Arch No. 174

Arch No. 185

Arch No. 186

Arch No. 193

Arch No. 200

Arch Nos. 218 -225

Fishermen's Club & Reading Room

Brighton Fish Market

To the Palace Pier >>

Thomas Frederick Foulkes was born in Oswestry, Shropshire, around 1834. (The baptism of Thomas Foulkes, the son of Ann and Thomas Foulkes senior, was registered in Oswestry on 10th September 1834).

Thomas Frederick Foulkes began his working life in Sussex as an itinerant beach photographer, travelling from one seaside town to another. The 1871 census records thirty-six year old Thomas Foulkes sharing a room with fellow photographer William Dawson (born 1843, Bury, Huntingdonshire) at a fisherman's house in Ferry Road, Littlehampton. Within a few years both Thomas Foulkes and William Dawson, his former travelling companion, were working as photographers on the beach at Brighton.

On 14th October 1874, Thomas Frederick Foulkes married Alicia Ann Skeats (born 1851) at St Peter's Church, Brighton. Thomas Foulkes was 40 years old at the time of his marriage and his young bride was twenty-three. Although Alicia Skeats was born in London in 1851 (Alicia's birth was registered in the St Pancras district of London during the 4th Quarter of 1851) her family originated from Romsey in Hampshire. Alicia, the daughter of Ann and James Skeats, was baptised Alicia Anne Skeats in Romsey on 9th September 1855, four years after her birth in London.

Towards the end of 1875, Alicia Ann Foulkes gave birth to a son named Harold Frederick Foulkes. [The birth of Harold Frederick Foulkes was registered in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1875]. A second son, Stanley Foulkes was born in Brighton during the First Quarter of 1877.

As early as 1878, Thomas Frederick Foulkes was working as a photographer on Brighton's beach. Kelly's 1878 Post Office Directory of Sussex lists Thomas Frederick Foulkes as a photographer at The Beach, King's Road, Brighton. By the early 1880s, a number had been allotted to Foulkes' arch on Brighton's seafront. In 1883, Thomas Foulkes' arch was numbered 100, but by 1888 it had been re-numbered and Brighton street directories published between 1888 and 1890 give Foulkes' studio address as 46 King's Road Arches, Brighton.

[ABOVE] Thomas Frederick Foulkes listed as a seafront photographer in two Brighton street directories which span a thirty year time period. When Thomas Frederick Foulkes made his first appearance in Kelly's 1878 Post Office Directory of Sussex , he and fellow photographer William Dawson were the only two professional photographers residing at The Beach on the Kings Road's Lower Esplanade.  Pike's 1908 Directory of Brighton & Hove lists T. F. Foulkes as a photographer at 174 Kings Road Arches. Thomas Foulkes had died in 1901 and the photography business which carried his name was being run by his widow, Mrs Alicia Foulkes.

The 1881 census records Thomas Foulkes and his family at 34 Russell Square, Brighton. The Head of Household Thomas F. Foulkes is described on the census return as a "Photographer", aged 46. Sharing the family home at 34 Russell Square was Thomas Foulkes' twenty-nine year old wife Alicia Ann Foulkes, their two children - five year old Harold and four year old Stanley, plus two lodgers - a seventy-four year old former governess and a young stableman.

By the time the 1891 census was carried out on 5th April 1891, Thomas Frederick Foulkes had moved to No.4 Middle Street, Brighton. Thomas F. Foulkes is entered on the census return as a fifty-six year old "Artist Photographer". Three sons are recorded at Thomas Foulkes' address in Middle Street. (Thomas and Alicia's third son, Rupert Foulkes had been born in Brighton in 1886). Fourteen year old Stanley Foulkes was still at school, but his older brother Harold Foulkes was employed as an assistant to a boot manufacturer. Elizabeth Miller, a teenage cousin of Mrs Foulkes, was residing with Thomas and Alicia Foulkes. Seventeen year old Elizabeth, who was from the New Forest district of Hampshire, was working as a domestic servant in Brighton.

