Friday 16 September 2011

Sepia Saturday 92: All aboard the Bournemouth Queen for the Isle of Wight

When in 1914 Uncle Hallam and Aunt Sarah Payne handed over the family grocery and off-licence at 83 St James' Road, Derby to his younger brother Fred and retired to live Dale Cottage, Ingleby, they were only in the mid-forties. Hallam's mother had died in February that year, his father seven years earlier, and he had inherited a number of residential properties in Derby, from which he must have received a reaonable income.

What did they do to occupy themselves, apart from collecting - and presumably reading - the piles of newspapers and books which filled much of their house? Well, the photographic record suggests that they regularly spent at least a part of their summers visiting various seaside resorts. In Sidewalk Photographers I presented a series of "walking pictures" taken of them with various other family members in Great Yarmouth (1931, 1937 and 1938) and Bournemouth (1932 and 1933).

Image © and courtesy of Barbara Ellison
Passengers aboard the Bournemouth Queen, 15 September 1923
Image © and courtesy of Barbara Ellison

This snapshot was also taken by a professional, but is not a "walkie." Here the photographer has opted to capture his tourist clientele en masse, conveniently gathered together on the top aft deck of an excursion boat. The boat appears to be tied up on the western side of the Bournemouth Pier, the characteristic Dorset cliffs being visible in the background, and possibly the Bournemouth beach huts and amusement arcade at the foot of the cliff. In some respects, it could be considered the same genre of commercial portrait to that of a charabanc outing that my Dutch grandparents had on the Isle of Wight, also in the early 1920s.

Image © Martin Parr and courtesy of Google Books
Mobile sales tent for Bailey's postcards
Image © Martin Parr, Photography: a critical introduction, Liz Wells
Courtesy of Google Books

Provided the excursion was long enough, as soon as the boat departed the photographer would have time to nip into his dark room, possibly even a small booth on or close to the pier, develop the negative and have a couple of dozen postcard prints of each on display and for sale by the time the boat returned.

Image © and courtesy of Barbara Ellison

The negative was inscribed in black ink - reversed to white on the print, of course - with "Queen 15.9.23" at the lower left, the latter being the date of the photograph, 15th September 1923, and the number "1999" on the funnel, presumably a negative number. An enlargement of the lifebelt hanging over the railings shows that the boat was the Bournemouth Queen registered at Southampton.

Image © and courtesy of Alwyn Ladell
Red Funnel Steamers postcard of Bournemouth Queen
Image © and courtesy of Alwyn Ladell

According to Ian Boyle's comprehensive web site Simplon Postcards, devoted to passenger ships, the Bournemouth Queen was a paddle steamer of the Red Funnel Line serving as an excursion ship out of Bournemouth for most of its lengthy career, which included service in both world wars, before being finally scrapped in 1957. There was another Bournemouth Queen based in Poole who also operated on the Bournemouth-Isle of Wight run from 1968 to 1973.

Image © and courtesy of Ian Boyle/Simplon Postcards
Bournemouth Queen advertising signboard
Image courtesy of Ian Boyle/Simplon Postcards

This photograph of the later ship taking on passengers shows a signboard on the gangway advertising daily trips to the Isle of Wight departing from Bournemouth at 10.15 a.m. and returning at 6 pm, with the opportunity to spend 4½ hours ashore, and coach tours of the island available if booked in advance. Granted this was several decades later, but it indicates that there would have been plenty of time for photo developing and printing before the customers returned.

Image © and courtesy of Barbara Ellison

The back of the postcard reveals the photographer to be "Bailey, 228 A Christchurch Rd., Bournemouth." Alwyn Ladell tells me that Ernest Benjamin Bailey operated first from 240/242 Old Christchurch Road, then later at Glen Fern Chambers/Glen Fern Studios in Bournemouth, and the range of dates that I've seen on similar postcards extends from 1914 to 1940. The negative number clearly visible on most examples could be used to order copies at a later date. This might suggest that negative numbers could therefore be used to establish a date sequence, and thus lead to an estimation of the number of photographs he was taking.

Image © Brett Payne
Analysis of postcard negative numbers, Bailey of Bournemouth, 1914-1938 © Brett Payne

However, after a preliminary analysis of the numerous examples of Bailey's postcards available on the net - a selection can be seen on Alwyn Ladell's Flickr photostream - there doesn't appear to be a single sequence of negative numbers, and it's possible he started a new series each season.

Image © and courtesy of Barbara Ellison

My aunt has inscribed the reverse of the postcard in blue pen, with the suggestion that her father (CLLP) is seated 5th from left in the front row, and "Sarah & Hallam also CVP right of funnel ... three rows behind," CVP being CLLP's father and Hallam's older brother. I've had a good look at a higher resolution image of the postcard and, while Sarah and Hallam (shown above) are unmistakeable, I don't think either CLLP or CVP are on that boat.

