Sepia Saturday 276: Barr Brothers and Portland Studios, Nottingham

Inspired by Marilyn's recent post of a newspaper article on Sepia Saturday's Facebook page about the dilemma of whether or not to save photos of unknown relatives, my contribution this week presents a series of cabinet portraits that have been "saved" from the skip, and may yet be identified, thanks to the habits of an early 20th century photographer.

Although certainly not unique (see W.W. Winter and Pollard Graham, both of Derby), it is rare to find a photographer who meticulously recorded the negative number and surname of every customer on the back of each portrait print that he supplied, but the Barr Brothers seemed to have just done that - at least with all 7 examples in my collection.

William Banister Barr was born in 1877, one of eight children of a Liverpool ironmonger. In early 1897 he briefly tried his hand as an apprentice merchant seaman aboard the ship Irby out of Liverpool. He later joined up as a gunner with the Royal Horse Artillery, but by March 1901 was a patient at the Royal Herbert Hospital in Woolwich, adjacent to the artillery barracks, presumably recuperating from some illness, as it appears unlikely he served with the unit in the Anglo-Boer War.


Cabinet card by Barr Bros, Portland Studio, Nottingham & Cardiff, c.1905
inscribed "15786 Dalby" - taken c. 1905-1907
Image © copyright and collection Brett Payne

In the 1911 census, only two male children with the surname Dalby and appropriate ages are recorded as living in the town of Nottingham: - William Hector Dalby, aged 13, son of Frank John Birch Dalby, a builder's foreman - Samuel Dalby, aged 10, son of Edward Dalby, a builder's labourer Could one of these two be him, I wonder?

In early 1904 he was working as a photographer, with premises at 1 Portland Road, Nottingham. By the time the above cabinet portrait of a young boy in a smart velvet suit was taken around 1905-1907, slightly let down by the studio's scruffy pot plant and rustic chair, it appears his younger brother Harold Cowper Barr (1879-1958) had joined him in the business. The card mount lists a branch studio at 47 Queen Street, Cardiff, which was operating in a building known as City Chambers for several years between 1907 and 1911. Harold was living in Cardiff in April 1911, and had presumably operated the southern arm of the business for some years.


Cabinet card by Portland Studios, Leicester & Nottingham
inscribed "26794 Gregory" - taken c. 1906-1907
Image © copyright and collection Brett Payne

Unfortunately Gregory was just too common a surname in Leicester and Nottingham (at least 13 of approximately the right age) for me to come up with any decent candidates for this woman.

In July 1905, when William was married at Fairfield, Lancashire, he was living in Birmingham and had studio premises in 52 New Street. He moved to 213 Moseley Road, Aston in 1906 and his first two sons were born there in 1906 and 1907. Within a couple of years, the "Barr Brothers" name was dropped from card mounts, and it simply became known as the Portland Studio, although the stylised ornate "B" monogram remained and they continued the use of their surname in trade listings. In 1908 William moved again, occupying a studio at 46, Imperial Buildings, Dale End.

Some time between 1904 and c.1908 they also briefly operated a studio at 68 Craven Park Road, Harlesden, London N.W.


Cabinet card by Portland Studios, Leicester & Nottingham
inscribed "32708 Tomlinson" - taken c. 1907-1908
Image © copyright and collection Brett Payne

There were even more candidates for Ms. Tomlinson, so all I can hope for is that someone, someday, will recognise her.

In 1908 a trade directory listed "Barr Bros" with premises at 20 Granby Street, Leicester, but despite the number of examples using the address in my collection it could not have lasted for very long, since by 1909 a photographer named Harry Clare was operating from that address. Of course it is conceivable that Harry Clare had previously been working for the Barr Brothers.


Cabinet card by Portland Studios, Leicester & Nottingham
inscribed "34562 Widdowson" - taken c. 1907-1908
Image © copyright and collection Brett Payne

The Widdowsons were likewise prolific in Nottinghams and Leicester, making any identification of this slightly older woman difficult, if not impossible, without further information.

The Barr Brothers had established a branch studio at 83a Bold Street, Liverpool as early as 1908, mosing to 103 Smithdown Road the following year. The Nottingham studio appears to have closed in 1908 or early 1909, and by 1910 listings for the Cardiff studio showed the head office of the business, presumably under the hand of William, as being located in Liverpool. William's third son was born at Hoylake, Cheshire in July that year, and by April 1911 the family was living at 107 Smithdown Road, Liverpool. William Barr described himself as a "master photographer" and an employer.


