The Evans family

The Evans family, Ogmore Vale, Wales, 1898 Now for your chance to do some history. Look at this photograph. At first glance it doesn't seem so very different from the family snaps that we take today - it's just older. But look again, this time with the eyes of a historian. What can you see now?
Below are the comments of the owner of the photo, Derek Evans.
Pictured are my great grandparents, John Evans (born 1841) and Betsy Evans (born 1845) with their ten surviving children; two others had died in infancy, one from typhoid fever and the other from dysentery.
John was a migrant railway worker - a 'ganger' - who laid track throughout South Wales, eventually settling near Bridgend in 1860. The family took up residence at Crossing House, Caedu, Ogmore Vale, where John became the crossing gate keeper.
To distinguish the family from other Evanses they were known locally as 'Evans the Crossing'.