Hove Photographers S-T

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Hove Photographers (S-T)

William Frederick SIMMONS

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F. SOLA

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Edward J. SPIERS

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 Miss Edith Mary SPIERS

 Henry Joseph SPINK

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 Henry  SPINK junior

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Samuel G. SPINK

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Mrs Sarah SPINK

 Henry  STEEL

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Harry TAYLOR

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Mrs Margaret TENNANT

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Henry W.  TUBB

 

 

William Frederick SIMMONS (born 1887, Leytonstone, Essex )
When the 1911 census was taken, William Frederick Simmons was recorded as a "Photographer" working from home at 74 George Street, Hove. The transcription of the census return records William Simmons' age as 43, but this seems to be an error. The age recorded on the original census return appears to be '23' and not '43', which suggests a birth year of around 1887. On the census return, William Simmons gives his place of birth as Leytonstone, Essex, which today is in East London. The birth of a boy named William Fredrick Simmons was registered in the Essex district of West Ham (which includes Leyton) during the 2nd Quarter of 1887.

In 1907, William Simmons married Edith Maria Kennon (born 1879, Birmingham), the daughter of Annie and Alfred Thomas Kennon, a carver & gilder from Birmingham. William and Edith's marriage took place in Brighton during the 2nd Quarter of 1907. A son named Kenneth Frederick Simmons was born in Brighton in 1908 and a daughter named May Phyllis Simmons was born in Portslade, Sussex, during the 3rd Quarter of 1909.

The trades section of the 1911 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex lists William Frederick Simmons as a professional photographer at 74 George Street, Hove, but he is not recorded in subsequent editions of the Sussex directory.

1911 Census: 74 George Street, Hove, Sussex

NAME

 

AGE

OCCUPATION

WHERE BORN

William F. SIMMONS

Head

23

Photographer (at home)

Leytonstone, Essex
Edith SIMMONS

wife

29*

* actual age 31 Birmingham, Warks.
May SIMMONS

daughter

1

  Portslade, Sussex
Kenneth SIMMONS

son

3

  Brighton, Sussex
Minnie DAVEY

servant

17

General Servant

Hove, Sussex
[ABOVE] Details of  the photographer William Frederick Simmons and his family, as recorded on the 1911 census return for 74 George Street, Hove.
 
F. SOLA

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a man with a bushy moustache by Sola of 119 Church Road, West Brighton. (c1889). It is possible that the name of Sola was a pseudonym or trade name adopted by a photographer in an attempt to sound distinctive or continental. The surname of 'Sola'  is often associated with Italy or Latin America.

A photographer named F. Sola was recorded at 119 Church Road, West Brighton (Hove), in 1889. The only other evidence I have of his or her photographic activities in Hove are two photographs, one carte-de-visite and one cabinet portrait, which display the photographer's credit as "Sola, 119 Church Road, West Brighton".

Sola is an unusual surname. (There are only 10 adults with the surname of Sola recorded in the 1891 census and none give their occupation as "Photographer"). "Sola" might be a pseudonym as it was not uncommon for a photographer with an ordinary sounding surname to adopt a distinctive or continental sounding name. For instance, the photographer Percy Mitchell, who hailed from Sydenham in S.E. London, operated a studio in Western Road, Brighton under the name of "Mora". A photographer who practised his art in Western Road, Hove, under the name of "F. O. Devereux" had been born in Liverpool under the name of Frederick Oakes. The  photographer 'Eugene de Fontaine', who ran a studio in Portslade in 1901 was, in reality, William Henry Kessler from Tunbridge Wells.

[ABOVE] A detail from an Edwardian postcard showing the parade of shops in Church Road, Hove, where Sola had his studio. This postcard, produced by the Mezzotint Company around 1902 shows the buildings in Church Road numbered from 119 (where Sola had his studio in 1889) to 105 Church Road, on the corner of Norton Road, directly opposite Hove's Old Town Hall. The building at 119 Church Road, West Brighton (Hove) had not previously been used as a photographic studio.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman by Sola of 119 Church Road, West Brighton. (c1889). Sola's photographic studio was located in a tall building in Church Road, Hove, not far from Hove's Old Town Hall. (See photo on right)
 
Edith Mary SPIERS (born 1884, Lincoln, Lincolnshire) and Edward SPIERS (???)
Edith Mary Spiers was born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, in 1884, the daughter of William Spiers (born 1847, Leicester), a Wesleyan Church Minister. William Spiers had married Amy Maria Sewell (born 1850, Masborough, Rotherham, Yorkshire) in 1877 and the couple went on to produce five children - Percy William Spiers (born 1880, London), Florence Amy Spiers (born 1882, Chorlton, Lancashire), Edith Mary Spiers (born 1884, Lincoln, Lincolnshire), Nellie Spiers (born 1886, Lincoln, Lincolnshire) and Mabel Spiers (born c1893, Hull, Yorkshire).

When the census was taken on the night of Sunday, 2nd April, 1911, Edith Mary Spiers was recorded at 29 Connaught Terrace, Hove. On the census return, 26 year old Edith Mary Spiers gives her occupation as "Photography (Every Branch)". When asked whether she was an "Employer, Worker or Working on Own Account", Miss Edith Spiers declared that she was in a "Partnership".

Pike's Directory of Brighton, which was published in the years 1910 and 1911, records in its list of professional photographers a 'Miss Spicer' at 46 Blatchington Road, Hove. This presumably was a misprint of the name Miss Spiers. Interestingly, both the 1909 and 1911 editions of Kelly's Directory of Sussex records the proprietor of the photographic studio at 46 Blatchington Road, Hove as 'Edward Spiers '. The 1911 census records Edith Mary Spiers as a photographer residing in Hove, yet there is no photographer named Edward Spiers either in the 1901 or 1911 census. This leads one to suspect that it was, in fact, Miss Edith Spiers who was the photographer who was occupying the photographic studio at 46 Blatchington Road, Hove, between 1909 and 1911.

In the 1913 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex, Miss Edith Spiers is listed as a professional photographer at 74 George Street, Hove, a studio previously occupied by the photographer William Fredrick Simmons [See above]. According to subsequent editions of Kelly's Directory of Sussex, Miss Edith Spiers occupied the studio at 74 George Street, Hove until 1918.

Miss Edith Spiers disappears from the records as a Sussex photographer after the First World War. She may have married and changed her surname or moved to another part of Britain to continue her photographic career as a single woman.