Cabinet card by Portland Studios, Leicester & Nottingham
inscribed "34683 Tomlinson" - taken c. 1907-1908
Image © copyright and collection Brett Payne

A second portrait of Ms. Tomlinson, a few months after the first, and this time it is full length.

Barr Bros. disappear from sight for the next few years, but the existence of branches in Belfast (109 Donegall Street) and London (132 Dalston Lane, N.E.) is suggested by the addresses on cabinet card mounts deduced to be from the pre-War period. I have also seen a postcard portrait of a merchant seaman, probably pre-War, that is blind stamped, "Portland Studio, 250 High St, S. Tottenham."


Cabinet card by Portland Studios, Leicester & Nottingham
inscribed "34772 Ellis" - taken c. 1907-1908
Image © copyright and collection Brett Payne

Young Mr Ellis could be any one of a number of candidates.

William Barr enlisted in the army in June 1916, and was called up for service for months later, at which time he gave his occupation as "photographer." Almost forty years of age, he spent the war in England with various units and was finally demobilised in March 1919.


Cabinet card by Portland Studios, Leicester & Nottingham
inscribed "35159 Pack (or Park)" - taken c. 1908-1909
Image © copyright and collection Brett Payne

I found a James Park, aged 21, working as a shoe hand in the Lasting Department of a factory in Leicester, in the 1911 census.

I have no firm evidence that William Barr returned to the photographic profession after the war. He died at Liverpool in 1949.

A list of studios known to have been operated by the Barr Brothers, not necessarily complete, so if you have any further information, please email me.

1904	William Banister Barr, 1 Portland Road, Nottingham
c.1905-1908	Barr Brothers, 1 Portland Road, Nottingham (Portland Studio)
1905-1906	William Banister Barr, 52 New Street, Birmingham
1905	William Banister Barr, 17 Lawrence Hill, Bristol
c. 1906-1907	Barr Brothers, 68 Craven Park Road, Harlesden, London N.W.
1906-1907	William Banister Barr, 213 Moseley Road, Aston, Birmingham
c. 1907-1909	Barr Brothers, 109 Donegall Street, Belfast
c. 1907-1909	Barr Brothers, 138 Dalston Lane, London N.E.
1907-1911	Barr Brothers, City Chambers, 47 Queen Street, Cardiff (Queen Studio)
1908	William Banister Barr, 46 Imperial Buildings, Dale End, Birmingham
1908	Barr Brothers, 20 Granby Street, Leicester
1908	Barr Brothers, 83a Bold Street, Liverpool
1909-1918	Barr Brothers, 103 Smithdown Road, Liverpool
1910	Barr Brothers, 39 (or 33) High Street, Merthyr Tydfil
1910	Barr Brothers, Market St, Llanelly
1910	Barr Brothers, 29 High Street, Newport
1910-1914	Barr Brothers, 79 Taff St, Pontypridd
c.1912-1914	Barr Brothers, 250 High Street, S. Tottenham
1913	Barr Brothers, Regent Street, Wrexham (Queen Studios)
1913	Barr Brothers, 88a Church Street, St Helens

References

Alderman, Mari (2006) Victorian Professional Photographers in Wales, 1850-1925, publ. online by GENUKI

Aston, C.E. John, Hallett, Michael & McKenna, Joseph (1987) Professional Photographers in Birmingham, 1842-1914, Supplement No. 116 to The PhotoHistorian, publ. Royal Photographic Society Historical Group.

Heathcote, Bernard & Heathcote, Pauline (n.d.) Pioneers of Photography in Nottinghamshire, 1841-1910, publ. by Nottinghamshire County Council.

Heathcote, Bernard V. & Heathcote, Pauline F. (n.d.) Leicester Photographic Studios in Victorian & Edwardian Times, publ. Royal Photographic Society Historical Group.

Hicks, Gareth (2003) Glamorgan Photographers (database), publ. online by GENUKI

Holland, Paul (n.d.) Chester & North East Wales Photographers, personal web site.

