KEY
5. Josiah Barnett
6. Redmond Christiansen
I can find no record of Josiah Barnett. Judging by his central position and assumed air of importance, he could be a politician, perhaps a local councillor. If so, then perhaps the event which the anonymous photographer has captured in time is some kind of political rally, or, considering the involvement of the Transformationalists, a parody of the same. This conflicts with the standard interpretation which is a musical performance of some kind. The main evidence for this is the presence of Redmond Christiansen, an opera singer from Denmark. So far I have been unable to unearth details of Christiansen`s other engagements in the area. This would of course remove speculation about the date of the photograph. It is clearly marked on the back as 1897, but the rumoured presence of the young Jorge Luis Borges puts that into dispute. Borges, the great Argentinian fabulist, whose grandmother came from the Potteries, was born in 1899 and did not leave his native land until 1914. He toured Europe with his family until 1921 and it is inconceivable that he did not pay a visit to his grandmother`s home town. However, whether that visit is captured here is a moot point.
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