During the 1890s, Thomas Frederick Foulkes was operating as a beach photographer from two addresses in the King's Road Arches. The 1894 edition of Page's General Directory of Brighton & Hove lists T. F. Foulkes as a photographer at No.174 and No.181 King's Road Arches. The number of Thomas Foulkes' original arch at 46 King's Road Arches, Brighton had been re-numbered No.131 about 1890, around the time that Frederick and Alicia Foulkes had opened a refreshment room near the Excelsior Cycling Club. The re-numbering of the arches in 1893 changed Foulkes's business addresses from 131 & 138 King's Road Arches to 174 & 181 King's Road Arches.

Thomas Frederick Foulkes died in Brighton early in 1901, at the age of 66. Mrs Alicia Ann Foulkes, Thomas Foulkes' widow, took over the running of her late husband's seafront photography business. The 1901 census records Alicia A. Foulkes as a forty-nine year old "Photographer". Mrs Foulkes' three sons had not followed their father into the photography business. Harold Foulkes was working as a "Brewer's Carman" and Stanley Foulkes was employed as an electrical draughtsman. Rupert Foulkes was employed as a household servant and is described as a fourteen year old "Page (Domestic)" on the census return.

Around 1909, Mrs Alicia Ann Foulkes vacated the photography workshop at 174 Kings Road Arches. From 1910, members of the Brighton Deep Sea Anglers Club used Arch No. 174 as their club house.

[ABOVE] A photograph taken before the First World War showing the beach at Brighton below the Middle Street gap. Seafront photographer Thomas Frederick Foulkes worked on the beach immediately in front of the ramp at the Middle Street gap (see picture below).

[ABOVE] 'Brighton Front' by Charles Bathurst (c1936). This drawing shows the arches on Brighton's seafront at the Middle Street gap. One of the arches behind the ramp was once occupied by Fred Collins junior (1858-1940) a seafront photographer and the proprietor of the American Bowling Saloon at 166 Kings Road Arches. Thomas Frederick Foulkes was a beach photographer who worked from one of the arches pictured in the bottom right-hand corner of Charles Bathurst's sketch. Thomas Frederick Foulkes worked as a photographer on Brighton beach from 1878 until his death in 1901. It appears that after Thomas Foulkes' death, his widow, Mrs Alicia Foulkes, continued working as a beach photographer  from Arch No. 174.  T. F. Foulkes was still listed as a photographer at 174 Kings Road Arches in 1908, some seven years after his death.

[ABOVE] Thomas Frederick Foulkes listed as a photographer on The Beach, King's Road, Brighton in the 1878 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex. Thomas Foulkes and William Dawson were the first two professional photographers to establish permanent photographic workshops on Brighton's Beach.

The King's Road Arches (Middle Street to East Street)

Frederick Marks & Ralph Marks

Frederick Marks and his son Ralph Marks ran The Beach Pavilion Photographic Studio on Brighton's seafront from around 1900 until about 1915. Frederick M. Marks, who was born around 1847, either in the City of London or Hounslow, Middlesex, began his working career as a "Fine Art Publisher". Around 1872, Frederick Marks married a young woman named Marian (born c1852, London, Middlesex). The couple went on to produce at least 7 children - Joseph T. Marks (born c1872, Shepherds Bush, Middlesex), David Graham Marks (born 1874, Bloomsbury, Middlesex), Rosetta Alexandra Marks (born 1875, Kilburn, Middlesex), Lionel Cartwright Marks (born 1877, Kilburn, Middlesex), Ralph Hamilton Marks (born 1880, St John's Wood, Middlesex), Violet Maud Marks (born 1883, St John's Wood, Middlesex) and Daisy Victoria Marks (born 1887, Paddington, Middlesex).

At the time of the 1881 census, Frederick Marks and his family were residing at 14 Holsham Road (?), London, Middlesex. On the census return, Frederick Marks is described as a thirty-four year old "Fine Art Publisher". Presumably, Frederick Marks was comfortably well-off as he could afford to employ two "live-in" domestic servants.

