 [ABOVE] A photograph of the High Street of Hurstpierpoint, issued as a picture postcard by Flora Mitten around 1909. Henry Thomas Edwards was born in the village of Hurstpierpoint in 1857. Henry Thomas Edwards was born at Hurstpierpoint, Sussex in 1857, the son of Elizabeth and James Edwards, a carpenter. [Henry Thomas Edwards was baptised in Hurstpierpoint on 3rd May 1857]. Henry's parents, James Edwards (born c1826) and Elizabeth Heaver (born c1826) had married at Hurstpierpoint on 15th September 1849. During their marriage, James and Elizabeth Edwards produced at least five children - Sarah (born 1851), John William (born 1852), Ernest Albert (born 1855), Henry Thomas (born 1857) and Florence Mary (born 1860). James Edwards, Henry's father, is recorded in local directories as a carpenter in Hurstpierpoint (Hurst) between 1851 and 1858. By 1860, the Edwards family were living in the nearby village of Bolney, where Florence Mary Edwards, the couple's last child, was baptised on 1st April 1860. When Henry was aged about three, his father died. [ The death of James Edwards was registered in the district of Cuckfield during the second quarter of 1860 ]. The Edwards family were still residing in Bolney when the 1861 census was taken, but sometime in the 1860s, Mrs Elizabeth Edwards, together with her five children moved to Brighton. In 1878, Henry Thomas Edwards married twenty-four year old dressmaker Emily Jane Blackman (born 1854, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire). [ Marriage of Henry Thomas Edwards and Emily Jane Blackman registered in Brighton during the 3rd Quarter of 1878]. The couple's first child, Emily Florence Edwards, was born in the Summer of 1879. Henry Thomas Edwards began his working career in Brighton as a greengrocer and around 1880, he acquired a greengrocer's shop at 30 Russell Street, Brighton. When the 1881 census was taken, Henry Edwards, his wife Emily and their young daughter were residing in the living quarters attached to the shop in Russell Street. Henry T. Edwards is recorded on the census return as a "Greengrocer (Master)", aged 24. Emily Edwards, Henry's twenty-seven year old wife, gives her occupation as "Dressmaker". Emily Florence Edwards, Henry and Emily's first child, died during the 2nd Quarter of 1884, aged four. Early in the following year, Henry's wife gave birth to another daughter, whom they named Eva Kathleen Edwards [ birth registered during the 1st Quarter of 1885]. Around the time of the birth of his daughter, Henry Thomas Edwards was contemplating a career change and by the time his next child, Daisy Eleanor Edwards, was born in 1887, Henry was operating a photographic portrait studio at 11 Lewes Road, Brighton.
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[ABOVE] The trade plate of H. Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton, as shown on the reverse of a carte-de-visite which dates from around 1886. This is the earliest design associated with Henry Edwards' studio in Lewes Road.
[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a girl on a swing by Henry Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. (c1886). |
The Grove Studio at 11 Lewes Road, Brighton
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business premises at 11 Lewes Road, Brighton, had first been
used as a photographic studio around 1869, when Thomas Boxell
(born 1846, Brighton) used it as an
additional studio to his original photographic studio at 40a North
Street in the centre of town. Around 1870, Thomas Boxell left
Brighton to continue his photographic career in East Anglia
and Yorkshire. The studio at 11 Lewes Road was then rented out to
Angelo Tagliabue (1837-1900), an Italian from Milan who had
arrived in Brighton with his English-born wife and two young
children in 1866. Angelo Tagliabue's career as a photographer was
brief. He operated the photographic studio at 11 Lewes Road until
about 1871 and then returned to London and eventually found work as
a hotel waiter. 11 Lewes Road does not appear to have been used as a photographic studio for the remainder of the 1870s. George Gooch Doughty, a grocer and "oil man" based a few doors away at No. 7 Lewes Road, was using 11 Lewes Road as an additional shop in the 1870s. A printer named John May Beves was occupying the business premises at 11 Lewes Road in 1878. After John May Beves died in 1880, an artist and photographer named Harry Cheesman (born 1854, Brighton), together with his wife Mrs Jean Cheesman, an artist and miniature portrait painter, moved into 11 Lewes Road. Presumably the studio above the shop remained in good working order because from 1880 it reverted to its former use as a photographic studio. When the 1881 census was taken, 11 Lewes Road it was still occupied by Harry Cheesman, who is described on the census return as an "Artist & Photographer", aged 26. Sometime between 1881 and 1882, the photographic studio at 11 Lewes Road, Brighton was acquired by the photographer Walter Gardner (born 1850, Chichester). At this time the building was known as St. Martin's House, but Gardner appears to have introduced the name of "The Grove Studio" for the studio above the shop at No. 11. By 1884, Walter Gardner had vacated The Grove Studio and had moved to Wellington, Somerset. After Walter Gardner's departure, No. 11 Lewes Road was again taken over by grocer George Gooch Doughty, who utilised the building as an "Italian Warehouse". Henry Thomas Edwards re-established The Grove Studio at 11 Lewes Road around 1886. Edwards later expanded his photography business by taking possession of the neighbouring shop at No.10 Lewes Road. Henry Edwards used the two adjoining shops for his photography business for the next twenty years and the studio of H. T. Edwards was still listed at 10 Lewes Road, Brighton in 1935.