Image © and courtesy of paghamwanderer.wordpress.com
Passengers aboard the Bournemouth Queen, 16 August 1923
Image © and courtesy of "Billy Voak, The Pagham Wanderer"
paghamwanderer.wordpress.com

This postcard, also by Bailey and taken only a few weeks before Uncle Hallam and Aunt Sarah were in Bournemouth, shows the same vessel but is a far more interesting view of passengers on the foredeck. Apart from the wonderful detail of the excursionists sporting a fine array of hats, clothing and accessories, there is a magnificent view of the holidaymakers arrayed in their deckchairs or promenading past the beach huts and amusement arcades on Bournemouth beach, a few ankle deep in the water, some even preparing to board a smaller pleasure boat. What a different feel it has to the one showing Uncle Hallam and Aunt Sarah, where all are dressed in heavy overcoats, the sun does not appear to be showing its face, and there is no action in the background to liven things up.

Image © and courtesy of Scott Henderson/Striderv
Passengers disembarking from Bournemouth Queen, 25 April 1935
Postcard by Bailey, Glen Fern Studios, Bournemouth
Image © and courtesy of Scott Henderson/Striderv

Sometimes he would photograph the passengers disembarking from the steamer, presumably on their return from the Isle of Wight. Perhaps they were given tickets by an assistant, printed with the negative number, and told they could return the next day for the prints.

Image © and courtesy of David Gregory/Postcards of the Past
Coloured Postcard view of Bournemouth Pier from the West Cliff, n.d.
Image © and courtesy of David Gregory/Postcards of the Past

This early postcard view from the West Cliff by an unknown publisher - possibly James Valentine or Photochrom - shows the popular beach and the pier, and a paddle steamer moored beside the latter.

Image © and courtesy of Doreen Smith
Postcard photo, Bailey, Glen Fern Studios, Bournemouth, 1939
Image © and courtesy of Doreen Smith

As shown by the photograph above of an exuberant group of swimmers at the beach, and another of more sedate beachgoers occupying deckchairs below, Bailey did not restrict himself to the pier, and when there were no excursion boats to be serviced he no doubt touted for business along the waterfront.

Image © and courtesy of David Vickers/Reminiscene
Postcard photo, Bailey, Glen Fern Studios, Bournemouth, n.d.
Image © and courtesy of David Vickers/Reminiscene

Image © and courtesy of Dorset Coast Digital Archive
Pier Approach, Bournemouth, 20 August 1935
Postcard view by Bailey, Glen Fern Studios, Bournemouth
Image © and courtesy of Dorset Coast Digital Archive

A further postcard by Bailey of the Pier Approach, Bournemouth is of a different genre, which indicates that he also produced more general views, and probably had them on sale along with his specific excursion oriented group shots at the tent shown earlier.

Don't forget to head over to Sepia Saturday to be entertained by more photographs, perhaps along a similar theme to either this one or Alan Burnett's image of a London & North Western Railway Co. office in Waterford, Ireland.

19 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed this post about postcards. I especially liked the image of the tent selling postcards. The postcards of the ship made me wish I were there.

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  2. Superb research and attention to detail (as usual). I'm pretty sure the postcard of West Cliff is Photochrom as the number seems to follow those used by Photochrom rather than Valentine. Plus I have postcard number "F.47105" which is of Brighton pier and is published by Photochrom. The sytle of the picture is also strikingly similar to the one of West Cliff.

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  3. Photos and postcards take on a whole new meaning when you research and tell us about them. Fascinating stuff, Brett.

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  4. Thanks so much for this eductional tour of Bournemouth. I shall look at the place in a new light when I spend a week there in October (not expecting the sun to show its face then either). I love the pictures of the crowds of people jostling for places.

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  5. I'd love to be able to step up tot hat tent right now and take a look at those postcards close up.

    As always, great research and interesting story.

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  6. The people in the beach chairs are so close together. The one man looks positively grumpy. I don't think I would enjoy myself that close to a bunch of other people. but maybe home was crowded too and it was outside looking at the water.

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  7. As a collector of postcards (of my local area) I would have appreciated looking through the postcards under that tent, who knows, I could have probably found a postcard from New Brunswick, Canada!!

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  8. Excellent stuff. I like the "funnel or whatever". Baileys were clearly important publishers.

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  9. I used to cross regularly to the Isle of Wight using Red Funnel from both Southampton and Lymington. Although you get a large number of commuters now, there still is a feeling of an excursion. It's like another world.

    The company, The Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.