Around 1900, Frederick Marks and his family settled in Brighton. When the census was taken on 31st March 1901, Frederick Marks was recorded with his wife and their three youngest children at 38 Duke Street, Brighton. Three of the five members of the family were working as photographers - Frederick Marks, the head of the household, who is described as a "Photographer (own account)", twenty-one year old Ralph Marks, Frederick Marks' youngest son and a partner in his father's photography business and Daisy Marks, aged 13, who was probably employed by her father as an assistant photographer at The Beach Pavilion Photographic Studio at 185 King's Road Arches.

[ABOVE] The 1901 census return for 38 Duke Street, Brighton. showing the details of Frederick Marks and his family. Frederick Marks was assisted in his seafront studio by his son Ralph Harrison Marks and thirteen year old daughter Daisy Marks.

The Beach Pavilion Photographic Studio was established by the Marks family at 185 King's Road Arches around 1900. The photographic studio at The Beach Pavilion is listed in the 1901 edition of Towner's Directory of Brighton & Hove and Ralph Marks was still recorded as a photographer at Arch No.185 The Beach (King's Road Arches) when Kelly's Directory of Sussex was published in 1915.

The 1911 Census records the Marks family at No.1 Ship Street Gardens, Brighton, a small cottage in a twitten that runs between Ship Street and Middle Street. On the census return, sixty-four year old Frederick M. Marks is described as a "Photographer" as his thirty-one year old son, Ralph Marks. Frederick Mark's youngest daughter Daisy Marks is no longer working as a photographer in her father's studio, having joined her elder sister Violet marks in her florist's shop.

It appears that Ralph Marks took over photographic studio at 185 King's Road Arches when his father retired from the business around 1912. Ralph Marks was still operating the seafront studio when he married Dorothy E. Gordon in 1914. [The marriage of Ralph H. Marks and Dorothy E. Gordon was registered in the Sussex district of Steyning during the 3rd Quarter of 1914]. Ralph Hamilton Marks does not appear in the trade lists of professional photographers in Sussex published between 1918 and 1922, yet there is evidence that he lived in the Brighton & Hove area during this period. Ralph Marks might have been the senior partner in the firm of Marks & Avery, which had a studio on Grand Junction Road near the entrance to Brighton's Palace Pier. Marks & Avery were still running the photographic studio at Palace Pier, Grand Junction Road, Brighton in 1930. Apparently, in the early 1930s, Mr Avery took an increasing role in the business and by 1934, the studio in Grand Junction Road had restyled itself as Avery & Marks. We know that Ralph Hamilton Marks was still living in the Brighton/Hove area of Sussex during this time as he married his second wife, Doris A. F. Jones, in the Steyning district of East Sussex during the 4th Quarter of 1933.

Both Frederick M. Marks and his wife Marian Marks passed away in the closing months of 1921. The deaths of seventy-five year old Frederick M. Marks and seventy-three year old Marian Marks were registered in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1921.

[ABOVE] Three photography workshops listed in the Arches between the Middle Street and East Street gaps in the 1901 edition of Towner's Directory of Brighton & Hove.  Mrs Alicia Foulkes, the widow of photographer Thomas Foulkes, is recorded as a photographer at Arch No. 174.  Frederick Marks was the proprietor of the Beach Pavilion Photographic Studio at 185 Kings Road Arches and  Joseph Peter Manning is listed as a photographer at 193 Kings Road Arches.

[ABOVE] Ralph MarksThomas  listed as a photographer at  Arch 185, The Beach, King's Road, Brighton in the 1915 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] The photographic studio of Marks & Avery recorded at Palace Pier, Grand Junction Road, Brighton in the 1924 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex.

William Lable (William Lebl) - Printer, Seafront Photographer and Refreshment Room Proprietor

William Lable was born "William Lebl" in the East End of London around 1864. William Lebl was the eldest son of two German immigrants, John Lebl and Annie Minnie Shoeneck (Schoeneck). William's mother, Annie Minnie Shoeneck (Schoeneck), who was born in Germany around 1844, was the daughter of Joseph Schoeneck (born c1809, Germany), a "General Dealer" based in Mile End New Town in the Jewish district of London's East End. On 26th December 1862, Annie Minnie Shoeneck (Schoeneck) married John Lebl at St Dunstan's Church, Stepney, East London.

