By 1875, John Harmer was working as a photographer for the firm of James Russell & Sons in Chichester. John Harmer's second daughter, Ruth, was born in Chichester during the Second Quarter of 1875. According to his own publicity, John Harmer was "one of the Principal Operators of Messrs Russell & Sons" for over 5 years.

By the time the 1881 census was taken on 3rd April 1881, John Harmer had established his own photography business and was living in the village of Wick, halfway between Littlehampton and Lyminster (Leominster). John Harmer was living at a house in Beaconsfield Terrace, Wick, with his wife and two daughters and his Mother-in-law, seventy-four year old Mrs Alice Fasson.

In the 1881 census, John Harmer is described as a "Photographer", aged 29. The advertisements issued by Harmer in 1882 make it clear that he was primarily an "Outdoor Photographer". According to  H. J. F. Thompson, John Harmer "established a particular reputation as a landscape photographer". Photographic portraits by Harmer are rare, but he is known to have taken group portraits on location.

The 1891 census records John Harmer and his family at 16 East Town Villas, Lyminster. On the census return, thirty-nine year old John Harmer gives his occupation as "Photographer". It appears that both John Harmer's daughters were assisting him in his photography business. Both Alice Harmer, aged 17, and Ruth Harmer, aged 16, give their occupation on the 1891 census return as "Photographer's Assistant".

John Harmer died in 1893 at the age of 40 [ death registered in the District of East Preston during the First Quarter of 1893]. Mrs Alice Harmer, his widow, moved with her two daughters to Littlehampton, where she ran a lodging house at 19 Clifton Road from around 1899 to 1905. In 1901, Mrs Harmer is recorded as a fifty-eight year old "Lodging House Keeper", residing with her daughters, Alice Harmer, aged 27, and Ruth Harmer, aged 26, and her 94 year old mother, Mrs Alice Fassson. (Mrs Fasson who was born in 1807 at Kirton-in-Lindsey, Lincolnshire, lived to the great age of 97, dying in Littlehampton in 1904). Mrs Alice Harmer, John Harmer's widow, died in Littlehampton in 1924, aged 82. Neither of John Harmer's daughters married. Both daughters ended their days in Worthing. Miss Ruth Harmer died in Worthing in 1956, aged 81. Miss Alice Harmer died in Worthing in 1962, aged 85.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of Alfred King, photographer of Terminus Road, Littlehampton.

[ABOVE] Alfred King's studio building at the rear of 37 High Street, Littlehampton.

Sometime in the early 1870s, King moved from the Isle of Wight to Chichester, to take up employment as a photographer with the firm of James Russell & Sons. At the time of the 1881 census, Alfred King was boarding with William Gale and his large family at 3 St Paul's Road, Chichester. On the census return, Alfred King is described as an unmarried photographer, aged 30.

Alfred King managed the branch studio of James Russell & Sons at Terminus Road, Littlehampton from around 1874 to 1880. King took over the studio of his former employers in Terminus Road, Littlehampton around 1881. Alfred King is listed as the proprietor of the Terminus Road studio in Kelly's Post Office Directory of 1882. As the street name implies, King's Terminus Road studio was situated opposite the railway station at Littlehampton.

In 1882 Alfred King married Kate Fielder (born 1857, Chichester), a twenty-four year old dressmaker from Chichester. [ Marriage of Alfred King and Kate Fielder registered in Chichester during the Third Quarter of 1882]. The couple had at least two children - Alfred King junior, known as "Fred" or "Freddie", (born 1883, Littlehampton) and May or Maisie King (born c1887, Littlehampton).

Alfred King mainly produced carte-de-visite and cabinet portraits at his Terminus Road studio, but supplemented his income by making and selling picture frames. An advertisement for King's Terminus Road studio, published in 1887, states that the photographer charged 7s 6d for a dozen carte-de-visite portraits and 15 shillings for a dozen cabinet portraits.

By 1891, Alfred King had moved to a new studio at 37 High Street, Littlehampton. When the 1891 census was taken, King was described as a "Photographic Artist", aged 40. For most of his career, Alfred King concentrated on the production of studio portraits, but around 1895 he produced a series of photographs featuring local churches (e.g. the churches at Burpham, Ford, Poling and Rustington). At the turn of the century, Alfred King was commissioned to photograph a number of business premises in Littlehampton.

The 1901 census return shows that Alfred King was assisted in his photography business by his seventeen year old son Fred King (born 1883, Littlehampton). On the 1901 census return, Alfred King's 13 year old daughter is named as Maisie King.

Alfred King remained at his studio at 37 High Street, Littlehampton until 1910. The 1911 census records Alfred King and his son, Alfred junior, boarding with Mrs Mary Crampton at 83 South Terrace, Littlehampton. On the census return, Alfred King senior declared that he was "Unemployed", but added that he had previously worked as a "Photographer". Alfred's son, Alfred King junior, is described on the census return as a twenty-seven year old "Teacher of Music". At the time of the 1911 census, Mrs Katie King, Alfred King's wife, was a patient at the West Sussex County Asylum at Graylingwell, Chichester.

[ABOVE LEFT] A carte-de-visite of a young man, photographed by Alfred King of Terminus Road, Littlehampton (c1885). [ABOVE RIGHT] The studio details of Alfred King, Photographer and Picture Frame Maker of Terminus Road, Littlehampton as shown on the reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait pictured on the left.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite of a young woman, photographed by Alfred King of Terminus Road, Littlehampton (c1890)

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman, photographed by Alfred King, Artist & Photographer of 37 High Street, Littlehampton (1893)

[ABOVE] The studio details of Alfred King, Artist & Photographer of 37 High Street, Littlehampton, as shown on the reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait pictured on the left.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a middle-aged man, photographed by Alfred King of High Street, Littlehampton (c1895).

