Rye Photographers S-Z
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Professional Photographers in Rye
Edwin Whiteman of Hastings & Rye
[ABOVE] A portrait believed to be that of Edwin Henry Whiteman (1857-1917), a photographer who worked in the Sussex towns of Hastings and Rye between 1876 and 1917. This portrait, which has been passed down through the Whiteman Family, probably dates from around 1876, the year of Edwin's marriage to Annie Wilkinson. (See portrait on the right) | [ABOVE] A portrait believed to be that of Mrs Annie Whiteman (born c1857, Woodchurch, Kent), the wife of the Sussex photographer Edwin Henry Whiteman. This portrait, which dates from the late 1880s, was one of a pair in matching frames which have been passed down through the Whiteman Family. |
PHOTOGRAPHS: Courtesy of Mrs Anne Webb, the great grand-daughter of Annie and Edwin Henry Whiteman |
Edwin Henry WHITEMAN (born 1857, Cambridge - died 1917, Rye)
Photographer active in Rye between 1890 and 1917
Edwin Henry Whiteman was born in Cambridge in 1857 [Birth registered in Cambridge during the 2nd Quarter of 1857]. Edwin Henry Whiteman was the eldest son of Jane and Edwin Whiteman senior (1834 -1876), a bookseller & stationer. Edwin's father, Edwin Whiteman senior, was born and raised in Udimore in Sussex, but sometime in the 1850s he moved to Cambridge, where, in 1856, he married Jane Fanny (Frances) Grout (born c1835 Cambridge). Mrs Jane Whiteman gave birth to two sons in Cambridge - Edwin Henry Whiteman (born 1857, Cambridge) and Albert Whiteman (born 1859, Cambridge). By 1861, Edwin Whiteman senior had returned to Sussex and by the mid 1860s he had established a bookshop and stationery business at 52 High Street, Hastings. Edwin Whiteman's business premises was known as "The Library". After settling in Hastings, there were several more additions to the Whiteman family - William (born 1861, Hastings) and Walter Thomas (born 1863, Hastings), Jane Lydia (born 1865, Hastings), George (born 1870, Hastings), Frederick (born 1873, Hastings), and twins, Frank and Ellen Whiteman (both born in Hastings during the 1st Quarter of 1876). The Whiteman Family - Professional Photographers in Hastings In 1866, Godbold & Co., a firm of photographers, opened a branch establishment at Mr. Whiteman's Library, 52 High Street, Hastings. Around 1868, Edwin Whiteman senior purchased the studio at 52 High Street from Messrs. Godbold & Co. From this date Edwin Whiteman senior operated the studio at 52 High Street, Hastings, under his own name. On 13th October 1876, Edwin Whiteman senior died, aged 42. From this date, the Whiteman studio was run by his widow Mrs Jane Whiteman and her three photographer sons - Edwin Henry Whiteman (born 1857, Cambridge), William Whiteman (born 1861, Hastings) and Walter Whiteman (born c1864, Hastings). In 1876, Edwin Henry Whiteman married Annie Wilkinson (born c1857 Woodchurch, Kent ). [ Marriage registered in Hastings during the 4th Quarter of 1876 ]. In the early years of their marriage, Edwin and Annie Whiteman produced two daughters - Grace Annie (born 1876, Hastings) and Lily (born 1879, Hastings). At the time of the 1881 census, Edwin Henry Whiteman was living with his wife and two young daughters at 7 Carlton Terrace in Egremont Place, Hastings. In the 1881 census return, Edwin Henry Whiteman is described as a "Photographer", aged 24. By 1887, Edwin Henry Whiteman, Mrs Jane Whiteman's eldest son, had become the proprietor of his mother's studio at 52 High Street, Hastings. By this date, Edwin had fathered two more daughters - Gladys May (born 1884, Hastings) and Edith (born 1887, Hastings). By 1890, Edwin H. Whiteman had sold the studio at 52 High Street, Hastings, and, with his wife and four daughters, moved to the small historic town of Rye, 9 miles north-east of Hastings . Edwin Henry Whiteman - Photographer in Rye