William Lebl, John and Annie Lebl's first child, was born in Mile End New Town around 1864. Mrs Annie Lebl gave birth to two more children - Arthur Lebl who was born in 1865 [Arthur's birth was registered in the East London district of Whitechapel during the 2nd Quarter of 1865] and Emma Lebl who arrived a few years later. [Emma's birth was registered in the East London district of Whitechapel during the 1st Quarter of 1868].

John Lebl, William Lebl's father, died sometime around 1876. [The death of a John Lobb (Lebl?), aged 35, was registered in the East London district of Stepney during the 3rd Quarter of 1876]. When the 1881 census was taken, Ann Lebl (described as a thirty-seven year old widow with three children) is recorded at 32 Dunk Street, Mile End New Town, East London. Ann Lebl was residing with her father Joseph Shoneck (Schoeneck), and she, like her seventy-two year old father, was described on the 1881 census return as a "General Dealer". Seventeen year old William Lebl and his younger brother, Arthur Lebl (aged 16), were both employed by a local printer as compositors. Thirteen year old Emma Lebl was still at school.

In 1888, William Lebl, then aged about 24, married Alice Jane Pass (born 1863, Old Kent Road, Southwark), a twenty-four year old "Book Folder" from Camberwell, South London. [The marriage of William Lebl and Alice Jane Pass was registered in the St Olave district of Southwark, South London, during the 3rd Quarter of 1888]. Alice Pass was the daughter of Jane Short (born c1835, Stockport, Lancashire) and William Henry Pass (1832-1883), a "Hydraulic Brakesman" who originated from Islington, North London. Early in 1889, William Lebl's wife gave birth to a baby daughter named Ethel Emmie Lebl. [Ethel's birth was registered in the South London district of St Olave, Southwark, during the 1st Quarter of 1889]. A son named Arthur William Lebl arrived the following year. [The birth of Arthur William Lebl was registered in the South London district of St Olave, Southwark, during the 3rd Quarter of 1890].

When the census was taken on 5th April 1891, William Lebl, his wife Alice, and their two young children were living at 284 Lynton Road, Bermondsey, South London. By this date, William Lebl had anglicized his name to "William Lable". Twenty-seven year old William Lable now had his own printing business, being described on the census return as "Letterpress & Lithographic Printer (Employer)". Sharing his home in Lynton Road, Bermondsey, was William Lable's widowed mother-in-law, Mrs Jane Pass, and her unmarried children, Ada Matilda Pass (29), Edward Pass (18) and Frederick William Pass (16) all three of whom appear to have been employed in William Label's printing busines.

At the age of 16, William Lable's daughter Ethel Emmie Lebl married James Robert Dobson (born 1878, Brighton), a twenty-six year old tailor's clerk who was living in the Sussex seaside resort of Brighton. [The marriage of Ethel Emmie Lebl and James Robert Dobson was registered in Brighton during the 3rd Quarter of 1905]. A daughter named Ethel Dobson was born in Brighton during the First Quarter of 1906.

Around 1908, William Lable (Lebl) arrived in Brighton to set up a printing business at 60 North Road, Brighton. Around the same time, William Label's wife Mrs Alice Lable took possession of Arch No. 189 in Brighton's King's Road Arches, where she worked as an "embroideress". Shortly afterwards, William Label also opened two businesses on Brighton's seafront. The 1911 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex lists William Lable as a printer at 60 North Road, Brighton, but also records him as a photographer and refreshment room proprietor on The Beach, Brighton. The 1910 edition of Pike's Directory of Brighton & Hove records William Lable as a photographer at 186a King's Road Arches, Brighton and in 1911 Kelly's Directory of Sussex lists William Lable as a photographer at 187, The Beach, Brighton.