[LEFT] Edward Spiers listed as a photographer at 46 Blatchington Road, Hove, in the 'Trades' section of the 1909 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] Miss Edith Spiers listed as a photographer at 74 George Street, Hove, in the 'Trades' section of the 1913 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex.

Miss Edith SPIERS / Edward SPIERS  In 1909 and 1911, the Trades sections in Kelly's Directory of Sussex list Edward Spiers as the photographer based at 46 Blatchington Road, Hove, but there is evidence to suggest that the studio proprietor during this period was, in fact, Miss Edith Spiers. Pike's Directory of Brighton, which was published in the years 1910 and 1911, records in its list of professional photographers a 'Miss Spicer' at 46 Blatchington Road, Hove. If 'Miss Spicer' was a misprint of the name 'Miss Spiers', it is possible that Edith Mary Spiers was occupying the photographic studio at 46 Blatchington Road, Hove, between 1909 and 1911. Edith Spiers had either adopted the name "Edward Spiers" for commercial reasons (to disguise the fact that the business was being run by a young woman) or Kelly's directories had misprinted her name in consecutive years.

 
 
The SPINK Family of Photographers - Henry Joseph SPINK -  Henry SPINK junior -  Samuel G. SPINK -  Mrs Sarah SPINK
Henry Joseph SPINK (1840-1892) - Mrs Sarah SPINK (1839-1899) - Henry SPINK junior (1865-1943) - Samuel George SPINK (1868-1948) 
 

[ABOVE] A group portrait of four siblings; a cabinet portrait by Henry Joseph Spink of 36 Goldstone Villas, West Brighton. (c1890)

Henry Joseph Spink - Photographic artist operating studios in Brighton and Cliftonville (Hove)

[ABOVE ] A photographic portrait believed to be that of  the Brighton and Cliftonville (Hove) photographer Henry Joseph Spink (1840-1892).

[ABOVE] A photograph of Henry Joseph Spink's house and studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville (now Hove) taken around 1878. Henry Spink's two sons pose by the entrance and his wife stands at the gate.                                                  [PHOTO COURTESY OF DENISE DAGEN OF NEW SOUTH WALES]

Henry Joseph Spink was born on 23rd July 1840 at 54 Lisson Grove North, in the Marylebone district of London, Middlesex. Henry Joseph Spink was the son of Charlotte and Henry Spink, an ironmonger by trade.

 In 1860, Henry Joseph Spink, who was then working as a watchmaker and jeweller in Birmingham, married Sarah Cooper (born c1839, Berkeley, Gloucestershire).

By 1864, Henry Joseph Spink and his wife Sarah were living in Brighton, where Henry established himself as a "Artist Photographer and Miniature Painter". Their first son, Henry Charles Spink, was born in Brighton on 27th February 1865. A second son, Samuel George Spink, was born in Brighton on 27th March 1868.

Henry Joseph Spink is first recorded as a Photographic Artist at 109 Western Road, Brighton in the Trades and Professions section of Page's Brighton Directory of 1865, which would have been compiled in the latter half of 1864. Henry Joseph Spink operated the studio at 109 Western Road, Brighton for over twenty-five years. In September 1878, Henry J. Spink was advertising a second studio at Goldstone Villas in the district west of Brighton, then known as Cliftonville, but now part of Hove.

Henry Joseph Spink's eldest son Henry Charles Spink assisted his father in his photographic work throughout his teens and for a time the firm was known as Henry Spink & Son, but around 1887 Henry Spink junior set up his own studio at 48 Preston Road, Brighton. In September 1889, the business partnership between Henry Joseph Spink and his son Henry Charles Spink was dissolved. By 1890, Henry Spink junior was operating his father's old studio at 109, Western Road, Brighton and his father, Henry Joseph Spink was running the studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove.

Henry Joseph Spink died in Hove on 23rd May 1892, at the age of 52. Henry J. Spink's studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove, was initially managed by his youngest son Samuel George Spink, but when Samuel and his family returned to Australia, the Hove studio passed to Henry Spink's widow, Mrs Sarah Spink. Henry Spink junior operated his studio at 109, Western Road, Brighton from 1890 until 1921. From 1921 until at least 1934 the studio at 109, Western Road, Brighton went under the name of Spink (Brighton) Limited.

Henry Charles Spink (generally known as Henry Spink junior) died in Ditchling, Sussex, on 13th August 1943, at the age of 78.

Mrs Spink's Studio in Goldstone Villas, Hove

Mrs Sarah Spink (Henry Spink's widow) owned the Goldstone Villas studio until her death in 1899. In Towner's 1896 Directory of Brighton & Hove, Mrs Sarah Spink, is listed as a photographer at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove. It appears that from around 1897, Mrs Spink recruited Frank Houghton Berry (1852-1923) to manage her studio in Goldstone Villas. Although Mrs Sarah Spink probably retained ownership of the studio, from 1897 the studio was listed under the name of Frank H. Berry.

Frank Houghton Berry is recorded as a photographer at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove between 1897 and 1899.

 

To read a full account of the photographic career of Henry Joseph Spink and his sons Henry Spink junior and Samuel George Spink, click on the link below :

The Spink Family of Photographers

 

Henry Steel - Active as a Photographer in Hove between 1894 and 1925

Henry STEEL (1854-1952)
Henry Steel was born in 1854 in Keymer, a village in Mid-Sussex about 2.4 miles south of Burgess Hill. [The birth of Henry Steel was registered in the district of Cuckfield during the 2nd Quarter of 1854]. Henry Steel was the eldest son of Maria Chatfield and James Steel, an agricultural labourer. Henry's father, James Steel, was born on the Greek island of Corfu around 1826, probably when his father (Henry Steel senior) was serving in the British Army. [Corfu and the Ionian Islands had become a British Protectorate under the terms of the Second Treaty of Paris (1815), following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo]. By the early 1840s, James Steel was living in Mid-Sussex. In 1844, James Steel (born c1826, Corfu) married his first wife Elizabeth Lindfield (born c1826, Keymer, Sussex) at Hurstpierpoint, a market town 8 miles north of Brighton. Seven years later, in 1851, James Steel's wife died of Typhus Fever. The following year, in the Spring of 1852, James Steel, a widower in his mid-twenties, married Maria Chatfield (born c1821, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex), the daughter of Martha and William Chatfield. [There are two marriage records; one states that widower James Steel married spinster Maria Chatfield in Cuckfield on 25th April 1852, the other gives the date of the wedding as 2nd May 1852].
[LEFT] A portrait believed to be that of James Steel (1826-1900), the father of the Hove photographer, Henry Steel. James Steel, was born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1826 (probably when his  father was stationed there as a soldier). James Steel married his second wife Maria Chatfield (born c1821, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex) in 1852. [James Steel's first wife had died from Typhus Fever in 1851]. James Steel worked as an agricultural labourer in the Sussex districts of Keymer and Hurstpierpoint during the 1850s and 1860s. During this time his wife Maria gave birth to a number of children - Henry (born 1854), Ann (born 1856), Mary (born 1857, George (born 1861) and James Steel junior (born 1866).  In the late 1870s, James Steel senior and his family moved to Hove, where James found work as a "coal porter". James Steel senior died in Hove in 1900, aged 73.

