Albert Vidler was born in Hastings in 1828. Albert was baptised at St Clement's Church in Hastings on 29th August 1828, the third child of Mr Major Vidler and his wife Anne. At the time of Albert's birth, Major Vidler was working as a stone mason in Hastings with his twin brother Alfred ( It was then fairly common to give the name "Major" to the eldest of twin boys ).

Major and Alfred Vidler had been born in the town of Battle in 1798 and were the twin sons of Elizabeth and Thomas Vidler, a bricklayer and stonemason. As a young man, Major Vidler settled in Hastings and on 9th July 1823, he married Anne Beaney at St. Peter's Church, Bexhill. The union produced at least six children, but Albert was the only son. All six Vidler children were born in Hastings. In the early 1830s, Major Vidler was working as a stone mason with his twin brother Alfred at Green Walk, Hastings. Major Vidler is recorded in local histories of Eastbourne as supervising building work on The Wish Tower, the Martello fortress at Eastbourne originally built to defend the coast during the Napoleonic Wars. Major Vidler ran his own stone mason's yard in Hastings when his twin brother Alfred left to set up a business as a ' Plumber and Painter'. As a young man, Albert Vidler worked alongside his father as a stone mason and was trained by him in the art of stone carving.

[RIGHT] Carved stone head at the entrance to The Gables, Albert Vidler's family home. Could this be a self portrait by Albert Vidler ? Albert Vidler was trained in stone carving by his father Major Vidler and it is thought that Albert carried out the stone carvings that decorate the outside walls of the house he built near Pevensey Castle.

By 1840, Major Vidler was an established stone mason at 40A High Street, Hastings, but in 1841 he moved with his family to Pevensey to take up the position of "Expenditor to the Commissioners of Pevensey Levels". The Pevensey Levels are an area of reclaimed coastal wetland lying between Eastbourne and Bexhill-on-Sea and it was the duty of the Expenditor to make sure that funds were spent on the repair and maintenance of banks and drainage ditches to prevent flooding. By 1851, Major Vidler had been appointed to the post of Surveyor of the Levels and his son Albert, recorded as a 22 year old " Surveyor" in the 1851 Census, was probably working as an assistant to his father. In his book "Pevensey and Its Neighbourhood" (1897), Robert Sutton junior recalled the life of Albert Vidler and remarked that "he and his father before him were the officers appointed by the Commissioners of Levels.... to supervise the drainage of the marshes and prevent the inroads of the sea."

The actions taken by Major Vidler and his son to protect the low lying flatlands were not always popular with the inhabitants of Eastbourne. For instance, in 1848 a sea wall had to be constructed on the town's seafront, as a direct result of Major Vidler's changes to Eastbourne's sea defences. According to George Chambers, author of "East Bourne Memories" (1910), to direct shingle from Eastbourne beach in the direction of Langney Point and thereby create a natural protective barrier for the marshland around Pevensey, Major Vidler removed the planking from the groynes on Eastbourne's foreshore. In the words of George Chambers, " It was this action of Vidler's which inspired the erection of the sea wall as a substitute for the groyne's tampered with by him." Major Vidler later wrote an account of his work entitled "On Shingle Beach and Artificial Coast Defence as used on the South Coast of England" for the Institution of Civil Engineers.

[RIGHT] A photograph of the Groynes on Eastbourne Beach taken by the firm of G & R Lavis around 1868. Major Vidler in his role as Surveyor of the Levels ordered the removal of the planking from the groynes to allow the shingle to be driven towards Langney Point and thereby form a defensive barrier,  protecting  the Pevensey Levels from the sea.

At the time of the 1851 Census, Albert Vidler was living with his parents and three sisters at Wallsend Cottage, Wall's End ( now known as Pevensey Bay ) a small fishing village two miles to the east of Eastbourne. Alfred was unmarried and working as a surveyor alongside his father in 1851. Alfred's skill at drawing was obviously useful in his work as a surveyor, but it seems he was looking for a new way to employ his artistic talent. Robert Sutton junior, when discussing Major and Albert Vidler, noted that "both father and son were gifted with no ordinary talents, especially for painting, carving and sculpture." Another contemporary of Alfred Vidler wrote : "Mr Vidler was in every respect a remarkable man, and his talents were of a most diversified character.... He could work in metals and carve in wood and stone. He painted well in oils and water colors." When Albert Vidler married in July 1857, he gave his occupation as "Artist".

Albert Vidler - Eastbourne's First Photographic Artist

Albert Vidler set up Eastbourne's first permanent photographic portrait studio around 1857. Vidler had acquired a corner shop at the western end of South Street, where he constructed a "Glass Room" for the purpose of taking photographic portraits. Albert Vidler commenced business in South Street around the time of his marriage to Charlotte Amoore Henley in July 1857. When his first child was baptised on 17th October 1858, Vidler gave his occupation as "Photographer" and when F. R. Melville's Directory & Gazetteer of Sussex was published in 1858 it featured an advertisement for "Albert Vidler, Photographic Artist, Stationer &c" at the "Corner of South Street, Eastbourne".

