Frank Herbert trained as an artist and exhibited paintings at the Royal Academy and the British Institution during the 1860s. Although Frank Herbert was an artist and portrait painter by profession, from the late 1860s until the early 1880s he also earned a living as a portrait photographer.

For a year or so Frank Herbert operated his own photographic portrait studio in London. Trade directories list Frank Herbert as the proprietor of a photographic studio at 240 Oxford Street, W. London in 1867 and 1868.

In 1875, Frank Halpen Herbert married Kate Brooks (born c1846, Kensington, London).

Between 1876 and 1880, Frank Herbert and his wife Kate were residing in Brighton, Sussex. Two daughters were born to Frank and Kate Herbert during their stay in Brighton - Kate Beatrice Herbert (born 1874, Brighton) and Florence Grace Herbert (born 1877, Brighton). By 1879, Frank Herbert was operating a photographic studio at 144 Western Road, Brighton. Frank Herbert is still listed as a photographic artist at 144 Western Road in Page's Brighton Directory of 1880, but by the time the 1881 census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Frank Herbert was living in London Road, Bognor with his wife and two daughters. In the 1881 census return, Frank Herbert gives his age as 37 and his profession as "Portrait Painter". Frank Herbert was still residing in Sussex  at the time of the 1891 census. By 1901, Frank Herbert was living in Marylebone, London. In the 1901 census return, Frank Herbert is recorded as an "Artist, Portrait Painter" and his age is given as fifty-two.

In the early 1900s, Frank Herbert and his family were living in the Penge district of South London. Frank Herbert's daughter, Kate Beatrice Herbert (born 1874) married Royal Navy officer Henry Gosset Vereker (1871-1916) in Penge on 21st December 1903. Mrs Kate Beatrice Vereker became a mother when she gave birth to a son named Charles Henry Vereker on 29th March 1913. Mrs Kate Beatrice Vereker, Frank Herbert's eldest daughter, died in Portsmouth two years later on 15th July 1915 at the age of thirty-six. Henry Gosset Vereker, Kate's husband, who had reached the rank of Commander in the service of the Royal Navy, died the following year on 4th July 1916, at the age of 45.

Frank Herbert died in Hove, Sussex, in 1914 at the age of 69.

[ABOVE] "A Summer Ramble"(1868), a painting by Frank Herbert.

Frank Herbert, Artist and Painter

Frank Herbert was primarily an artist and painter. It is recorded that Frank Herbert exhibited his paintings at the British Institution between 1857 and 1866.

An artist named Frank Herbert showed a portrait at the Royal Academy in 1857, but as the London artist and photographer Frank Herbert was only 13 years of age at this time, the portrait painter exhibiting at The Royal Academy might have been an artist sharing the same name.

An artwork by Frank Herbert entitled "Spring; Summer; Autumn; Winter", which was signed and dated in 1880, sold at auction in 1996.

When the 1881 census was taken, thirty-seven year old Frank Herbert was residing in the Sussex seaside resort of Bognor and gave his profession as "Portrait Painter". By 1901, Frank Herbert was living in Marylebone, London. In the 1901 census return, Frank Herbert is recorded as an "Artist, Portrait Painter" and his age is given as fifty-two.

John Hayward was born at Portsea, Hampshire around 1822. At the time of his retirement, John Hayward was a Chief Paymaster in the Royal Navy. When the 1881 census was taken, John Hayward and his wife Maria (born c1835, Suffolk) were residing at the Dolphin Hotel, 41 High Street, Portsmouth. John Hayward is entered on the census return as a "Retired Paymaster R.N.", aged 59.

By 1891, John Hayward, R.N., was living in Sussex, at Suffolk Villa, Sudley Road, Bognor. John Hayward lived at this house in Bognor for the remainder of his life. John Hayward died in Bognor in 1918 at the age of 96 [ death registered in the district of Westhampnett during the 2nd Quarter of 1918 ].

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a seated gentleman holding a cigar by J. Hayward of  Bognor. (c1895)

[ABOVE] The design on the reverse of a carte-de-visite by William Pankhurst Marsh, which gives gives the location of his photographic studio in Waterloo Square, Bognor, as "facing the Pier". (c1878)

[ABOVE] A photograph of some of the buildings on the east side of Waterloo Square taken from Bognor Pier in 1883. W. P. Marsh's photographic studio with its large square advertising panel stands between the fire station tower and The Beach Inn.

In 1875, William Pankhurst Marsh left Chichester to set up his own studio in Bognor. W. P. Marsh's first studio in Bognor was at No 4 Somerset Terrace in Lyon Street, near Bognor Railway Station. The Somerset Terrace studio had previously been occupied by the photographer Frederick Stone (born c1836, Barnstaple, Devon).

By 1878, W. P. Marsh had moved into a new studio in a prime location on Bognor's seafront. The studio was situated on the eastern side of Waterloo Square, between Bognor's Fire Station and The Beach Hotel, and faced the Pier and a popular stretch of a Bognor's beach.