Edwin Henry Whiteman moved to Rye, Sussex around 1890. Edwin Henry Whiteman established a photographic studio at Landgate in Rye. Annie Whiteman gave birth to a son in Rye during the First Quarter of 1890. The boy was named Edwin Henry Whiteman, after his father. Edwin Henry Whiteman operated the photographic studio at Landgate, Rye from 1890 to 1894, . When the 1891 census was taken, Edwin Whiteman, his wife Annie, and their five children were living at 15 Ferry Road, Rye. On the census return, Edwin Whiteman is recorded as a "Photographer", aged 34. By 1894, Edwin Henry Whiteman had opened a new studio in Cinque Ports Street, Rye. The 1901 census records Edwin Whiteman and his family in Cinque Ports Street, Rye. On the census return, Edwin H. Whiteman is described as a "Photographer", aged 43. By this date, Edwin and Annie Whiteman's two eldest daughters were in domestic service and living away from home; Lily Whiteman was working as a housemaid in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, and twenty-one year old Lily Whiteman was employed as a nurse by a family in Bexhill. There had been three more additions to the Whiteman household since the last census - a daughter name Philly Whiteman had arrived in 1892, Ernest Edward Whiteman, Edwin's second son, was born in 1895 and the birth of Ethel Whiteman, the youngest member of the family, had been registered in Rye during the 1st Quarter of 1898. Edwin Whiteman was bringing up six children at his house in Cinque Ports Street, Rye. Only fourteen year old Edith Whiteman, who was employed as a clerk by a local jeweller, was contributing to the family's finances. A decade later, five of the children were living at Edwin Whiteman's house in Cinque Ports Street, Rye. Edwin's youngest daughter Ethel Whiteman was still at school, but three of Edwin Whiteman's children were in employment; twenty-one year old Edwin Whiteman junior was earning his living as as a "fitter and turner" and Ernest Edward Whiteman was employed as a "Solicitor's Clerk". Eighteen year old Phillie Whiteman had found work as a jeweller's engraver. Edwin Henry Whiteman worked as a photographer in Cinque Ports Street until around 1913. The following year, Edwin Henry Whiteman moved his studio to Winchelsea Road, Rye, where he worked as a photographer until his death in 1917. Edwin Henry Whiteman died in Rye on 6th February 1917 at the age of 59. The cause of death was given as "cirrhosis of the liver". |
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Son and Daughters of Annie and Edwin Henry Whiteman of Rye |
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[ABOVE] Edwin Henry Whiteman (born 1890, Rye, Sussex), the eldest son of photographer Edwin Henry Whiteman (1857-1917). | [ABOVE] A studio portrait of Philly Whiteman (born 1892, Rye, Sussex), a daughter of the Rye photographer Edwin Henry Whiteman (1857-1917). | [ABOVE] A family snap of Ethel Whiteman (born 1898, Rye, Sussex) and two childen. Ethel Whiteman was the youngest daughter of the photographer Edwin Henry Whiteman (1857-1917). |
PHOTOGRAPHS: Courtesy of Tony and Pauline Whiteman |
The site of Edwin Whiteman's Portrait Studio in Landgate, Rye |
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Landgate, Rye (also known as King Street) |
[ABOVE] A view of the shops in the Landgate area, photographed in 1914. The Landgate, a stone gateway built in Rye in 1329, can be seen at the end of the street. This road, which approached the Landgate from the north, was known as King Street in the period 1858-1890. Around the time that Edwin Whiteman arrived in Rye in 1890, the name of the street reverted back to the old name of Landgate. On the left of the picture is the business premises of E Bryan & Co., Cycle and Motor Car Engineers. The founder of the firm was Edward Bryan (born c1853, Wolverhampton), a cycle maker who established a cycle store in Landgate around 1890. By the time this photograph was taken in 1914, Bryan & Co. had opened a garage in Fishmarket Road, Rye. |
Cabinet Portraits by Edwin Whiteman of Rye |
