Watford Photographers - Dating early photographs and post cards

Unknown school photograph by J. Russell of Watford circa 1910

By Basebe & Son
circa 1910

I have just had a query about Watford photographers but unfortunately it was sent via an anonymous comment on this Newsletter - which means I cannot reply directly. Instead I post below a list of all the pages on the main web site which currently relate to Watford photographers and post card publishers. The names in larger print are ones which are known to have taken portraits or group photographs. In general the rest are only known to me because they have published post card views.

• André & Sleigh of Bushey
• Athelstone Basebe, Hemel Hempstead & Watford, 1890
• L L Christopher of Watford & St Albans
• Clarendon Series (Watford)

• 

  Coles back circa 1890

  Coles of Watford
• W H Croft of Berkhamsted & Watford
• Harry Cull of Watford
• Albert Arthur Darrah of Rickmansworth
• Alfred Herbert Deacon of Watford

• 

  Mandolin players, Downer, c 1900

  Frederick Downer of Watford (includes many examples of the work of a leading Victorian photographer)

• Colville Dyke, Watford, circa 1890
• Sarah Giles of Bushey

• 

  by Lemenager, circa 1865

  The Landon Family of Watford
• James Henry Lawrance (Australian Studios) Watford
• Henri Victor Leménager of Bushey & Watford
• Loosley of Watford
• H. W. Rawlings, Watford

• 

  Southwood circa 1900

  J. Russell of Watford
• C. I. Shaw, of Watford & Hemel Hempstead
• C A Solomons of Watford
• J J & W F Southwood of Watford
• Albert Warren of Watford

 7th Battalion, 2nd London Division, taken by Harry Cull, Watford, probably in 1914

The above pages are all part of the Genealogy in Hertfordshire web site which, for technical reasons, will be moving shortly into full archive mode. This means the information will still be available online, but it will be impractical to add more information.There are a number of pages which clearly could benefit with an update (more sample pictures/backs and biographical information needed) Fortunately there is still time to add more information - making the archive  more useful in future.

Note that this study only covers Victorian photographers and up to the end of the First World War and later pictures are not of interest

If you can help by sending me examples of named Watford photographers' work (digital images of the picture AND the back) together with any supporting information I may be able to approximately date it and use it to illustrate the work of the photographer. (While I will not be able to identify portraits an approximate date could well help you to work out who it might be.)

Other Hertfordshire Photographers and Post Card Publishers

1909 failure of a publisher of Hertfordshire postcards

Chester Vaughan was a photographic printer based in Acton, Middlesex, which published many view postcards covering the South East of England, including a number of places in the south of Hertfordshire in 1903-5. Following a recent email  I decided to update a draft page of his views - and find out what happened to the firm.

The above advert, from 1909, suggests Chester Vaughan suffered the same fate as many other companies which were involved in what is often referred to as the "Golden Age"" of post cards. Unfortunately the advert does not quantify the "large quantity of picture postcards" but it is likely to be much larger than the number of view negatives and the problem may well be over-optimistic print runs ending up with unsold stock.

More Details & Chester Vaughan Series Views

A Chester Vaughan Series view of Lululand, Bushey

Karaktus, the mysterious St Albans comic artist, has finally been identified

"Karaktus" was a St Albans based comic artist whose pseudomym was presumably based on the Caractacus who ruled in Hertfordshire when the Roman arrived nearly 2000 years ago.

The cards were published by the very short-lived Crown Publishing Co of St Albans in 1908/9, together with some other unsigned cards, believed to be by him, which I have identified as being by an artist who signed many of his cards "F. S.," 

These were published by another short-lived company - The London View Co. Ltd, which I already knew because they had published a number of view cards of Watford.

But who was

"F. S." ?  

In the post card literature some people were saying hewas an artist called Fred Stone, who published some cards around 1905 while others argued that he was Fred Spurgin, whose name stared to appear on cards in 1910 and produced many in the First World War and the 1920s.

Trying to sort things out involved looking as thousands of card images and I set up a draft catalogue to record them, and my research notes - and put them online so that others could comment. Several weeks ago, based in part on information from past auction sales, I have come to agree with one of the relevant post card collectors that all the cards were produced by Fred Spurgin who worked using a number of names, starting with Fred Stone.

See the full story and access the draft catlogue

The research has provided a lot of information of how the post card industry worked in the early days of the 20th century - with many short-lived companies going out of business despite the overall boom in the number of cards being posted. Further postings on this subject are planned.

