A Derbyshire photographer working afield

Robin Bishop sent me this copy of a rather nice cabinet card format photograph of a class of Victorian schoolgirls. Robin's grandmother Emilie Sewell (1889-), then about eight years old, is seated in the front row, at second from the right; she marked herself with an X on the lower margin of the mount, and inscribed the reverse with, "High Street, Lowestoft, Suffolk, England." Also written on the back is "Cunningham School Class."


She was born at Norwich in 1889, daughter of Edward Sewell and Emily Martin, but moved to Lowestoft when young, and emigrated to New Zealand with her widowed father in the early 1900s.

The photographer George Henry Everard Bower was born in 1869 in Syderstone, Norfolk, son of an Anglican minister. The 1891 Census shows him living with his parents and three sisters in Heigham, near Norwich, and he was then a "Student of Music." Between then and February 1893, when his father died, the whole family moved to the village of Ockbrook, east of Derby. They were living in Ockbrook until at least 1895, when one of George's sisters died. By late 1898, however, when the Kelly's Directory for 1899 was compiled, they had moved to 200 Osmaston Road in Derby. George's mother died in 1899; George and his three remaining sisters, all still unmarried, were living at the same address in April 1901.

I have not found any mention of Bower working as a photographer in any of the abovementioned references, and I suspect that it was a temporary occupation of fairly short-lived duration, perhaps to bring in a little more income while he was establishing his reputation as a music teacher. The fact that the address "200 Osmaston Road" is shown on the photograph suggests that it is unlikely to have been taken prior to 1895. Unfortunately, I don't yet know precisely when he left that address.

The photograph has a very low negative number (347) marked in pen on the front of the mount, suggesting that Bower was a relative newomer to the field. He was pretty competent, however, as the group portrait is a particularly good one, well posed, sharp, and with a decent tonal range and plenty of contrast. All that it is missing is a notice board with the school name and class number, a common accessory used in school portraits of the period.

It is particularly interesting that the photograph appears to have been taken at a school in Lowestoft, because of George Bower's Norfolk connection. Perhaps he returned to the Norfolk coast at some stage to ply his trade. There were many well established photographic studios in Derby at this time, and I think newcomers would have had a tough time trying to break into the field there. From my research into Derbyshire studios, I have found many photographers who were only in business for short periods in the mid- to late 1890s. Quite a few would either have changed professions or moved on to try other areas, and I suspect this may have been the case with Bower too.

His lordship taking his rum ration

This image, much later than any of those presented in this blog thus far, is one taken from my own collection. I have included it, as it is an example of how many different aspects, some perhaps not directly related to the photograph itself, may be used to discover more about the incident represented in a photo. It is sometimes astonishing how much can be ascertained.

I knew who it was - my grandfather Charles Leslie Lionel Payne (1892-1975) - and approximately when and where it was taken, as it had the following inscription on the reverse:

Will... (?sp) Kent, August 1915

However, I never really knew my grandfather, having grown up thousands of miles away from Derbyshire, where he and my grandmother lived. During my investigations into his life, and more specifically while researching his military service during the First World War, I decided that there must be more to to be found.

First, I looked at the style of the photograph - it was a standard print of the times, probably taken with a cheap camera by an amateur. There were therefore no markings such as a studio name to assist further in that direction.

Secondly, I investigated the provenance. My father was able to refer me to a letter in the collection of family papers. It was written to Leslie Payne in 1936 by an old friend of his, Ed Pye. As young men they had worked together for the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1912 and 1913, and both subsequently served in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (CEF) - although in different units - during the Great War. Obviously written after they had been out of touch for many years, the letter reminisces on some of their shared experiences, both before and during the war, and mentions several photos which Ed Pye had enclosed with the letter, including the one shown above:

"His lordship taking his rum ration - The latter I have removed from my war picture album."

Presumably Ed Pye was present at the time the photo was taken, indeed he may have taken the picture himself.

Next, I looked at the photograph itself. The photo shows Leslie, dressed in typical CEF military uniform, sitting on the grass in a field, legs outstretched, and holding a mess tin (or billy can) in his right hand, presumably containing his "rum ration." Unfortunately the scan that I have is not clear enough to show what the items are on the ground next to him, but his boots are hob-nailed, and he appears to be wearing spurs. In the background, there are a couple of horses grazing, and at least three other soldiers, lounging around in the shade of a belt of trees, which appear to mark the edge of the field. The image below, from the web site of the PPCLI Living History Unit, shows the standard "D" model mess tin in use by the British and Canadian Forces at the time:


The inscription on the reverse of the print suggests that it was taken in August 1915. Certainly Leslie looks much the same as in another photo of him in the family collection (see below). This was taken at the studio of E.M. Treble in Derby, and I believe the sitting was probably during a visit home on leave from the army in June or July of 1915.