William Pankhurst Marsh earned much of his income from taking carte-de-visite portraits at his Bognor studio, but even in the mid 1870s he was producing "Views of the Neighbourhood". From around 1880, W. P. Marsh began taking "Instantaneous Photographs of High Seas and Breaking Waves" and showed these "Sea Studies" in exhibitions held in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Vienna and Philadelphia.

In the 1890s, W. P. Marsh sold enlarged carbon prints of his "Sea Studies" and turned many of his local views into lantern slides. In the early 1900s, Marsh was able to re-issue many of his photographic views of the "high seas" at Bognor as holiday postcards. W. P. Marsh also produced views of Bognor seafront and portraits of local personalities and characters such as Mary Wheatland (1835-1924), the celebrated "Bathing Woman of Bognor."

Around 1905, after a long and successful career in Bognor, William P. Marsh moved back to Chichester with his wife and son and set up a studio at 39 Southgate, Chichester. William Pankhurst Marsh died at his home in Chichester on 18th March 1918 at the age of sixty-seven.

[ABOVE] The design on the reverse of a carte-de-visite by William Pankhurst Marsh, Art Photographer of Waterloo Square, Bognor  (c1888)

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young boy in a dress by W. P. Marsh of the Bognor School of Photography, Waterloo Square, Bognor. (c1879)

[ABOVE] The design on the reverse of a photograph by William Pankhurst Marsh, which gives details of  his Royal Marine Studio in Waterloo Square, Bognor. (c1895)

To view more photographs by William Pankhurst Marsh of Bognor click on the link below:

Photo Gallery of William Pankhurst Marsh of Bognor

[ABOVE] A studio portrait by King & Wilson of Arthur Percy Bale (1895-1916), the son of  Frank Bale the Bognor Clown (see below under Donald Massey). Arthur Percy Bale enlisted as a Private in the Second Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment and was killed on the Somme in France on 17th October 1916 at the age of twenty. This photograph was probably taken early in 1916, before Arthur set off for France with his regiment.

The firm of King & Wilson were described as "Theatrical Photographers and View Publishers". King & Wilson operated from 8 Pier Arcade, Bognor from around 1915 until about 1930.The firm of King & Wilson were amongst the top half dozen picture postcard producers in Bognor during and after the First World War, but they also produced studio portraits.

Some of the picture postcards published by King & Wilson carry a photographer's credit of "KING, PHOTO, BOGNOR". The photographer could have been Fred King (born 1883, Littlehampton), the son of Alfred King (born c1850, Isle of Wight), a professional photographer in Littlehampton who had retired around 1910.

[ABOVE] A photograph entitled "A Big Splash" published as a picture postcard by King & Wilson, 8 Pier Arcade, Bognor. The original photograph is credited to King.

[ABOVE] Details of King & Wilson of Bognor as printed on the reverse of a picture postcard. 

By 1895, Donald Massey had established his own photographic studio at Dorset House, London Road, Bognor. A photograph of Massey's studio at Dorset House appeared in an advertisement published in a local trade directory published in 1906. In this 1906 advertisement, Massey is described as a "oil and water colour painter" as well as a photographic artist.

Donald Massey produced mainly carte-de-visite studio portraits in the late 1890s and early 1900s, but after 1905 he concentrated on the production of photographic picture postcards. He issued studio portraits of local personalities in the increasingly popular postcard format and also took his camera out onto the streets of Bognor to capture views of the town. Massey seems to have been fascinated by the high waves at Bognor and he issued a number of picture postcards on this subject (see examples below).

Donald Massey worked as a photographer in Bognor up to the First World War and beyond. Massey was still listed as a photographer at the Dorset House address in Kelly's 1922 Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a man wearing freemason's medals by Donald Massey of Dorset House, London Road Bognor. (c1896)

[ABOVE] A studio portrait of a young child holding a spade by Donald Massey of Dorset House, London Road Bognor. (c1902)

High Waves and Stormy Seas by Donald Massey of Bognor

[ABOVE]  A photograph of high waves at Bognor by Donald Massey which was issued as a postcard and blind-stamped with his trademark "Donald Massey - BOGNOR".

[ABOVE] "A Storm Scene at Bognor - High Breaking Waves" (No.605). A photograph by Donald Massey which was issued as a postcard and blind-stamped with his trademark "Donald Massey - BOGNOR" .

'The Bognor Motor Launches' photographed by Donald Massey of Bognor

[ABOVE]  A picture postcard of "The King" and "The Queen", the Bognor motor launches, photographed by Donald Massey. This real photograph postcard is blind-stamped with the photographer's trademark "Donald Massey - BOGNOR". [see below]

[ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt ]

Frank Bale - The Bognor Clown

[ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt, great grand daughter of Frank Bale ]

[ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt ]

[ABOVE] A studio portrait of  Dorothy Bale, the daughter of Frank Bale the Bognor Clown, photographed by Donald Massey of Bognor around 1912. [ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt ]

[ABOVE] A postcard portrait of Frank Bale the Bognor Clown performing with his acrobatic dog, "Towzer" (c1910).  [ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt ]

Acknowledgements