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[ABOVE] The trade plate of Henry Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton, as shown on the reverse of a carte-de-visite (c1888). The studio at 11 Lewes Road carried the name of Henry Edwards from around 1886 to about 1935. |
Henry Thomas Edwards - Photographer at 10 & 11
Lewes Road, Brighton
| Henry Thomas
Edwards set himself up as a photographer at 11 Lewes
Road, Brighton around 1886. For the first few years, Edwards
mainly produced the small photographic portraits known as
cartes-de-visite. From around 1890, Edwards was offering the
larger, cabinet size portraits (see the
link below). When the census was taken on 5th April 1891, Henry Thomas Edwards was recorded at 11 Lewes Road, Brighton with his wife and children. There had been a recent addition to the Edwards family. Henry and Emily were now parents to three young daughters - Eva, aged 6, Daisy, aged 4, and a one year old girl called May. [The birth of May Emily Edwards had been registered in Brighton during the 1st Quarter of 1890]. Henry T. Edwards is described on the 1891 census return as a "Photographer", aged 34. In 1893, Henry's first and only son arrived. Charles Raymond Edwards (generally known as Raymond) was born in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1893. Around 1898, Henry T. Edwards expanded his photography business by taking possession of the neighbouring shop at No.10 Lewes Road. Towner's Brighton and Suburban Directory of 1899, lists Henry Edwards' studio at 11 Lewes Road, Brighton, but Kelly's 1899 Directory of Sussex records the studio address as 10 & 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. From 1900, Towner's Brighton and Suburban Directory lists H. T. Edwards as a photographic artist at 10 Lewes Road, Brighton, and from this date the cartes and cabinets produced at Edwards' studio carry the 10 Lewes Road address. Occasionally, other trade directories give Edwards' business address as 10 & 11 Lewes Road, but although Henry Edwards was apparently making use of both buildings, generally the studio address of 10 Lewes Road is printed on the photographs he produced after 1899. Henry Thomas Edwards used the adjoining shops of 10 & 11 Lewes Road for his photography business for the next thirty years or so.
Around 1900, Henry Edwards installed electricity at his studio premises. From around this date, the publicity printed on the reverse of his cartes and cabinet cards declare that H. T. Edwards' studio at 10 Lewes Road is an "Electric & Daylight Studio". Bennett's Business Directory for Sussex, issued for the period 1904- 1905, actually lists Henry Edwards' studio at 10 Lewes Road, Brighton as the Grove Electric Light Studio. The 1901 census records Henry Edwards and his family as residing at 10 Lewes Road, Brighton. (No. 11 Lewes Road is listed as uninhabited, but used as a shop and store). Henry Edwards is entered on the census return as a "Photographer (Employer)", aged 44. Mrs Emily Edwards, Henry's wife, gives her age as 47, but the enumerator has made a mistake by entering her place of birth as "Bradford, Yorkshire" instead of Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire. [Emily Jane Blackman's birth was registered in the district Bradford Wilts. during the ist Quarter of 1854]. Also listed at 10 Lewes Road, Brighton are Henry and Emily's four surviving children - Eva (16), Daisy (14), May (11), and Raymond (7). Henry employed one "live in" servant, Edith Avery, who is described as a twenty-three year old "General Servant - Domestic" from Portslade, Sussex. Also recorded at 10 Lewes Road is Henry Edwards' assistant, listed as Albert Kimber (Kember), a photographer who originated from Croydon in Surrey. Albert Kimber (Kember), an unmarried man of thirty-three, is described on the census return as an "Assistant photographer (Worker)". Albert Kimber (Kember), who is entered on the return as a "cousin" to Henry and Emily Edwards, is presumably identical to Albert Kember, who was born in Croydon, Surrey during the 1st Quarter of 1868. At the time of the 1881 census, thirteen year old Albert Kember and his sister Edith Kember (born 1865, Croydon), were living in Chailey, Sussex, with their grandmother, Mrs Elizabeth Kember (born c1805, Cuckfield, Sussex). This was apparently a permanent arrangement, as Albert and Edith were also residing with Mrs Kember in Chailey in 1871. A few years after the census, Albert Kember took over William Feldwicke's photographic studio at 40A North Street, Brighton. Albert Kember is recorded as the proprietor of the studio at 40A North Street, Brighton in Kelly's 1905 Directory of Sussex and in W. T. Pike's Brighton and Hove Directory and Local Blue Book of 1905. Albert Kember appears to have operated the studio at 40A North Street for only a year or so. Henry Thomas Edwards owned the photographic studio in Lewes Road for nearly 50 years. A studio carrying the name of "H. T. Edwards " was listed at 10 Lewes Road, Brighton in Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1935. If Henry Thomas Edwards was still alive in 1935, he would have been around 78 years of age. By 1938, the studio of "H. T. Edwards " was no longer in business. A local trade directory lists the photography firm of Blakemore & Deeley at 11 Lewes Road, Brighton.