When the 1911 census was taken, William Lable, his wife Alice, their twenty-two year old daughter Ethel and her husband and child, were residing at 24 Hampton Place, Brighton, near the boundary with Hove. On the census return, William Lable is described as a forty-eight year old "Printer and Stationer". William Lable's son-in-law, James Dobson was at this time working as a commercial traveller.

In addition to his printing and stationery business, William Lable owned refreshment rooms at Arch No. 189, The Beach (King's Road Arches) Brighton. Nearby, at 186a King's Road Arches, William Lable operated a seafront photography business. Unfortunately for William Lable, next door at 185 King's Road Arches, was the Beach Pavilion Photographic Studio, a seafront photography business which had been run by Frederick Marks (born c1847, London) and his son Ralph Harrison Marks (born 1880, St John's Wood) since 1900.

Presumably, William Lable worked as a seafront photographer on Brighton's seafront at weekends and during the Summer holiday season. The proximity of a rival photographic studio in the stretch of seafront between the Middle Street and East Street gaps did not deter William Lable. Perhaps, Frederick Marks and his son Ralph operated a conventional photographic studio, leaving William Lable free to photograph holidaymakers on the beach itself.

After a few years residing in Brighton, William Lable left the Sussex seaside resort and returned to London. I cannot trace William Lable in historical records after 1915, but the death of his wife took place in St. Pancras, London, in 1933. [The death of Alice Jane Lable was registered in St. Pancras during the 1st Quarter of 1933].

Joseph Peter Manning (born c1850, Liverpool) - Photographer on Brighton's Seafront  for over 20 years

When the census of Brighton was taken on 3rd April 1881, Joseph Manning, was residing at 48 George Street, Brighton, with his thirty-seven year old wife Mary Manning (born c1844, Helby, Leicestershire). Boarding with Joseph and Mary Manning was a young photographic artist John Thornbury and his teenage wife Ellen Thornbury.

At the time of the 1881 census, Joseph Peter Manning described himself as an unemployed photographer. During the 1880s, Joseph Manning was possibly earning his living as a beach photographer and, by 1888, he is listed as a photographer occupying Arch No.38 on Brighton's seafront.

When the 1891 census was taken, Joseph Peter Manning was living at 12 Camden Terrace, Brighton. Although he states on the census return that he is married, Joseph Manning was not living with his wife when the census was taken. Joseph P. Manning is described on the 1891 census return as a "Photographic Artist" and gives his place of birth as Liverpool and his age as "35", which would indicate that he was born in 1855 or 1856.

The 1901 census does not clear up the issue of when Joseph Manning was born. On the evening of 31st March, 1901, Joseph P. Manning was residing at 43 Sydney Street, Brighton. Still described as a Liverpool-born "Photographer", Joseph P. Manning's gives his age as "45".

Joseph Peter Manning is recorded as a seafront photographer based in the King's Road Arches between 1888 and 1907. Because the Arches on Brighton seafront were constantly being re-numbered, the address of Joseph Manning's photography workshop also changed over the years. In 1888, Joseph Peter Manning had a photographic room at No 38 Kings Road Arches near the Ship Street gap. Around 1890, the Kings Road Arches were re-numbered. The Arches under the Kings Road were now numbered from left to right, starting from, rather than ending at William Dawson's business premises near the West Pier. Dawson's studio address was hardly affected but the reversed ordering of numbering changed the business address of Joseph P. Manning from No 38 to No 150 Kings Road Arches. To confuse matters even further, the numbers on the Arches were changed again, a couple of years later. Page's Directory of Brighton & Hove, published in 1895, illustrates that the re-numbering of the Kings Road Arches around 1893 had in effect increased the numbers of each studio address by a difference of around forty or more. Joseph Peter Mannings' studio number changed from No.150 to No.193 Kings Road Arches. Looking at trade directories which span the late 1880s to the early 1900s, the impression is given that Joseph P. Manning (like the other photographers in the Kings Road Arches) was continually changing the site of his seafront studio, when in fact he was occupying the same site over a period of 19 years. The location of the Kings Road Arches studios remained constant; it was the numbering of the Arches that was frequently changing.

