Fascinating Friday Lady street scene

I have undertaken some further research over the weekend on last Friday's photograph, which I will summarise briefly the results under 4 headings: the car, the owner, a possible scenario for the photograph, and Thomas Andrews.

The car: Irish registrations for the relevant period are covered in 'The Irish Motor Directory', which was published annually. I have only had access to the 2nd edition for 1914-1915, where IB22 is listed as registered to Francis H MacLeod, of Ceana, Windsor Avenue, Belfast. Earlier versions of the IMD should immediately identify when it was first registered. I have also consulted the Vauxhall sales brochure for 1914, available from the Vauxhall Register. This shows three available models of the Prince Henry: the Brooklands, the Leicester, and the Denbigh. The car bodywork in Friday's photograph is similar to, but not identical to, the Leicester. The sunken cross-member is clearly visible (see attachment), consistent with a 1914 dating, but possibly consistent with earlier datings.

The owner: MacLeod is an unusual surname in Ireland, and is easy to follow in the archives. Francis Hugh Macleod was born in early 1889 to a farming family living at Glenanne, halfway between Armagh and Newry. He had an older sister, Margaret, and a younger brother, Thomas. Their aunt was Mary Moore Harrison, a childless widow and the owner of Ceana, Windsor Avenue, Belfast. She appears to have been very wealthy. Her house, number 26, had 13 rooms, the largest number in a street of large houses. Several others had 10 rooms. The three MacLeod children were living with her in Belfast at the time of the 1901 census, and were described as scholars, suggesting they had been sent from rural Armagh for their better schooling. Francis was married in 1913 and joined the Irish Constabulary in 1914. Three cars appear to have been bought at about the same time and registered to occupants of Ceara: IB13 to Thomas, IB20 to Mrs Harrison and IB22 to Francis. The obvious person who was wealthy enough to buy three cars, including a Prince Henry, was Mrs Harrison. The IMD for 1914 has 490 entries for County Armagh, suggesting the cars were bought not long after the introduction of registration (in 1910?). I assume they were registered in Armagh for family reasons, since Windsor Avenue is in Antrim.

A possible scenario for the photograph: The centre of attention in the photograph is clearly the mother and child. Assume the young woman is Mrs Francis MacLeod. Assume she became pregnant shortly after her marriage; the baby came in 1914 and is about 3 years old in the photo. That would date the photo to 1917. I can find no direct connection to the Victoria Temperance Hotel, which was run by Miss Victoria Thompson throughout the relevant period. I assume she had a connection with the young couple, possibly an aunt. Something was needed to justify the journey from Belfast, to which the mud on the Prince Henry testifies. Perhaps Francis MacLeod is one of the two men in the main group?

Thomas Andrews: This was an unexpected surprise. Andrews lived at number 20 Windsor Avenue and was therefore a near neighbour of Mrs Harrison. He was the principal naval architect of the Titanic, which was built at the yards of Harland & Wolff in Belfast. His uncle was Viscount Pirrie, the chairman and part owner of Harland & Wolff, and two of his brothers were Prime Minister and Lord Chief Justice respectively of Northern Ireland, confirming that Windsor Avenue was for the wealthy and well-connected. Sadly, Andrews went down with the ship he had designed. It should be placed on record that he wanted 46 lifeboats, not the 20 fitted; the ship to be double-hulled; and with higher bulkheads, but was overruled.
I am indebted to databases held by The National Archives of Ireland and Lennon Wylie (www.lennonwylie.co.uk) for information, without which this level of research would not have been possible.