Scanning ancient family photos can be very poignant.

Working my way through my grandmother's photo album - researching the Wilson family - I spotted a tiny faded photo - about the size of a postage stamp - wedged in the album's spine.

When I scanned the image I found myself looking at a dear little boy: it could have been a photo of my nephew as a baby.

My grandmother was extremely methodical in grouping items in her photo album: why would this be stuck in the spine?

My grandparents had two children die in infancy: one at seven months (Leslie) and one at one year (Kenneth). Given that this photo seemed to have been hidden in the spine, and that it so strongly resembles my nephew, I am confident that this is a photo of one the two great-uncles I never knew.

My father, the middle child and the only one who survived, recalled Lesley's funeral and the poignancy of the tiny casket.

Another extended family member - a retired nurse - believed my grandmother had numerous other pregnancies that failed at various stages. The wide intervals between births: 1915, 1919 and then 1926 would tend to support this.

Looking at that photo on my computer screen I grieved for my grandmother.