Carte de Visite by Atlas Church, St Albans

Atlas Belus Church, and his son, Atlas Robert Church, seem to have taken on the studio of J. Barnard in New London Road about 1880 and only been there for two or three years before moving on. 

I only know of two examples of their St Albans work - and neither have properly printed backs or footings. (More Info.)

If you know of other examples of their work while at St Albans please let me know.

Dating Early Photographs by Latchmore, of Hitchin

Advert from Herts Express 4 April, 1867

This advert has helped me to date Thomas B Latchmore' early carte de visit as follows:

• 1865 Opened studio in Bancroft Street, Hitchin - distinctive back
• 1867 Opened a joint studio in Royston - distinctive back
• 1869? Opened another studio in Stevenage - no back known 
• 1870 Took over George Avery's studio in Brand Street, Hitchin - distinctive back. Studios in Hitchin and Royston apparently abandoned.

More Information

Samuel Debenham: An Early (1862-3) Photographer at Hitchin

I recently purchased a small pile of carte de visite by various Victorian photographers from Hitchin. In no case was the sitter identified but I set about trying to date them. Much to my surprise, and with the help of the British Newspaper Archive, I was able to date this card to between September and November 1863, although I still have no idea who the gentleman is.

So how did I do it.

Victorian Photographers in Hertfordshire

Victorian Photographers

I have introduced a new menu, for Victorian Photographers, starting with those where I have carte de visite examples of their work. All the following photographer pages are either completely new, or include new examples of their work:

Barnard, St Albans

Coles, Watford

Dighton of St Albans

Downer of Watford

Dunn of Hemel Hempstead

Elsden, Hertford

Forscutt, Hertford

Garrood of Hertford

Goodfellow of Ware

Hockett of New Barnet

Lane of Hemel Hempstead

Martindale, Watford

Maxwell, Hadley Green & Barnet

Norman of Tring

Roberts, St Albans & High Wycombe

Sills of Berkhamsted

All the new images provide an enlarged portrait and it planned to add examples of cabinet cards in many cases. If you can provide examples of other Victorian Hertfordshire photographers, or datable images for those already online, I would love to here from you.

Some Hertfordshire Photographers from circa 1870.

Post Cards

For many families the earliest surviving pictures of the ancestors are the Victorian Carte de Visite (CDV) and I have been collecting examples by different photographers to help you date the old portraits from the details printed on the back.

An unknown House by Fred Downer of Watford

Frederick Downer of Watford started out as a photographer in 1862. He started from his father's shop in Watford High Street, before opening a photographic studio in Loates Lane. This picture of an unknown house, and two portrait pictures, were produced before the Loates Lane address appeared on the back of his CDV - so are probably from about 1870, or earlier.

The Basebe family were artists and photographers and Athelstane Basebe was probably the one who took photographs in Hertford in about 1872. He left the county to return to Hemel Hempstead in about 1890, (I have no examples of this period) and Watford about 1900.

An unknown group by Cooper of St Albans

Thomas Milburn Cooper moved to St Albans in about 1865 and practiced as a photographer until his death in 1901. I have added three additional examples of his work, and have arranged 5 different backs into probable date order. This portrait group is believed to be from about 1870.

Samuel Rudd (died 1871)

Thomas Benwell Latchmore of Hitchin started out as a photographer in 1865 and took over the business of George Avery in 1870. The portrait of Samuel Rudd of Hitchin gives the pre-1870 address and the dating is supported by the fact that Samuel died in 1871. The back reveals that he also has a studio at Royston in the early years.

If you have examples with different backs, or known dates, I would love to hear from you - so I can improve the timelines for these , and other, Hertfordshire photographers.

A better Time Line for Frederick Downer (Watford) photographs

Watford

Post Cards

CDV from 1870s

Frederick Downer was an important Watford photographer, and I am interested in building up a section containing examples of his work (contributions gratefully received). I have recently added details of his carte de visite which identifies 4 different backs, in date order. This will help date other photographs, especially if they have reference numbers.

A Watford Photographer & Miss Lena Love

Watford

When you start a piece of historical research you sometimes have no idea where it will lead. As I am currently rushed of my feet I was looking for a quick item for the next update of the web site. I recently purchased a carte de visite made by Dyke & Coy., of 96 Queen's Road, Watford. A quick check of the Hertfordshire trade directories showed that 1890 was the only year Dyke was listed. I foolishly thought that a short page with a copy of the picture and a brief timeline would only take a few minutes. It turns out that Colville Dyke (or Col. Dyke as he sometimes described himself) was not just a photographer. Little did I realise that, many hours later, I would still be busily chasing the seductively named Miss Lena Love all round the country.

Read the full story.

Three Victorian Photographers (Hertford, Hitchin & Ware)

Pictures

I have just added examples of the work of three Victorian photographers linked to Hertfordshire, with short biographies of each.