Jones, Gillian (2004) Lancashire Professional Photographers, 1840-1940, publ. by PhotoResearch.

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

Patrick Colbert (c1845-1901) of Bunmahon & Whiterigg

A few days ago I discussed a photographic portrait coloured in oils of a middle-aged man. Diana Burns has sent me the rather harrowing tale from her husband's family history and, rather than summarise it, I've decided to present it here in full, in her words and partly illustrated with some of her own photographs.


Mahon River and Bunmahon, Co. Waterford, 2006
Image © Copyright Hector Davie and courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
Licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Bunmahon is a quiet village in Co. Waterford, Ireland, lying in an area still called the Copper Coast. Copper was discovered there in the 1820s, transforming the former holiday resort into a major industrial region for much of the nineteenth century. However, a series of crises – deterioration in the quality of the ore and its increasing inaccessibility, famine, transatlantic migration and strikes – led to the decline and ultimate closure of the mine in 1877.


Patrick Colbert (c1845-1901) of Bunmahon & Whiterigg
Image © and courtesy of Diana Burns
Against this backdrop were two families, the Colberts and the Hurleys. Patrick Colbert was born to James Colbert, foreman at the mine, and his wife, Catherine Flynn, around 1854. Mary Hurley was born to Timothy Hurley, the mine’s paymaster, and his wife, Julia O’Sullivan, around 1856. Patrick and Mary married in 1875 and their first child, Bridget Mary, was born in Bunmahon in 1877.


Tankardstown Mine, Bunmahon, Co. Waterford, 2007
Image © Copyright Philip Halling and courtesy of Geograph.co.uk
Licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
The conditions in Bunmahon following the mine closure had become appalling. At the 1877 half year AGM of the Mining Company of Ireland, it was reported, “It was as if an angel of death had swept over Bunmahon… [The mining area is] now deserted and the misery and wretchedness of the people who survived painful almost beyond description… They are in a state of destitution to amount almost to starvation.”

The Colberts were one of the last families to leave, along with the Wheatley family whose eldest son, John, went on to become Minister for Health in the first Labour Government in 1924. Both families headed for industrial Lanarkshire in Scotland. Although the reason behind their choice of destination is not clear, it is likely that recruiting agents for the Scottish coal and ironstone companies had come over to Ireland.


The Road to Whiterigg, January 2010
Image © and courtesy of Diana Burns
The Colberts moved into Airdriehill Square, Whiterigg, a custom-built village erected in 1874 by United Collieries Ltd. 49 single storey, brick houses were laid out in rows to form a square. The walls were damp, there were no sinks in the homes and sanitation took the form of open privy middens in front of the rows. The Colberts had seven more children. Their only son, James, died aged seven after a building had collapsed on his leg and necrosis developed.


Whiterigg Moorland, January 2010
Image © and courtesy of Diana Burns
The remaining children grew to adulthood, and Bridget Mary married William Burns, my husband’s grandfather. William reportedly served in the Black Watch. He was a Pioneer Socialist and ambivalent about WW1. In 1915, he obtained compassionate leave to go the funeral of Keir Hardie where he was an honorary pall-bearer. When he returned, his colonel sent for him and said that “Keir Hardie was a Socialist who should have been shot, and we won’t miss you!” Reputedly, this reached Ramsay McDonald, who was to become the first Labour Prime Minister in 1924. McDonald was a pacifist in WW1 and the Government was anxious to keep the Labour Party and the British trade union movement onside during the war. He intervened, with the result that William was shipped out to India instead of to the Western Front and almost certain death. William went on to become John Wheatley’s election agent in Lanarkshire East in the 1920s.


Signpost, Whiterigg, January 2010
Image © and courtesy of Diana Burns
In the spring of 1901, two of the seven girls were bringing in a wage. The family also had a boarder, in a house that probably had three rooms at the most. On 29 December 1901, Patrick Colbert died aged 47 from acute pneumonia. The conditions under which he worked almost certainly led to his death - damp, poor ventilation and the constant inhalation of coal dust. I cannot imagine how his widow managed to raise seven children aged between three and eighteen, but I have found no evidence of her applying for poor relief.


