Derby Studio Premises: Victoria Chambers, 36 Victoria Street (1863-1912)

In February 1863 the photographic firm of John Burton & Sons from Leicester, who had already opened a branch in Birmingham the previous year, announced in the Derby Mercury that they had opened a new gallery on the premises of Messrs' E. Clulow & Sons at 36 Victoria Street.


This advertisement appeared in Wright's 1864 Midland Directory (courtesy of the University of Leicester's Historical Directories), by which time they had added further branches in Nottingham and Burton-upon-Trent. The Derby studio remained in operation until soon after September 1867.


This 1860 view shows the south side of Victoria Street (formerly known as Brookside, being along the Markeaton Brook prior to its culverting over), with number 36 towards the left hand end, close to the intersection with St Peter's Street.



Over the next 45 years a succession of photographers had studios at this address, presumably above Clulow's bookshop. The photograph shown above was taken by Derby photographer W.W. Winter around 1885 and shows Edward Clulow Junior's premises at 36 Victoria Street to the left, with Edward Johnson, clockmaker (at number ) in the middle, and Martin & Son (at number ) on the right. The top floor of number 26 has a row of large windows that would be appropriate for a photographic studio, as plenty of daylight was needed to reduce exposure times. I suspect, therefore that a studio had been located on that floor ever since the tenure of J. Burton & Sons.

The photograph above was reproduced in The Winter's Collection of Derby by Maxwell Craven & Angela Leeson, published by Breedon Books in 1992 (ISBN 1873626207). I am very grateful to Angela Leeson and W.W. Winter Ltd. for their kind permission to reproduce images from the book on this web site. High quality prints of these photographs are available for purchase directly from W.W. Winter Ltd.


After the Burtons had departed, the next photographer to use what became known as Victoria Chambers was Clement Rogers (1836-1899), who operated a studio there from c.1870 until late 1874, before selling out to J.W. Price and moving to St. Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex. Price was already operating branch studios in Babington Lane (Derby) and Ivanhoe Road (Leicester), although the latter appears to have closed at about the time he moved in above Clulows. Price occupied the premises in Victoria Chambers until about 1879 or 1880. By November 1880, he was using card mounts with "39 Babington Lane" overprinted on top of "Victoria Chambers."


There was then something of a hiatus on the photographic front, before Harry J. Watson's tenure commenced in 1887 or 1888. In 1881, according to Kelly's trade directory, a dentist named Alfred Murphy was plying his trade upstairs. At the time that Winter's photograph was taken - Maxwell Craven suggests in his text that it was c.1885 - the signs show that upper floors were being used by the "Employers' Liability Assurance Corporation Ltd." and a "Subscription Library." Solicitor Tom. George Taylor occupied offices on the second or third floor by 1887, and remained there until at least 1891, as did Watson. However, between then and 1895, H.J. Watson moved out and opened a new studio at at 130 Burton Road, and the upper floors were occupied by an accountant, a stock & share broker, a colliery agent and a solicitor.

The next photographers to occupy the studio were Layton & Lamb, who Craven records as occupying Victoria Chambers in 1898. Leonard Norman, who may previously have worked at one of the other studios in Derby, then took over. He is listed at this address, along with Edward Clulow and accountant Frederick Basford, in the 1899 edition of Kelly's directory, and Adamson (1997) stated that he was also there in 1900, but the census shows that he had moved on to Ipswich in Suffolk by April 1901.


In 1903 the Derby Stereoscopic Company, managed by Frank Birch moved into the studio, and remained there until at least 1912, although by this time Edward Clulow had moved elsewhere, and were replaced as ground floor tenants by Stewarts' Ltd., who were clothiers. The image above, taken by W.W. Winter Ltd. shortly before the First World War, has been reproduced with permission from The Winter's Collection of Derby: Volume Two, also published by Breedon Books (ISBN 1 85983 055 2). The advertisement visible in the first floor window of number 36 reads, "HIGH CLASS ARTIFICIAL TEETH - ADVICE FREE - MACDONALD LTD" - this firm was listed in the 1912 directory, along with Stewarts on the ground floor (unfortunately hidden from view in the photograph by the electric tram), Miss Elizabeth Bostyn, art needlework depository on the second floor, and The Derby Stereoscopic Co. on the top floor. The large glass windows are still clearly visible.


