1957 Wedding Album Found Outside Wakefield Cafe Returned to Owner After Historian's Search
A wedding album from 1957, discovered outside Eva's Kitchen in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, has been returned to its rightful owner. Local historian Anne-Marie Fawcett successfully traced the album to Barbara Parr and Maxwell Dawson. The cafe's owner, Andrew Bedford, found the album, and with the help of a social media appeal by his partner, Éva Lemperger, Fawcett utilized photo enhancement tools to identify the couple. Their marriage, recorded on June 24, 1957, took place at Wadsley Parish Church. Fawcett then reached out to their son, Michael Dawson, who disclosed that the album had been stolen from a storage unit. Last week, 65-year-old Dawson joyfully reunited with the album, promising to safeguard it.
Key facts
- A 1957 wedding album was found abandoned outside Eva's Kitchen in Wakefield, West Yorkshire
- Cafe owner Andrew Bedford discovered the album and kept it after initially considering binning it
- Local historian Anne-Marie Fawcett deciphered the name Barbara Parr using photo enhancement tools
- Marriage records showed Barbara Parr, then 21, married Maxwell Dawson at Wadsley Parish Church on June 24, 1957
- Electoral records linked the couple to Walton Lane in Wakefield
- Michael Dawson confirmed he was the son of Barbara and Maxwell after Fawcett contacted him on Facebook
- The album had been stolen from a storage unit near the cafe where Dawson and his brother stored their late parents' belongings
- Dawson, 65, was reunited with the album in person last week and said he would protect it with his life
Entities
Artists
- Andrew Bedford
- Éva Lemperger
- Anne-Marie Fawcett
- Barbara Parr
- Maxwell Dawson
- Michele Spurr
- Michael Dawson
Institutions
- Eva's Kitchen
- Wakefield Express
- The Guardian
- BBC
- Wakefield Historical Appreciation Site
- Wadsley Parish Church
- PetaPixel
Locations
- Wakefield
- United Kingdom
- West Yorkshire
- Ossett
- Walton Lane
- Wadsley