Comic Postcard with a link to St Albans

When I am doing research relating to Hertfordshire I frequently create offline pages to my web site to make it easier to transfer online so that it can be shared. Some years ago I discovered that an artist using the name "Karaktus" had published some unusual comic cards in association with a company Crown Publishing Ltd. More recently I discovered that his fellow artist was "F S" and I started to research this artist as well.  Last year I decided I needed to find a more relaxing area of historical research - and what more relaxing than looking for evidence among literally millions of comic post cards.

While there are Hertfordshire connections the research has taken me deep into the problems of publishing postcards in the early 20th century - where there was a massive boom in communication (in some way paralleling the boom in digital phones). Everyone tried to get onto the bandwagon - and while some companies were spectacularly successful far more went bankrupt.

While the research is undoubtedly of more relavant to the post card historian, I have decided to put it online - as even if you are not so interested in the history you might enjoy seeing a large collection of comic post cards from the 1905-1913 period.

See the Comic Cards

.

More about Hertfordshire Wrench Cards

Allen Warren has written from Canada to say that he is compiling a catalogue of all the post cards by Wrench from the early years of the last century He has provided a list of all the Hertfordshire cards and I have used this to update my Wrench page. He has also provided a copy of this view of the Gates on Cassiobury Park, in Watford.

There are a number of Hertfordshire cards which he has not identified:

Bishops Stortford Nos 6289 and 6291

St Albans 6300 and 6306

Barnet 7757

Hitchin 8835 and 8836

If you can identify any of these cards please let me know (ideally with a digital copy) and I will forward the information to Allan.

Six Post Card Views of Baldock in 1903

Baldock Church

Valentine Cards can usually be dated by their numbers and in 1903 a photographer took a number of photographs of Baldock. So far I have definitely identified 6 different views (some in different formats).but gaps in the numbering suggest there may be more.

See all six Views

All available in High Resolution by clicking on the image

Post Cards published by S Giles of Bushey

This newsagent's shop in Sparrows Herne, Bushey Heath, was almost certainly run by Sarah Giles, wife of a Metropolitan policeman, but could have been run by their son Stanley, who was only in his late teens when this picture was taken in about 1903. 

They published a number of post card views of Bushey between about 1903 and 1906.

See Views

If you know of other examples of their work let me know as I would like to be able to record details

Can you help identify Sydbie, a Hertfordshire Water Colour Artist circa 1905?

Click to see all his known pictures

"Sydbie" was a water colour artist who pictures of Hertfordshire appear in three post card series. 

The first series of six was published in about 1905 by the somewhat mysterious "Water Colour Post Card Co." which may have been what we would now call vanity publishers. However the number of cards showing views near Barnet that appear on ebay suggests quite a number were sold.

The second series have a distinctive logo on the back and show views of St Albans (2 known) and my also have been privately published in about 1906, 

Finally in about about 1908 at least three of his watercolours of St Albans were published by Boots in the Pelham series.

A couple of says ago Terry contacted me to say that he owned the original water colour painting for one of the cards (see picture) and this reopens the key question:

Who was Sydbie?

It seems likely that he was an amateur artist who lived in the Barnet and/or St Albans area in about 1905 and may have had a name like "Sidney B, ????" or "Sidney B?????."  Can you help? And do you know of any other of his paintings or post cards?

Dating Hertfordshire Photographs & Postcards

I am currently sorting out my large collection of Hertfordshire post cards and earlier CDV & Cabinet photographs and plan to expand this area of the web site to help you to date old photographs and post cards. Over the last three month I have updated the following pages - in some cases adding significant new material while in others simply add an earlier postal date for a post card. 

For more information

Hertfordshire Post Cards & other pictures

Expect many further updates over the coming months

If you can let me know of other relevant material to include do not hesitate to contact me.

Earliest Hertfordshire Photographers - 1851-65
Avery - photographer - Hitchin (1864-70) & Kent
Barnard - portraits - Bedford & St Albans 1878-94
Bedwell - Bedford post card publisher 1903-4
Blum & Degan - National post card publisher - to 1908
Boots Chemists - National post card publishers
Brown -  Rickmansworth - pre WW1 post cards
Clarendon Series - Watford - early post cards
Coles - photographer - Watford - portraits & post cards - from 1890
Craddock - photographer - Hertford (1857) and India
Crown Publishing (Karaktus)- comic postcards - St Albans 1908-9
Cull - photographer - Watford - particularly First World War
Darrah - photographer - Rickmansworth - post WW1 post cards
Downer - photographer - Watford - from 1862 - early post cards
Dyke - ventriloquist & photographer - Watford - c1890
Elsden - photographer - Hertford - from 1859 - early post cards
Garrood - photographer - Hertford - 1860s
Hartmann - National post card publisher - to 1909
Hill - Berkhamsted - early post cards
Knight Brothers - National post card publisher 1904-08
Loosley - Berkhamsted - post cards
Loosley - Watford - early post cards
London View Company - National post card publisher - 1905-8
Payne - photographer - Aylesbury, Thame & Tring - 1864-1912
Photochrom - National post card publisher
Rawlings- Watford - early post cards
Richardson (Richardo Studios) - St Albans - early post cards
Shaw - photographer - Watford & Hemel Hempstead 1869-82
Shurrey - National magazine publisher - early post cards
Smith - National post card publisher
Southwood - photographer - Watford - portraits & post cards 1900-30s
Stengel - National post card publisher - undivided backs
Thridgould - National post card printer
Valentine - National post card publisher - from 1886
Vipond - travelling photographer - visited Hertford 1859
Wrench - National post card publisher 1902-1904