During their marriage Maria Chatfield and James Steel produced at least 5 children - Henry Steel (baptised in the Sussex village of Keymer on 4th June, 1854), Ann Steel (born 1856, Keymer), Mary Steel (born 1857, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex), George Steel (born 1861, Hurstpierpoint) and James Steel (born 1866, Burgess Hill). When the 1861 census was taken, James Steel, described on the census return as a 35 year old "Labourer", was living in Hurstpierpoint with his wife Maria and three of their children - Henry (7), Ann (5) and Mary (3) - plus fifteen year old William Chatfield (born c1845, Cuckfield), described on the census return as James Steel's stepson. Presumably, William Chatfield was the illegitimate son of Maria Chatfield. [At the time of the 1851 census, five year old William Chatfield was living in Cuckfield with his grandparents, William and Martha Chatfield].

When the 1871 census was taken, James Steel and his family were living at St John's Common, Keymer, but his eldest son, Henry Steel (born 1854, Keymer) was residing in Hove, Sussex. The 1871 census records seventeen year old Henry Steel as a "Baker" employed by John W. Wells, a confectioner of 40 Western Road, Hove.

Around 1873, Henry Steel married a Scottish-born woman named Mary Carlyle (born c1850, Cummertrees, Dumfries, Scotland). This union produced a number of children - Jennet Elizabeth Steel (born 1874, Hove - died 1875), Henry Steel junior (born 1876, Hove, Sussex), John Steel (born 1878, Hove, Sussex - died 1884 ), Janet Elizabeth Steel (born 1880, Hove, Sussex - died 1884) and Janet Steel (born 1887, Hove, Sussex), but only Henry Steel junior and the younger Janet Steel lived beyond the age of 7.

When the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Henry Steel and his family were recorded at 102 Goldstone Road, Hove. On the census return, Henry Steel, who gives his place of birth as Clayton, Sussex, is described as a twenty-seven year old "Watchman". At this time, Henry and Mary Steel had three young children -  Henry, aged 5, John, aged 2, and a baby daughter named Janet Elizabeth Steel. In the early months of 1884, Henry Steel's youngest son, John, and his youngest daughter, Janet Elizabeth, both died. Now with only one surviving child (Henry junior), Mrs Mary Steel gave birth to another daughter during the 1st Quarter of 1887. Henry and Mary Steel christened their new daughter, Janet, the same name that was given to their two previous daughters who had died young.

In the 1880s, Henry Steel supplemented his income as a "Watchman" by taking in lodgers. [When the 1881 census was taken, the Steel household in Goldstone Road contained 4 paying boarders]. By 1890, Henry Steel and his family were living at No. 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. The census taken on 5th April 1891, records Henry Steel, his wife Mary, their teenage son, Henry Steel junior, and four year old daughter Janet Steel at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. On the census return, Henry Steel is described as a "General Labourer", aged 37.

Sometime in the early 1890s, Henry Steel set himself up as a photographer in Hove. Local trade directories indicate that Henry Steel established a photographic portrait studio at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove around 1894. The Trades Section of Page's Directory of Brighton & Hove, published in 1895, lists Henry Steel as a photographic artist at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. The 1895 edition of H. & J. Barnes' Popular Directory of Brighton & Hove also lists Henry Steel as a professional photographer at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove.

When he started his career as a photographer, Henry Steel mounted his photographs on card mounts produced for other photographers. Many of  Henry Steel's early carte-de-visite portraits are mounted on old photographic card stock belonging to Robert Cox, a photographer of Clifton, Bristol.  Robert Cox had closed his studio at 37 White Ladies Road, Clifton, Bristol, in 1891 and apparently Henry Steel had acquired Cox's unused stock of cdv cards shortly afterwards. Henry Steel's early cdv portraits are mounted on the backs of Cox's cards. On the reverse of the cdv portraits, Steel's trade mark - H. Steel, Photographer, 74 Goldstone Road, West Brighton *- is rubber-stamped above Robert Cox's details. By 1896, Henry Steel was producing his carte-de-visite portraits on cards professionally printed with the photographer's credit "Hy. Steel, 74 Goldstone Road, Hove".

[* In 1895, Henry Steel gave his studio address as "74 Goldstone Road, West Brighton". Central Hove was commonly referred to as "West Brighton" during the early 1890s. The area of Central Hove in which Goldstone Road was situated had been known as Cliftonville up until around 1879. Cliftonville Railway Station officially changed its name to West Brighton in 1879. By the early 1890s, Goldstone Road was listed under Hove in street directories, but was often still referred to as "West Brighton". In October 1895, West Brighton Railway Station was officially re-named Hove & West Brighton and in the following year (July 1895), the name West Brighton was dropped altogether and the railway station became "Hove Railway Station". From this date, Henry Steel printed 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, on his photographic card mounts].

From the mid 1890s, Henry Steel produced both carte-de-visite and cabinet portraits at his studio at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. The 1901 census records Henry Steel, his wife Mary and 14 year old daughter, Janet, living at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. On the census return, 46 year old Henry Steel is described as a "Photographer" working on his "own account, at home".

Around 1905, Henry Steel opened a second studio at 11 Hove Street, Hove (later re-numbered No. 9a). Henry Steel managed his studios in Goldstone Road and Hove Street in parallel until about 1913. After he closed his Hove Street studio, Henry Steel continued to take photographic portraits in the studio attached to his home at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. Local trade directories recorded Henry Steel as a photographer in Goldstone Road until the mid 1920s. It appears that Henry Steel retired from photography around 1925 when he was in his early seventies.

Henry Steel's Family

Only two of Henry and Mary Steel's children survived into adulthood - Henry Steel junior (born 1876, Hove, Sussex) and Janet Steel (born 1887, Hove, Sussex).

