Name/Title
1914/Hughes: Humphrey and SallyDescription
The details on the back of the photograph record this as being of Humphrey with Sally in 1914. Sally was Dorothy's dog and this is Dorothy's garden.
An entry in the family bible tells us that Humphrey was "admitted to the Holy Order of Priesthood in Southwark Cathedral on Trinity Sunday 1913; celebrated the Holy Mass for the first time in St Peter's Church Walworth on the feast of Corpus Christi following - Assistant Priest of St John's Balham."
Humphrey, his brother Francis, and his brother-in-law Leonard Urch would not serve in the Forces during the First World War. As clergymen, they did not volunteer and were exempt from conscription. Under the Miliary Service Act of 1916, "a man in Holy Orders or a regular minister of any religious denomination, [...] shall not on being called up for service with the Colours [...] except with his consent, to perform combatant service".
Such men were considered to be in a reserved occupation due to their critical role in sustaining morale, both in the troops and on the home front.
It is notable that there is another photograph, which must have been taken at the same time, which gives the date as 1921. However, judging by Humphrey's comparatively youthful look, 1914 is the correct date. Humphrey was born in 1889 so would have been 25 in this image.