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[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a little boy by H. Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. Cream coloured mount(c1889).
[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a seated man by Henry Edwards, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. Negative No. 5,905. Dark bottle-green mount (c1892).
[ABOVE] The trade plate of H. T. Edwards, Electric & Daylight Studio, 10 Lewes Road, Brighton, as shown on the reverse of a carte-de-visite (c1902). |
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How to date photographs from the Brighton studio of Henry Thomas Edwards Henry Thomas Edwards was in business as a studio portrait photographer for nearly fifty years and so it is not easy to establish the date of a portrait photographed at his Lewes Road studio. The table below might help narrow the range of possible dates for his carte-de-visite and cabinet portraits.
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Carte-de-visite Portraits by Henry Thomas Edwards
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[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a seated young man by H. Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. (c1890). |
[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a little girl on a chair by H. Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. (c1892). |
[ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a woman, a carte-de-visiteby H. Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. (c1895). |
[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a child standing on a chair by H. Edwards of 10 Lewes Road & 12a London Road, Brighton. (c1902). |
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[ABOVE] The trade plate of H. Edwards of 11 Lewes Road, Brighton, as shown on the reverse of a carte-de-visite (c1890). |
[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite portrait of a seated young man by H. Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. Bottle green mount (c1893). |
[ABOVE] Portrait of a woman wearing a fancy hat, a carte-de-visite by H. Edwards of The Grove Studio, 11 Lewes Road, Brighton. Negative No. 20,159. Olive green mount (c1898). |
[ABOVE] The trade plate of H. Edwards of 10 Lewes Road & 12a London Road, Brighton, as shown on the reverse of a carte-de-visite (c1902). |
Cabinet Portraits by Henry Thomas Edwards
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| [ABOVE] The reverse of cabinet format photograph by Henry T. Edwards of 11 Lewes Road, Brighton featuring the "Muses of the Arts" design (c1903). | [ABOVE] A portrait of a young woman. A cabinet format photograph by Henry T. Edwards of 11 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1903). |
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[Photo : Courtesy of Dennis Parrett] |
[Photo : Courtesy of Dennis Parrett] |
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Henry Thomas Edwards' Scale of Charges in 1905 |
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| [ABOVE] A postcard produced by Henry Edwards of 10 Lewes Road, Brighton, detailing his services and scale of charges. The photographer Henry Edwards offered to attend "bridal parties" and " beanfeast groups" for a moderate charge. ( A "beanfeast" or "beano" was an annual celebration , party or outing). Even at this late date, Henry Edwards was taking portraits in the traditional "carte-de-visite" and "cabinet" formats. A dozen carte-de-viste portraits were priced at 5 shillings per dozen; a dozen cabinet portraits would cost 12 shillings. If customers ordered a dozen cabinet portraits, they would receive a complimentary 12" x 10" enlargement. Other formats included the "circle" portrait (12 shillings per dozen) and the "oval" portrait (14 shillings per dozen). The cheapest option was the postcard format studio portrait, priced at 3s 6d per dozen. | |
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[Photo : Courtesy of Mike Felmore] |
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To view a selection of cabinet portraits produced by Henry Thomas Edwards at his Lewes Road Studios , click on the link below: |
Postcard Portraits by Henry Thomas Edwards
 [ABOVE] Postcard studio portrait of a bearded man in outdoor clothing. Blind-stamped "H. Edwards, 10 Lewes Road" (c1912). |
 [ABOVE] Postcard studio portrait of a soldier. Studio details of H. Edwards, 10 Lewes Road printed on the back (c1916). |
 [ABOVE] Postcard studio portrait of a child standing by a gate. Blind-stamped "H. Edwards, 10 Lewes Road" (c1918). |
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Acknowledgements |
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Thanks to Brian Dungate for providing the cabinet portrait of his grandparents. Thanks also to Dennis Parrett for providing a cabinet portrait by H. T. Edwards of Lewes Road, Brighton. Thanks to Mike Felmore for providing the post card detailing Henry Edwards' scale of charges. |