Henry Steel's son Henry Steel junior, a bricklayer by trade, married Ella Annie Kean (born 1877, Cannington, Somerset) in 1904. Henry and Ella's first child, a baby boy named James Steel, was born in 1905. Two more children were born during the next 4 years - William Frank Steel in 1908 and Arthur Steel in 1910.A daughter, Ella Steel, arrived in 1914. The following year Mrs Ella Steel gave birth to her fourth son, Henry Steel. [The birth of Henry Steel was registered in the district of Steyning during the 4th Quarter of 1915]. The couple's final child, a daughter named Phyllis Steel, was born in Hove in 1919.

Early in 1911, Janet Steel, Henry Steel's daughter, married William Alfred Field Buss (born c1889, Jarvis Brook, Sussex), a twenty-two year old "Domestic Gardener". When the census was taken on 2nd April 1911, Janet and her new husband were residing with Henry and Mary Steel at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, the location of Henry Steel's photographic studio.

Henry Steel died in Brighton in 1952 at the great age of 97.

[ABOVE] Publicity printed on the reverse of a cabinet photograph produced by Henry Steel of Hove around 1906.  Henry Steel was based at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, but around 1905, he opened a second studio at 11 Hove Street, Hove (later re-numbered No.9a).
   

[ABOVE] Henry Steel, recorded as a photographer at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, and  9a Hove Street, Hove, in the 1913 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex. Henry Steel was in business as a photographer in Hove for 30 years between 1894 and 1924. Steel opened a studio at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, around 1894, adding a second studio in Hove Street, Hove, ten years later.

[ABOVE]  Henry Steel listed  under the heading of 'Photographic Artists' in Page's Directory of Brighton & Hove published in 1895. Henry Steel's studio address is given as 74 Goldstone Road (Hove). This was Henry Steel's first listing as a professional photographer in a trade directory.
 

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of the Hove photographer, Henry Steel (1854-1952). This unusual portrait of Henry Steel wearing a top hat and sporting a magnificent forked-beard, was taken at  Steel's studio, which was attached to his family home at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. When this portrait was taken in the late 1890s, Henry Steel would have been in his mid-fifties.

PHOTO:  Courtesy of Colin Goldsmith

 [ABOVE] The trade plate which appeared on cabinet portraits produced by Henry Steel between 1908 and 1912 when he was based at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove and 9a Hove Street, Hove

 

[ABOVE] A portrait of James Steel and his wife Susan Brownings photographed by Henry Steel, photographer of Goldstone Road and Hove Street, Hove (c1900). The photographer's younger brother James Steel (born 1866, Burgess Hill, Sussex) had married Susannah Brownings (born 1867, Keymer, Sussex) during the 4th Quarter of 1886.

PHOTO:  Courtesy of Colin Goldsmith

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of  a member of the Steel Family photographed by Henry Steel of Goldstone Road and Hove Street, Hove around 1910. The sitter is possibly the photographer's nephew, Ernest James Steel (born 1891, Hailsham, Sussex), the son of James Steel, Henry Steel's younger brother.

PHOTO:  Courtesy of Colin Goldsmith

Photographs of the Steel Family by Henry Steel of Hove

[ABOVE] A cabinet group portrait of members of the Steel Family photographed by Henry Steel, photographer of Goldstone Road and Hove Street, Hove (c1906). James Steel, the photographer's younger brother, stands on the left in the back row. Seated in front of James Steel is his wife Mrs Susan Steel (formerly Susan Brownings). James Steel has his right arm around a young woman who is possibly his eldest daughter, Edith Ellen Steel (born 1888, Horsham, Sussex). The younger girl with her arm around Mrs Susan Steel is probably Ethel Florence Steel (born 1894, Steyning, Sussex). The boy laying on the floor with his head leaning against his mother's knee is James Steel's son Ernest James Steel (born 1891, Hailsham, Sussex). It is possible that the fair-haired man on the right is Henry Steel junior (born 1876, Hove, Sussex), the son of the photographer Henry Steel. Henry Steel junior, a bricklayer by trade, had married Ella Annie Kean (born 1877, Cannington, Somerset) in 1904. The baby could be Henry and Ella's first child, James Steel, who was born in 1905.   The young woman standing on the extreme right of the picture could be Janet Steel (born 1887, Hove), the photographer's daughter.
 
[ABOVE] A cabinet group portrait of members of the Steel Family photographed in December 1907 by Henry Steel of Goldstone Road and Hove Street, Hove[1907]. James Steel, the photographer's younger brother, stands on the left in the back row . Seated in the front row (second from left) is James Steel's wife Mrs Susan Steel (formerly Susan Brownings). Seated on Mrs Susan Steel's left, holding a kind of mandolin, is James Steel's youngest daughter, Ethel Florence Steel (born 1894, Steyning, Sussex). One of the three younger women is James Steel's eldest daughter Edith Ellen Steel (born 1888, Horsham, Sussex).  James Steel's son Ernest James Steel (born 1891, Hailsham, Sussex) - generally known as James Steel - is the sixteen year old lad standing in the back row (third from the left). As a teenager, (Ernest) James Steel served his apprenticeship as a fitter in the local railway works. the woman in the white blouse could be Janet Steel (born 1887, Hove), the photographer's daughter, and the man on the far right of the back row, could be Henry Steel junior (born 1876, Hove, Sussex), the photographer's son.

James Steel (born 1866, Burgess Hill, Sussex) began his working life as a "hack driver". [ The term "hack" refers to the "Hackney Carriage", a hired, horse drawn cab, employed in much the same way as a taxi-cab is used today]. After his marriage to Susan Brownings in 1886, James Steel found employment with a local railway company. In 1901, James Steel was working as a "Railway Porter", but when the census was taken a decade later on 2nd April 1911 , he gave his occupation as "Railway Station Foreman". By this date, James Steel was a forty-four year old widower, his wife Susan having died earlier in the year at the age of 44. James Steel died in Brighton in 1919, aged 53.

Steel Family Photographs courtesy of Colin Goldsmith

 

Henry Steel's Family Portraits

[Photographs courtesy of Colin Goldsmith]

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait believed to be that of James Steel (1826-1900), the father of the Hove photographer Henry Steel. This portrait was copied by the Brighton photographer Henry Spink junior around 1888, but the original portrait was probably taken around 1882 by his father, Henry Joseph Spink, a photographer who established a studio in Hove in 1879.

