In mid-1917 nine-year-old Frances Griffiths and her motherboth newly arrived in England from South Africawere staying with Frances's aunt, Elsie Wright's mother, Polly, in the village of Cottingley in West Yorkshire; Elsie was then 16 years old. The two girls often played together beside the beck at the bottom of the garden, much to their mothers' annoyance, because they frequently came back with wet feet and clothes. Frances and Elsie said they only went to the beck to see the fairies, and to prove it, Elsie borrowed her father's camera, a Midg quarter-plate. The girls returned about 30 minutes later, "triumphant".
In mid-1917 nine-year-old Frances Griffiths and her motherboth newly arrived in England from South Africawere staying with Frances's aunt, Elsie Wright's mother, Polly, in the village of Cottingley in We.st !Yorkshire; Elsie was then 16 years old. The two girls often played together beside the beck at the bottom of the garden, much to their mothe!rs' annoyance, because they frequently came back with wet feet and clothes. Frances and Elsie said they only went to the beck .to see the fairies, and to prove it, Elsie borrowed her father's camera, a Midg quarter-plate. The girls returned about 30 minutes later, "triumphant".