Cabinet Card by Henry Newton

Henry Martinson appears to have been working as a photographer in Ware for a short time around 1890, moving away and apparently giving up photography as a profession after his marriage in 1892.

Henry Newton was a photographer working in Hertford between about 1891 and 1912, his business having been taken over by J M & C W Sneesby by 1914.

CDV by Nichols

George Albert Nichols seems to have moved around a bit but two carte de visite show he worked in Hertfordshire, apparently in the late 1870s. One is a portrait of an elderly gentleman which give an address in Wormley - which was surely to small a village to support a professional photographer. The other is a school group with a similar back and a Hitchin address.

Charles Forscutt, an early Hertford Photographer

Charles Forscutt was one of the earlier Hertford Photographers who was professionally taking photographs by 1859 and continued at the Old Cross, Hertford, until his death in 1879. I have at last obtained an example of his portraits - an elderly gentleman with a beard and glasses.

[Information on other Hertfordshire Photographers]

Laz Roberts - a St Albans pioneer in Chromophotography in 1870?

Pictures

To ensure interesting material on this site I scan ebay looking for low cost items which might have a significant historical interest. Recently this carte de visite caught my eye. While the picture of the little girl was uninteresting compared with many others, the back caught my eye. It named a St Albans photographer I had never heard of with a distinctive name and a penciled date. So I brought it!

St Albans

One can never be certain what one is going to find in such cases. Laz was a photographer in High Wycombe, Bucks in in 1868 and 1871, and he was in St Albans circa 1870 so he was only in St Albans for a short time and I could have stopped the investigation at this point.

However I decided to investigate further. Via the usual genealogy tools I quickly traced him back to his birth in 1833, and discovered his father painted portrait miniatures. In 1861 Laz was colouring photographs. But what happened to him after 1871? Children continued to appear until 1879 (thirteen in total) and I tracked most of them down to see if this gave any clues to what happened to their father. I discovered his widow remarried in 1890 and the children usually described him as an artist rather than a photographer when they married. I was unable to find when he died. 

However a google search provided other examples of his work when based at High Wycombe, and a reference that in 1870 he was "working on entirely new process of his own, Chromophotography, and taking life-like carte de visite in Natural Colours" Perhaps he was following the work of a leading photographer and inventor in Bohemia - or perhaps he was developing a novel technique to produce "colour photographs" of his own. However he may just have been using a posh word to describe tinting photographs. It is not clear whether he ever produced commercially acceptable coloured portraits and if so whether any survive. If you know of any examples please let me know, as an examination would reveal whether he was using Eastern Europe process or not.

For more information see the detailed report on what I have found so far about Laz Roberts and Chromophotography.

I have been unable to identify the sitter or explain the date, which is much later than the photograph.

A Sequestrated Clergyman and Watford Union Workhouse

Rev Henry Goodwin

One of the sad things about ebay is the large number of Victorian portraits for sale which have lost contact with their families - and no-one knows who they are. I acquire some of them and recently I purchased two to illustrate the work of a Watford photographer, Joseph James Southwood. One was a "Fine Art Studio" carte de visite  of a tightly corseted young woman and there are no clues to her identity. The other was cabinet card of a elderly bearded gentleman, with a cross, who could well be a minister of religion. In addition there was a partial identification - someone had written the words "Goodwin father of Edward Goodwin" on the bottom.

Watford

I quickly discovered that in 1901 Edward J Goodwin was a 38 year old Wholesale Jeweller's Bookkeeper living with his father, Rev. Henry Goodwin, at 20 Westland Road, Watford. It turns out that Rev Henry Goodwin had been the vicar of Twyning, Gloucestershire, but in 1863 he had got into financial difficulties and was sequestrated and left the parish. In 1880 he became the chaplin at the Watford Union Workhouse and continued to live in Watford until his death in 1908.

Interestingly Gordon asked me about Henry Goodwin in 2001, when the only census information available online was for 1881, and my reply to him then now looks very dated.

More Information.

How many pictures did an early Victorian photographer take in a year?

Help Desk

Jackie has sent me a carte de visite she believed to be of John (Jack) Christy by T. B. Latchmore, of Hitchin. John was born in 1911 and the photograph shows John in short trousers and he is about 5 years old.

Hitchin

Carte de visite were common in the 1860s, but started to be replaced by the larger cabinet cards in the 1870s - and were rapidly going out of fashion in the 1880s. It seems unlikely that this card, which otherwise looks like a typical Victorian carte de visite was produced in about 1916. It seems very likely that the picture was of John's father, Harry who was 4 years old, and living in Ashwell (near Hitchin) in 1881.

When one compares the negative number with other CDV by Thomas Latchmore it seems that he was taking about a thousand pictures a year. This should allow the approximate dating of numbered cards with no other date.

The "other" Oscar Wilde's currying connection with Hertfordshire.

