Update of Hertfordshire Photographers & Post Card Publishers

One of the activities that is slowly continuing is the update of information on Victorian  photographers in Hertfordshire and also early post card publishers.  In the last couple of months changes have been made to the following pages - ranging from a revised date to new examples of their work and additional biographical information. Some of the pages are "work pages" in that when I get perhaps half a dozen references I will then consider adding biographical details.

Pages with Updates

George Avery (1839-1911) of Hitchin (1864-1870) & Kent

John Barnard (1841-1894) of St Albans (1878-1894)

Athelstane Basebe (1853-1909) of Hertford, Hemel Hempstead & Watford (and elsewhere)

Ernest Bedwell of Bedford - Bedwell & Bedford Series of Hertfordshire post cards circa 1903/4

Percy Alex Buchanan - School posts cards nationally (Also Photo Tourists Association)

Michael Chadwick of Tring - post card publisher

Atlas Church (father & son) of St Albans (c1881) and London

Julianna Dunn (1853-1935), photographer of Hemel Hempstead (c1886-c1916)

Thomas Benwell Latchmore (1832-1908) and son of Hitchin from 1864

Daniel Barton Skillman, post card publisher of Harpenden of Herpenden

J J & W F Southwood of Watford (c1900-c1930)

Valentine of Dundee - dated example of Hertfordshire post cards

A Medieval Hangover from Hemel Hempstead

Solomon Willis, Under Bailiff

Pictures

I regularly prowl ebay looking for low priced items linked to Hertfordshire which I think will make a good story on this blog. A few days ago this cabinet card came on the market. I knew I would have something to say about it because the photographer was Julianna Dunn, one of the few Victorian female photographers in Hertfordshire, whose studio had been next door to the house where my mother lived as a child, and who trained with another of my relatives in Aylesbury, Samuel Glendenning Payne.

The truth was the subject intrigued me. Why was the man dressed up in that way, and why was he carrying a staff. A fancy dress ball came to mind - but if so who or what was he supposed to be. There was a name on the back "Simon Wallis" written in a shaky hand so there was a chance of finding out who he was.

No-one else was interested so I won the item for a virgin bid of £5.00 - which is more than I would usually pay, and a couple of days ago it dropped through my letterbox.

My first reaction was one of disappointment in that there was no sign of anyone called "Simon Willis" in the Hertfordshire area. However the shaky handwriting might have been that of an elderly person trying to identify some old photographs many years later - so I had another look at the census and found Solomon Wallis - whose occupation was an "Under Bailiff". 

Hemel Hempstead

Further investigation showed that he was an official of a Piedpowder Court and the first such courts, which originally operated in markets, started on the continent over a thousand years ago, and came to England with the Normans. Most such courts disappeared in the 17th century but one court almost made it to the 20th century thanks to Henry VIII. His charter to Hemel Hempstead provided it with a bailiff, elected by the jury of a Piepowder Court when most towns had a mayor elected by aldermen and burgers. And the bailiff (who was elected annually) would want a paid under bailiff to actually do the work.

Cricket

Click here to find out more about Solomon Willis (who happened to be an exceptional cricketer) and his work.

A Post Card with surprising Football and Princely Connections

Les is the webmaster of the Hadley Common web site and he sent me this post card of a house called Ludgrove in the Parish of Monken Hadley. He asked me if I could date it and I could have easily dismissed the request on the grounds that it was only in Hertfordshire for a period of 60 years during the early 20th century. However the immediate task was simple - The card was a KROMO card by the famous post card pioneers Blum & Degan. They published many views of Hertfordshire and the KROMO card series was started in 1905. Unfortunately for them, but helpfully for answering the question, they went bankrupt in 1908 - so the card can easily be dated to about 1906.

       My first reaction was that the house looked like many others that were springing into existence in Middlesex and South Hertfordshire a century or more ago and I really needed to say something more about it before posting details in this Newsletter, or writing a special page on the main web site. So I decided to dig for some background and the more I dug the more interesting the house became.