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[ABOVE] A family group portrait of a father with his two grown-up children, photographed by Edwin Henry Whiteman at his Rye studio (c1900). The young woman in this studio portrait was photographed years later by Edwin Whiteman, but this time the portrait was taken "out of doors" on location. (See cabinet portrait on the right). |
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young woman, photographed on location by Edwin Whiteman of Rye (c1907). This young lady was photographed a few years earlier by Edwin Whiteman in a studio setting, when she posed for a family portrait with her father and brother. (See the family group portrait on the left). |
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young man, photographed by Edwin Whiteman of Rye (c1900). As with the other cabinet cards in this row of portraits, the photograph has been blind-stamped in the bottom right-hand corner with the photographer's credit "E. Whiteman, Rye, Sussex". Other portraits taken by Whiteman carry the words "Cinque Ports Studio Rye". |
Photographs on Location,
[ABOVE] A group of men photographed by Edwin Whiteman at the Fishmarket, Rye in the late 1890s. The Fishmarket area of Rye was populated by fishermen, ironworkers, sail-makers, shipbuilders and bargemen. |
Portraits by Edwin Whiteman of Cinque Ports Street, Rye |
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Cinque Ports Street, Rye [RIGHT] A view of Cinque Ports Street, Rye, photographed by Arthur Henry Homewood around 1905. Edwin Whiteman opened a photographic studio in Cinque Ports Street around 1895 and was based in this street for the next twenty years. On the right of this picture of Cinque Ports Street is the shop of Mrs Emma Eliza Stocks (born 1846, Rye), confectioner and tobacconist. Mrs Stocks also ran a tea room on the same premises and a painted sign proclaiming "Teas & Light Refreshments" can be seen beneath the shop window. Mrs Stocks established her business in Cinque Ports Street after her husband Felix Stocks, a Rye carpenter, died in 1897. Next door to Mrs Stocks' shop is the King's Arms Inn, a licensed public house which was run by Moses Hoad (born c1853, Hurstmonceux) from about 1899 until the inn closed around 1910. At the junction with Ferry Road, opposite the King's Arms Inn, is the business premises of Longley the grocer. Isaac Longley (1844-1899) established a grocer's shop at No 1 Ferry Road around 1866. After his death in 1899, the grocery business at the junction with Cinque Ports Street was operated by his widow Mrs Elizabeth Ann Longley (born c1842 Ashford). By 1905, the business was managed by Elizabeth's sons - Frank Longley (born 1872, Rye) and Charles Longley (born 1877, Rye) under the name of Longley Brothers.
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Family Group Photograph by Edwin Whiteman of Rye |
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Views and Picture Postcards by Edwin Whiteman of Rye |
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A further selection of picture postcards produced by Edwin Henry Whiteman of Rye, together with an account of the photographer's life and career, can be viewed at Rendel Williams' Sussex Postcards Info website by clicking on the link below: |
Photographic Views of Rye and Vicinity published by Albert Whiteman of The Library, Rye |
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Acknowledgements |
I am grateful to various members of the Whiteman Family for supplying family photographs and additional information about Annie and Edwin Henry Whiteman's children. Thanks to Pauline Whiteman, Tony Whiteman and Mrs Anne Webb (the grand-daughter of Ethel Whiteman, Edwin Henry Whiteman's youngest daughter). A special thank you to Mrs Pauline Whiteman (the wife of Tony Whiteman), who has generously shared everything she has discovered about Edwin Henry Whiteman's children during her family history research. Pauline has also made available to me the family photographs which are related to the Whiteman Family of Rye. Pauline's husband is descended from Edith Whiteman (born 1887, Hastings), one of the daughters of the Sussex photographer Edwin Henry Whiteman. |