WHEN I first saw this photograph, I thought it was of a doll on the knee of a sailor. How wrong could I be!

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The picture has been sent to me by Mr John Watson, of Ashfield Road, Thornton-Cleveleys, who tells me that "the lady sitting on the stool, who I would describe as a midget rather than a dwarf, we knew as 'Little Edith'. Unfortunately we never knew her surname. She was brought to our house in Halliwell, Bolton, on a couple of occasions by my aunt, Mrs Minnie Latham, who from about 1940 to just before her death in November, 1944, was manager of the Regent Cinema on Deane Road. 'Little Edith' must have been living somewhere around there, as I believe my aunt would let her sit at the pay desk and pass the tickets to the cinemagoers.

"It is difficult to determine her age, but my wife, who also saw Edith, thinks she would have been in the 30s at the time. The sailor, who we guess to be about 18 or 19, we understand was her younger brother. Unfortunately there is nothing on the back of the photograph to indicate where it was taken, but one can possibly discern HMS on his cap which would be during the war years.

"In the December issue of Family Tree Magazine, I saw an inquiry from a lady in Wellingborough seeking information on Edith Rollason, a midget who worked the music halls 1920/30s and announced various acts dressed as a fairy. Accordingly, I sent her a copy of the photograph plus an enlargement, which she sent on to her 90-year-old aunt who knew the Edith in question. However, her aunt was unable to decide whether 'Little Edith' on the picture was Edith Rollason."

Mr Watson ends: "Perhaps some reader might know who this sister and brother were." If anyone has any more facts, please let me know.