The buildings were demolished in 1932, and replaced by a much grander building occupied by Burton Montague Ltd., tailors, as shown on the left in the two postcard views (above and below) from the 1930s.

Frank Birch, photographer of Derby

While researching the recent article on the Nag's Head Yard, off St Peter's Street in Derby, I was reminded by an entry in an 1899 trade directory that photographer Frank Birch had a studio located there for a few years around the turn of the century. He was born in Litchurch in September 1859 and shortly afterwards, the family moved into the nearby parish of St Peter's Derby, where his father George Birch (1831-1915) had work as an iron moulder. As a young man, Frank followed his father into that trade, but by April 1891 he was working as an "artist (crayon)," and it is possible that he was employed by a photographic studio hand colouring portraits.


Frank Birch married Mary Bellamy in mid-1892 and two years later, in 1894, he took over Edward Smith's studio in Bramble Street (Craven, 1993 & Adamson, 1997). The 1899 edition of Kelly's, presumably compiled in late 1898, shows that he had by then moved to a new studio in the Nag's Head Yard, 64 St Peter's Street.


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The electoral register for the years 1899 and 1900, each compiled in October, also show him at this address, as does the census taken on 31 March 1901. In 1903, he became manager of the Derby Stereoscopic Company, when he ceased trading under his own name, and operated from studio premises at 36 Victoria Street until at least 1912.


This rather battered carte de visite by Frank Birch belongs to David Lamb, who sent me the image last year. Although he assumes the young lady is a family member, the indentity of the subject of this delicately vignetted portrait unfortunately remains unknown. The fashion seems appropriate for the turn of the century, when the "leg of mutton" sleeves so characteristic of the 1890s were giving way to square shoulders, high collars and ruffles.

References

1841-1901 Census Records from Ancestry
Adamson, Keith I.P. (1997) Professional Photographers in Derbyshire 1843 - 1914, The PhotoHistorian, No. 118 Supplement, September 1997, ISSN 0957-0209.
Anon (1891, 1895, 1899 & 1912) Kelly's Trade Directories for Derbyshire, University of Leicester's Historical Directories
Craven, Maxwell (ed.) (1993) Derby Photographers 1852-1952, in Keene's Derby, Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202, ISBN 1-873626-60-6

John Dean, Draper of St Peter's Street, Derby

This rather nice image of the St Peter's Street, Derby shopfront of John Dean, draper, was sent to me by Nigel Aspdin. The image has been included in previous articles on John Palmer's Wirksworth web site and on You & Yesterday. However, the shop also appears in an image of St Peter's Street that I included in a previous article about the Nag's Head Yard, so I thought it would be of interest to reproduce it here too.


It shows a group of young men posing in the doorway of the shop, including the shop's owner, John Dean (1853-1918), at right. John Dean was born in Kirk Ireton, son of farmer and publican Samuel Dean. After attending James W. Beeson's Excelsior Academy in Wirksworth, John became a draper's apprentice in Wirksworth by 1871. On 16 March 1881, John married Annie Mary Harvey, daughter of a Derby druggist, and they initially lived in a house at 3 Bramble Street. The 1881 Census on 3 April showed them at this address, together with John's younger sister Sarah Jane, and a boarder by the name of James E. Hurd. Hurd was, by then, John Dean's partner in a drapery business located, according to the 1881 edition of Kelly's Trade Directory (on microfiche from the Derbyshire Family History Society), at 18 St James' Street (south side).


They appear to have moved from this address to 54 St Peter's Street some time after 1881. The second photograph, a more general view looking north up St Peter's Street from immediately south of St Peter's church towards the intersection with East Street, includes the same shop premises as that shown in the first photograph, but with signage showing clearly that the partnership of "Hurd & Dean" was still in existence (see below). However, it must have been taken prior to 1887, as Kelly's Trade Directory for that year shows only John Dean to be in business at number 54. There is another firm, "Hurd & Bentley, general drapers, silk mercers, hosiers & glovers, milliners & dress & mantle makers" shown with premises at 38 Corn market, one half of which may have been Dean's former partner.