The Cost of printing Post Cards circa 1905

Thridgould was a major post card printing company - and the above price list shows how much it cost to get 500 copies of a post card published in about 1905.

One of the feature of the post card boom at the beginning of the 20th century was that many firms printed too many - and went out of business. Others found they had lines that did not sell well. In addition to printing cards Thridgould also obtained some of these surplus cards and did them up in assorted bundles at a knock down price.

For more information on this interesting firm see THRIDGOULD.

More Higher Res Pictures of St Peter's Street, St Albans, circa 1900

St Peter's Street, St Albans

I am currently sorting through my collection of post cards (mainly from the 1900-1920 period) and will be adding higher resolution images to the pages on the main web site. (If the frame round an image is blue click for a bigger image or redirection to a new page.). In doing this I will often include completely new pictures - sometimes to illustrate the work of different photographers and post card publishers.

Click Here for new/upgraded pictures of St. Peters Street

If there is a page on the main web site where you would like to see more or higher resolution post card images add a comment below and I will add it to the "To Do" list

The London View Company and its possible connections with Hertfordshire and Karaktus.

In the first few years of the 20th century there was an explosion of postcard collecting - and many firms rushed to the market. One of these was the London View Company, which was founded in 1905, expanded rapidly - became a limited company in 1906 and failed in 1907 or 8. While it published view cards from all over the country the only ones I have so far traced relating to Hertfordshire are of Watford.

Swiss Cottage, Watford - London View Co.

Post Cards of Cassiobury Park, Watford, 100 years ago

The Mill in Cassiobury Park  circa 1903

Anna drew my attention to the extensive online information on Cassiobury Park posted by the Friends of Cassiobury Park including a picture of the remains of the Mill.

I have significantly updated the page of old postcards of the park - which special emphasis on the Old Mill and Swiss Cottage, and in almost every case if you click on the image yoe will get access to a high resolution image. I have included a number of different views by different photographers and I am in the process of updating the photographer pages to help you date any images you may have. The update has involved adding about a dozen new views and adding high definition images behind some of the images already online.

See all the Post Card Images

More about comic post cards published in St Albans

In 1908 a company called Crown Publishing Co appeared in St Albans and published some very distinctive comic post cards by an artist using the name of Karaktus. In addition they published a number of unsigned cards in the "Crown Series" by an unknown artist.

I have still not succeeded in identifying Karaktus, but have found some earlier history for the company - and the other unidentified artist could well be a known comic card artist called Fred Stone.

In 1905 the London View company was established in London and while it concentrated on view cards it also produced a number of comic cards, many of which were signed "F. S." (for Fred Stone) - and most of the rest were stylistically by the same artist. In 1908 the company closed.

Comic cards have been identified in the "Crown Series" numbered 1008 and 1009 which very closely resemble those of the London View Company - and one carries the signature "F. S."  The cards are not labelled "London View Company" but may have been produced by them as it seems that a number of their cards did not carry their name or any logo. [I will be monitoring ebay for other examples - and earliest posting dates.]

Towards the end of 1908 The Crown Publishing Co. of St Albans started to publish cards in the "Crown Series" with the earliest sequence number so far identified being 1026. These are similar to the cards published by the London View Company - and are probably by the same artist. At about the same time they started publishing the Karaktus cards. The company appears to have published no more cards after 1909.

For more information see the bottom of the Karaktus page on the Genealogy in Hertfordshire web site.

A Silhouette of St Albans Abbey from 1904

An unusual early post card of St Albans Abbey

More Information

A Berkhamsted postcard link between Raphael Tuck and Wrench ????

Over the past year or so I have been taking a close interest in Wrench postcards of Hertfordshire because they are normally of very good quality and can be dated accurately to about 1903/4.

The card on the right was a problem as the title is "Beckhampton Place"  and I was looking for evidence that this was simply a printing error for "Berkhamsted Place".