The portrait depicts a working-class man in his fifties or early sixties. The clothing is similar to the "best clothes" worn by labourers or agricultural workers in the 1880s. James Steel, who was born on the Greek island of Corfu in 1826 (probably when his father was stationed there as a soldier) worked as an agricultural labourer in the Sussex districts of Keymer and Hurstpierpoint during the 1850s and 1860s. By the late 1870s, James Steel and his family were living in Cliftonville in central Hove. At the time of the 1881 census, James Steel, his wife Maria, and three of their sons were living at 59 Conway Street, Hove. On the census return, fifty-five year old James Steel was working as a "Coal Porter" alongside his 19 year old son, George Steel. James Steel died in Hove in 1900, aged 73.

[ABOVE] A family group portrait by the photographer Henry Steel of Goldstone Road and Hove Street, Hove. This cabinet portrait, produced around 1910, possibly depicts the photographer's son Henry Steel junior (born 1876, Hove, Sussex) and his family. Henry Steel junior, a bricklayer by trade, married Ella Annie Kean (born 1877, Cannington, Somerset) in 1904. The couple's first child, James Steel, was born in 1906. Two more sons were born during the next 4 years - William Frank Steel in 1908 and Arthur Steel in 1910. As this cabinet portrait was produced around 1910, it is likely that it shows, from left to right: Henry Steel junior (1876-1959), William Frank Steel (born 1908, Hove), James Steel (born 1906, Hove), Arthur Steel (born 1910, Hove) and Mrs Ella Steel (1877-1946). In 1911, Henry Steel junior, his wife Ella and their three sons, James, William and Arthur, were living at 51 Shakespeare Street, Hove. [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait believed to be that of James Steel (1826-1900), the father of the Hove photographer Henry Steel. The original portrait was probably made by Hove photographer Henry Joseph Spink, who operated a studio in Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville (Central Hove) from 1879 until his death in 1892. (The occasional table covered by a fringed cloth was a standard studio prop used in Henry Spink's studio from the late 1870s). The original  photograph was later copied by Henry Spink junior (the son of  Henry Joseph Spink) at his Brighton studio. (See photo, top right). The original  photographic portrait was later copied and enlarged and made into a Cabinet Portrait by Henry Steel of Hove around 1905. This copy is an improvement on Henry Spink junior's cdv copy, which suggests Henry Steel had access to the original portrait of his father.

Steel Family Photographs courtesy of Colin Goldsmith

James Steel and his Family, photographed by his elder brother, the Hove photographer Henry Steel [Photographs courtesy of Colin Goldsmith]

James Steel (1866-1919)

Mrs Susannah Steel (1867-1911)

[ABOVE] James Steel, the younger brother of Hove photographer Henry Steel, photographed with his wife and children around 1896.  James Steel (born 1866, Burgess Hill, Sussex) had married Susannah Brownings (born 1867, Keymer, Sussex) during the 4th Quarter of 1886. This union produced three children - Edith Ellen Steel (born 1888, Horsham, Sussex),  Ernest James Steel (born 1891, Hailsham, Sussex) and Ethel Florence Steel (born 1894, Steyning, Sussex).  This large photographic portrait depicts (from left to right): Ethel on the lap of her mother, Mrs Susannah Steel; James Steel's eldest daughter, Edith Ellen; Susannah's husband James Steel and, standing between his fathers legs, Ernest James Steel (later known in the family as 'James'). Born in Burgess Hill, Sussex, in 1866, James Steel worked for a railway company for much of his adult life. In 1901, James Steel was employed as a "Railway Porter", but by 1911 he had become a "Railway Station Foreman". [ABOVE] A studio portrait of James Steel's eldest daughter  Edith Ellen Steel (born 1888, Horsham, Sussex), photographed by her uncle Henry Steel, who operated a studio from his home at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, from around 1895.  This photograph dates from around 1897, when Edith was around 9 or 10 years of age. The reverse of this photographic portrait is rubber-stamped "H. Steel, Photographer, 74 Goldstone Road, West Brighton", which suggests the photograph was taken before Henry Steel started printing his business address as 74 Goldstone Road, Hove (i.e. before 1898). In 1911, Edith Ellen Steel was living with her parents and siblings at 9 Lorne Road, Preston, Brighton. In 1918, Edith Ellen Steel married Joseph Burton in Eastbourne. Edith's younger sister, Ethel Florence Steel died in Eastbourne in 1929 at the age of 36.
 

Members of the Steel Family - photographed by Henry Steel of Goldstone Road and Hove Street, Hove [Photographs courtesy of Colin Goldsmith]

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young woman posting a letter in a pillar box, photographed by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, and Hove Street, Hove (c1912). The photograph is from a collection of portraits once held by James Steel (1866-1919), the younger brother of the photographer Henry Steel, so, presumably, the smiling young woman was a relative or close friend of the Steel Family.
 
[LEFT] A cabinet portrait of a cheerful young woman leaning on the back of a chair, photographed by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, and Hove Street, Hove (c1908). This cabinet portrait is also from the collection of family portraits passed down from James Steel (1866-1919), the younger brother of the photographer Henry Steel. Like the subject of the picture above (possibly the same person), the identity of this young woman has not been established, but presumably, the young woman was a relative or close friend of the Steel Family.

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young couple, photographed by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove and Hove Street, Hove (c1906). Although probably related to the Steel family of Hove, the identity of this young couple has not been established.

[ABOVE] Detail from the reverse of a cabinet portrait by Henry Steel of Hove (c1906)

[ABOVE]  Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove listed as a professional photographer in the 1910 edition of Pike's Directory of Brighton & Hove.

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of an elderly woman by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove and Hove Street, Hove (c1906). The seated woman has been identified as Mrs Eliza Brownings (c1830-1919), the mother of James Steel's wife, Susannah Brownings.

[ABOVE] Henry Steel's two studio addresses as printed on the reverse of a cabinet portrait produced around 1906.

Steel Family Portraits - Can you identify these people?

 (A) Young Woman (circa 1908)

(B) Young Man (circa 1906)

(C) Young Woman (circa 1906)

A number of the photographic portraits by Henry Steel of Hove which have been passed down from James Steel (1866-1919), the  photographer's younger brother, have not been identified. Do these faces appear in your collection of family photographs and are you able to identify them?

[ABOVE] A portrait of  Mrs Eliza Brownings (c1830-1919), the mother of James Steel's wife, Susannah Brownings.

