Breeching

This photo shows Dad between his brother Frank and his mother, prior to being breeched.

Breeching was the occasion when a small boy was first dressed in breeches or trousers. From the mid-16th century until the late 19th or early 20th century, young boys in the Western world were unbreeched and wore gowns or dresses until an age that varied between two or three and seven or eight. Sometimes a breeching party would be given to celebrate the end of his childhood.


This is my Uncle Eric (on left with Mum on the right) in 1913 at the age of one, prior to being breeched.