A few days ago the card on the left came up for sales (I was unfortunately outbid so only reproduce a cleaned up thumb). The image on the left is from the same negative as the Wrench card and is clearly labelled "Berkhampstead Place." The other image is Edgerton House (also in Berkhamsted). This not only identifies the location but strengthened the case for a picture of "Woodcock Lane" actually showing Woodcock Hill, Berkhamsted.

The problem is that the card is labelled Raphael Tuck & Sons, "County" Postcard No 2275 and was posted in 1901. This clearly predates any known Wrench view postcard of Hertfordshire. It seems a little unlikely that a firm as successful as Raphael Tuck would have allowed the upstart Wrench to use the same negative - so was there some industrial espionage - or did a Berkhamsted photographer take the picture and sell it to both the rival companies?

If you know of any other early Raphael Tuck or Wrench cards which might have been duplicated in this way please let me know.

Another Karaktus (St Albans artist) card found

See other post cards by this distinctive artist

Post Cards

St Albans

With the purchase of two more examples I have now identified 27 of the 30 distinctive post cards by Karaktus, published by Crown Publishing Ltd, of St Albans, in 1908/9. The missing numbers are 19, 21 and 22 and any help in locating copies will be appreciated. Details of any of the other cards published by the company at the time are also wanted.

However the big mystery remains - Who was Karaktus?

Early Post Cards of Hertfordshire - by Wrench

Bishops Stortford

Sir John Evelyn Leslie Wrench (1882-1966) was actively interested in the unity of the British Empire and his post card activities only occupied a few years of a very active life. As a teenager he founded a post card publisher which expanded in a couple of years to become one of the biggest British publishers - and then went bankrupt because it had expanded too fast. He published a number of Hertfordshire view cards in 1903/4, all but one example seen so far having being printed in Saxony. All cards carry a negative number and those recorded so far are:

• 2195 The Parish Church, Watford
• 2196 The Fig Tree Tomb, Watford
• 2198 The Footbridge, Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 2199 The Swiss Cottage, Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 2664 Woodcock Lane, Hertfordshire (location uncertain)
• 2665 Beckhampton Place, Hertfordshire (location uncertain)
• 4919 Church [Interior], Kings Langley
• 4920 The Old Ruins, Kings Langley
• 4921 Church, Kings Langley (wrongly labelled)
• 4922 The Castle Ruins, Kings Langley ("Wrench" name/logo omitted)
• 4923 The Mill, Kings Langley ("Wrench" name/logo omitted)
• 4924 The Mill Bridge, Kings Langley (pub W. Baldwin)
• 5197 Pound House, Kings Langley (pub W. Baldwin)
• 6288 High Street, Bishops Stortford
• 6290 On the Stort, Bishops Stortford
• 6292 South Street, Bishops Stortford
• 6294 The George Inn, St Albans
• 6295 St Michael's Church, St Albans
• 6296 St Albans Abbey from S.W.
• 6297 St Peter's Church, St Albans
• 6303 French Row, St Albans
• 6304 Sopwell Nunnery, St Albans
• 6307 Town Hall, St Albans
• 7758 Congregational Church, New Barnet
• 7760 Hanley Church, Barnet
• 7762 Church & High Street, High Barnet
• 7765 Wesleyan Church, New Barnet
• 8584 Grand Staircase, Hatfield House
• 8586 View from N.W., Hatfield House
• 8587 South Front, Hatfield House
• 8631 Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 8632 The Chalet, Cassiobury Park, Watford
• 8638 Waterfall, Cassiobury Park, Watford

> > > See Pictures of Cards, etc.

If you know of other Hertfordshire cards in the series please let me have details.

I would be particularly interested if there were any on undivided backs, or cards with a style and number which suggests they were in the Wrench series but which do not carry the Wrench name/logo 

Another unusual Post Card from St Albans artist, KARAKTUS, c1909

St Albans

Post cards

During 1908/9 The Crown Publishing Co., St Albans, published 30 unusual "comic" cards by the artist Karaktus. I now have identified 26 different cards and would like to identify the cards numbered 6, 12, 19, 21 and 22. In addition I am looking for any clues as to the identity of Karaktus.

See all the cards so far identified HERE

A Card with an unusual connection with St Albans

St Albans

This post card recently came up for sale on ebay - and I couldn't resist it. I needed to find why an extremely unusual advertising card had been published by the Alpha Trading Company of St Albans. 

Photographers

It turns out that the inventor of Reilloc Tyres lived in St Albans,  his son worked for the movie film pioneer Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, and the picture may be a still from a very early advertising film.

Full Details