St David's School, Whiterigg, September 2009
Image © and courtesy of Diana Burns
Little remains of Whiterigg now, at least on the surface. All the houses have long been cleared from the site. Only the old school remains. I visited the area last February, a very unforgiving time of the year to view a lost village, and was left with a deep impression of the bleakness of the landscape and the bitterly cold wind blowing across the deserted moorland.

References

Cowman, Des (2006) The Making and Breaking of a Mining Community: The Copper Coast, County Waterford 1825-1875+, Grannagh, Waterford: GK Print.

Lucas, H., Devlin, E. & Reilly, J. (2001) The Lost Villages: Whiterigg, Darngavil, Arden, Ballochney, Craigmauchen, Meikle Drumgray, North Standrigg, South Standrigg, self publ., Glasgow: Craig & Stewart Printers Ltd.

Rev. Roseingrave Macklin (1792-1865), Incumbent of Christ Church, Derby

Reverend Roseingrave Macklin, 1862
Carte de visite portait by James Brennen, Derby
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
When Roseingrave Macklin arrived in Derby in 1835 with wife Jane Ann and six daughters he was already in his forties. He had taken Holy Orders in his home town of Dublin - where his father Gerard Macklin (1767-1848) was state surgeon of Ireland - and held a living as Rector of Newcastle, in the county of Wicklow, for some years.


Church of Ireland church at Lusk, Co. Dublin, 2010
© Copyright Kieran Campbell and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence
Immediately prior to his move to England, Macklin had been the vicar of Lusk, north of Dublin, and was instrumental in the establishment of a Protestant church-based school in the nearby town of Rush [2]. He also appears to have been an active participant in the "no-Popery" movement. In late 1828, following agitation by Daniel O'Connell and the Catholic Association, a proposal was made to legislate for the right of Catholics to enter the British parliament. In response, a significant number of well-heeled Irish Protestants initiated a large scale campaign, forming the Brunswick "constitutional" clubs as part of a thinly disguised attempt at a Populist movement against the political reforms [3].


Sir Francis Burdett, Joseph Hume & Daniel O'Connell celebrating Catholic Emancipation, 1834
Drawing by John Doyle, courtesy of Spartacus Educational
Macklin was present at a meeting for the purpose of establishing a Brunswick Club for the baronies of Rathdowne and Newscastle at Newtown-Mountkennedy in October 1828 [4], where he made the following inflammatory contribution:

Can any man of common sense come forward and tell me that the Protestants of Ireland are to lie down and be trodden under foot, or be led like lambs to the sacrifice? ... I would entreat of you to preserve that constitution inviolate and inviolable, which your ancestors sacrificed so much to obtain. They handed it down to you - you have another duty to perform, to hand it down to your posterity unaltered and glorious as it has ever been.

Despite the efforts of the Brunswicks at scaremongering, attempting to incite a fear of Catholic ascendancy and eventual home rule, the government of the Duke of Wellington succeeded in passing the Emancipation legislation in 1829. Continued resentment by the general population of Ireland against the payment of tithes to the Church of Ireland resulted in the Tithe War of the early to mid-1830s.


St Werburgh's Church, Derby, c.1833 [5]
This was the political backdrop at the time of Rev. Macklin's move from Dublin to Derby, although his reasons for leaving the land of his birth are unknown. In 1832 he purchased some land in Derby [6], and three years later he settled in the town, having been made curate of St Werburgh's church under Rev. Edward Unwin [1]. Unwin was a wealthy Derby resident, for whom the Grade II listed Regency villa Highfield House - featured previously on Photo-Sleuth, here - was built by Richard Leaper in 1827. Macklin was performing duties at St Werburgh's by 19 August 1835 [7].


Christ Church, Derby, 13 June 2011
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
By 1841 he had impressed his superiors sufficiently to be appointed to the incumbency of Christ Church situated near the junction of Normanton and Burton Roads, and presumably a step up in the clergical heirarchy.

The new position did not prevent Rev. Macklin from pursuing his anti-Catholic mission. Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (Dublin) published an article in July 1839 discussing reactions to the "no-popery cry," which included a letter from Sir George Harpur Crewe, former Sherriff of Derbyshire, and at the time M.P. for South Derbyshire [8]. The letter was written in response to a request from Henry Cox, secretary of the Protestant Association, and Macklin, and declined an invitation to assist in the formation of a local branch:

I have never attended any of the meetings at Exeter-hall of this association, because, whatever be their inention, I cannot approve of their practice. the sole object appears to me to be the most violent abuse of the Roman Catholics ... I neither like the tone nor spirit of the speeches delivered by the great Irish speakers on these occasions. There is too much of human temper, and far too little of Christian love to please me.

