Rose Harriette was the eldest daughter of Robert Thompson Crawshay, the Merthyr Tydfil ironmaster. She was her father's favourite subject for photographs and was often required as a model, washer, cutter and paster of prints.

She hated assisting with the washing of the prints as the chemicals involved stained her hands. She hated being the photographers model even more, but felt it her duty to assist her father. 'To bear is to conquer' she wrote in her diary.

This shot would have been taken in Robert's photographic studio, at Cyfarthfa Castle.