Oscar W Wild in 1879

Help Desk

Some time ago I acquired this carte de visite as an example or the portrait work of Frederick Downer of Watford. The back is labelled "Oscar W. Wild - Oct 26 1879" and I decided I ought to ask myself a question - Who is he?

Rickmansworth

So I dug down into the census returns and other records and found he a member of the WILD family of Rickmansworth. His grandfather was Thomas Wild (1795-1871) who in 1851 was tanner at Mill End, Rickmansworth, employing 19 men, later becoming a farmer of 250 acres in the area.

Thomas had five sons. Two of his sons became significant tanners and curriers - Charles Wild (1820-1878) was employing 18 men and boys at Kingston on Thames in 1861 - but was buried at Rickmansworth. Alfred Wild (1821-1890) became a tanner, currier and shoemaker in the Windsor area - employing 51 men in 1851, later returning to Rickmansworth, where he died.. Another son Thomas Wild (1824-1887) was a master currier on a small scale in Watford High Street in 1861 and 1871.

Cornelius Wade Wild (1832-1917) and Edwards Wild (1835-1910) were significant farmers in the Rickmansworth area respectively running Shepperds Farm, Heronsgate (440 acres, 19 employees) and Stockers Farm, Batchworth (500 acres, 18 employees).

Oscar Wade Wild(e) (1858-1945) was the second son of Alfred Wild. He went to Oxford, where he added an "E" to become Oscar Wilde - a few year before the name became notorious because of the famous Oscar Wilde. He became a clergyman and was vicar of St Ives, Huntingdonshire from 1899-1930.

More on the Rickmansworth family.

A Biography of Rev. Oscar Wade Wilde - A Wilde Goose Chase

A Dateable Family on CDV - Maynard of Cottered

John Maynard, died 1876

Photographers

 While  it is possible to make some conclusions about the dating of single carte de visite of unknown individuals the ideal situation is to find a collection of named photographs, by known photographers, with negative numbers, and where dates can be at least approximately ascertained.

I recently acquired five cards of the Maynard family - who turned out to be farmers at Cottered. Two were taken by George Avery of Hitchin, one by T. B. Latchmore of Hitchin (who took over George Avery's business), one by Arthur Elsden of Hertford, and one by an unknown photographer. For details of the Maynard family, and the CDV dating, see Maynard, Cottered, 19th century and the photographer pages.

Another carte de visite circa 1890 from St Albans

I have added a new carte de visite taken by John Barnard, Silvio House Studio, St Albans - of an unknown father and son(?) - probably taken about 1890. It has a different back to the earlier examples. Unfortunately I still haven't seen any examples of this photographer's cards which can be definitely dated.

Another example of H V Leménager (of Watford) CDV

PermalinkStill hoping for a breakthrough on the dating for this Victorian photographer The latest carte de visite is almost identical to an earlier one, but the card is a different shade - and the back is printed in black. If you have any examples of his work which can be dated reasonably accurately please let me know.

A unknown school near Hitchin

An unknown School near Hitchin circa 1875
Click here for larger or very large image

A school with about 60 pupils, mainly girls, with teachers, lined up outside an unknown school. An excellent case for the Rogues Gallery - where the aim is to try and identify the missing details - If we knew the school it could well be possible to identify the head mistress. And perhaps some one who is descended from one of the girls has a copy and can identify one or more of the children's faces.

It was taken by a professional photographer (as judged by the inscription on the back) called G. A. Nichols, of Croydon Road, Station Road, Hitchin. Initially I was unable to identify him but subsequent research (see comments) has identified him as George Albert Nichols - who must have been in Hitchin between 1871 and 1881 - giving the date for the photograph of around 1875. 

More about Lemenager (a French-born photographer) in Watford

I know that Henri Victor Leménager was a photographer in Watford High Street between about 1872 and 1887, when he emigrated to the United States. I now have added two further examples of the carte de visite that he produced. One relates to the earlier period when he had a studio at Bushey, and the other has yet another back design relating to his Watford studio.

Two of the pictures involve the same chair, and two more may involve the same chaise longue. If you know of any other examples of his work that could help with more precise dating his photographs please let me know. 

Early Hitchin Photographers. Avery & Latchmore

Earlier this month I posted information on Thomas Latchmore, and while no-one has yet identified the school photographs I have now discovered a lot more about the earlier photographer,  George Avery - and also some more about Thomas.

H V Leménager - An early Hertfordshire Photographer

Henri Victor Lemenager (1822-1912) was born in Paris, but came to Bushey to teach French in a small private school, married and started a family. The date of his earliest family is not known but by 1866 he was described as a photographer In 1870 he provided photographic illustrations for a book on Rickmansworth, and by 1872 had moved to 16 High Street, Watford. However in 1887 he emigrated to the United States.

I illustrate the biography with four carte de visite, each mounted on a different printed card and I am looking for more information to put the backs into date order.