Albert Vidler's advertisement of 1858 offered "Portraits, in Case, from 2s 6d, taken in a Glass Room constructed expressly for the purpose". By 1858, daguerreotype portraits ( photographic images on silvered copper ) were obsolete and therefore the cased portraits mentioned by Vidler were probably collodion positives, in other words, photographic portraits on glass ( known in America as ambrotypes ). In the early days of photography, it was necessary to ensure that a studio received as much light as possible and therefore it was not uncommon for a studio to be situated at the very top of a building and be provided with a glass roof, or, as in Vidler's case, for a studio to be specially constructed out of glass.

Albert Vidler probably continued to produce collodion positives or 'portraits on glass' for the next two or three years. Compared to other Sussex photographers of the time, Vidler's photographic portraits were not cheap. While Vidler's prices started from 2s 6d for a photographic portrait in a case, Robert Farmer was offering a similar portrait in an "Elegant French Case" for only a shilling at his photographic gallery in Brighton. At the Royal Pelham Arcade Photographic Portrait Gallery in Hastings, a customer in 1858 could obtain a "First Class, imperishable portrait" for the sum of 1s 0d. In 1860, Charles Ayling of Walberton Green, residing in a small isolated village a couple of miles from Arundel, would produce a collodion positive portrait, "plain or coloured", for only a shilling. Vidler could keep his prices relatively high, as he had a virtual monopoly in the production of photographic portraits in Eastbourne. In the 1861 Census, Alfred Vidler was the only person residing in Eastbourne to give his profession or occupation as "Photographer".

[ABOVE] A collodion positive portrait of a young man, believed to have been taken at Albert Vidler's Photographic Portrait Gallery in South Street, Eastbourne around 1860. A collodion positive or ambrotype was, in fact, a thin, bleached glass negative, which, when backed with black lacquer, dark brown varnish or black velvet, took on the appearance of a positive image. The collodion positive picture is on glass ( note the cracks in the glass to the right of the sitter's head ) and so,  for both protection and presentation,  it has been  placed under a gilt mat and fixed inside a pinchbeck metal frame. The sitter was a member of the Coppard /Hart family who spent his whole life in Eastbourne. At the time this portrait was made, Albert Vidler was the only photographer in Eastbourne. [ Image, courtesy of Ted Hide of Eastbourne]

Whether it was the challenge of mastering new skills and techniques, the investment required to convert his Glass Room into a fully equipped carte-de-visite studio or some other, as yet unknown, reason, Albert Vidler decided to sell his photographic business. On 9th August 1862, Vidler placed the following advertisement in the Sussex Express :

" TO PHOTOGRAPHERS. TO BE DISPOSED OF, an old-established PHOTOGRAPHIC BUSINESS, with Glass Room and Apparatus complete. - For particulars apply to A. VIDLER, south street, Eastbourne."

There is no evidence that any photographer took over Albert Vidler's photographic studio in South Street. It is reported that Vidler's photographic glass negatives were discovered after his death at his home in Pevensey. The glass negatives were found to have deteriorated and were subsequently destroyed.

Living in Pevensey Village at this time was 41 year old Mary Anne Grace Holland, a retired school teacher. On 1st January 1873, Alfred Vidler married Miss Holland - the groom was 44 years of age, and the bride, who was known as "Grace", was a year younger. After his marriage to Grace, Albert Vidler left his father's home and his employment. In the 1878 Directory for Sussex, Albert Vidler is shown living in Pevensey and working as an architect. At this time, Albert was building a home to his own design, not far from Pevensey Castle. An expert stone carver, Albert decorated the outside of his home with carvings of faces and floral designs. Albert named this fine house "The Gables" and lived there for the rest of his life.

On 1st February 1874, exactly a year after his marriage, Albert's mother died. Albert's father, Major Vidler, although well into his seventies, was still active in his post as Surveyor of the Pevensey Levels and was writing articles for the Institution of Civil Engineers and delivering lectures in Hastings on his views regarding the protection of the foreshore. On 5th June 1880, at the age of 82, Major Vidler died. Major Vidler had worked for the Commissioners of the Pevensey Levels for nearly forty years and had occupied the post of Surveyor of the Levels for twenty-nine of those years. After his father's death, Albert Vidler, who was still making a living as an architect, was appointed to succeed him as Surveyor to the Commissioners of the Pevensey Levels.

