G. & K. Ransom - Raymond & Co. -  G. A. Read - Mdme Rivers - Robert & Bertrand - Lionel Roberts - William Roberts -  William Benjamin Roe - Edward W. Rolfe -  

Thomas Rosslyn - Royal Chain Pier Photographic Rooms - Royal Photographic Studio - Edmund Rubbra & Co. - George Ruff - Madame Agnes Ruge

George Ransom was born "Stephen George Ransom" in St Leonards, near Hastings, Sussex, in 1848. [The birth of Stephen George Ransom was registered in the district of Hastings during the 1st Quarter of 1848]. (Stephen) George Ransom was the son of Emily Neeves and John Ransom, a railway guard. Like his father before him, George Ransom found employment with the Railway. By 1871, 23 year old George Ransom was employed as a "Railway Engine Cleaner" in Brighton. Within ten years, George Ransom would become a railway locomotive engine driver.

On 2nd April 1876, at St Nicholas Church, Brighton, (Stephen) George Ransom married Kate King (born 1852, Shipley, Sussex), the daughter of Mary and David King, an agricultural labourer of Hurstpierpoint. After their marriage, George and Kate Ransom set up home at No.3 Cameron Terrace, Brighton. Over the next three years, Mrs Kate Ransom gave birth to three children - George Harry Ransom (born 1877, Brighton), Albert Ernest Ransom (born 1878, Brighton) and Ellen Alethia Ransom (born 1880, Brighton). By the time the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, George and Kate Ransom and their three children had been joined at their Brighton home by Mrs Ransom's younger brother Harry King (born 1863, Hurstpierpoint, Sussex). On the 1881 census return, George Ransom is described as a 'Loco Engine Driver' and his 17 year old brother-in-law, Harry King gave his occupation as "Photographer's Assistant".

By 1890, George Ransom and his growing family had moved to 19 New England Street, Brighton. The 1891 Census lists George Ransom, his wife Kate Ransom and their 9 children at 19 New England Street. George Ransom's brother-in-law, Harry King, was still boarding with the Ransom family and was earning his living as a full-time photographer.

George Alfred Read was born in Kensington, London, in 1870, the son of Louisa and William Read, an omnibus conductor.

In 1889, at Horncastle, Lincolnshire, George Alfred Read married Susan Kate Barnes aka Barns (born, 1870, Chelsea, London), the daughter of Harriett Mason and Story Barnes (1835-1911), a jobbing builder. Mrs Susan Read gave birth to a son named George Samuel Read in Horncastle, Lincolnshire, during the First Quarter of 1890. Shortly after the birth of his son, George Alfred Read returned to Kensington, London, to pursue his career as a photographer. The 1891 census records twenty-one year old George A. Read, as a self-employed "Photographer" living with his wife Susan and their young son George at 64 Pembroke Gardens, Kensington, London.

Around 1891, George Alfred Read took over a photographic studio at No.9 Claro Terrace, Richmond Road, Earl's Court, which had previously been occupied by the photographers Alick Urquhart Endicott (1860-1907) and Reginald Florkofski. George Read's presence in Earl's Court must have been brief, because early in 1892 he was in Brighton and by 1893, the studio at 9 Claro Terrace, was in the hands of the photographer John Henry Grayson Clarke (born 1869, Kenilworth, Warwickshire).

In 1892, George Alfred Read was briefly active as a photographer in the seaside town of Brighton. George Read and his wife were residing in Brighton when their two year old son, George Samuel Read, died during the First Quarter of 1892. I have in my collection a single carte-de-visite portrait which carries the name G. A. Read and a hand-written address of 34 High Street, Brighton. (In 1891, 34 High Street, which was in the Kemp Town area of Brighton, was occupied by Benjamin J. Funnell, a hairdresser). George Read was using old printed card stock from his Earl's Court studio. The studio address of  9 Claro Terrace, Richmond Road, Earl's Court has been crossed out and over-written in ink with Read's Brighton address "34 High Street, Brighton". The reverse of carte is printed with with a design incorporating a quarter-circle fan, a stem of bamboo and two birds in flight, a back design which was popular from the late 1880s until about 1892.

Very little is known about William Roberts' photographic career. The earliest documentary evidence I have found which clearly indicates that William Roberts was a photographer is the 1861 census return for the West Ward of Brighton, which records William Roberts at 70 King's Road, Brighton. On the 1861 census return, William Roberts is described as an unmarried 31 year old 'Photographer'. Roberts is shown as the sole occupant of 70 King's Road, Brighton. The only physical evidence in my possession which clearly demonstrates that William Roberts was working as a photographer in Brighton around 1861 are two carte-de-visite portraits which date from this period and carry a trade plate printed on the reverse of the card which reads: "Roberts, Photographer, 70 King's Road, Brighton". This is supported by an illustration to an account of the activities of Doctor William King, who was promoting the idea of Co-operation in Brighton during the Victorian period. In the book 'Dr William King, Promoter of the Co-operative Movement' by T. W. Mercer (1922), there is a reproduction of a carte-de-visite portrait of Mrs Mary King, Dr King's wife, which is described as being "from a Photograph taken in 1861" and is credited to "Roberts, Brighton".