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a baby with a toy, photographed by Alfred King of High Street, Littlehampton (c1898).

In 1846, George Lloyd sired a son, who was named George Azariah Lloyd after his father. George Azariah Lloyd junior was born in Staines, Middlesex on 19th September 1846. On George junior's birth certificate, George Azariah Lloyd's's occupation is given as "Artist". A couple of years later, on 4th December 1848, George Azariah Lloyd married fellow artist Elizabeth Clark (born c1827, Coventry, Warwickshire) in the city of Bristol. Elizabeth Clark was the daughter of Elizabeth and John Carter Clark, a watchmaker from Coventry and was Christened in Coventry on 24th February, 1828. On their marriage certificate, George Lloyd and his bride Elizabeth Clark are both described as artists.

[ABOVE] Profile portraits by George Azariah Lloyd (c1866). Lloyd produced silhouette likenesses cut from black paper as well as photographic portraits. [ABOVE RIGHT] The Trade Label of George Azariah Lloyd, which declared he was a Royal Artist (c1866)

George Azariah Lloyd earned a living by making portraits either by painting or, more usually, by cutting profiles from black paper. As a young man, George Lloyd was a travelling artist. In the mid 1840s, George was working as an artist in the London area. At the time of his marriage in 1848, George Lloyd was in Bristol. A son, William Lloyd, was born in 1849, when George and Elizabeth were living at Lichfield in Staffordshire. By 1850, the Lloyds were back in the Bristol area. A daughter named Elizabeth Lloyd was born at Clevedon, near Bristol around this time. When the 1851 census was taken, George Lloyd and his family were recorded at an address in Plymouth St Andrew in Devon. George A. Lloyd is described as an "Artist" on the 1851 census return. By 1853, the Lloyds had returned to Somerset and had made their home in the district of Bedminster, one mile south of the city of Bristol. Mary Ann Lloyd was born at Bedminster in 1853 and another daughter, Emily Lloyd was born at Regent Road, Bedminster in 1856. By 1861, George Lloyd and his family were living in London, where a son Thomas Lloyd was born. The 1861 census records George Lloyd and his family at 22 Princes Row, Westminster, London. George Lloyd gives his profession as "Artist" and his wife Elizabeth is described as a "Nurse". Six children are listed on the 1861 census return - George (junior), aged 14, William, aged 12, young Elizabeth, aged 10, Mary Ann, aged 8, Emily, aged 5, and baby Thomas.

G. A. Lloyd in Sussex

After a period as an itinerant artist, George Azariah Lloyd settled in the Sussex seaside resort of Brighton around 1863. G. A. Lloyd is recorded as a profile artist based at 10 Bedford Buildings, Bedford Street, Brighton. George A. Lloyd was one of several artists who worked as profilists or silhouette cutters on Brighton's Chain Pier in the mid 19th century. It appears that Lloyd was creating "profiles" on the Chain Pier in the mid 1860s, but, by 1868, he added photography to his more traditional portrait making skills. G. A. Lloyd is listed as a "Photographic Artist" at 3a Chain Pier, Brighton in 1868 and 1869. George Azariah Lloyd was probably still living in Brighton in the early Summer of 1869, when the marriage of his son George Lloyd junior took place in the town. [George Azariah Lloyd (junior) married widow Mrs Jane Angelina Brown in Brighton on 5th July 1869].

By early August 1869, George Azariah Lloyd was working in the seaside resort of Littlehampton and in the first ever issue of The Littlehampton News, dated 7th August 1869, he placed the following advertisement :

[ABOVE] Chain Pier, Brighton (c1870). A photograph taken from the head of the Chain Pier looking through the arched towers to the Esplanade and Marine Parade. At the base of the iron towers on the Chain Pier were small booths and kiosks, selling gifts and refreshments. The Chain Pier towers were favourite locations for profilists and silhouette artists. In the late 1820s, John Gapp was operating from the "Third Tower" cutting full-length portraits from black paper. The profilist Edward Haines was working from one of the towers on the Chain Pier from 1845 to 1859. George Azariah Lloyd was cutting profiles from Tower No 3 around the time this photograph was taken.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite by G. A. Lloyd, showing the Worthing lifeboat with its crew (c1873).

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman by G. A. Lloyd, 23 North Street, Worthing (c1873).

While living in London, George Azariah Lloyd made the acquaintance of a widow named Ann Newton, who was eventually became his second wife. George married Ann Newton on 24th December 1884 at St Andrew's Church, Canal Road, Hoxton, in the London district of Shoreditch. On the marriage certificate, sixty-three year old George gives his profession as "Portrait Painter".

George Lloyd eventually returned to live in Brighton, accompanied by his new wife. Towards the end of his life, George Lloyd lived at 4 Sussex Terrace, Brighton. Early in 1900, George Lloyd was admitted to the Infirmary attached to the Brighton Workhouse in Elm Grove. George Azariah Lloyd died of bronchitis and bladder cancer in the Workhouse Infirmary on 11th February 1900, at the age of 79.

George Azariah Lloyd : Acknowledgements

Thanks to Janey Haselden and Chris Lloyd  for supplying family history information concerning the photographer and artist George Azariah Lloyd. Janey Haselden is the great, great grand-daughter of George Azariah Lloyd. Janey's great grandmother was Mary Ann Lloyd (born 1853, Bedminster, Bristol), G. A. Lloyd's second eldest daughter. Thanks also to Peter Merett  for providing the details of the advertisement for G. A. Lloyd , Photographer and Profilist, which appeared in The Littlehampton News.

Acknowledgements & Sources