Elsie Wright
1901-88

Despite not being a bright student in school and eventually dropping out, Elsie started attending the Bradford Art College when she was 13 years old. She also worked in a photo lab creating composite photos of fallen soldiers with their families during the war. She moved to two different countries before moving back to Cottingley to try to get away from the media attention. Her father was amazed that she could fool such educated men.

Frances Griffiths
1907-86

Fraces moved to Cottingley with her mom from South Africa, where her father was stationed during the war. He later joined them in Cottingley. She did well in school and earned a scholarship to grammar school. The photograph of her and the fairies on the home page is said to "the most reproduced photo in history." She enjoyed toying with the media. Although she confessed later in her life that the photos were fake, she said that the fifth one was real and that she really did see fairies at the beck.