One wonders whether Macklin approved of the marriage of daughter Jemima to Harpur Crewe's nephew Arthur Godley Crewe (1831-1894) in 1861 [9]. Perhaps the intervening two decades had tempered Macklin's views somewhat, although it seems unlikely. In 1843 Macklin was in the news again, welcoming a former "Romish priest" of the Dominican order to his congregation at Christ Church [10]. Then in January 1851, at a meeting of the Foreign Aid Society [11], he remarked:

... that the Protestantism of the people of this country had lately been evoked to a remarkable extent, and he sincerely hoped it would ... strengthen them in their determination to carry out the principles of their religion which were essentially antagonistic to Popery.

The Macklin residence, Wardwick, Derby, 13 June 2011
Image © and courtesy of Nigel Aspdin
The Macklin family lived at what was then number 14 Wardwick, on the south-west corner with Becket Street, Rev. Macklin owning much of the land to the west of Green Lane, which was largely undeveloped when they first arrived in Derby. At that time (1835) they had six daughters: Martha R. (1823-1905), Charlotte R. (1825-1863), Georgina (1828-1913), Sophia (1830-1887), Rosina Margaret (1831-1884) and Jemima (1832-1916), all born in Ireland. A seventh daughter Frances Arabella (1838-1885) and, finally, a son Gerard Roseingrave Wilson (1843-1896) were born after their arrival in Derby. Although five of their eight children died unmarried, three daughters did marry and produced, in turn, eight grandchildren.

Martha Macklin married another clergyman Arthur Charles Pittar (1827-1899), variously curate of Alfreton (Derbyshire), vicar of Ashton Hayes (Cheshire), vicar of Holy Trinity Trowbridge (Wiltshire) and rector of Melmerby (Cumberland). Georgina Macklin married iron master and colliery owner Charles Henry Oakes (1826-1906) from Riddings, near Alfreton, Derbyshire. Jemima Macklin married Alfred Godley Crewe (1831-1894) (son of the Rector of Breadsall), a physician and surgeon for the Madras Army in India, and later of Portsea, Hampshire.

Roseingrave Macklin remained the incumbent of Christ Church for over twenty years, resigning because of poor health in 1862. In an obituary published in The Derby Mercury [1], his religious views gained a prominent mention:

Like most of the Irish clergy holding similar opinions, he was an indefatigable opponent and denouncer of the errors of Romanism, and was actively engaged in every movement which had for its object the defence of the Protestant Church, or aggression on the Romish, particularly in his native land.

Perhaps the most enduring of Reverend Macklin's legacies to the town of Derby are Macklin Street and Wilson Street, in the area to the south-west of the city centre. Wilson was also a family name. It may be that there are other surviving Macklin remnants, for example perhaps some reminders of his tenure at All Saints. If you are aware of any, please let me know and I'll add them to this article.

In a future article, I will discuss the carte de visite portrait itself, where it came from, and the circumstances under which it may have been taken.

References

[1] The Late Mr. Macklin, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 22 November 1865.

[2] Address to the Rev. Roseingrave Macklin, late Vicar of Lusk, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 3 June 1835.

[3] Phylan, Alan (2004) The Brunswick Clubs: Rise, Contradictions & Abyss, The Old Limerick Journal, v. 40, pp. 25-34.

[4] Brunswick Clubs: Meeting at Newtown-Mountkennedy (From the Dublin Evening Mail), in The Standard (London, England), 29 October 1828.

[5] Glover, Stephen (1833) The History and Gazetteer of the County of Derby.

[6] Derby Improvement Act, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 9 May 1832.

[7] Marriages, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 19 August 1835.

[8] The No-Popery Cry, Freeman's Journal and Daily Commercial Advertiser (Dublin, Ireland), 18 July 1839.

[9] Marriage of Alfred G. Crewe, Esq, and Miss Jemima Macklin, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 3 July 1861.

[10] Conversion of a Roman Catolic Priest, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 9 September 1843.

[11] Foreign Aid Society, in The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), 15 January 1851.