Rediscovering the Pashley sisters of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, began, as usual, with a chance purchase of a Victorian stereocard showing a portrait of a lady in a studio. I realised the seller had four more stereos from the same studio, and, as I cannot bear the thought of breaking up collections which have been together since the Victorian era, usually sold separately to prioritise money over historical context, I bought them too. When they arrived, I could see four out of five of the cards had names and dates on their backs, all in the same handwriting:
Miss Sarah Pashley – Dec 1866.
Miss Emily Pashley – Dec 1866.
Mrs Nicholson, Sept 1866.
Mr N – Sept 1866.
I searched the unmarried Pashley sister’s names, with guesstimate dates of birth based on their appearances in 1866, across different censuses, until I finally found an unmarried Sarah L Pashley living with her unmarried sister Emily, and their widowed mother Sarah, in 1861, in Worksop. To celebrate International Women’s Day today (8th March), I’m now sharing the Pashley sisters’ 3-D portraits and their life stories.
Anne Nicholson née Pashley (1809-1886)
Mrs Nicholson, Sept 1866.
Anne Pashley was born in 1809 to Sarah and Robert Pashley, and baptised on 13th April 1809 in Worksop. In the 1841 census, she was still living in Worksop with her farming parents, her younger brother Charles, also a farmer, her younger sister Sarah, and a young female servant.
Robert Pashley, Anne’s father, passed away in 1848, with his wife Sarah taking over the farm. In the 1851 census, she was a ‘farmer of 70 acres, employing 2 men; Anne, 42, was living with her, still in Worksop, along with a female general servant.
Mr N – Sept 1866.
On May 14th 1856, Anne married widower William Henry Nicholson, in Worksop, with her sister Emily as a witness. William’s first wife, Sarah Dorothea (née Dobson), had died early in 1855. In 1861, Anne, 52, and William, 55, a landed proprietor, were living in Birkdale, Lancashire, with his son and two daughters from his first wife, his sister, and a young female servant. By 1871, the Nicholsons had moved back to Cawood, Yorkshire, where William was born. He was listed as a landowner and farming 50 acres, employing 3 men; they lived with his son John, and a young female servant. In 1881 the Nicholsons, 75 and 72, were still in Cawood, with son John, 29, and now joined by daughter Sarah, 26, and two female servants.
[Nothing written on back]
Anne Nicholson passed away in Cawood, aged 76, and was buried on 29th Jan 1886.
Emily Pashley (1818-1909)
Miss Emily Pashley – Dec 1866.
Emily Pashley was born on 25th April 1818 in Worksop, and baptised on 5th August that same year. By the 1851 census, she was an unmarried school mistress, living in her own house in Worksop, with a 13 year old female pupil. By 1861, she had moved back in with her widowed mother Sarah, now listed as a proprietor of land and house, along with her sister Sarah Louisa; her and her sister were both listed as housekeepers at this time. Their mother Sarah passed away aged 89 in 1867, and by the 1871 census, Emily, 52, gentlewoman, had moved in with her older sister Mary, 63, who had married widower James Blacket, a stamp distributor, and they were residing in Spleen, Berkshire, with his son and a servant. By 1881, Emily had moved back to Worksop, and was living as a lodger, along with her sister Sarah Louise. By 1891, Emily, now 72, was living by herself and on her own means, still in Worksop, where she continued to reside in the 1901 census. She passed away in December 1909 in Worksop, aged 91.
Sarah Louisa Pashley (1822-1912)
Miss Sarah Pashley – Dec 1866.
Sarah Louisa Pashley was born September 14th 1822 in Worksop, and baptised the following month, on 1st October. By 1851, she was living with her older unmarried brother Charles, 34, who was a wine and spirit merchant, still in Worksop, and she was listed as the housekeeper. By the 1871 census, Sarah, 47, was living elsewhere in Worksop as a lodger, with unmarried Annie Fryer, 45, a retired milliner and draper, who was born in Lincoln. By 1891, Sarah, 68, was living with her older widowed sister, Mary Blacket, 83, in Spleen, Berkshire, and they were living on their own means, with a female servant. By 1911, Sarah Louisa, 88, was living on private means, and by herself back in Worksop. She passed away aged 89 in March 1912 in Worksop.
The only thing I haven’t managed to discover yet is the studio where the stereoscopic portraits were taken, as the cards themselves don’t carry that information. I’ve looked for stereos and CDVs from studios in Worksop, Cawood, and the surrounding areas, and haven’t found any matching props, but I will keep searching. If anyone does recognise the studio, I’d be delighted if you’d get in touch.
The lives of the Pashley sisters may not be deemed extraordinary by today’s standards, but, as ever, I love to share the stories of those who are often overlooked, especially when you can see them as if you were stood in front of them, through the power of time-travelling with stereoscopic photography.
If you’re reading this on 8th March 2026, International Women’s Day, please don’t forget you can join us in celebrating Women of Photography over on Zoom and Youtube, with a 24-hour Conference-a-thon, along with 72 speakers from across the world. I will be sharing the stories and work of three of our Victorian stereoscopic sisters from 12.49pm GMT, and I’d be so happy if you could join us. I will be on Zoom to answer any questions during the talk itself, and those who register can watch recordings of the conference for a short time afterwards. All details can be found on https://womenofphoto.com/, and specifically for my presentation, ‘Unexpectedly Unearthing Three Victorian Female Stereoscopic Photographers’: https://stereoscopy.blog/2026/02/22/unexpectedfemalestereographers/
Happy International Women’s Day!
Copyright © The Stereoscopy Blog. All rights reserved.
The Stereoscopy Blog 