 

More family photographs relating to the Hove photographer Henry Steel (1854-1952) can be viewed by clicking on the link below:

Henry Steel, Hove Photographer: Family Album

 

Carte-de-visite Portraits by Henry Steel of Hove

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a seated woman  by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, West Brighton (Hove) around 1895. Henry Steel mounted his portraits on obsolete cdv mounts from the studio of Robert Cox of Clifton, Bristol, when he first started his career as a photographer. Cox had closed his Clifton studio in 1891. [ABOVE] The trade plate of "H. Steel, Photographer" rubber-stamped on the back of a carte-de-visite portrait produced by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, West Brighton (Hove) around 1894. Henry Steel utilised old, unused card stock from Robert Cox, a photographer from Clifton, Bristol, to mount his portrait photographs. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a woman holding a bouquet of flowers by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove (c1898). By this date, Henry Steel had ordered his own supply of cdv card mounts, with his business address printed at the foot of the card, below the photograph itself. [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a child holding a ball by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove (c1898). This portrait is unusual in that Henry Steel appears to have photographed the child in her own home. The majority of Steel's portraits were taken in his purpose built studio in Goldstone Road, Hove.
 

Cabinet Portraits by Henry Steel of Hove

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a couple by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. (c1896) [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of three young children by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove. (c1896)

[ABOVE] Publicity printed on the reverse of a cabinet photograph produced by Henry Steel of Hove around 1906.  Henry Steel lived at 74 Goldstone Road, Hove, but around 1905, he opened a second studio at 11 Hove Street, Hove (later re-numbered No.9a). [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young woman by Henry Steel of 74 Goldstone Road, Hove (c1910). Around 1905, Henry Steel had opened a second studio in Hove Street. The two studios ran in parallel until about 1913.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Colin Goldsmith for providing photographs relating to the Steel Family of Hove. Colin Goldsmith is the great grandson of James Steel (1866-1919), the younger brother of Henry Steel, the Hove photographer. Colin's grandfather is Ernest James Steel, the youngest child of James Steel. I am also grateful to Richard Newnham, a great grandson of the photographer Henry Steel, for providing information about Henry Steel's family.
 
 

Harry Taylor - Active as a Photographer in Western Road, Hove, between 1866 and 1868

Harry TAYLOR (1838-1877)

Harry Taylor was born in Brighton in 1838, the eldest child of Mary Burgess and Elias Taylor, a stationer with a shop in Western Road Brighton. [Harry Taylor was christened on 28th February 1838 at the Chapel Royal, Brighton].

Elias Taylor, Harry Taylor's father, had been born in 1808 at Fawley, Hampshire, a village 7 miles south of Southampton, the son of Elizabeth Wyatt and Elias Taylor senior. By the time he was in his early twenties, Elias Taylor was living in Brighton. It appears that by 1830, Elias Taylor was operating a circulating library and printing business at 95 Western Road, Brighton. In 1830, from his circulating library at 95 Western Road, Elias Taylor printed and published his own drawing handbook entitled 'An Easy and Familiar Treatise on the Art of Drawing in Perspective', an instruction manual "calculated for young students".

On 26th March 1832, Elias Taylor married his first wife, Mary Daws, daughter of William Daws, at St Nicholas Church, Brighton. Elias Taylor's first wife died young and on 13th February 1837, Elias Taylor married Mary Burgess (born 1806, Ewhurst, Sussex), the daughter of Thomas and Mary Burgess.

Harry Taylor (born 1838, Brighton) was the first child born from the union of Elias Taylor and Mary Burgess. Elias and Mary Taylor went on to produce at least 4 more children - Fanny Taylor (born 1840, Brighton), Mary Taylor (born 1842, Brighton), Kate Taylor (born 1844, Brighton) and Frank Taylor (born 1850, Brighton).

By 1840, Elias Taylor was running a stationery business at 59 Western Road, Brighton. The 1841 census records Elias Taylor as a "Stationer" residing at a house in Western Road, Brighton, with his second wife, Mary, their two young children, Fanny and Harry, and Mary's two unmarried sisters, Caroline Burgess and Hannah Burgess. The household was completed by a 24 year old house servant named Eliza Stammer.

When the 1851 census was taken, Elias Taylor, described on the census return as a 42 year old "Stationer", was living with his wife and family at 59 Western Road, Brighton. The Taylor family's accommodation was attached to Elias Taylor's business premises. Four children were at home when the census was carried out - Fanny (aged 11), Mary (aged 8), Kate (aged 6) and Frank (aged 1). At the time of the 1851 census, thirteen year old Harry Taylor was living away from home, boarding as a pupil at William Gun's school at Belle Vue Hall, Eastern Road, Brighton. Mr and Mrs Taylor employed two "live-in" general servants at 59 Western Road. Alice Hunsted, an 18 year old "Shop Assistant" who was employed by Elias Taylor in his stationery business, also lodged with the Taylor family.

In 1859, twenty-one year old Harry Taylor married Eleanor Mary Gravely (born 1839, Boughton Monchelsea, Kent), the daughter of Eleanor and William Graveley, a brewer. [The marriage of Harry Taylor and Eleanor Mary Gravely was registered in the Sussex district of Uckfield during the 2nd Quarter of 1859].  William Gravely, Eleanor Gravely's father, had died in 1848 and her widowed mother Mrs Eleanor Gravely (born 1818, Uckfield, Sussex) had had to take up employment as a School Mistress in the Sussex village of Mayfield in order to support her five children.

Shortly after his marriage, Harry Taylor established a stationery and printing business at 63 Western Road, Brighton. According to his advertising and publicity, Harry Taylor carried out the duties of a bookseller, stationer, printer, bookbinder and account book manufacturer at his business premises at 63 Western Road, Brighton. Harry Taylor specialised in the production of account books, ledgers and cash books and, according to the Brighton Examiner, his stock of account books were "larger in variety and number that has been produced by any other tradesman south of London." Harry Taylor was also a lithographic and copper plate printer and publisher of books. One small book entitled 'The American Question: Secession. Tariff. Slavery', a riposte to Jefferson Davis's 'Message to the Confederate Congress' was printed and published by Harry Taylor of 63 Western Road, Brighton in 1862.

[ABOVE] An advertisement for Harry Taylor, Account Book Manufacturer of 63 Western Road, Brighton, which appeared in the Brighton Floral Almanack in 1861. A year after this advertisement was published, Harry Taylor was declared bankrupt.

When the census was carried out on 7th April 1861, Harry Taylor was recorded with his wife, Eleanor, at his business premises at 63 Western Road, Brighton. On the census return, Harry Taylor is described as a 23 year old "Account Book Manufacturer, Employing 1 Boy". The employed boy was 13 year old John Newnham Gravely (born 1848, Mayfield, Sussex), the younger brother of Harry Taylor's wife. On the census return, John Gravely is erroneously recorded as 'John Taylor', but his occupation - 'Apprentice', his relationship to Harry Taylor ('brother-in-law') and place of birth ('Mayfield, Sussex') is entered correctly. Harry Taylor and his wife Eleanor were using the services of one servant, a twenty year old housemaid named Ann Harvey.