Around 1907, Joseph Peter Manning gave up his photographer's workshop in Arch No.193. The 1908 edition of Pike's Directory of Brighton shows that Arch No. 193 had been taken over by the wine merchants Findlater, Mackie & Co., a firm that already had a wine & spirit store next door at Arch No. 192. Local trade directories issued after 1907, describe Arch No.193 as Findlater's Champagne Cellars.

Although no longer equipped with a convenient photographer's darkroom in the King's Road Arches, Joseph Peter Manning continued his career as a professional photographer in Brighton. The 1911 census records Joseph Peter Manning as a "Photographer", lodging at 30 Cheltenham Place, Brighton. Manning again gives his place of birth as "Liverpool, Lancashire", but there is still some uncertainty about when he was born. The census enumerator records Joseph Manning's age as "50", which implies a birth date in 1860 or 1861.

A man named Joseph Manning died in Brighton during the early months of 1929. The age of the deceased is given as 80.

[ABOVE] A detail of the family posing  in front of the King's Road Arches (see left), laterally reversed so that the signs can be read more easily. The lettering above the arch reads "PAUL & FAMILY - AMUSEMENT CONTRACTOR FROM THE CRYSTAL PALACE". This is a reference to the amusements provided at the Festival of Empire Exhibition, Crystal Palace, Sydenham, London, which opened on 12th May 1911 and closed later that year.

[ABOVE] A group of men on a workers' outing to Brighton, pictured on a postcard published before the outbreak of the First World War. On the reverse of the picture postcard is the hand-written inscription "McVitie & Price's Vanmen & Motormen Outing at Brighton, August 1913." The photograph appear to have been taken in front of the King's Road Arches between Arch No. 211 (Hedges & Butler Wine Stores) and Arch No. 213 (Harry Ford's Bowling Saloon & Oyster Bar).

[PHOTO: Courtesy of Dave Cotton, NSW, Australia]

The King's Road Arches (Middle Street to East Street)

Lewis Riggs WHY (1852-1924) - Proprietor of a Rifle Range and active as a Photographer in Brighton from around 1890

Lewis Riggs Why was born in Hurst, Berkshire, probably towards the end of 1852 [The birth of Lewis Riggs Why was registered in the district of Wokingham during the First Quarter of 1853]. Lewis was the fifth child of Catharine Lewis and William Why, a baker and grocer from High Wycombe.

William Why (born c1819, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire) had married Catharine Lewis (born c1819, Wokingham, Berkshire) in Reading in 1843. The union of William Why and Catharine Lewis produced at least nine children - John (born 1844), William (born 1845), Sarah (born 1848), Catharine (born 1851), Lewis Riggs Why (born 1852), Mary Ann (born c1855), Albert Thomas Why (born 1857), Louisa (born 1859) and Hagar Why (born 1862).

In 1875, Lewis Riggs Why, then aged around 22, married milliner Rose Atkey (born c1843, Isle of Wight), a woman who was ten years older than her husband. Initially, Lewis Why followed his father into the bakery trade and at the time of the 1881 census, he was described as a twenty-nine year old baker. When the 1881 census was taken, Lewis Why and his wife were visiting James and Ann Johnson at their home at 35 Baker Street, Brighton.

By the late 1880s, Lewis Why and Rose Why had settled in Brighton. The 1881 census demonstrates that Lewis Why already had friends and acquaintances in Brighton. Lewis Why's younger brother Albert Thomas Why (born 1857, Hurst, Berkshire) had moved to Brighton in 1881 with his wife and two children. At the time of the 1881 census Albert Thomas Why and his family were living at 1 Kingsbury Street, Brighton, and Albert was employed as a "Journeyman Grocer". By 1890, Albert T. Why had his own fishmonger's shop at 7 Baker Street, Brighton. (In Kelly's  Directory of Sussex, published in1911, Albert Thomas Why is list as the proprietor of an oyster bar at 58 Russell Street, Brighton).