The detailed image shows several people, once again, standing in the doorway of the shop, but this time they appear to be looking at something happening in the street, rather than posing for the camera. Examination of the larger version of the photograph shows, apart from three horse-drawn trams, which must have been a regular sight, a procession of horse-drawn wagons parked on the east side. The waggons are piled high with rectangular bales, identified on the front one as containing tea! The sign above the shop windows of the premises on the north-eastern corner of St Peter's Street and East Street demonstrate that at least part of the building was occupied by the Star Tea Company. Kelly's 1887 directory confirms that company occupied offices in St Peter's Chambers at this address, presumably on one of the upper floors, as the Midland Drapery Company were on the ground floor.

John Miller, Carrier of Weston Underwood

Continuing the theme of Victorian transport, this image was sent to me four years ago by my Canadian cousin Lynne Tedder, to whom I'm very grateful for permission to use it on the net. It has previously appeared in my profile of the Derby photographer Frank Day.


The elderly man driving this coach and horses is John Miller (1849-1922) - Lynne's great-grandfather and my great-great-grandfather - who was born at Capesthorne near the small village of Siddington in Cheshire. His father James Miller (1815-1893) was a drainage contractor, and had spent his earlier years moving around where the work was. However, while John was a young lad the family moved to and settled in the small village of Weston Underwood in Derbyshire. Although James continued working as a land drainer, he also opened up a brick and tile works in the late 1850s, and by 1861 twelve year-old son John and his two younger brothers, aged nine and seven, were all working for their father in the brickyard.

John Miller continued working in the brickyard after his marriage in 1869, and perhaps became involved in the management of the business, as his father started farming 20 acres of land in the late 1870s. He was also a member of the Derbyshire Yeomanry Cavalry as a young man. In the early to mid-1880s, he and his wife Eliza Sheales Newman (1844-1919) opened a grocery and post office in the village. By 1895 they had also started to operate as carriers between Weston Underwood and Derby, doing the run twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, as shown in the Kelly's trade directories of the period.


Extract from Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire for 1912
Image © and courtesy of University of Leicester's Historical Directories
He continued to do this run, presumably carrying the mail as well, until at least 1912. The photograph shows what looks to be a fairly elderly John Miller, and I have estimated that the photograph was possibly taken in the late 1910s or very early 1920s.


The reverse of the photo mount has an advertisement for photographer Frank Day at 108 Pear Tree Road in Derby. I'm not sure exactly when Day moved to Derby, but it was probably after 1912, when he is shown in Kelly's directory with a studio on Mansfield Road in Heanor. The size of the card mount and style of the advertisement design is also typical of the 1910s or 1920s.

I have been wondering where the photograph was taken. The carriage and two horses are parked on a cobbled courtyard of what may be a coaching inn. The size of the buildings makes it unlikely to have been in Weston Underwood or nearby Mugginton, and I decided that it was probably somewhere in Derby. Fortunately the trade directories of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries gave some very detailed information about carriers and their routes.


I found the following details (also shown in the image above) in Bulmer's History, Topography and Directory of Derby, originally published by T. Bulmer in 1895, but usefully reprinted by the Derbyshire County Council in facsimile form in 1988 (ISBN 0 903463 26 1).

Carriers to and from Derby.
Where to: Weston-under-Wood
Name (of Carrier): Miller
Place of Departure: Nag's Head
Days and Time of Departure: Tues., 2-30, and Fri. 4 p.m.

This was probably the old inn listed in the same directory as, "Nag's Head Vaults, St Peter's St; [prop.] R.H. Vessey," rather than a newer Nag's Head in Stuart street, Derby, as the former was listed as a coaching inn for many decades prior to John Miller's time.


Kelly's 1912 trade directory (see image of extract above) shows that the route remained the same until at least that time.


The same directory lists the Nag's Head Public House, then under the tenure of David Ford, and the Nag's Head Yard, just off St Peter's Street, alongside a handily located livery stables. It would be interesting to know whether the buildings that existed around the Nag's Head Yard in the early part of the twentieth century are still there, and whether the location in this photo can be identified.


The St Peter's Street lisiting in Kelly's 1899 Trade Directory (image above) enables us to pinpoint the precise location of the entrance to Nag's Head Yard in the photograph shown below, kindly provided by Nigel Aspdin.


The photograph has been taken - according to Nigel, circa 1890 - in a northerly direction up St Peter's Street, with East Street heading off to the right from the centre of the image. The ivy covered facade of St Peter's Church is visible on the left hand side. The premises of the Star Tea Company can be seen on the corner of St Peter's and East Streets. I believe the entrance to the Nag's Head Yard is located about 50 meters behind the furthest of the three trams, i.e. the one which is parked facing the camera.