On 4th April 1862, Harry Taylor was declared bankrupt. By this date, Elias Taylor, Harry's father, had retired from his stationery business and was living with his 55 year old wife Mary and two unmarried daughters (Mary Taylor, aged 18 and Kate Taylor, aged 16) on the outskirts of Brighton in the village of Patcham. Fifty-two year old Elias Taylor was residing with his family at Hartford Villa, Tivoli Gardens, Patcham. On the census return, Elias Taylor gives his occupation as a "Proprietor of Houses". Elias Taylor owned property in Western Road, Stone Street, Clarence Square and Montpelier Street. It seems likely that Elias Taylor was obliged to sell some of his houses to provide financial support for his insolvent son. In 1867, Elias Taylor and his daughter Kate Taylor sold their houses at Nos.10 and 11 Montpelier Street, Brighton. Elias Taylor's eldest daughter, Fanny Taylor (born 1840, Brighton) had married Henry Abbey (1816-1911), a wealthy brewer, on 23rd June 1859 and it is possible Mr and Mrs Abbey also provided funds for Harry Taylor's next business venture.

Around 1867, Harry Taylor opened a photographic portrait studio at 17 Western Road, Hove. [The location of Harry Taylor's photographic studio suggests the financial backing of his brother-in-law, Henry Abbey (1816-1911), a partner in the Hallett & Abbey brewery. Rooms at 17 Western Road, Hove, were being used as an office by Hallett & Abbey, pale ale brewers, in 1870]. Over the next year or so, Harry Taylor produced photographic portraits in the popular carte-de-visite format at his studio in Western Road, Hove. Harry Taylor's full-length carte-de-visite portraits are distinctive in that they have a decidedly rural setting, employing rustic gates and fences, a painted backdrop featuring trees and rolling hills and a floor covered in twigs, leaves and grass. Harry Taylor also tried his hand at colouring his carte-de-visite portraits. (See the portrait of the man in the guise of a hunter, illustrated below). There is also evidence that Taylor produced topographical views in the carte-de-visite format. Margo Debray mentions in her online blog that she has seen two carte-de-visite photographs of an ancient manor house at Oakley, Surrey, known as Evershed's, and that the photographs of Evershed's Manor were taken by Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove.

In 1867, Harry Taylor is listed as a photographer at 17 Western Road, Hove, in both Page's Directory of Brighton & Hove and J. Harrod & Co.'s Postal and Commercial Directory of 1867. Harry Taylor is not recorded as a photographer in subsequent editions of Page's Brighton & Hove Directory, so we can assume that he closed his studio at the end of 1867 or the early part of 1868. It was while living in Hove that Harry's wife, Eleanor Taylor, gave birth to their first child, Robert Harry Norman Taylor. [The birth of Robert Harry N. Taylor was registered in the Sussex district of Steyning during the First Quarter of 1867].

There is some evidence that before April 1871, Harry Taylor moved with his wife and son to the Thornton Heath area of Croydon, where he ran a 'Toy & Fancy Bazaar'. On 29th December 1871, at Hartford Villa, Patcham, Elias Taylor, Harry's father, died at the age of 64. Harry Taylor inherited Hartford Villa, his father's house in Patcham so he and his family returned to Sussex.

It appears that when he took up residence at his father's house in Patcham, Harry Taylor became a photographer again. When Harry Taylor died at Hartford Villa, Patcham on 5th April 1877, at the age of 39, his occupation was recorded as "Photographer". [ Harry Taylor left an estate worth less than £600]. At the end of the following year, Harry's widow, Mrs Eleanor Mary Taylor, died, leaving her 11 year old son, Robert Harry Taylor, an orphan. [The death of Eleanor Mary Taylor was registered in the Sussex district of Steyning during the 4th Quarter of 1878].

When the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, fourteen year old Robert N. H. Taylor is shown residing with his two aunts, Miss Mary Taylor and Miss Kate Taylor (Harry Taylor's two unmarried sisters) at 'Hartford Villa', 2 Evelyn Terrace, Brighton. Until early middle age, Robert Harry Norman Taylor (1867-1943) received financial support from his other aunt Mrs Fanny Abbey*, his late father's younger sister, who was the wife of the wealthy brewer and Brighton Alderman Henry Abbey (1816-1911).

On 21st May 1889, Robert Harry Norman Taylor married Emily Davis (born 1867, Eastbourne, Sussex) the daughter of Charles Davis, a farmer of Salehurst. For a few years, Robert Harry Norman Taylor farmed alongside his father-in-law at Goodgrooms Farm, near Salehurst, but, with loans from his aunt Kate Taylor and Mrs Fanny Abbey, he gave up farming to pursue various business ventures in London. By 1901, Robert Harry Taylor was living in Fulham and working as a "Commercial Traveller"

Robert Harry Norman Taylor, Harry Taylor's only son, died on the Isle of Wight in 1943, at the age of 76.

*Mrs Fanny Abbey (1840-1912), Harry Taylor's sister, was the wife of Henry Abbey (1816-1911) and mother of 5 children - Fanny (b1860), William Henry (b1864), Florence Emily (b1867) and Henry Robert Abbey (b1872)

[ABOVE] The trade plate of the photographer Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove, taken from the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait (c1867). Harry Taylor (1838-1877), the eldest son of a Brighton stationer, had set himself up as a printer & stationer at 63 Western Road, Brighton around 1860, but when his business failed in April 1862, he turned to photography.

[RIGHT] A carte-de-visite portrait of a man holding a sheet of paper, photographed by Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove. (c1867)

 
[LEFT] The public notice of Harry Taylor's bankruptcy which appeared in The London Gazette on 18th April, 1862. Between 1859 and 1862, Harry Taylor operated as a Stationer, Bookseller, Printer and Account Book Manufacturer at 63 Western Road, Brighton.

The Notice of Bankruptcy refers to a creditor named William Dawson Savage, a Chemist of 65 Edward Street, Brighton. William Dawson Savage (born c1810, Selby, Yorkshire) was an associate of Elias Taylor (1808-1871) Harry Taylor's father. William Dawson Savage was one of two men who proved the will of Elias Taylor on 14th February 1872.

Five years after the failure of his stationery business, Harry Taylor set himself up as a photographer at 17 Western road, Hove.

