A view of Gloucester County life in the late 19th century recently surfaced when Margaret Perritt, a former resident now residing in Maine, was cleaning out her desk.

Perritt believes the photos, which have family connections to her, date from around 1890. She attributes them to Blanche Dimmock, born Oct. 11, 1871 at Sherwood in Naxera, who was “quite a good photographer” who contributed work to the 1915 book “Historic Homes and Churches of Virginia” by Robert Lancaster. She said Blanche had a twin, Minna, and both received cameras for Christmas around 1890.

The photos include images of the twins and an unidentified woman, in front of a house that Perritt cannot identify; an icehouse which she thinks may be the one at Exchange that was built up to become the home Cherokee, or a nearby icehouse at Toddsbury; and a sailing canoe titled “Sailboat off Sherwood.”

The final shots show Burgh Westra on the North River and a mill which Perritt believes is ...