When the 1881 Census was taken, Albert Vidler and his wife Grace were living at their recently built house "The Gables" in Pevensey with a single, 14 year old servant girl. Both Albert's children had left the family home. At the time of the 1881 Census, Albert Vidler's daughter Florence was living with two of his unmarried sisters, Rosa and Ellen Vidler, at their Lodging House in Pevensey. Albert's son Frederick William Vidler  married music teacher Catherine Hannah Stubberfield ( born 1858 Herstmonceux ) in Plymouth, Devon on 5th November 1881. Frederick remained in Devon and trained as a dentist. Two of Frederick and Catherine Vidler's children were born in Devon - Marion Violet ( born 1887 at Crown Hill, near Plymouth) and Winifred Grace ( born 1889 in Topsham ). Albert Vidler's youngest child, Florence, never married. Florence Vidler died on 14th September 1888, just after her 28th birthday.

[ABOVE] The Gables, Albert Vidler's house in Pevensey. Albert Vidler, an accomplished architect, designed and built this house around 1880. Albert lived at The Gables for the last 15 years of his life.

The Pevensey Levels

The Pevensey Levels are an area of reclaimed wetlands lying between Eastbourne and Bexhill-on-Sea. The marshland was reclaimed for agricultural use from the 13th Century onwards. A major flood in 1287 which drowned a flock of  600 sheep, led to the appointment of the Commissioners of Sewers, a body which became responsible for building defences against the sea and preventing flooding  through a system of embankments and drainage ditches. In the second half of the 19th century, the Commissioners of the Pevensey Levels appointed Major Vidler and, later, his son Albert Vidler as Surveyors. In their capacity as Surveyors of the Levels, the Vidlers supervised the repair and maintenance of banks and drainage ditches to prevent future flooding.

[LEFT] A view of a section the Pevensey Levels which is now part of a National Nature Reserve ( Photograph taken in 1991 by Peter Wakely for English Nature - PHOTOGRAPH COPYRIGHT - ENGLISH NATURE ).

[LEFT] A view of  Thomas's Dyke in  the Pevensey Levels which today is a site of Special Scientific Interest and part of a National Nature Reserve. (Photograph taken in 1993 by Peter Wakely for English Nature - PHOTOGRAPH COPYRIGHT - ENGLISH NATURE ).

Albert Vidler held the position of Surveyor of Pevensey Levels for about ten years, but in November 1891 at the age of sixty-three, he was compelled to resign because of heart trouble. The Commissioners accepted his resignation, but having a high regard for his skills and experience, retained his services as Consulting Engineer. Although in poor health, Albert Vidler kept busy with his various interests and pursuits. As the Eastbourne Gazette remarked in 1894, " Mr Vidler was in every respect a remarkable man, and his talents were of a most diversified character." The Eastbourne Gazette went on to mention his interest in geology and archaeology, his collection of ancient and modern weapons and other curios, his artistic skills and his reputation as a maker of fireworks ( There are reports of Albert providing firework displays for public occasions which matched the work of professional pyrotechnists ). Apparently, Albert Vidler was also a "dead shot" with a gun, and as a clever amateur taxidermist, he was able to preserve the creatures he had killed and display them as trophies.

The obituaries to Albert Vidler which appeared in the local press, were warm and appreciative. The Sussex Express reported that "He was much respected by all with whom he came in contact or with whom he had business relations." Although, Albert Vidler was a very talented man with knowledge of a wide range of subjects, he emerges from the tributes as a quiet, reserved and modest man. The Eastbourne Gazette, after providing a long list of accomplishments, commented that Albert Vidler " with all these attainments was of a most unpretending and retiring disposition." The newspaper concluded its tribute with the following passage :

"He was a good husband and father and a valued friend. He did not give his friendship easily but once given it was firm and lasting, and those who enjoyed the privilege entertained for him the strongest feelings of affection and respect. He leaves a son to mourn his loss."

After the death of his father, Frederick Vidler moved into ' The Gables' with his wife and two daughters. A third child, Frederick junior, was born in Pevensey around 1897. Frederick Vidler is described as a " Dentist's Assistant", aged 42, in the 1901 Census. Within a few years 'The Gables' was being used as a Dentist's Surgery.

Albert Vidler's obituary in the Eastbourne Gazette, published on 3rd October 1894, listed his many interests and talents - surveyor, geologist, archaeologist, artist, stone carver, firework maker, taxidermist, weapons collector and sharpshooter. Surprisingly, the published tributes make no mention of the fact that Albert Vidler had been a photographer and had claim to the title of 'Eastbourne's First Photographic Artist'.

[LEFT] Albert Vidler's gravestone in Pevensey churchyard. The gravestone also carries the name of Mary Anne Grace Vidler, Albert's second wife and an inscription referring to the death of his daughter Florence Vidler, who died on 14th September 1888, just after her 28th birthday.