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Google Maps shows this part of Derby, approximately centred on the intersection of St Peter's Street with St Peter's Churchyard/East Street.

Update: 15 August

Nigel Aspdin found a copy of the 1883 Ordnance Survey 1:5000 map (compiled in 1882) for this part of Derby, and kindly scanned the relevant portion for me. It has proved rather illuminating!


The alleyway leading from St Peter's Street to the Nag's Head Yard is shown, as is the irregularly shaped Nag's Head Yard, with the Nag's Head Public House identified on the northern side of the yard. After some re-examination of the photo and correlation with the map, Nigel noticed the manhole to the front and left of the left-hand horse, which appears to correlate with the "M.H." on the plan. The staircase shown on the plan appears to have been replaced by a covered wooden staircase by the time the photo was taken.

We believe that the photo is very likely to have been located in the Nag's Head Yard and that, if so, it was taken looking in a north-easterly direction from the corner of the building immediately south of the manhole. The carriage and horses are therefore parked facing back down the alley towards the St Peter's Street entrance. In the right-hand foreground of the photograph, a slightly raised section of cobbles possibly equates to the pavement shown adjacent to the building on the south side of the yard, along the other alley which leads southwards towards East Street (formerly known as Bag Lane). Many thanks to Nigel for his efforts.

Horse-drawn omnibuses

Some time ago, Cynthia Kimpton sent this interesting image of a carte de visite depicting a coach, or more accurately a horse-drawn omnibus. The carte de visite is very faded, so I have done some digital enhancement (click here or on the image for a larger version), which has made the subjects more visible than they were in the original, but there's not a great deal that can be done to make the picture any sharper.


Cynthia found the photograph "behind another photograph in my late paternal grandmother's family photograph album. She lived all her life in Royton, Lancashire, so I assume that is where the horse bus photograph was taken - or very near there anyway." The coach is of a type that I would initially associate with the late 19th or very early 20th Century, perhaps just prior to or around the time that trams (both horse drawn and electrified) were introduced. It is being drawn by three horses. There are several people in the photo, including:
- the driver up on top, holding the reins, and wearing a coat and top hat,
- a smaller man or boy seated to his right, wearing a peaked cap, perhaps a baggage handler (or in this part of the world, he might be called an "offsider"),
- a man standing on the ground at the back of the coach, wearing a cap and with what looks like a bag across his shoulder, probably selling tickets, and
- possibly another small person, or child, seated on the top of the coach, near the back, although this is not very clear.

There is some writing on a front left hand panel of the coach, but it's not clear enough for me to make out what is written.


Horse-drawn omnibus in London, early 20th Century
Image © and courtesy of Old Bailey Proceedings Online
The Old Bailey web site has this image of a somewhat smaller horse-drawn omnibus accompanying an article on early transport, demonstrating its use in the early 20th Century, as evidenced by the early motor car behind it.


George Fawcett Carriages of Saintfield in Northern Ireland has this image of another small "omnibus," apparently of a design from a similar era, available for hire.


Horse-drawn omnibus in Sydney, Australia, 1895
Image © and courtesy of Andrew Friar
This image of an old postcard shows a very similar omnibus to that in Cynthia's photograph, but located in Sydney, Australia and dated 1895.


This image is of a "double-decker" horse-drawn bus operating in the Derby area, probably in the late 1890s.


A similar horse-drawn bus in this image is apparently destined for use along the Ashbourne Road in Derby, although no passengers have yet boarded. The gentleman at the back appears to be the conductor. Although the caption to this image, which appears in Harry Butterton's Victorian Derby: A Portrait of Life in a 19th-century Manufacturing Town (publ. 2006, Breedon Books, ISBN 978-1859835333), states that is was taken c.1880, this appears very unlikely. The buildings behind the bus are the Derby Tramways Office (at left) and the Athenaeum (at right) - the former was built around 1904, which provides an earliest date for the photograph. It is very similar in style to the London bus shown above, which was also from the early 20th Century.

Both the bus pictured in this image and the previous one have spiral steps at the back, leading to the top deck. The bus shown in Cynthia's photograph is of an earlier type which used a vertical ladder instead.

If anyone can provide further insights into the date that Cynthia's omnibus photo is likely to have been taken, I would be most grateful.