took portraits of Christina.

A stereo-autochrome of Windsor Park, Daisy Bevan and the children watching for birds, June 1913
A stereo-autochrome of Windsor Park, Daisy Bevan and the children watching for birds, June 1913. By Mervyn O’Gorman, courtesy of Stephen Riddle.

If it wasn’t for Stephen taking the trouble to contact us and sharing these beautiful autochromes, we might never have discovered the secret of who Christina was.

Buy prints

If you’d like your own reproduction of Mervyn O’Gorman’s photographs of Christina, you can order prints via the Science & Society Picture Library.

11 comments on “Solved: The mystery identity of Mervyn O’Gorman’s ‘Christina’

  1. It has been lovely to see the new images, wonderful to learn of her identity and I’m looking forward to seeing the exhibition on Monday even more now. However,a small but important detail to note is the images were not taken, as you say in your text, ‘on the beach at Lulworth Cove’ but on Durdle Door Beach, West Lulworth.

  2. Most of the beach photographs need to be horizontally flipped as they are the wrong way around. I live nearby Durdle Door and know the beach well. If you look at Google images you will understand.

    1. Cusack, what do you think is the correct orientation of “Christina by the boat” photo? Is the boat on the left or right side?

  3. Daisy Bevan was the granddaughter of Lady Caroline and John Hales Calcraft of Rempstone Hall, Corfe Castle.

  4. Thanks for this info. Can these images of Christina on the beach be used by artists? I have read that they have been copyrighted by your organization. Please advise.
    Thank you.

  5. Allegedly, prints can be ordered from the Society. A search on it site produces ‘Nothing found’.

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