William Roberts' tenure at 70 King's Road, Brighton, was very brief. We know Roberts was operating a photographic studio at 70 King's Road, Brighton in 1861, but by 1862 his business premises was in the hands of the Dickinson Brothers, a firm of print-sellers and photographers. Sometime in 1861, William Roberts had opened a branch studio in the capital at 9 Charing Cross, London, but this studio had closed by the end of 1862. Dickinson Brothers took photographic portraits at 70 King's Road, Brighton until 1865 when they re-located their studio to No. 107 King's Road.

Unfortunately, I cannot find out anything about William Roberts' life and working career after he closed his Brighton and London studios in 1862. The name 'William Roberts' is a fairly common name and it is therefore difficult to trace the Brighton and London photographer William Roberts in genealogical records. For example, in the London area alone, between the years 1862 and 1865, there are 36 registrations of death for men named William Roberts. I have searched for a London-born William Roberts working as a photographer in census records before and after 1861, but without success. William Roberts might have died young, emigrated abroad or gave up photography as a profession, so unless a family descendant of William Roberts makes contact, it is unlikely that I will discover more about William Roberts the Brighton and London photographer.

William Roberts' Portrait of Mrs Mary King, wife of Dr William King, Promoter of the Co-operative Movement

[ABOVE] The trade plate of Mr. George Ruff, Artist and Photographist of 45 Queen's Road Brighton gilt-stamped on the leather presentation case holding the portrait of a man illustrated above (c1858). 

George Ruff was born in Brighton in 1826, the son of Charlotte and George Ruff senior (1795-1841), a shoemaker of Gloucester Street, Brighton. George’s baptism was recorded in Brighton on 27^th October 1826 and his date of birth is given as 26th September 1826. George’s father originated from Amberley in West Sussex, but by 1824 he was working as a shoemaker in Sussex Street, Brighton.

In November 1825, George Ruff the shoemaker married Charlotte Snelling of Brighton. The following year, on 26th September 1826, Mrs Charlotte Ruff gave birth to her first, and possibly only son, George. After George Ruff’s father died in 1841, his mother set herself up as a greengrocer and opened a shop in Brighton. As early as 1845, Mrs Charlotte Ruff is recorded as a greengrocer at 46 Richmond Street, Brighton. In an 1848 Brighton directory, George Ruff (presumably Mrs Ruff’s 22 year old son) is listed as a shopkeeper of 46 Richmond Street, Brighton.

George Ruff - Artist & Painter

At the time of the 1851 Census, Mrs Charlotte Ruff is recorded as a “Fruiterer – Greengrocer”, a widow, aged 48, residing at 46 Richmond Street, Brighton. Mrs Ruff’s only son, George Ruff, who was already working as an artist, is described on the 1851 census return as a “Painter in Oil & Watercolour”. In 1850, George Ruff had executed a watercolour of Hove Church, which is now owned by Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. Around the same time, the 24 year old artist probably made a daguerreotype of St Nicholas Church, one of the earliest photographic images of a Brighton building to have survived.

During the 1850s, George Ruff produced a number of paintings which represented scenes in Brighton and the surrounding countryside. In 1851, he painted watercolours depicting The Lodge at Brighton Cemetery, the Royal Pavilion, Preston Paygate and a view of the Queens Road in Brighton. In 1853, George Ruff completed an oil painting of Brighton Beach, which, like a number of his painted works, now resides in the collection of the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery. George Ruff also exhibited his artwork in London galleries. At the Society of British Artists, George Ruff exhibited seven watercolours, including the paintings “Broadstairs with the North Foreland Lighhouse” and "Kitchen Garden”.

George Ruff probably did not sell enough paintings to make a living as an artist. By 1855, George Ruff is listed in a local directory as a greengrocer, running a shop for his mother at 102 Richmond Street, Brighton.

Marriage and Children

Towards the end of 1851, George Ruff married Ruth Collins (born 1825, Brighton), a twenty-six year old milliner & dressmaker, who at the time of the 1851 census, had been living next door at 47 Richmond Street, Brighton, with her uncle William Eastwood, who ran a grocery store alongside Mrs Charlotte Ruff's greengrocer's shop. George's bride, Ruth Collins, had been born on 20th October 1825, was the eldest daughter of Maria Barber and John Collins, a baker of Cheapside, Brighton.

On 20th October 1852, George and Ruth Ruff became the parents of a baby girl, who was given the name Ruth Ruff, but was often referred to as 'Ruthey' to distinguish her from her mother. On 16th June 1858, Mrs Ruth Ruff gave birth to a second child, a boy called George Ruff junior, named after his father.