When the 1891 census was taken Lewis Why was recorded as a thirty-eight year old "Photographer" at 12 Albion Street, Brighton. During this period Lewis Why was probably working as a photographer on Brighton's beach. By 1890, Lewis Why had established himself as a photographer in the King's Road Arches. The 1890 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex records Lewis Why as a "Photographic Artist" at 170 King's Road Arches. Next door to Lewis Why's photography workshop, at Arch No. 171, was William Edward Keith's Military Rifle Range. By around 1895, Lewis Why and his wife Rose were managing the rifle range that adjoined Lewis Why's photographic workshop and dark room. By this date the Arches that lined Brighton beach had been re-numbered. Lewis Why worked as a photographer from 213 King's Road Arches and Mrs Rose Why managed the Military Rifle Range at 214 King's Road Arches.

The 1901 census records Lewis and Rose Why residing at 4 St James Street, Brighton. Forty-eight year old Lewis R. Why is described on the census return as a "Photographer (own account)" and his wife Mrs Rose Why is recorded as the manageress of a shooting gallery.

When the census of Brighton was carried out on 2nd April 1911, Lewis Why and his wife were living at 11 Jubilee Street, Brighton. Rose Why was no longer working, but Lewis Riggs Why is entered on the census return as a fifty-eight year old "Rifle Range Assistant".

Mrs Rose Why, Lewis Why's wife, died in Brighton in 1919 at the age of 81. Lewis Riggs Why died in Brighton during the 3rd Quarter of 1924.

It appears that Lewis Riggs Why and his wife Rose Why did not have any children, however, in 2006, John Why of Edgware informed me that his great grandfather Albert Thomas Why (1857-1932), Lewis Why's younger brother, was the father of several children who reached adulthood, married and had children. This means that there are descendants from the Brighton branch of the Why Family through Albert Thomas Why, the Brighton fishmonger and oyster bar owner.

[ABOVE] A shooting gallery stall at a Battersea fairground photographed by Paul Martin in 1892. The photograph shows a group of boys gathered around a man aiming his rifle at a target while the female stall-holder looks on. In the late 1890s, Lewis Why's wife Rose ran her husband's rifle range in the King's Road Arches, while he took photographic portraits of holidaymakers on the beach.

[ABOVE] A photograph of a rifle range / shooting gallery in the Kings Road Arches, Brighton (1915). This particular shooting gallery is the Sporting and Military Rifle Range at No. 155 Kings Road Arches. In the 1890s, Louis Why ran a similar establishment called The Military Rifle Range at 214 Kings Road Arches, next door to the Brighton Fish Market.

[ABOVE] Lewis Why recorded as a  "photographic artist" at No. 213 Kings Road Arches, Brighton in the 1899 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex. Lewis's wife, Mrs Rose Why managed the adjoining Military Rifle Range	[ABOVE] Lewis R. Why listed as the manager of the Military Rifle Range at Nos. 214 & 215 Kings Road Arches in the Brighton Street List of Towner's Directory of Brighton & Hove, published in 1901.

[ABOVE] A map of Brighton produced around 1895 showing the location of Lewis Why's businesses at 213 & 214 Kings Road Arches, just to the west of Brighton's Fish Market.

[ABOVE] The site of Brighton Fish Market in the King's Road Arches between Arch No. 216 and Arch No. 224, photographed in 2005 when these Arches were occupied by Carousels bar and restaurant and an amusement hall.

[ABOVE] Lewis Why listed as the manager of a "rifle saloon" at No. 214 Kings Road Arches in the 1911 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex. Lewis Why's rifle range was located to the west of the Fish Market.

[ABOVE] A modern photograph of the large arches just west of the former Fish Market in Brighton's King's Road Arches (2005). At Arch No. 216, situated at the western end of the Fish Market building, is the premises of Professor Mirza, a clairvoyant and psychic. In the early 1900s, the large arches on the left of the picture housed a wine store, an oyster bar  and  Lewis Why's rifle range.

King's Road Arches -Part 1