Earliest-born Human to...

[Smyslov]

I realise that this might not exactly belong here, but I have exhausted many options and have now started seeking in unlikely places for information. I will restrain myself to two topics that may at the least fit within this message board`s subject matter:

1. I am seeking any "video" (AKA "motion picture") of any person born prior to 1800. I know of a motion picture of Pope Leo X, who was born in 1810 (filmed 1897). But I learned of a film of someone born even earlier... 1795, to be precise! It was a Kinora reel of someone named Rebecca Clarke. So far I have been able to obtain the writings that were found with the 1904 reel: "Rebecca Clarke and kitten. The well known centenarian of 108, serenely sewing in a chair is surprised by a kitten which jumps up on her. She caresses the kitten, which struggles and nearly escapes". Rebecca Clarke was famous in the late 1890s and early 1900s for being over 100 years old, which was rare (though not unheard of) prior to the modern era. She was from England and I hope that someone who reads this board may live in England and maybe be able to access more information than I can from here (USA).

2. I am wanting to learn, what is the photograph of the earliest-born Human being? I know of such photographs as (probable) Constanze Weber Mozart, wife of Wolfgang Mozart (taken 1841, likely but not certain as to whether or not it is really her). She was born in 1763. While probably the photo of THE earliest-born Human could not be pinpointed with absolute accuracy, I would at the least be eager to learn of any contenders for this possibility. Anyone photo'd that was born in the 1750s, or even 1740s?? This would be astonishing.

I am most eager to learn more about or, dare I say, see the recording of Rebecca Clarke. Even the very thought of seeing motion picture of someone born in the 1700s chills and thrills me in unexplainable ways. I know it seems bizarre, but I just cannot explain this fascination I have with seeing this recording someday, if at all possible.

I apologise once more if this is inappropriate for this message board. I will understand if it is deleted. However, if it is permitted, and if anyone has any information at all on either of these subjects, I would be delighted to hear from you! As I am posting this many places across the Internet, I may not recall or be able to find again this specific page. And no, I`m not copying&pasting, each post I make is unique and typed by hand, much to the pain of my arthritic wrists. I can be contacted via josh@patrick.k12.va.us or, if you do not wish to e-mail but do have information, please do post here if you would. I will bookmark this site and try to check it again at least a couple of times.

[Smyslov]

I hope I will be forgiven for this message board faux pas, seeing that it's been over a year, but I just hoped to bump this up and see if anyone now might know something of this. I'm still eagerly seeking more information on these things!

[mattp]

I know of the earliest recorded photography in general *not of a human* it was on a stone a scenic picture in i believe italy? i forget how it was done ill try to look it up.

[Leonardo]

Smyslov,

As the first photograph ever taken (and verified) was made in 1825/26 (see here and here) I truly doubt you will find one of someone born before Constanz Mozart as people rarely lived to such advanced age (they would have had to have been some 80-odd years old when the photo was taken) in those times.

[1.618]

hello. i saw some video of queen victoria's coronation or something. have you tried the BBC?

[Smyslov]

hello. i saw some video of queen victoria's coronation or something. have you tried the BBC?

Queen Victoria was coronated in 1837, and there was certainly no means of capturing motion pictures at that time, so maybe you saw a re-enactment. She was photographed (a single, still picture) at her wedding in 1854 though.

And, since I posted this message over a year ago, someone contacted from another site where I was asking, and informed me of a photograph of someone born in the 1750s, or even (possibly) 1749! She was photographed due to her advanced age, at the time an astonishing 104. The photograph was taken in 1853 or 1854, and has the old lady with 4 successive generations: her daughter, grandson, great-granddaughter, and great-great-granddaughter. Quite amazing, considering the year. The person was kind enough to send me a digital scan of this photograph; I don't know where he got it from. If anyone is interested in seeing it, let me know, perhaps someone could give further details as it might be more well-known than I thought.

[Sassages]

British Pathe hold all the Archives of film, it's possible they might be able to help you.

Check out their website:

http://www.britishpathe.com

If it's not online, you could try their customer service dept.

They do have some very early footage online.

PS The particular bit of footage about Queen Victoria referred to above was her Funeral Procession, not her Coronation.

[nessie53]

Hi

I remember many years ago seeing a photo printed in the Sunday Times magazine (in the UK) of a gentleman - an American Indian, I believe. He was posing with his grandaughter and the caption was explaining that when he was born, it was at the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie (1720-1788). It went on to say that had his grandaghter lived to the same age, she would have seen the start of the Second World War!

I remember being amazed that I was staring at the face of a man born in the 1700s. I've tried all sorts of combinations of 'Googles' (though never the Sunday Times!), but never been able to find it.

Hope this is of interest

[Smyslov]

Thank you for the responses!

I've uncovered some amazing things since August of 2007. This subject of the earliest-born Human to be captured in various recording media continues to fascinate me. Film of Rebecca Clarke continues to elude me, sadly.

But, I've since, for the first time, heard audio recordings of the voices of Tchaikovsky and Anton Rubinstein! I've seen footage of Queen Victoria while still alive! I also saw footage of someone still living (last I heard) that remembers seeing Queen Victoria at a very young age. Well, some of this stuff is on YouTube, so here goes:

Funeral of Queen Victoria:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6ZGmRXzfP8...feature=related

The footage of her still living was on there, but I can't find it just now, for some reason. It was distant, of her in a carriage, and not really easy to tell what was going on, but it's real!

Rapid Photos of Michel Eugene Chevreul (1786 - 1889):

There's much more. YouTube has a lot of historically-valuable footage that I've not seen or found anywhere else... it's not just for mindless video blogs and other nonsense!

In any case, I was wondering if anyone might see this, and have anything more on this subject. Once again, I apologise for drawing up an old thread, but I hope I have demonstrated that I'm not a spammer, or a troublemaker. I will readily answer any private correspondence to verify that I'm not trying to break any message board rules in any way. I am legitimately fascinated by this subject and feel that it has immense historical and emotional value.

[Alexandra2]

Hi SMYSLOV. I have been interested in this subject for years and have some interesting info for you. The earliest born person to have been photographed that I can find is so far Conrad Heyer who was born in 1749! or possibly 1753. Here's a link to his picture:

http://www.vintagemaineimages.com/bin/Detail?ln=13423

Amazing isn't it! Another candidate is Hannah Stilley Gorbey born in about 1746. The original pic may be lost but you can see a copy here:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Ha...illey_Gorby.jpg

I remember once seeing a picture in a history of photography called "The Jersey Centenarian" and that may be even better if I can ever find it again.

Here's another interesting one:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Samuel_Hahnemann_1841.jpg

Born in 1755.

As for film of someone born before 1800, I've not actually looked but it is intriguing. One of the nearest is a lady born in 1816 who appears in the first known film called the Roundhay garden Scene. here's a link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roundhay_Garden_Scene

Let me know if you find anything else.

Alexandra