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  10. Captivating read. Looking at all thase folks wearing heavy clothes while sitting on the beach boggles my mind. Perhaps my view is skewed as there were record temps on my only visit to England.

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  11. This really made me stop and think about some photos that were taken of my family aboard the Matsonia sailing to Hawaii. I wonder how soon the negs were thrown away for all the shots taken on that trip. Alas, all I have left are some badly damaged photos that were ruined with practically all my family photos.

    How wonderful if all these old commercial shots were posted online in large trim sizes so relatives could easily find their family. That would be a fascinating project.

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  12. I always discover so much when visiting your blog. The nearest there is to a text book on old photographs I have yet come across. You really must bundle the posts together and publish them : I for one will buy a copy.

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  13. Postcardy - I was lucky to find that image, hidden as it was in a book, albeit online. With the current hoo-ha about copyright issues, I wonder what's going to happen to all those plans for the huge Google Digital Book archive.

    Dakotaboo - Yes, you're right about it being Photochrom, I'm sure. I was in a hurry at the time of writing, and didn't bother to cheack that out, so thanks for the clarification.

    Bob - they certainly do to me, and I'm glad that I manage to get some of that across to you too.

    Little Nell - Having never visited Bournemouth myself (well, not in any real world sense) I trust you'll get a chance to take lots of photos, and then share some of them with us in due course. Have an enjoyable trip and I hope you are pleasantly surprised by both the weather and the lack of jostling crowds.

    Christine - Thank you.

    Kristin - Being used to wide open spaces myself, with far fewer crowds, I can't quite imagine what the attraction was either, but if you soaked in the brief periods of sun, closed your eyes and wiggled your toes in the sand, perhaps you could pretend ...

    Rosie - I wonder about that. I think perhaps he was selling his own published postcards, not from all over the world, as we might find in a thrift shop.

    Howard - I think it's the chimney of a ventilation shaft, the vanes designed to suck air out of the lower decks.

    Sheila - Great memories then! I read somewhere that the company reputedly has the longest name in the Companies' Register.

    Liz - Perhaps warm when sunny, but a chill descending as soon as the sun disappears behind a cloud.

    T+L - I thouught about posting more of the images that I had found while trawling the net, but thought the risk of getting carried away was too great. My posts are usually long enough!

    Alan - Well thank you, as usual, for your kind words. Keeping a couple of dozen people entertained for a few minutes via a blog like this is one thing, but I'm not sure about a book.

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  14. I learned a lot from this post. I really am amazed at the large group photos and I wonder how many they sold when they took so many people in one shot. Great post.

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  15. A wonderful essay on the occupation on the invisible side of the image. Do you think the photographer stood just on the pier or did he perhaps have a ladder/step platform to gain some height. And what kind of camera? Every new insight I learn on the varieties of photographs, only leads to more questions on equipment and technique.

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  16. Lots of information and places to learn about from this well researched Sepia. You must spend hours pulling all this together for us. I do enjoy these. Bournemouth Queen has a ring to it. A popular espionage/thriller genre here in the states is the Bourne Identify series, books and movies. Wonder if that was the source of the Bourne. I am wondering how people could have spent all their time reading and collecting aside from traveling? I love to read but find myself too busy in retirement to sit and read for too long; then if I have the sniffles and ailments I don"t quite enjoy sitting and reading all day as I used to think I would.

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  17. The postcards and your information about them is amazing, such wonderful detail.What really interests me is the style of clothing worn in the different eras.
    Crossing to Isle of Wight wasn't so glamorous when I went over in the 1970's, and I went by hovercraft.

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  18. Larry - Yes, I wondered the same thing, just as I still wonder at how many such photo prints must go to waste at tourist destinations worldwide.

    Mike - Judging by the height of the Bournemouth pier as visible in the postcard further down, I don't think he needed an additional platform. As far as camera type goes, I don't really know - I'm sure someone will, but I haven't done enough research on that aspect yet to answer authoritatively. "Walkies" photographers often used converted hand wound movie cameras, surplus from the Great War, but they would not have been detailed enough for this work.

    Pat - Yes, they do take a while, but I always have multiple research projects on the go, in varying states of gestation. If I can fit one of those lengthier projects into a Sepia Saturday theme, so much the better.

    Marilyn - Thank you, and yes I was thinking about the clothing when compiling this post too, but I resisted the temptation to go down that track - it would have made for a VERY lengthy post. Hovercraft, not glamorous - well I have to disagree ... it was always my dream when I was a child to cross the channel on a hovercraft. When I eventually crossed the channel 4 years ago, it was underneath, and rather a disappointment.

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  19. while the postcard photo courtesy of Doreen Smith is the most delightful in my opinion, i found this an interesting journey. i wonder if i'd enjoy doing this with more modern accomodations?!?

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