George Ruff – 'Artist and Photographist'

There is evidence that George Ruff was taking daguerreotypes as early as 1850. A view of St Nicholas's Church was photographed by George Ruff before the restoration and alterations were made to the church building in the early 1850s. (See illustration, below).

George Ruff became a professional photographer around 1855 and is first listed as a photographic artist in the 1856 edition of  Robert Folthorp’s General Directory for Brighton. In Folthorp's Brighton directory, George Ruff’s home and studio address is given as 45 Queen’s Road, Brighton, and he was to work in this building as a photographic artist for the next twenty years. Advertisements proclaimed that Ruff’s studio at 45 Queen’s Road was located “exactly opposite the Eye Infirmary” and was “open from ten till nearly dusk”, adding that portraits were taken “in any weather”. His cased portraits carried the words “Mr George Ruff – Artist and Photographist.”

In the late 1850s, George Ruff was producing wet collodion portraits on glass, which he described as “Non-reflecting Photographic Portraits”. Ruff charged 2s 6d for an uncoloured portrait in a Morocco leather case. Colouring of the photograph would cost the customer one shilling extra. In an advertisement from this period, George Ruff proudly states that the colouring of the photographic portraits is “executed entirely by Mr R. himself (an Artist independent of Photography)”. George Ruff also specialised in the production of stereoscopic portraits.

George Ruff

Carte-de-visite Portraits by George Ruff of 45 Queen's Road, Brighton.

[ABOVE] The business premises of George Ruff, 'Artist and Photographer', at 45 Queen's Road, Brighton. The photographer's 13 year old son, George Ruff junior (born 1858, Brighton) stands in the doorway. The albumen photographic print carries a date of  'February 1872'.

 PHOTO: Courtesy of Philippe Garner

Gallery of Carte-de-visite Portraits by George Ruff of 45 Queen's Road, Brighton

Agnes Ruge was the second wife of Professor Arnold Ruge (c1804-1880), an associate of Karl Marx and a radical, who had been driven into political exile after the failure of the 1848 Revolution in Germany. Mrs Ruge was born Agnes Wilhelmine Nietzsche around 1814 in Dresden, Saxony, the daughter of Caroline and Gustav Nietzsche. In 1834, at the age of 19, Agnes Wilhelmine Nietzsche married Arnold Ruge, a teacher at the University of Halle. The couple's first child, a daughter named Hedwig Agnes Ruge was born in Halle, Prussia around 1838. Involved in revolutionary politics, Arnold Ruge and his wife were constantly on the move. A second child, Hermann Arnold Ruge was born in Dresden, Saxony, in 1843. Arnold Ruge was in Paris between 1844 and 1846 and then settled in Leipzig. Agnes Ruge's youngest daughter, Agnes Franzisca Ruge was born in Berlin, Prussia, in 1849.

Arnold Ruge and his wife and family arrived in England in 1849 and settled in the seaside town of Brighton the following year. The 1851 census records Arnold Ruge and his family at 4 Brunswick Place, Brighton. On the census return, 47 year old Arnold Ruge is described as a "Professor of German Language". No profession is given for 36 year old Agnes Ruge on the 1851 census.

By 1854 new employment opportunities had opened up for Mrs Agnes Ruge. On 14th August 1853 the patent on the Daguerreotype photographic process had come to an end, which meant that William Constable no longer had an exclusive licence to produce daguerreotype portraits in Brighton. Before August 1853, very few photographers risked prosecution by challenging William Constable's monopoly in producing photographic likenesses. When W. J. Taylor compiled his Original Directory of Brighton sometime before June 1854, he found that there were 9 daguerreotype artists at work in Brighton, including 'Madame Ruge' at 180 Western Road, Brighton.

Mrs Agnes Ruge worked as a daguerreotype artist for only a short period of time. By 1857, Agnes Ruge was earning a living as a teacher of the German language. Karl Marx wrote in November 1857 that "Mrs Ruge is the only teacher of German in Brighton" and added that "so greatly does demand exceed supply," she had to recruit her 19 year old daughter, Hedwig, as an assistant. The 1861 Census records the Ruge family at 180 Western Road, Brighton. On the census return, 57 year old Arnold Ruge is described as a 'Professor of Philosophy and German Literature', while Agnes W. Ruge, his 47 year old wife, is recorded as a "Teacher of the German Language".

Arnold Ruge died in Brighton in 1881 at the age of 77. At the time of her husband's death, Mrs Agnes Ruge was residing at 7 Park Crescent, Brighton. On the census return, completed on 3rd April 1881, both Mrs Ruge and her eldest daughter Hedwig gave their occupation as "Teacher of German Language". Agnes's youngest daughter, A. Francis (Agnes Franzisca) Ruge was earning her living as a "Teacher of Singing". [In 1892, Agnes Francisca (Franzisca) Ruge married William Charles Fargus (1852-1900)].

Mrs Agnes Wilhelmine Ruge died in Brighton on 11th March, 1899, at the age of 84.

READ, George Alfred

34 High Street