To investigate further the movements of my grandfather in the spring and summer of 1915, I resorted to his CEF war service records and the war diaries of the unit in which he was serving at the time, the 2nd Divisional Train, Canadian Army Service Corps (CASC). His service records I had previously ordered from the Library & Archives of Canada (LAC), and scanned images of the CEF War Diaries are now available online from the same source.

Leslie Payne and his unit spent four and a half months in the south of England training with the Canadian forces prior to their embarkation for France in mid-September 1915. They were based mainly at Dibgate Camp, near Shorncliffe, west of Folkestone in Kent. According to the War Diary for August 1915, the entire Canadian Second Division including my grandfather's unit, spent four days from 23rd to 26th August doing "manoeuvres."

The entries show that the 2nd Div. Train bivouacked at Willisborough Lees for two nights on the 24th and 25th August. They camped at nearby Hatch Park on the 23rd. It is clear that the inscription "Will... (?sp) Kent, August 1915" is in fact "Willisborough Lees" - or Willesborough Lees as it is spelled on contemporary Ordnance Survey maps.

The hamlet of this name is located just to the north-west of the town of Willesborough, near Ashford in Kent (see portion of 1945 one inch to a mile Ordnance Survey map, above). From what I can tell, this is the only occasion that they were near this location, or indeed near anywhere with a name starting "Will.."

While I am unlikely to ever find the exact location of my grandfather's bivouack site in a paddock near Willesborough Lees on the 24th and 25th August, I am confident that the photo was taken there. I will be visiting the Shorncliffe area briefly in October, and may get the opportunity to at least drive through the Willesborough Lees area. It will provide a fitting conclusion to my research into this photo.

Henry Lawless of Exeter - a portrait of a portrait

Old photos were frequently copied long after the original portrait had been taken, often subsequent to the death of the subject, and I have come across many examples in the compilation of my Derbyshire Photographers & Photographic Studios collection. However, sometimes the memory of a departed family member was celebrated in a slightly different fashion.

A style not often encountered, this "portait of a portrait" was sent to me recently by Angela Johnson. The cabinet card probably shows her great-great-grandfather Henry Lawless (1826-1877), an Exeter wine merchant, churchwarden and town councillor. She writes:

"It has been suggested that the photo was taken of a portrait after his death....of course, it may not be him ... I have tried to make out what the bits and pieces are by blowing up the picture, but it just isn't quite clear enough to decipher the titles of the books etc. - the folded bit of paper looks like a cartoon about the Town Council."

The photographer William S. Sugden died at Brighton in 1880, so this portrait must have been produced before then. William Sugden was in partnership with Edward Williams at 88 High Street, Exeter briefly between April 1877 and February 1878. However, in March 1878 the two went their separate ways. Scott (1985) shows them both with premises in March 1878 - Sugden at 88 Queen Street, and Williams at 241 High Street, Exeter - but no later listings in that town.

This photo is a rather unusual one, and I believe it must have been taken after the death of the subject. The arrangement of the framed portrait on the writing desk with the books, ink well, quill pen, lamp and loose papers was meant to portray his life and work, and the distinguished person that he was. His clothing looks tailored to me - you don't often see people this well-dressed in photographs from the 1870s. The portrait style, card mount design and known dates for Sugden's studio operation in Exeter, confirms a date of between 1877 and 1880. I suspect that it was taken shortly after his death, either in 1877 or 1878.

The clothing style suggests to me that the original portrait, which appears to have been enlarged considerably from the size of a standard studio portrait, was taken not long before the presumed subject's death in 1877. All of the items placed on the desk are likely to have had some significance, if only we could work out what it was.

I would be interested to hear from any other viewers who have come across studio portraits such as this one, not just copied from older photos, but incorporating the older photograph, in a separate frame, with carefully selected and arranged accessories to embellish the portrait and give an impression of his importance.