 

[ABOVE] The interior of a carte-de-visite portrait studio in the 1860s. The photographer is using a special multi-lens camera which could take between four to a dozen small portraits on a single glass negative. The camera in the middle foreground shows four apertures which correspond to the four lenses of the carte-de-visite camera. A woman poses in front of a mock-up of a drawing room in a grand house, complete with a cardboard fireplace and a fake ancestral portrait on the painted backdrop. On the far right of the illustration is an alternative studio portrait setting - an artificial balustrade in front of a magnificent countryside view featuring trees and a church spire. In front of this illusory view are two posing stands, complete with head clamps, which were used to keep a subject still during lengthy exposure times. The large windows and skylight provides the photographer with the required amount of natural light.
 

[ABOVE] An 1865 map of Brighton and Hove showing Western Road between Brunswick Square and West Street. The coloured dots indicate the approximate locations of Harry Taylor's stationery business at 63 Western Road, Brighton (marked by a purple dot) and his photographic portrait studio at 17 Western Road, Hove (marked by a red dot).

[ABOVE] Harry Taylor listed as a Photographer at 17 Western Road, Hove, in J. Harrod & Co.'s 1867 Directory

[ABOVE LEFT] Harry Taylor listed as a PhotographIc Artist at 17 Western Road, Hove, in the 1867 edition of Page's Directory of Brighton & Hove.

 

 

Carte-de-visite Portraits produced by Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove

[ABOVE] A portrait of a man in the guise of a hunter, holding a gun and two rabbits. A carte-de-visite portrait photographed by Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove. Negative No.3386 (c1867). [ABOVE] The reverse of the portrait illustrated on the left showing the trade plate of the photographer Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove. Negative No.3386 (c1867) [ABOVE] A portrait of a young woman reading a book in a rural setting. A carte-de-visite portrait produced by Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove. Negative No.2818 (c1867). [ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a young woman. A carte-de-visite portrait photographed by Harry Taylor of 17 Western Road, Hove. No negative number (c1867).
 
Mrs Margaret TENNANT
Mrs Margaret Tennant is recorded as a photographer at 4 Station Road, Aldrington, in local trade directories published between 1902 and 1904.  
 
Henry William TUBB (1867-1952)
Henry William Tubb was born at Climping, West Sussex in 1867, the second eldest son of Jane and Charles Tubb, a coachman in domestic service. On 21st July 1890, Henry William Tubb married Sarah Hopkins, the twenty-five year old daughter of Ann and Granby Hopkins, a shipwright (ship's carpenter) of Littlehampton. When the census was taken on 5th April 1891, Henry Tubb was working as a "Photographer's Assistant" in Dorking, Surrey.

After a period working as a photographer's assistant in Dorking, Surrey, Henry William Tubb returned to Sussex to establish his own photographic portrait business. Around 1899, Henry Tubb set up a photographic studio in Portland Road, Hove, opposite Portslade Railway Station. Describing himself as an "Artist Photographer", Henry Tubb took studio portraits at his Portland Road Studio, but he was also an "outdoor photographer", offering to bring his camera along  to "Garden Parties, Wedding groups, etc., ..by appointment". Henry Tubb was also keen to advertise his expertise in making photographic enlargements. Tubb's advertisements proclaimed "Photographs in all Styles - Enlargements of all Description" and the publicity on the reverse of his cabinet and carte-de-visite portraits, under the heading "ENLARGEMENTS TO ALL STYLES", assured his customers that "the negative of this photograph is preserved from which enlargements or further copies can always be obtained."  To supplement his photography business, Henry Tubb also made picture frames at his Portland Road premises.

When the 1901 census was taken on 31st March, Henry and Sarah Tubb and their eight year old daughter Matilda were recorded at (2) Portland Road, Aldrington, Hove. As the Head of Household, Henry W. Tubb is described on the census return as a "Photographer (own account)", aged 34.

Henry William Tubb's home in Portland Road served as his studio and business premises. Henry Tubb was keen to point out in his advertisements that his Portland Road Studio was located opposite Portslade Railway Station.

During the 3rd Quarter of 1903, Sara Tubb gave birth to a second child ; a daughter named Olive Una Tubb. Around 1907, Henry Tubb opened a second photographic studio at 39 Station Road, Portslade-by-Sea. For a short time, Henry Tubb worked from both studios, but by the end of 1908 the photographer had shifted his home and business from Portland Road, Hove to 39 Station Road, Portslade-by-Sea, where he worked for the next 20 years.

After Henry William Tubb retired he returned to West Sussex. Henry William Tubb died in 1952 at the age of 84. [Death registered in the District of Worthing during the 1st Quarter of 1952].

[ABOVE] The trade plate of photographer H. W. Tubb of Portland Road, Hove, taken from the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait (c1905) [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a girl wearing a fancy hat by Henry William Tubb of Portland Road, Hove. (c1905)
 

For a more detailed account of Henry Tubb's life and career as a photographer in Hove and Portslade-by-Sea, click on the link below:

Henry William Tubb - Photographer in Hove and Portslade

 

DIRECTORY OF HOVE PHOTOGRAPHERS ( S - T )

     
SIMMONS  William Frederick 74 George Street, HOVE 1910+
SOLA  F.                                                 * 119 Church Road, HOVE 1889
SPIERS  Edward  J. 46 Blatchington Road, HOVE 1909-1910+
SPIERS   Miss [SPICER] 46 Blatchington Road, HOVE 1910
SPINK  Henry Joseph       notes & examples    biography 36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville, HOVE     notes & examples 1878-1892
SPINK  Henry J & SON  notes & examples    biography 36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville, HOVE     notes & examples c1890
SPINK  Henry C. (Henry SPINK  junior)  notes & examples   biography  36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville, HOVE     notes & examples 1895-1896
SPINK  Samuel G. notes & examples   biography 36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville, HOVE     notes & examples 1894
STEEL  Henry  notes & examples    (see panel above on this page)         * 74 Goldstone Road, HOVE 1895-1924
   11 Hove Street, HOVE 1905-1910
   9a Hove Street, HOVE 1910-1913
     
T    
     
TAYLOR  Harry                                                               * 17 Western Road, HOVE 1867
TENNANT  Mrs Margaret 4 Station Road, ALDRINGTON 1902-1904
TUBB  Henry W.      notes & examples                                     * Portland Road, opposite Portslade Station, PORTSLADE       notes & examples 1899-1907
                                  notes & examples  39 Station Road, PORTSLADE 1907-1910+
                                             notes & examples    

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