Mrs Selina Goodchild, who is listed as a 'photographer' at 126 Church Road, Hove, in 1909, was at this time a widow in her mid-thirties. She was born Selina Heryet in Brighton on 28th September 1873, the daughter of Ann and John Heryet, a horse's groom and coachman. On 20th July 1899, 25 year old Selina Heryet married John Goodchild (1869-1908), a market gardener from Kent. John Goodchild's father, John Goodchild senior (1847-1928) was a fruit grower who ran a public house (The Woodman) in Farnborough, Kent. After his marriage to Selina Heryet, John Goodchild junior became the licensee of the British Queen Inn at Locks Bottom, near Farnborough. Over the next 8 years, Mrs Selina Goodchild gave birth to 4 children, but two boys died in infancy and only Constance Louise Goodchild (born 1900) and Hilda Selina Goodchild (born 1904) would survive childhood. On 25th February 1908, John Goodchild junior, Selina's husband, died at the age of 38. Mrs Selina Goodchild left the Farnborough area and together with her two daughters, 8 year old Constance and 4 year old Hilda, returned to her parents John and Ann Heryet, who were now living in Hove, Sussex. Within a year, Mrs Selina Goodchild set herself up as a photographer and joined the Academy Art Studio Company at 126 Church Road, Hove. Some time before April 1911, the photographic studio at 126 Church Road, Hove was closed and by 1915 the business premises at No. 126 was being used as a hairdresser's shop.

When the 1871 census was taken, 12 year old schoolboy Robert Armitage was living with his parents and siblings at 18 St Mary's Lane, Lewes. Robert's father, 55 year old John Armitage is described on the census return as a "Saddler, etc." employing two men and one boy - namely, his three sons: Henry (23), William (21) and Charles (15). Robert Armitage chose not to follow his father and brothers in earning his living as a saddler or harness maker. By 1881, Robert Armitage was residing in Brighton and working as a "Photographic Printer".

The 1881 Census records Robert Armitage as a twenty-two year old "Photographic Printer" boarding with Frederick Nye and his sister, Catherine Nye, at 36 Islingword Road, Brighton. When the census was taken, Robert Armitage was probably employed at one of the many photographic studios that were in business in 1881. (At this time, there were over 30 photographic studios in Brighton).

Around 1888, Robert Armitage decided to set up his own photographic studio in Brighton. The 1889 edition of Pike's Directory of Brighton & Hove lists Robert Armitage as a professional photographer at 15 New Road, Brighton, a studio which had just been vacated by the photographer William Kessler (1859-1929).

When the 1891 Census was taken, Robert Armitage was lodging at 21 St Peter's Street, Brighton. On the census return, Armitage is described as a 32 year old self-employed "Photographer". It appears that Armitage closed his photographic studio at 15 New Road in 1891. Evidence suggests that, in 1892 or 1893, Robert Armitage moved his photographic business to 13 St James's Street, Kemp Town, Brighton, which had been the site of a photographic studio since 1854.

Robert Armitage - Photographer in Hove

Around 1896, Robert Armitage moved to the district of Aldrington, an area which had been amalgamated with Hove a couple of years previously. After he moved to Aldrington, Robert Armitage opened a new studio at 112 Portland Road, Hove. [The 1896 edition of Pike's Directory of Brighton and Hove lists Robert Armitage as a professional photographer at two addresses - 13 St James's Street, Brighton and 112 Portland Road, Hove]. By 1897, Armitage had closed his photographic studio in St James's Street and was operating solely from Portland Road. The district of Aldrington, where Portland Road was located, had been developed with new housing in the 1890s and in the ten years between 1891 and 1901, the population had trebled.

The 1901 census records Robert Armitage as a single man of 42 lodging at 117 Wordsworth Street, Aldrington, Hove. On the census return, Robert Armitage is described as a "Photographer (own account)". Although he was living in Wordsworth Street, Armitage operated his photographic studio at 112 Portland Road in a parade of shops. Portland Road was still being developed during the first decade of the twentieth century and so the numbering of buildings in the road changed between 1905 and 1911. When the building work was completed, Robert Armitage moved his lodgings from Wordsworth Street to Portland Road.

By the time the 1911 census was taken, Robert Armitage was lodging with Mary and Charles May, a retired Royal Navy Warrant Officer, at No.110 Portland Road, Hove. Charles May had been running a stationery business at 110 Portland Road, but it appears from around 1910,  Mr May let out his shop to his lodger Robert Armitage. On the 1911 census form, 52 year old Robert Armitage declared that he was a "Photographer & Portrait Painter (own account)" and that he was working from two rooms ("at home") at 110 Portland Road, Hove. Apparently, Robert Armitage ended his career as a professional photographer around 1912, as he is not listed as a photographer in local trade directories from 1913 onwards. There is a record of a Robert Armitage marrying Elizabeth Mary Harrison (born 1868, Battersea, Surrey) in the district of Steyning (which covered Hove) in 1918.

Robert Armitage died in Hove in 1931 at the age of 73.

[ABOVE] A picture postcard of Portland Road, Hove (c1930).

Robert Armitage opened his photographic studio at 112 Portland Road, Hove, in about 1896. It was in the year 1896 that the long, straight road that ran from the junction of Clarendon Villas and Sackville Road to Portslade Station was named Portland Road, after the Duke of Portland.

In the early 1880s, Aldrington had consisted of fields, market gardens and brickfields, but in the 1890s the the area west of Sackville Road was developed with new residential housing. In 1881 the population of Aldrington numbered 144 people, yet by 1891 it had risen to 2,238. In 1901. the population of Aldrington had reached 6,840.

By 1871, Samuel Bate and his family were living in the Essex village of Heybridge on the outskirts of Maldon. The 1871 census records Samuel Bate as a 39 year old "Engineer, Tools Maker" at No.9 Stock Terrace, Heybridge. Samuel Bate's eldest son, 14 year old Thomas S. Bate was also working as an 'engineer tool maker', but his three youngest children, including 7 year old Henry Bate, were still at school. When the census was taken 10 years later, Samuel Bate and his family were residing in the Essex town of Maldon, where he had established a gun-making business in the market town's High Street. In 1881, seventeen year old Henry Bate was employed as an assistant in his father's gunsmith's shop in Maldon's High Street.

Henry Bate followed his father into the gun-making business and when Samuel Bate died in 1888, at the age of 56, Henry Bate took over his father's workshop in the Essex town of Maldon.

At the time of the 1891 census, Henry Bate was recorded as a "Gun & Bicycle Maker" at 11 Market Hill, Maldon, Essex. Two years later, Henry Bate married Sarah Annie Barbara Chappell (born 1871,Edmonton, Middlesex), the daughter of Mrs Sarah Chappell of Edmonton. [ The marriage of Henry Bate and Sarah Annie Chappell was registered in the Essex district of Epping during the 3rd Quarter of 1893]. Henry Bate's wife Sarah (known as "Annie") gave birth to two children - Elsie Gladys Bate (born 1894, Maldon, Essex) and Aubrey Claude Bate (born 1896, Maldon, Essex) before she moved down to Hove in Sussex with her husband around 1900.

In 1900, Henry Bate entered into a business partnership with the photographer John Weaver Innes (1862-1928) who had for the last year or so been operating a photographic portrait studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove, Sussex.

Photographic portraits produced at the Goldstone Villas studio during the first few months of 1901 carried the trade plate of Innes & Bate, but, by early Spring, the partnership between John Weaver Innes and Henry Bate had come to an end. A notice in The London Gazette published on 31st May 1901 announced that the firm of Innes & Bate, photographers at Hove, had been dissolved by mutual consent on 25th March 1901. The photographic business at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove was retained by Henry Bate, who remained in business as a photographer at the Goldstone Villas studio until the outbreak of the First World War.

When the census was taken on 31st March 1901, Henry Bate did not give his occupation as "Photographer" as one would expect. Instead, Henry Bate informed the census enumerator that he earned his living by "Manufacturing conjuring tricks". Although Henry Bate was at this time a professional photographer, taking photographic portraits at his studio in Goldstone Villas, he had also gained a reputation as an ingenious inventor of magic tricks and conjuring apparatus. It is reported that his fascination with conjuring and magic tricks began when he was still at school and that he spent many hours in his father's gun-making workshop manufacturing magician's 'props'. In his twenties, Henry Bate was earning a living making guns and bicycles and he used his mechanical skills to devise and build "magical properties" for illusionists and magicians and to produce magic tricks for toy shops. Apparently, in his spare time, Henry Bate performed magic tricks and provided entertainment as a conjuror at private parties. In 1902, Henry Bate met the famous magician and illusionist David Devant - real name David Wighton - (1868-1941). David Devant employed Henry Bate as a "magician's mechanic", commissioning him to devise and manufacture his illusionist props. In his autobiography, My Magic Life, David Devant recalled his first encounter with Henry Bate at a performance in Brighton in 1902:

Today, Henry Bate is more well-known for the magical apparatus and conjuring props he made for the magician and illusionist David Devant than for the photographic portraits he produced at his Goldstone Villas studio. Henry Bate's name appears in books on the history of magic acts and in articles on conjuring tricks produced during his lifetime. In his book "This is Magic: Secrets of the Conjurer's Craft", William Thomas Pritchard refers to "Henry Bate of Brighton (sic), that famous builder of magical properties". In 1924, The Strand Magazine published an article entitled "How Conjuring Tricks are Invented", which featured "an interview with Mr. Henry Bate". The interviewer explained that "although the name of Mr. Henry Bate is unknown to the general public, he is one of the most active members of that exclusive body known as the Inner Magic Circle". Edwin A. Dawes, an authority on the history of magic, described Henry Bate as "a leading 'back-room' man of magic".

Between 1902 and 1914, Henry Bate operated a photographic studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove, while managing to manufacture magic apparatus for David Devant, the leading magician and illusionist of his day. (David Devant was also the first President of the Magic Circle). In 1911, Henry Bate declared on the census form that he was a "Photographer" working on his "own account" at his home address of 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove. Sharing his home in Goldstone Villas was his 39 year old wife "Annie" (Mrs Sarah Annie Bate), his two children - Edith, a 16 year old "Civil Service Student" and Aubrey, a 14 year old school boy  - Elizabeth Bate, his older unmarried sister, and a 26 year old servant Marion Webb, who is described as a "Mother's help".

I have found very few photographic portraits taken by Henry Bate at his Goldstone Villas studio. Fortunately, a family archive has at least 3 photographs taken by Henry Bate of Hove. Alfred Walter Fisher (1874-1947) was a "Professor of Music", church organist and pianist who performed musical concerts in Hove during the early decades of the 20th Century. On 4th August 1901, Alfred Walter Fisher married Margaret Evans Binstead (1876-1955), a young woman who shared Alfred's musical interests. After his marriage, Alfred Walter Fisher returned to Hove, where he established The Hove Academy of Music. Around 1905, Alfred Walter Fisher and his wife Mrs Margaret Fisher both had their portraits taken at Henry Bate's photographic studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove. During the same period, Henry Bate photographed Margaret and Alfred Fisher giving a musical performance, with Alfred at the piano and Margaret in the role of vocalist. Standing behind Alfred Fisher in the photograph is a young woman playing the violin. The female violinist could possibly be Ethel Binstead (born 1872, Worthing), Margaret's elder sister, who for a period of time lived with Alfred and Margaret Fisher.

Henry Bate is last recorded as a professional photographer in 1913. When the 1915 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex was compiled, Henry Bate is still listed as the householder at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove in the street directory, but he is no longer listed as a professional photographer at this address in the commercial section of the 1915 directory and does not reappear in subsequent editions.

Henry Bate died in February or March 1944 at the age of 80. Contemporary newspapers and journals reported that Henry Bate had died at his home in Hove, yet his death was registered in the West Sussex district of Worthing during the First Quarter of 1944.

[ABOVE] Trade plate of Henry Bate, photographer of 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove.

[ABOVE] Henry Bate's photograph of Alfred Walter Fisher and his wife Margaret Evans Fisher giving a musical performance, with Alfred at the piano and Margaret in the role of vocalist. Standing behind Alfred Fisher in the photograph is a young woman playing the violin. The female violinist could possibly be Ethel Binstead (born 1872, Worthing), Margaret's elder sister who lived with Alfred and Margaret Fisher at 93 Church Road, Hove and is known to have given musical recitals.

[ Photos: Courtesy of Carol B. Smith Fisher ]

Alfred Walter Fisher was born in Folkestone, Kent, in 1874, the youngest son of Theoclea Theobald (1839-1890) and Frederick Fisher (1839-1928), a boot and shoe manufacturer.

In 1895, at the age of 21, Alfred Walter Fisher passed the Royal Academy of Music's Metropolitan Examination qualifying him as a Teacher of Pianoforte. (The Musical Times, 1st February, 1895, No. 624, Vol.36 and Musical News, Vol. 8, page 57, 1895). The following year, Alfred Fisher was giving piano recitals in Worthing.

By the late 1890s, Alfred Fisher was the Organist at the Christchurch Road Baptist Church in Worthing. It was possibly during his tenure at the Worthing Baptist Church that he made the acquaintance of Margaret Evans Binstead (born 1876, Worthing), the youngest daughter of James Binstead, a widowed jobbing gardener living in the Heene district of Worthing.

At the time of the 1901 census, Alfred Walter Fisher was boarding at Mrs Caroline Martin's lodging house at 38 Walsingham Road, Aldrington, Hove, Sussex. On the census return Alfred W. Fisher is recorded as twenty-six year old "Professor of Music".

On 4th August 1901, Alfred Walter Fisher married Margaret Evans Binstead at St Botolph's Church, Heene, near Worthing. The couple settled in Hove, Sussex, where their first child, a son named Leslie Elgar Fisher, was born on 9th December 1904. A second son, Bernard Morris Fisher, was born in the Aldrington district of Hove three years later. [Birth registered in the Sussex district of Steyning during the First Quarter of 1908]. A third son, Adrian Michael Fisher was born in Hove on 15th March, 1917.

When the census was taken on 2nd April 1911, Alfred Walter Fisher and his family were recorded at 93 Church Road, Hove, Sussex. On the 1911 census form, 36 year old Alfred Fisher gave his occupation as "Musical Performer & Professor, Pianist, Organist & Composer" and "Principal of Hove Academy of Music". It appears that Alfred Walter Fisher established The Hove Academy of Music around 1904. According to Judy Middleton, Alfred Fisher founded The Hove Academy of Music at 22 Church Road, Hove. Around 1911, Alfred Fisher moved his music academy to 93 Church Road, Hove. The Hove Academy of Music was still based at 93 Church Road, Hove, in 1923.

As well teaching at the Hove Academy of Music, Alfred Fisher put on orchestral concerts and musical entertainments and organized music festivals. There is also evidence that Alfred Fisher was a prolific composer. In 1904, The Monthly Musical Record reported on a concert which included "a pianoforte trio and songs by Mr. A. W. Fisher, organist". A 1907 issue of The Musical Herald referred to "original and instrumental vocal compositions" by Mr. A. W. Fisher.  In January 1915, Alfred W. Fisher published a patriotic song entitled "Shall Britain Call in Vain". ("Song, words and music" by A. W. Fisher).

Alfred's eldest son, Leslie Elgar Fisher won an open scholarship at the Hove Academy of Music in 1913 and went on to become a composer in his own right (Suite in D major).

Alfred Walter Fisher died in Hove, Sussex, in 1947 at the age of 73.

Frank Houghton BERRY (1852 - 1923) - active as a professional photographer in Hove between 1897 and 1899

Frank Houghton Berry was born in Brighton in 1852, the son of Mary Houghton and John Charles Berry, a printer, bookseller and stationer. Frank's father, John Charles Berry, had been born in Chertsey, Surrey, on 16th May 1820, the son of Sarah and Daniel Berry. On 15th August 1846, at Christ Church, Southwark, in South London, John Charles Berry married Mary Houghton (born c1815, St Columb Major, Cornwall). Shortly after their marriage, the couple settled in Brighton, where all four of their children were born - George Walter Houghton Berry (born 1847), Mary Houghton Berry (born 1849), Frank Houghton Berry (born 1852) and Catharine Houghton Berry (born 1854).

By 1858, John Charles Berry had established himself up as a printer, bookseller and stationer at 26 St James Street, Brighton, in the Kemp Town district of the town. John Charles Berry is recorded as a bookseller and stationer in Brighton's St James Street throughout the 1860s, but the business came to an end when Frank's father died in 1869 at the age of 48. After the death of her husband, Mrs Mary Berry set up a lodging house in Brighton's King's Road. The 1871 census records Mrs Mary Berry, a fifty-six year old widow, as a lodging house keeper at 48 King's Road Brighton. Mrs Berry's teenage son, Frank Berry, had already begun his career as a professional photographer. The 1871 census records Frank Berry as a nineteen year old "Photographic Artist" residing with his widowed mother at her Brighton lodging house.

By the end of the decade, Frank Berry and his mother had left Brighton and relocated to the London area. In 1880, Frank Houghton Berry married Esther Blanche Walker (born 1854, Westminster, London), the daughter of Martha Matilda Palmer and Charles Walker, a London police inspector. Charles Walker (born c1821 London) had married Martha Matilda Palmer (born c1822 London) at All Souls Church in the London district of Marylebone on 8th January 1844. Charles and Martha Walker produced a large number of children, ten of whom reached adulthood. Esther Blanche Walker was the second eldest of seven daughters fathered by Police Inspector Charles Walker.

When the 1881 census was taken, Frank Houghton Berry was living with his wife at 25 Essex Road, off Horn Lane, in the London suburb of Acton. On the census return, Frank H. Berry is described as a twenty-nine year old "Photographic Artist". Residing a few doors away at 21 Essex Road, Horn Lane, Acton, was Frank Berry's widowed mother, sixty-six year old Mrs Mary Berry and his younger unmarried sister twenty-six year old Catharine Houghton Berry. As Mrs Berry's eldest surviving son (her first-born son George Walter Houghton Berry had died in Chertsey, Surrey, in 1872 at the age of 24), Frank Berry was probably supporting his mother and sister financially at this time.

It appears that Esther Berry, Frank Berry's wife, gave birth to a daughter later that year, but the little girl died in 1883, when she was only 2 years of age. During the 2nd Quarter of 1883, when the Berry Family were still living in Acton, Frank's wife Esther gave birth to a second child, a daughter named Evelyn Maude Houghton Berry. A third daughter, Florence Edith Berry was born in Acton during the 4th Quarter of 1884.

By 1888, Frank Houghton Berry and his family were living in the Shepherds Bush area of West London. Frank Berry's son Vivian Houghton Berry was born in Shepherds Bush during the 3rd Quarter of 1888.

The London Studio of Berry & Sharp

In the early 1890s Frank Houghton Berry operated a photographic studio with a young London photographer named James Ledgett Sharp (born 1868, Rotherhithe, South London).

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of an unknown man photographed at the studio of Berry & Sharp at 16 & 17 Poultry, Cheapside, London, E.C. (1892). The partners in the photographic firm of Berry & Sharp were Frank Houghton Berry (1852-1923) and James Ledgett Sharp (born 1868, Rotherhithe).

Berry & Sharp

There is a suggestion that around this time Frank Berry was employed as a photographer by Henry Coppin, who owned a photographic portrait studio at 16 & 17 Poultry, City of London. In the early 1890s, Frank Houghton Berry entered into a business partnership with a young London photographer James Ledgett Sharp (born 1868, Rotherhithe, South London). By the end of 1891, the photographic studio at 16 & 17 Poultry, City of London carried the name of Berry & Sharp. However, the partnership between Frank Berry and James Sharp lasted only for a year or so. On 2nd August 1892, The London Gazette published a notice announcing the dissolution of the business partnership between Frank Houghton Berry and James Sharp, previously "carrying on the trade or business of Photographic Artists at 16 and 17 Poultry, in the city of London". The partnership of Berry and Sharp was dissolved "by mutual consent" on 21st July 1892, the business being carried on by James Sharp, who took on "all debts due to and from the said Partnership". James Sharp continued as a photographer at 16 & 17 Poultry, City of London until 1893, when the studio became the Mansion House Photographic Company under the management of William George Plowright.

Towards the end of 1893, Frank Berry's wife Esther died at the age of 38. [The death of Esther Blanche Berry was registered in the South London district of Camberwell during the 4th Quarter of 1893]. Frank Houghton Berry was left a widower with three children under the age of 10 to care for and support. Assistance was provided by Frank Berry's mother-in-law Mrs Martha Walker (c1822-1901) and two of her unmarried daughters, Adelaide Alexandra Walker (born 1864, Westminster) and Louisa Alberta Walker (born 1867, Westminster).

Frank Houghton Berry returns to Sussex

Around 1897, Frank Houghton Berry returned to Sussex to pursue his photographic career. It appears that Frank Berry set himself up as a portrait photographer in Hove, but his first venture was not successful. A trade directory published in 1898, but compiled during the previous year, records Frank H. Berry as a photographer at 48 Coleridge Street, Hove. On 1st November 1897, at a County Court hearing, Frank Houghton Berry, a photographer of Hove, was recorded with debts of £20 9s 8d.

It was around the time of the County Court judgement in 1897 that Frank Berry made contact with Mrs Sarah Spink, the widow of photographer Henry Joseph Spink (1838-1892). For a quarter of a century, Henry Joseph Spink had been one of the leading photographers in Brighton and Hove, operating studios at 109 Western Road, Brighton and, since 1878, at 36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville( now part of Hove). From around 1890, Spink's Brighton studio in Western Road was run by his son Henry Spink junior(1865-1943), with the Goldstone Villas studio remaining under the control of Henry Joseph Spink  After Henry Joseph Spink died on 23rd May 1892, at the age of 53, Henry J. Spink's studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, West Brighton (Hove), was initially managed by his youngest son Samuel George Spink, but when Samuel and his family returned to Australia, the studio passed to Henry Spink's widow, Mrs Sarah Spink (1839-1899).

[ABOVE] A photograph of Henry Joseph Spink's house and studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville, taken around 1878. Mrs Sarah Spink, the photographer's wife, stands at the gate.

[PHOTO COURTESY OF DENISE DAGEN OF NEW SOUTH WALES]

In Towner's 1896 Directory of Brighton & Hove, Mrs Sarah Spink, Henry Spink's widow, is listed as a photographer at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove. It appears that from around 1897, Mrs Spink recruited Frank Houghton Berry to run 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.

The Studio of Frank H. Berry at Goldstone Villas, Hove

Frank Houghton Berry is first recorded as a photographer at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove in the 1897 edition of Pike's Directory of Brighton & Hove. Interestingly, in the Street Directories published around this time, the name of Frank H. Berry appears alongside the name of Henry Joseph Spink (Mrs Sarah Spink) at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove. It appears that Frank Berry continued to reside at 48 Coleridge Street, Hove, during his time at the Goldstone Villas studio. (Frank H. Berry is listed as the occupant of 48 Coleridge Street, Hove in the 1898 editions of both Kelly's Sussex Directory and Towner's Directory of Brighton & Hove). Frank Houghton Berry is recorded as a photographer at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove for just two years, between 1897 and 1899.

Frank Houghton Berry's Second Marriage

When Frank Houghton Berry arrived in Hove in 1897, he was a forty-five year old widower with three children under the age of sixteen - Evelyn Maude (aged 14), Florence Edith (aged 13) and Vivian Frank Berry (aged 9). It seems that after the death of Mrs Esther Berry in 1893, Frank Berry had become close to his late wife's sisters, Adelaide Alexandra Walker (born 1864, Westminster) and Louisa Alberta Walker (born 1867, Westminster). Towards the end of 1898, at Hove, Frank Berry married his thirty-four year old sister-in-law Adelaide Walker. [The marriage of Frank Houghton Berry and  Adelaide Alexandra Walker was registered in the Sussex district of Steyning (which embraced Hove) during the 4th Quarter of 1898].

Presumably, Frank Berry, his new wife Adelaide, and the three children from his first marriage, made their home at 48 Coleridge Street, Hove. During the final quarter of 1899, a year after their marriage, Frank and Adelaide Berry became the parents of a baby daughter named Violet Medeline Berry. [The birth of Violet Medeline Berry was registered in the Sussex district of Steyning during the 4th Quarter of 1898].

With the death of Mrs Sarah Spink, the owner of the Goldstone Villas studio, in 1899, the special arrangement between Mrs Spink and Frank Berry came to an end. The photographic studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove was eventually sold to John Weaver Innes (born c1862, Hackney, London) and his business partner Henry Bate (born 1863, Marylebone, London). After the dissolution of the firm of Innes & Bate, the studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove was retained by Henry Bate, who operated as a photographer from the Goldstone Villas address until the outbreak of the First World War.

The Goldstone Villas Studio in Hove

[ABOVE] A photograph of Henry Joseph Spink's house and studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Cliftonville, taken around 1878. Mrs Sarah Spink, the photographer's wife, stands at the gate. The building, the walls of which are covered with the photographer's publicity, stands on a corner at the junction between Goldstone Villas and Shirley Street.

[ABOVE] A late Victorian map showing the location of the photographic studio at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove (marked in red), where photographer Frank Houghton Berry was based between 1897 and 1899. Frank H. Berry's home was at 48 Coleridge Street, Hove (marked in green). Hove Railway Station (top right-hand corner of the map), was within walking distance of Frank Berry's home and studio.

[ABOVE] A recent photograph of 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove (2005). This building was used continuously as a photographic portrait studio between 1878 and 1914. Originally owned by Henry Joseph Spink, the Goldstone Villa studio was taken over by Frank Houghton Berry around 1897. The studio was sold to John Weaver Innes and Henry Bate in 1900.

[ABOVE] An extract from the listing of occupants of the buildings in Goldstone Villas, Hove, which appeared in the Brighton & Hove Street Directory section of Kelly's Directory of Sussex, published in 1899. Frank H. Berry is listed as a photographer at 36 Goldstone Villas, Hove, but the name of the previous owner of the studio, Henry Joseph Spink, is still shown alongside Frank Berry at No.36.

After his studio in Hove was sold in 1900, Frank Houghton Berry secured a position as a studio manager in Walthamstow, a north-eastern suburb of London, which was then part of Essex, but now lies within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The name of the photographic studio was Takewhel & Pretti, which appears to be a play on the words Take Well" and "Pretty". Takewhel & Pretti were based at two studios, one at 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow (managed by Frank Berry) and the other at 855 Romford Road, Manor Park in East London. The Takewhel & Pretti studios were owned by Joseph Pettingall (born 1867, Shoreditch, London).

The 1901 census records Frank Houghton Berry and his family residing in the living quarters attached to a photographic portrait studio at 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow. On the census return, forty-nine year old Frank H. Berry is described as a "Photographer's Manager". Sharing the apartment at 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow. was thirty-six year old Adelaide Berry, Frank's second wife, two children from his first marriage, his daughter Florence and twelve year old son Vivian Frank Berry, plus two year old Violet, the daughter he had fathered with his second wife. Frank Berry's sixteen year old daughter Florence Edith Berry (born 1884, Acton, Middlesex) was employed as a  "Photographer's Receptionist" at Takewhel & Pretti's Walthamstow branch studio. Frank Berry's eldest daughter Evelyn Maude Berry (born 1883, Acton, Middlesex) was living away from home in Battersea, London, where she was working as a photographer. On the 1901 census return, Evelyn M. Berry is recorded as a "Photographer", aged 17, residing at a house called "Corve Dale" in Boundaries Road, Balham, London SW.

By 1911, Frank Houghton Berry had left the employment of Takewhel & Pretti and was working as a photographer in West London. At the time of the 1911 census, Frank Houghton Berry was residing at 38 Aylmer Road, off Wendell Road, North Hammersmith, London W12 with his wife Adelaide and their twelve year old daughter Violet Madeline Berry.

Although two of Frank Berry's daughters were employed in the business of photography - Florence Berry (born 1884, Acton, Middlesex) working as a "Photographer's Receptionist" in her teenage years and Evelyn Berry (born 1883, Acton, Middlesex) earning her living as a photographer in London in 1901 - his only son Vivian Frank Berry chose a career in the Royal Navy. The 1911 census, records twenty year old Vivian Frank Houghton Berry serving overseas in the Royal Navy. Vivian Berry survived the First World War to marry Isobel F. Tingle in Hammersmith in 1922.

Frank Houghton Berry died in the London district of Wandsworth in 1923 at the age of 71. [The death of Frank Houghton Berry was registered in the district of Wandsworth during the 3rd Quarter of 1893].

'Takewhel & Pritti' was the trading name of the photographer Joseph Pettingall (born 1867, Shoreditch, London - died 1953, district of Walthamstow, Essex). 'Takewhel & Pretti', the name of the photographic studio was was probably a play on words which were appropriate for the activity of portrait photography (i.e. "take well" and "pretty"). There are no proper surnames which correspond to 'Takewhel' or 'Pretti'. In the early 1900s, Joseph Pettingall owned two photographic portrait studios which traded under the name of  'Takewhel & Pretti', one at 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, Essex, and the other at 855 Romford Road, Manor Park in East London. There is evidence that Joseph Pettingall owned a third photographic portrait studio at 7 The Parade, Chingford, Essex.

Around 1900, Frank Houghton Berry (1852-1923) secured the position of Studio Manager at the 'Takewhel & Pretti' photographic studio at 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, Essex. The 1901 census records Frank Houghton Berry, described as a 49 year old "Photographer's Manager", residing with his wife and childre in the living quarters attached to the photographic portrait studio at 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow. