Sepia Saturday 99: Brass bandsman, by J.J. Gascoigne of Mosborough

Unidentified bandsman with cornet, c. late 1890s
Cabinet portrait by J.J. Gascoigne of Mosborough
Image © and courtesy of Brett Payne
In the 1890s and early 1900s, when this portrait was probably taken, Mosborough was a small hamlet a mile north of Eckington church, south-east of Sheffield. I thought his uniform might suggest that he was a member of a military band, perhaps even a local militia, but a knowledgeable member of the Victorian Wars Forum has suggested that he was more likely to have been a civilian bandsman. The instrument appears to my untrained eye to be a cornet, but perhaps a sharp-eyed and more musically minded reader will provide the chapter and verse on this. Nor can I offer much in the way of useful comments on the rather large sheepskin or the small dog seated very obediently at the bandsman's feet.


Image © and courtesy of Brett Payne
The painted backdrop is rather crude, suggesting a somewhat earlier time period than the rest of the portrait's attributes, in particular the card mount, which is a typical generic "flowers and cherub" design popularised in the mid-1890s. The photographer's name is only printed on the front of the card mount, and has been partly worn off, but reference to my index of Derbyshire photographers shows him to be J.J. Gascoigne (or Gascoyne) of Mosborough, near Sheffield.

John Joseph Gascoigne was born at Bolsover, Derbyshire in 1875, son of a chimney sweep Enoch Gascoigne (1838-1916) and his wife Matilda Godfrey (1843-1916). He married his first cousin Matilda Esther Godfrey (1873-1969) in 1896, and they had at least four sons. John Gascoigne was described only as a chimney sweep, like his father, in the 1901 and 1911 censuses, but trade directories reveal that he practised as a photographer from his home in South Street, Mosborough from at least 1908 until 1912.

Although I haven't had the opportunity to devote as much time as usual to this week's Sepia Saturday theme, I think it does still qualify as a themer. Hopefully a lot more will be forthcoming for the centenary celebration next week.

Sepia Saturday 98: Cart, Coach and Carriage Drivers and the Day Excursion

Reverse of card mount by George Renwick, Burton-on-Trent
Image © and courtesy of Marion Oubhie
Marion Oubhie sent me an image of an unidentified man, possibly from her Showell family, asking if I could estimate a date. It is a standard carte de visite by the Burton-upon-Trent (Staffordshire) studio of George Renwick. From the design of the card mount (see image below) and the negative number, I believe that the photograph was produced around 1883-1885.


Unidentified man with a whip, c. late 1870s/early 1880s
Carte de visite portrait by George Renwick, Burton-on-Trent
Image © and courtesy of Marion Oubhie
The date of the portrait sitting is a little more difficult to estimate, partly because the studio setting and furniture are not visible, but also because my knowledge of the subject of men's clothing fashions is meagre. It is possible that the subject sat for the portrait in the early to mid-1880s, as suggested by the mount, but I think it more likely that it is actually a copy of a slightly earlier photograph, taken perhaps in the mid- to late 1870s. Perhaps the man visited a studio first in the late 1870s, and then ordered a further copy of the portrait half a dozen or so years later.

I was intrigued with the object in the man's right hand, which appears to be a whip and suggests an occupation involving driving a team of horses or draft animals. He was probably a wagon, coach or carriage driver. Marion's Showell ancestors were agricultural or brewer's labourers and farmers, so it seems likely that this man drove a wagon transporting farm produce or supplies for the brewing industry in Burton.


William Mottram and his daughter Sarah, c. late 1860s/early 1870s
Carte de visite portrait by John Clark of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of Linda Snyder
These two images sent to me by Linda Snyder, and taken by Matlock Bath photographer John Clark, portray an occupation which is far less equivocal. William Mottram (c.1813-1879) is shown as an ostler in the 1861 Census, and as a labourer ten years later, but Linda tells me that he was employed as a coachman at the time these portraits were taken.


William Mottram, c. late 1860s/early 1870s
Carte de visite portrait by John Clark of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of Linda Snyder
The clothing certainly gives that impression, with the short ornamented jacket, top hat and leather riding boots. He also has a special leather side flap fastened with buckles to the outer side of his lower right leg, presumably to protect his boots, clothes and calves from the horses harness or something similar. I'm sure there's a name for these, something like leggings or chaps, although neither of those terms seem to quite fit this item.


Reverse of card mounts, John Clark of Matlock Bath
Although clearly taken at the same sitting the card mounts used for these two portraits are different. Together with the studio setting and clothing and hair styles of the young woman, the card designs suggest to me that the portrait was taken in the late 1860s or very early 1870s. Sarah would have turned 18 years old in late 1871 or early 1872.



The last image in this series was sent to me by Ann Bruce, whose great-grandparents James and Ann Smith (nee Gosling), he standing up in the carriage, are about to head off on a day's excursion from Aberystwyth. They lived in Smethwick, near Birmingham so would have travelled by train to the coastal town in north Wales, and stayed in a hotel there before taking the excursion. Unfortunately the driver is mostly hidden by a passenger in the front seat anxious to show his best side to the camera.

From the size of the "leg of mutton" sleeves of the dresses that the two visible women members of the party are wearing, I estimate the photograph to have been taken in the mid-1890s. The number "935" appears to have been written in black ink on the negative, this printing out white on the print. The photographer is likely to have handed out tickets with this number printed to members of the excursion party, and they would no doubt have been able to buy a print upon their return, much as Bailey did in Bournemouth between the wars (Sepia Saturday 92: All Aboard the Bournemouth Queen). It also suggests that the photographer was a regular habitue of excursion parties, and it may well be that there are other such photographs surviving out there. Actually, I'm being somewhat disingenuous, because I have already featured an Aberystwyth excursion photo by Gyde, using an identical card mount, and with the negative number "1139," on Photo-Sleuth three years ago.

I see there is a second, as yet unoccupied, horse drawn carriage behind the first, presumably waiting for the next party to arrive, and I suspect that the large, double storey building in the background was some sort of inn or hotel. There is something behind and to the left of the main carriage, but I can't work out exactly what it is. The printing on it, "THE DE... WATER ... AND G..." is tantalising, but as yet unrevealing.

Thank you very much Marion, Linda and Ann for these excellent examples of occupational photographs, which have slotted nicely into my take on this week's Sepia Saturday theme. I trust you will now head over there to check out what the other slaves to sepia have on offer.

Sepia Saturday 97: Geo W Holden, Brother of the more famous Jack

I've long enjoyed the catchy title of Barbara Trapido's book, and this is an excellent opportunity to appropriate it for my own use. The glimpses into the life and career of this elusive photographer that I've unearthed are intriguing, albeit sporadic and far too brief. However, they pale into medocrity beside the bizarre trail of tall tales left by his older brother.

I don't wish to distract either the reader or myself by the adventures of John Watkins Holden (1844-1917), Imperial prestidigitateur - I've taken a small liberty here in calling him "Jack" - so if you wish to read more of him, please visit Old Crone's fascinating account of The Mad Magician. Suffice to say, he was a man of many talents, not the least of which were a keen sense of self-aggrandisement and a tendency to accrue wives and children.


Pennoyre Mansion, near Battle, Brecon, c.1895
© Brecknock Museum & Art Gallery Courtesy of Culturenet Cymru
This account concerns the younger of the two brothers: George Watkins Holden was born on 3 September 1846 at Peckham in Surrey and baptised on 15 November at Christchurch, Camberwell. Although his brother was born two years earlier at Albany Terrace, Claines, Worcestershire, both were illegitimate sons of Emma Holden (1817-1887), and most likely fathered by the Welsh Liberal politician and Lord Lieutenant of Brecon, militia Colonel John Lloyd Vaughan Watkins (1802-1865). Watkins may well have provided for his mistress and her children - the 1851 Census shows them visiting a house in King Street, Laugharn, Carmarthenshire, and Emma is described as an annuitant.


King Street, Laugharn, Carmarthenshire
Image © and courtesy of Google Maps
There doesn't seem to be much chance that George or John ever saw much of either their father or his grand residence, the mansion of Pennoyre near Battle in Brecon, built c.1846-1848. The colonel's wife Sophia Louisa Henrietta née Pocock, daughter of a baronet, remained ensconced there with her two sisters, childless but attended by a retinue of fourteen servants, until her death in May 1851. By this time Lloyd Watkins' attentions had strayed again, and he had fathered further illegitimate children by another woman.

By 1861 they had moved back to London, Emma described herself as a house proprietor and George, then aged 14, was working as a miniature painter. He disappears from view for a decade or so, although a girl he later claimed as his daughter was born at Ashburton, Devon in late 1866.


Unidentified family, possibly in Yorkshire, c.1874-1878
Carte de visite by G.W. Holden of Windsor
Image © and courtesy of John Rivis
Then in December 1871, a report in The Era described a "portrait of [a] Welsh bullock ... from a photograph by Mr. George W. Holden of Portmadoc." This is the first evidence I have found of his photographic career, and a trade directory confirms that he was operating a studio in the High Street, Portmadoc, North Wales in 1874. The engaging carte de visite portrait of a large, but as yet unidentified family, probably taken somewhere in Yorkshire in the mid- to late 1870s, is by George W. Holden. By this time he was based at 12a William Street, Windsor, Berkshire, but clearly travelling widely in search of clients.


St Andrew's Middle Class School, Litchurch, Derby, c.1877
Carte de visite by G.W. Holden of 12a William St, Windsor
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
As early as 1877, when this school photograph including my great-grandfather was taken at St Andrew's Middle Class School in Litchurch, Derby, Holden had identified the niche of scholastic photography as one in which he could specialise.


The card mount is very similar, although not identical, to John Rivis' family group portrait. Judging by the remnants of Holden's output that I have found on the net, schools would be his main clients for at least the next two decades.


Class 1, unidentified group of school girls, c.1881-1883
Carte de visite by "Pen aur" G.W. Holden of London, Paris, Bristol & Swansea
In April 1881 George was in Oxford with his daughter Ada, aged 14, and a young wife Emily Ann, aged 21. It seems unlikely they were there for long because, from the evidence of several carte de visites from the early, mid-, and late 1880s, he appears to have been at least partly based at 42 City Road, Bristol. He operated under the "registered title" of Pen aur, an obvious reference to his father's former estates. The fact that his father died virtually penniless in 1887 was, of course, irrelevant from the point of view of self promotion.


It was during this period that Holden started to advertise his "instantaneous portraits of children with a new patent apparatus." Amongst the numerous extravagant and unverifiable claims made were that he was "under the patronage of several members of the Royal family, colleges, yacht clubs, 'Graphic' &c &c," and that he had studios in London, Paris, Bristol and Swansea. His firm of Holden & Co., described as scholastic group and landscape artists, were able to take "views,groups, machinery &c. ... from C de V to life size, in any part of the Kingdom or France at the shortest notice."

While I have little doubt that he was kept a busy man, I view with some suspicion his claims of such a widely distributed branch studio network, supported by a printing works in Bristol. He stated categorically that he used "no agents," and I suspect that, as was common amongst travelling photographers, he listed the locations that he frequented as "studios." Roger Vaughan, in his extensive list of Bristol Photographers, makes no mention of Holden. On one of the carte de visite mounts displayed on Roger's web site, Holden warns, "As the negatives of this photograph is not kept copies should be ordered without delay," an unusual statement among photographers who normally tried to encourage their customers to make return visits.


Class 1, at Horninglow, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, c.1888-1892
by Geo. W. Holden, Manager of The Elementary Schools Photographing Co. of Leeds & Hull
Image © and courtesy of Sophie Dickerson
An 1887 trade directory suggests that he was operating from "Pennoyre House" in Castle Street, Swansea. Sophie Dickerson sent me this school photo which includes family member Amelia Francis (born c. 1880), probably taken in Horninglow, Burton-on-Trent in the late 1880s or early 1890s. George Holden was by this time probably based in Hull. At least that's where two daughters were born in 1888 and 1889, and card mounts showed him as manager of the The Elementary Schools Photographing Co. at Leeds and Hull, but also visiting an exhausting list of 22 other towns throughout the England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. There is no mention of Burton!


Class 1, at Plymouth, Devon, c.1895
by Geo. W. Holden, Manager of The Elementary Schools Photographing Co. of Leeds & Hull
Image © and courtesy of Stephen Cook
This portrait sent to me of Maud Eva Pike (born 1888) and her class was sent to me by her grandson Stephen Cook, who believes it was probably taken around 1895 in the vicinity of Lipson Vale, Plymouth, Devon, where they lived at the time. Plymouth, for once, is included in the list of places visited by Mr Holden. In the census of early April 1891 his "family" were living in Hull, although he was recorded as a visitor in South Bishop Wearmouth, Durham.


Class 6, Mt Street School (?), unidentified location, c.1896-1898
by Geo. W. Holden, The Home & Colonial Photo Co. of Plymouth & Johannesburg
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
The last two examples are from my own collection, purchased on eBay and their provenance is unknown. The first has the locations "Plymouth & Johannesburg S.A." printed on the front and is inscribed in pencil on the reverse, "about 1899 Mt Street Scool [sic]." George Holden married Maud Louise Warnes at Plymouth in early 1894, and a son George Ernest was born at Belfast, Ireland the following year. It seems likely that they returned to the south of England soon after, as I estimate that this class photo is from the late 1890s.


Class 11, Gendros School, Swansea, Glamorgan, c.1900-1904
by Geo. W. Holden, The Home & Colonial Photo Co. of Cardiff & Johannesburg
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
In mid-1898 George Holden married Alice Norman, his previous wife's former "mother's help," 24 years his junior, settling in Cardiff, where they were living at the end of March 1901. This example is a slightly larger format mounted print, and has "Cardiff & Johannesburg S.A." printed on the front. The name of the school at which this portrait was taken is written on a large blackboard held up by the children in the front row: "YSGOL Y GENDROS (MORGANWG)" translates, I believe, to "Gendros School, Glamorgan."


Gendros Primary School, Swansea
Gendros Primary School, in Swansea, built in 1897, is still going and, from the look of the buildings seen over the wall in this Google StreetView, may have many of the original buildings - perhaps even the ones that formed the backdrop to my 110 year-old class photo.

I have pondered on the mention of Johannesburg, South Africa on Holden's later card mounts at some length, without coming to any firm conclusion. It is possible he visited South Africa at some stage, perhaps even intending to cater to the large number of troops heading out there during the Boer War. His brother John claimed, in his fanciful book A Wizard's Wanderings from China to Peru, to have travelled widely, and I think it likely that Johannesburg may also have been the the result of George's lively imagination.

George Watkins Holden continued to operate his photographic business out of the family home at 55 Tudor Street, Cardiff from 1907 until his death in 1921, aged 75, probably the longest settled period of his very busy life. He had five children, at least two of them illegitimate, by three different women, and lived for a time with a fourth. All of his partners were a good deal younger than him. They say that apples don't fall far from the tree.

Many thanks to John Rivis, Sophie Dickerson and Stephen Cook for the use of images from their personal collections.

If you, like me, have a penchant for old school photos, I can thoroughly recommend a visit to this edition of Alan Burnett's Sepia Saturday, where this week's charming image prompt depicts a group of young lads on a break from class, being asked to "Look up" by the photographer. A couple of them did! The rest ... well, they did what all school boys do when asked en masse to pose for a school photograph.

References

Alderman, Mari (2006) Victorian Professional Photographers in Wales, Sept 2006, GENUKI

Anon (2007) The Mad Magician (Old Crone Holden), The Family Tree Forum.

Vaughan, Roger (2003) Bristol Photographers 1852-1972.

Derby Photographers: Leonard Norman

I have previously written about the photographic studio on the top floor of 36 Victoria Street, Derby, the building known to Victorian Derbeians as Clulow's bookstore. After being first used as a branch studio in the early to mid-1860s by the Leicester firm of John Burton & Sons, it was subsequently occupied by a succession of photographers: Clement Rogers from c.1870 to 1874, J.W. Price (1874-c.1880), Harry J. Watson (c.1887-c.1893) and Layton & Lamb (1898).



Unidentified young woman, c.1899-1900
Cabinet card by Leonard Norman, 36 Victoria Street, Derby
In late 1898 or early 1899 Leonard Norman took over the studio
and was in business there for the compilation of the 1899 edition of Kelly's trade directory. He was born in Litchurch, Derby in 1864, one of seven children of engine smith William Gilford Norman. Adamson (1997) shows Norman operating in Victoria Street as a photographer in 1900, but by April 1901 he had moved on. The census found him boarding in Ipswich, Suffolk, employed as a photographer. Details of his movements after this date are unclear, although there is a listing of a Leonard Norman, photographer at 63 Abbey Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire in 1912.

With such a brief period of operation in Derby his output there must have been very limited, perhaps a few thousand at most. I am fortunate, therefore, to have been sent this image of a fine cabinet portrait of an unidentified young woman from Norman's studio by Robert Silverwood.



The reverse of the card mount has only the words Norman and Derby printed across the diagonal in a "signature style." This simplified type of design became increasingly popular towards the end of the 1890s, perhaps a reaction to the classical excesses of the 1880s and early 1890s, with their fluted columns, Grecian vases, toga clad maidens, naked cherubs and other "artistic" motifs (see Roger Vaughan's 1890s CDV backs).



Norman's card design is very similar to that used in the mid-1890s by former 36 Victoria Street occupant Harry J. Watson, shown above. It is so similar, in fact, that I wonder whether Leonard Norman was previously an assistant of Watson's prior to opening his own studio, either in Victoria Street in the late 1880s/early 1890s or in Burton Road in the mid-1890s.

Presumably Leonard Norman settled in Ipswich, because he died at Henham, Crofton Road in that town on 13 April 1937. His son John White Norman was also described as a photographer at the time.

Many thanks to Robert Silverwood for the use of these images.

Derby Photographers: Pollard Graham

Barker Pollard Graham, like many photographers of his day, went through several "boom and bust" cycles during his lengthy career. Some of these phases of activity were in the form of partnerships, often with local businessmen who would have provided financial backing to his various schemes. It's difficult, perhaps impossible, to assess now how much his failures were due to poor business sense, and how much to unfortunate turns of events - most likely a bit of both.


Carte de visite portrait of John Hunter, junior, September 1880
by Pollard Graham of New Road, Belper & North End, Wirksworth
Images © and courtesy of Ron Cosens
His first venture appears to have been started around 1878 - I don't yet have a firm date - working as a photographer and gelatine dry plate manufacturer at New Road in Belper, but also operating in Wirksworth. Reports of financial difficulties in mid-1881 assert that he traded as "Pollard Graham & Co." Although I have yet to see any other evidence for use of this name at this early stage, I suspect that the "& Co." referred to his brother-in-law Michael Charnock, also a photographer, who was living him on census night in April 1881. In February 1886 there is another report of court proceedings between the "Derby Photographic Dry Plate Company" and "Pollard Graham & Co." but no details of location or are given. To my knowledge the suffix "& Co." never appeared on any of his card mounts or trade directory entries during this period.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1886-7
by Pollard Graham of New Road, Belper & The Zoological Gardens, Southport
Images © and courtesy of Ron Cosens
Around 1886-1887 Graham replaced his Wirksworth sideline with one at The Zoological Gardens, Southport, as shown only by the addresses on several carte de visites. It seems probable that his visits to Southport were merely seasonal, catering to the zoo's summer visitors, and he is unlikely to have occupied permanent premises there.

In early 1887, together with several Derby businessmen, he registered "Pollard Graham and Company, Limited" in the business of gelatine bromide photographic dry plate manufacturers. In that year he was operating from premises in Agard Street, Derby. Again it appears that the business did not thrive, and three years later, in March 1890, the "stock in trade and working plant" of Pollard Graham & Co., Ltd., Agard Street, Derby was offered for sale. A liquidation notice for Pollard Graham & Co., Ltd., Derwent Dry Plate Works, Agard Street, which had been operating since 1886, appeared in June 1890. As I've not seen any card mounts with the Agard Street address, I'm not sure whether he ever operated a studio from there.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1891-3
by Pollard Graham of Rodney Chambers, Corn Market, Derby
Image © and courtesy of Lies Ligthard
The portrait business, however, continued, and it is clear from mentions in the local newspaper that he was taking portraits from premises at Rodney Chambers, Corn Market in August 1890. By March 1891 it is likely that his son James Charnock Graham was working for him. This studio appears to have then remained open, possibly continuously, until his death in 1932. I have no clear, unequivocal evidence for it, but I suspect that the portrait studio operated outside the framework of both of these early "Pollard Graham & Co" businesses, which appear to have been formed specifically for the commercial manufacture of dry plates, presumably for supply to local studios.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1895-7
by Pollard Graham of Derby & Burton on Trent
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
Pollard Graham's next venture was to open a branch studio in the nearby brewing town of Burton-upon-Trent, probably some time between 1893 and 1895. The entries in trade directories for 1896 and 1900 show him with the addresses 12 and 113a Station Street respectively. I believe this branch remained open until around 1900, but again I don't have a firm date for its closure. It is complicated by the firm possibly using card mounts with both "Burton & Derby" and "Derby" addresses simultaneously during this period.


Carte de visite portrait of unidentified woman, c.1905-7
by Pollard Graham of Burnley, Leigh, Peterboro' & Derby
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
From 1903 until 1910, Pollard Graham also operated several other branches, of varying duration, in other Midland towns. According to my research, these were in Peterborough, Burnley, Leigh and Wigan, and all examples that I have seen from these branches were styled "Pollard Graham," with no suffix.


Large format mounted portrait of Lily May Campbell, c.1910
by Pollard Graham & Co. of Burslem, Longton, Coventry & Northampton
Image © and courtesy of Diane Lilley
Some time prior to March 1915, when the partnership was dissolved, Pollard Graham went into a collaboration with Albert Hutchinson. This firm was styled, "Pollard Graham & Co." and at the time of dissolution was operating "in the trade or business of Photographers" at Friar-gate, Derby. From what I can tell, all of the card mounts with "Pollard Graham & Co." printed on them can be ascribed to this pre-war period of operation, when they had branches in Burslem, Longton, Coventry, Northampton, Rotherham, Luton and Lincoln. From an analysis of the photographs which have the "& Co." suffix - sadly, none are dated - and various trade directory entries, I believe that the partnership between Hutchinson and Graham probably corresponds to the use of the "& Co." title, and commenced around 1910. I have not seen any photograph with "Pollard Graham & Co." printed on it, or a trade directory entry for "Pollard Graham & Co." prior to 1910 or after 1915.


Postcard portrait of unidentified man, c.1914
by Pollard Graham of 108A Friargate, Derby
Images © and collection of Brett Payne
The Great War seems to have had a significant impact on Pollard Graham's business. Apparently all of the branch studios were closed around 1914-1915, with only the "Head Office and Works" remaining open until around 1920. It is not clear what happened to the studio at Rodney Chambers, Corn Market during the War, because it the address is not shown on extant postcard backs from 1915-1920. It may have been closed temporarily until business picked up again in peace time.


Postcard portrait of Caroline Sadler, c.1921-5
by Pollard Graham of Derby & Northampton
Images © and courtesy of Caroline Dean
In about 1920, perhaps sensing business was indeed rejuvenating, he opened a new branch in Northampton.


Postcard portrait of unidentified man, c.1925-6
by Pollard Graham of Derby, Northampton, Kettering & Wellingborough
Images © and courtesy of Rob Jennings
Around 1925, he went into a short-lived partnership with his son James, and they opened more branches, successively, in Kettering and Wellingborough. Postcards and card mounts bear the name "Pollard Graham & Son" and "Pollard Graham & Son's Studios," respectively. This would not last long, however. The partnership was dissolved in October 1926, Pollard Graham keeping the Corn Market studio, and his son retaining the others.


Postcard portrait of Ada Mary Oxspring, c.1928-32
by Pollard Graham of Rodney Chambers, Corn Market, Derby
Images © and courtesy of Graham Robinson
From late 1926 until his death in 1932, Pollard Graham continued to take portraits at Rodney Chambers, Corn Market.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank all of those who have kindly contributed both images and information over a period of some years for my revised profile of the Derby photographer Pollard Graham - without them, this study would be very patchy.

Nigel Aspdin, Hilary Booth, Betty Bowler, Boz, Kerrie Brailsford, Pat Cahill, Grace-Ellen Capier, John Copley, Brian Coxon, Helen Cullum, Joss Davis, Caroline Dean, Sophie Dickerson, Chris Elmore, Jack Fletcher, John Frearson, Helen Frost, Gillian Fynes, Angela Galloway, Brian Goodhead, Angus Graham, Clive Greatorex, Carole Haywood, John Hoddinott, Martin Jackson, Rob Jennings, Kim Klump, Lies Ligthart, Diane Lilley, Dorothy Livesey, Marilyn McMillan, Cynthia Maddock, Barry Muir, Sarah Nash, Margaret Page, Graham Pare, Fran Powles, Alan Radford, Kevin Rhodes, Graham Robinson, David Roughley, Robert Silverwood, Derek Smith, Valerie Stern, Lynne Tedder and Andrew Wryobek.

Chesterfield Photographers: H. Brawn

This image of a cabinet card which I found on the net depicts a young man posed outdoors, dressed in uniform, perhaps of a policeman, but I think he is more likely to be a member of some volunteer yeomanry regiment. No details of the subject are provided, but it is the photographer that interests me in particular today.


The back of the card displays a cabinet-sized version of Marion & Co's "Bamboo & Fan" design which Roger Vaughan describes (CDV card designs) as having been issued in 1884 and used until 1892. This more or less equates with the fact that thick, dark purple glossy card has been used, although my estimate would perhaps tend towards the early to mid-1890s.

The only photographer named Brawn or Braun that I can find with the initial "H" is from the 1901 Census. Henry Braun, then aged 27 and born in Islington, was living at 71 Somerset Road, Tottenham with wife and child, and described himself as a photographer (own account, at home). There was, however, a Henry Brawn who was married at Chesterfield in the 4th Quarter of 1903, about whom I have been able to unearth nothing further.

I'd be interested to hear from anyone else who has come across this photographer, or might be able to shed some light on the uniform of the subject of the cabinet card portrait.

Post Script 11 September 2011

Nigel found this image of a Victorian Blue Cloth Helmet of the Sherwood Foresters on an auction site. It looks very similar indeed to the helmet shown in the Brawn portrait.

606. Sherwood Foresters at Clumber Park, 1913
Postcard by H.P. Hansen, Ashbourne
The uniform is also not too different to the dress uniform worn by the Sherwood Foresters in this pre-Great War group portrait by Ashbourne photographer H.P. Hansen which I wrote about previously on Photo-Sleuth (Sherwood Foresters at Clumber Park).

The Compleat Angler, a Derbyshire fishing trip

Back in March I used this photograph of my great-grandfather Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941) and a group of friends outside an ivy-clad building to illustrate an article about his leisure activities.


At the time I had no idea of the location, but suspected it was somewhere in Derbyshire, and perhaps formed a suitable watering hole and starting point for excursions by walkers and fly-fishermen. More recently I was going over some notes made by my Dad in 2002, and came across the following:

... in J.B. Firth's "Highways & Byways in Derbyshire" where CVP pencilled many marginal asterisks and underlined passages which caught his eye, e.g. Apropos Beresford Dale: "... for peaceful loveliness and sheer prettiness nothing in Derbyshire excels it." ... As far as I know, fishing was his (CVP's) only outdoor pursuit in later years, unless you count attending sales all over the place and doing whatever he did at the Cromford Nursery.

Boy fishing, unknown location, undated, Loose paper print
Image © and collection of Brett Payne
I've long known that Charles Vincent was a keen trout fisherman, because my Dad inherited his rods and tackle and, although I was given my own cheap but perfectly adequate split cane rod - probably made in Hong Kong - at a fairly young age, I used an old reel of his, which I carried around in an old Great War gas mask bag brought back from the Western Front by my Grandpa.


Hallam fishing, Upper Waihou River, 27 July 2011
I think my brother Hallam, who has since become a far more knowledgeable and skillful trout fisherman than I, used the old rods until they disintegrated. Not surprising, really, because they must have been all of fifty or sixty years old by then.


Marchant Brooks & Co. auction sale notice, Fishing Rights and Fishing Lodge, Cromford Bridge, 22 July 1947, Collection of Brett Payne
In the 1930s Charles Vincent owned, along with Bow Wood Farm and the Cromford Bridge Chapel, about which I have written previously, a small fishing lodge adjacent to Cromford Bridge and 3000 yards of fishing rights on the River Derwent. He died in 1941 and, after the war had ended, my grandfather Leslie Payne sold Bow Wood Farm. Jobs were scarce at that time, in the post-war economic depression, and it was some time after his demobilisation from the Pioneer Corps before he eventually found a job with Gleeds, the Nottingham quantity surveyors, so money must have been tight. The Lodge and Bridge Chapel were gifted to the Derbyshire Archaeological Society, who I believe still own it.


Fisherman on the River Derwent, near Cromford Bridge
Image © and courtesy of Mick Martin
When the Matlock & Cromford Angling Association invited him to become a vice-president in 1942 they promised there would be "no irksome duties." I don't know if the fishing rights went with it, but Grandpa wasn't much of a fisherman, and from the surviving correspondence in our family archives it appears to have been more trouble than it was worth. Since no keeper had been employed the river had been neglected during the war, compounded by problems with effluent from a nearby fluorspar quarry. It appears that the family's connection with Cromford Bridge and the Derwent ended shortly thereafter.


Richard Arkwright's Fishing Lodge, Cromford Bridge
© Copyright Peter Barr Courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The fishing lodge was originally built in the late 18th Century by Richard Arkwright junior, then living nearby at Willersley Castle, as accomodation for his bailiff. An inscription on the lintel above the doorway - "Piscatoribus Sacrum" - provides a clue to the lodge's origins.


