This autochrome photograph was taken in June 1923 by J. Horace McFarland. He called it Woman with yellow roses (Climbing Emily Gray).
I was curious about the beautiful flowers, and about their name, Climbing Emily Gray.
The honeypot flowers website described this breed of climbing roses as “a lovely dusky golden-yellow bloom on dark green foliage. It is slightly fragrant.”
But who was Emily Gray? This required a little more investigation.
The rose was initially bred by horticulturalist Dr. A.H. Williams. He first introduced the flower in the UK as the ‘Emily Gray’ rose in 1918. In 1921, the ‘Emily Gray’ rose was brought to Australia.
Dr. Williams named the flower for his older sister, Emily Jane Williams, who was born in 1856 in Wakato, Poverty Bay, New Zealand. She married Charles Gray in 1882 at Gisborne, New Zealand and remained there for the rest of her life.
I found this picture of Emily Gray later in life.
old spirituals 