During their marriage, William and Annie Allen produced at least eight children - Carl Clifford Allen (born 1873, Brede), Ernest Crocker Allen (born 1874, Brede), Effie May Allen (born 1876, Brede), Norman Williams Allen (born 1879, Brede), Eva Mary Allen (born 1880, Brede), Ada Louise  Allen (born 1882, Brede), Clara Allen (born 1886, Brede) and Guy Allen (born 1891, Brede). When the 1901 census was taken, fifty-three year old William Thomas Allen was recorded as a "Grocer, Draper and Shopkeeper" in Brede. According to a Sussex trade directory, William Thomas Allen also ran the village post office. The census return shows that William Thomas Allen was assisted in his grocery and drapery business by two older sons, twenty-six year old Ernest Allen and twenty-two year old Norman Allen.

William Thomas Allen died in 1903, aged 54. After the death of her husband, Mrs Annie Allen moved to St Leonards-on-Sea with her two youngest children, Clara and Guy. The 1911 census records Mrs Annie Allen, a sixty-two year old widow of "private means" living at 'Kynance', Upper Park Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, with her  twenty-four year old daughter Clara and Guy Allen, described on the census return as a "Photographer", aged 20.

Around 1912, Guy Allen established a photographic studio in East Cliffe, Rye. Kelly's Directory of Sussex, published in 1913, lists Guy Allen as a photographer based at East Cliff, Rye. The 1915 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex also includes Guy Allen of East Cliff, Rye, in the list of professional photographers appearing in the 'Trades' section of the directory.

Guy Allen disappears from the list of professional photographers in Kelly's Sussex trade directories published between 1915 and the end of the First World War, but he returns in the listing of photographers published by Kelly in 1922. Kelly's Directory of Sussex, published in 1922, lists Guy Allen as a photographer at The Studio, East Street, Rye. Guy Allen continued as a photographer at The Studio, East Street, Rye until at least 1938.

[ABOVE] Guy Allen (marked by a blue dot) recorded as a professional photographer at The Studio, East Street, Rye, in Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1924. Guy Allen, who was previously based in East Cliff, Rye, opened a new studio in East Street, Rye, after the First World War. Guy Allen was still listed as a photographer in East Street, Rye, on the eve of the Second World War.

[ABOVE] The faded street sign of East Cliff at the approach to Rye's High Street, south of The Landgate.

[ABOVE] A recent photograph of the houses in East Cliff, Rye. The Landgate can be seen in the distance on the right. Guy Allen was recorded as a professional photographer at East Cliff, Rye, between 1913 and 1915.

[ABOVE] A detail from Percy F. White's 1933 pictorial map of Rye, showing the location of East Cliff, the site of Guy Allen's home and studio in 1915.

[ABOVE] Guy Allen recorded as a professional photographer at East Cliff, Rye, in Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1915. Guy Allen's competitor, Charles Henry Axell is recorded as a professional photographer at 5 Bedford Place, Rye.

In 1910, Charles Henry Axell married Bessie May Rhodes. Elizabeth "Bessie" May Jane Rhodes was born in Rye on 8th March 1891, the daughter of Sarah Leonard and Edwin Thomas Rhodes, a Rye labourer. A son named Charles W. H. Axell was born in Rye in 1913, but he died before reaching his first birthday.

By 1915, Charles Henry Axell had set himself up as a photographer in Rye. Charles Henry Axell is recorded as a professional photographer at 5 Bedford Place, Rye, in Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1915.

Charles Henry Axell died in Rye towards the end of 1918 at the age of 29.

[ABOVE] A portrait of the Rye photographer Charles Henry Axell (1889-1918)

[ABOVE] Charles Henry Axell recorded as a professional photographer at 5 Bedford Place, Rye, in Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1915. Guy Allen, one of Charles Axell's competitors, is listed as a photographer at East Cliff, Rye.

[ABOVE] A picture postcard by Charles H. Axell. The postcard, which is captioned "Not the usual 'attraction' in Grove Lane" shows a steam wagon embedded in the footway which lined The Grove in Rye.

[ABOVE] A photograph of Edwin Thomas Rhodes (1847- 1930) taken by his son-in-law Charles Henry Axell. Edwin Rhodes's daughter Bessie Rhodes married the photographer Charles Henry Axell in 1910.