Charles Cotton's Fishing Lodge, Beresford Dale
© Copyright Neil Gibbs Courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
It is supposed to have been based on a similarly adorned - but rather more picturesque and architecturally pleasing - lodge built in 1674 on the banks of the River Dove at Beresford Dale by Charles Cotton, and made famous in his friend Isaac Walton's A Compleat Angler, or The Contemplative Man's Recreation.


The Fishing House, Beresford Dale
from Highway and Byways in Derbyshire, by J.B. Firth (1905)
A plate from Firth's 1905 Highway and Byways in Derbyshire, so lavishly annotated by Charles Vincent, displays the temple carefully restored after having been much neglected in previous times.


"Piscatoribus Sacrum," Walton and Cotton's Fishing House, Beresford Dale Postcard by unknown publisher, c.1920s-1930s
That Walton and Cotton's fishing retreat was still a well known landmark in the 1920s and 1930s is evidenced by this postcard, showing it within a couple of metres of the streambank in a particularly tranquil setting. Unfortunately it is on private land, and therefore only visible to the general public from the opposite bank close to where the path from Hartington reaches the river.


Beresford Dale
Postcard 0171 by G. Hill & Sons, c.1920s-1930s
Another postcard view from the same era shows a peaceful scene which is probably little changed from Walton and Cotton's time ...


Land the Trout, Engraving from The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton (4th Edition, 1844)
... and I have little difficulty envisaging Charles Vincent and a friend casting a line or two on these waters, much as those good friends Cotton and Walton had done two and a half centuries before.


Fisherman at Dovedale, c.1850s-1860s
One half of a stereoview by unidentified photographer
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
Further downstream through Wolfscote Dale the valley deepens considerably, and by the time one reaches Dovedale the vistas might better be described as spectacular than tranquil. Steep, thickly wooded hillsides are punctuated by bare prominences such as Dove Holes, Ilam Rock, Reynard's Cave, Lion Head Rock, Tissington Spires and Lover's Leap.


Fisherman at Dovedale, c.1850s-1860s
One half of a stereoview by Poulton & Son of London
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
By early Victorian times, a steady stream of day trippers were visiting Dovedale (see previous Photo-Sleuth article, Donkey Rides at Dovedale), and serious anglers no doubt had to plan their excursions a little more carefully to avoid the throngs.


Fisherman heading home with his bag, Dovedale, c.1850s-1860s
One half of a stereoview by John Latham of Matlock Bath
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
Click image for animated 3-d view
This stereoscopic view shows a fisherman crossing the Stepping Stones over the Dove, at the southern end of Dovedale. He is perhaps on his way home at the end of a pleasant day's outing.


The The Izaak Walton Hotel, Dovedale, c. 1856-1859
One half of a stereoview by Sedgefield (English Scenery No. 720)
Image © and courtesy of John Bradley
He may even have been heading back to the very popular Izaak Walton Hotel, situated close to the entrance to the Dale, shown here in another mid-century stereoview. The entrance on the right hand (eastern facade) of the building looked somewhat familiar ...


The Clarion Cycling Club Easter Meet, Izaak Walton Hotel, Dovedale, 1895
Image © and courtesy of the National Clarion Cycle Club

Wedding at the Isaac Walton Hotel, Dovedale
Image © and courtesy of the The Izaak Walton Hotel
... and a further search for images brought up several which show it in sufficient detail to be able to identify it as the ivy-clad building in front of which Charles Vincent and friends were standing in the photograph displayed at the head of this article. It seems very likely that they were about to spend a pleasant day on the River Dove. Which leaves us with a satisfactory outcome to the quest, and at a convenient point at which to conclude our own brief tour of some of Derbyshire's very pleasant trout fishing spots.


View Cromford Bridge & Dovedale in a larger map
Walton & Cotton's Derbyshire Locations mentioned in this incomplete and rather superficial tour of Derbyshire trout streams are shown on the annotated satellite image from Google Maps above.


Cover of Penguin edition of The Compleat Angler, 1939
Image courtesy of A Penguin a Week
Finally, to round off a rather lengthy post, I recently adopted this postcard showing the cover of the 1939 Penguin edition of The Compleat Angler, receiving it under separate cover, and then sending it back with an appropriate trout fishing stamp to postcard collector Emilie Staubs of Massachusetts. A fitting post script to this line of research, I think.