UNIDENTIFIED wedding photos taken in Barrow over half a century ago were found in a sofa bed hundreds of miles way.

The stepdaughter of historian Dr Maureen James found the photos when she bought a sofa-bed from a second-hand shop in Barrow in 2019 and moved it to her home 250 miles away in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. 

Now she wants readers help to reunite the photos with the family.

"The photographs, which look like they were taken in the late 1950s, were found hidden inside a sofa-bed. They were in a large brown envelope with 'our wedding photographs' written on it," Maureen said. 

The Mail: All of the photos found in the envelopeAll of the photos found in the envelope (Image: Submitted)

Four out of the five photographs in the envelope are in black and white, and one is colourised. They depict the smiling bride, bridegroom and wedding guests celebrating the happy day from decades ago. 

Maureen, who did a PhD in history, currently has the photos in her house in Lincolnshire. 

She said: "I contacted the Furness Family History Society but had no success, and then did some research of my own, before moving on to other things. 

"Recently, whilst de-cluttering, I rediscovered the envelope and thought I would make another attempt at trying to trace the owners."

The Mail: The outside of the envelopeThe outside of the envelope (Image: Submitted)

The photographs have the name Dorothy Barrow written on them but this could be the name of the photographer. 

Maureen found through her research that a Dorothy Barrow married Edward Davis around October 1958 in the town. 

"Could these images be the record of their wedding day?" she asked. 

If a reader recognised the bride, her husband or any of the other guests, Maureen said it might be possible to solve the mystery of who the couple are so the photographs can be returned to them or their descendants. 

Contact daniel.pye@newsquest.co.uk if you recognise anyone in the photographs.