References:
History, Gazetteer & Directory of Devon (1878-79), Historical Directories from the University of Leicester
Photographers in Devon 1842-1939 : a brief directory for photograph collectors, by C.G. Scott, 1985, The PhotoHistorian Supplement No. 101, ISSN 0957-0209

Thomas Gallimore, maltster & brewer of Ashbourne

This photo, sent to me by Jo Bevan, was among a small collection of photographs possibly acquired in Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and including several early CDVs by photographers (George Edgar, Robert Bull & Louis Twells) in that town.

The carte de visite mount is clearly marked, "Copied by Winter Derby" and is similar to others by W.W. Winter taken and/or copied at the Midland Road studio in the late 1870s and early 1880s. However, the man's clothing, his pose, and the portrait style suggest that the photograph was originally taken much earlier, perhaps in the early to mid-1860s.

The inscription on the sack clearly stands for "Gallimore, Ashbourne." Thomas Gallimore (1820-1874) was a maltster, brewer and publican, proprietor of the Old Red Lion Inn in the Market Place, Ashbourne. At the time of the 1861 Census, George Edgar was lodging next door to Gallimore at the Red Lion. In fact, he was the only photographer working in Ashbourne at this time, and it seems likely that he was the original photographer who took this portrait. It also seems highly probably that the subject is Thomas Gallimore himself, holding a sack of barley (or perhaps hops), used in the brewing and malting process.

This photo is a good example where the studio name is a red herring with respect to finding out where it was taken. In this case, it is fortunate that a knowledge of the provenance of the photo, in conjunction with a detailed examination of the subject and "studio accessories," reveal enough clues to discover not only the original location, but also to provide a likely identity for the subject.

It is also a nice illustration of how accessories were often used by portrait artists, as they often styled themselves, to convey an image, in this case of an industrious, down-to-earth middle-aged man, proud of the business that he had built up over some twenty years. If it was indeed taken in the early 1860s, then it would have been quite a novelty for someone of moderate means in this small Derbyshire market town. Although photography had already been existence for over two decades, the high price of daguerreotypes and ambrotypes had largely limited their availability to the more wealthy clientele. Only with the widespread introduction of the carte de visite in 1860 had it become affordable to a wider proportion of the population.

Early pictures of working folk, or at least ordinary people in their working clothes, were fairly uncommon. There were some photographers who took a special interest in documenting the lives or workers, but these generally tended to be of domestic staff, mine and factory workers and other employees. Portraits or self-employed people in their working clothes were rather unusual in the 1860s, so this image is particular interesting from that point of view.

Coming to America

Photographs are often used to tell a story. Good examples of this may be found in some of the photographs sent by emigrants to their kin back home in the old country. They wanted not only to be remembered by and keep in touch with their families, but also to share their new lives with their parents, siblings, cousins etc. Perhaps they were even trying to convince them of the good life, and persuade them to join them in their adventure.


Kimberly Carlton sent me this photo by Seaman & Sons of Chesterfield and asked: "I purchased this photo at a garage sale in the Kansas City, Missouri area, so I don't know the subjects. The back has some faint pencil writing that I think says "Frank Wood". It looks to be around the turn of the century, but not sure. Did this photographer ever work in the USA or is this pic from the UK? And why wouldn't these people be standing next to each other, I thought that was strange how spread out they were?"

I believe, by comparing the style of the mount with others produced by this studio, that the photograph was produced at around the turn of the century, as Kim has suggested. The shape of the house looks to me to be more suited to North America than late Victorian Derbyshire. I have no evidence that any members of the extensive Seaman family spent any time in North America, and have seen no other examples of photographs taken by them outside England. I wonder if perhaps the photograph was originally taken somewhere in North America, sent to relatives back home in Derbyshire, and subsequently copied by Seaman & Sons? From the shape of the sleeves of the dresses worn by the women, I think it likely that the photograph was originally taken in the 1890s.

The more I think about it, the less I can imagine this building being in Derbyshire, England, and the more convinced I am that it is located somewhere in North America, perhaps not far from Kansas City, Missouri where Kim rescued it from a garage sale. The style of photo, with the people spread out like that, although not as common as more formal studio portraits, could, I believe, have been intended by the photographer to give more of an impression of the lifestyle of the recently arrived immigrant family to their kinfolk back home in England.

Although the subjects are nominally the four people, in the usual stiff, unsmiling poses common to both indoor studio portraits and outdoor poses of the era, the photographic artist, as he would no doubt have styled himself, is trying to convey a much "bigger picture". The saw and horse, pile of freshly sawn logs, wagon or cart pulled by pair of large horses harnessed to a wagon, waiting in the yard, the rough wooden fences in the background, perhaps enclosing the yard or an orchard, and last but not least the large, solid, two-storey house, are perhaps employed to tell a story to their relatives at home - one of hard work and just reward for their efforts, and a picture of their new life in a new land.

Judging by the lack of leaves on the trees I guess this is late autumn or winter. Is that a smudge towards the top of the photo, or perhaps smoke coming out of the chimney? A fire in the hearth would not be out of place at that time of the year. I note that there are no young children shown in the photo. The man with a beard, wearing strong shoes, a wide-brimmed hat and long coat, marked above and below with two Xs, is obviously the primary subject, and presumably man of the house. The woman with a long dress standing behind him, and slightly to his right, is probably his wife The female at the extreme left appears to be a young woman - her dress is shorter, which suggests to me that she is perhaps in her teens. Perhaps she is a daughter. The younger man with a smaller hat and shorter jacket, holding the reins may be part of the family, but he could well be an employee on the farm.

This brings to mind the story of my own gg-grandfather, Henry Payne (1842-1907), who took his wife Henrietta and children to start a new life in America in 1880. First Henry and his 13-year-old eldest son Charles Vincent (my great-grandfather) sailed from Liverpool to Philadelphia on board the S.S. British Crown, arriving on American soil on 2 March [see my transcript of the Passenger List].


The S.S. British Crown of the American Line in 1881, by Antonio Jacobsen (1850 - 1921)


Passenger List for the S.S. British Crown of the American Line, arriving at the Port of Philadelphia on 2 March 1880
According to my gg-uncle Hallam, they "took up" a farm at Bladensburg, about four miles north-west of Washington D.C. They must have moved fast to find the farm and get the crops planted by late April or early May, although the census on 7 June shows a farm labourer Thomas Cash boarding with them, and he may well have helped, driving the wagon just as the man in Kim's photo.


1880 Census entry for Henry & Charles V. Payne at Columbia Road (Bladensburg), Washington D.C.
Henrietta had given birth to their fourth son Fred at St. James' Road in Normanton (Derbyshire, England) in December the previous year, and probably waited in Derby for Fred to get a little older, and for word from Henry, before setting out to join them. They left Liverpool in late June, they arrived at the Port of Baltimore - via Norfolk and Halifax - on 7 July aboard the SS Hibernian [see my transcript of the Passenger List], and must have joined Henry and Charlie at the farm shortly after.


The S.S. Hibernian of the Allan Line


Passenger List for the S.S. Hibernian of the Allan Line, arriving at the Port of Baltimore on 7 July 1880 (NB. "Allan" written incorrectly for "Hallam")
Even after the rigours of an Atlantic crossing, they do not seem to have had much time for rest and recuperation. Only two days after their arrival, Hallam fell out of "the buggy" and broke his right arm, resulting in a "four or five week stay in hospital in Washington." In the meantime, Charlie was attacked by two "niggers" (Hallam's words, not mine) on his way back from Washington. Of far greater importance, however, was the fact that the climate did not agree with Henrietta's health. They returned to England soon after Hallam's recovery, "leaving all the crops in the fields", and the UK census shows them again running the family grocery at 38 St. James' Road in Normanton by 3 April 1881.


April 1880 Census entry for Henry & Henrietta C. Payne and family at 38 St James' Road, Normanton, Derby
The trip seems to have been a disaster, and Henry apparently gave up any ideas of leaving England again. It did not, however, put off their children. Hallam, Charles Vincent and Frank, together with CV's young bride Amy, made short-lived forays to Chicago in the early 1890s [1890-1892: Chicago, Pullman & the World's Fair]. My grandfather Leslie Payne was born during this stay in Chicago, and himself returned to North America when he was a young man, spending a few years before and after the First World War in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.


Henry & Henrietta Payne in Derbyshire, England, 1898
To get back to Kim's photo, it is evocative of the experiences of many thousands of English families, and of course those from all over Europe, who arrived in America in great numbers in the latter part of the nineteeth century and built new lives for themselves. Since we only have Uncle Hallam's brief words and the rather impersonal and matter-of-fact census & passenger list entries to hint of their experiences, we must resort to our imaginations to fill in the gaps and flesh out the story a little. I can pretend for a moment or two, perhaps, that this is my own family making their way in a new land ...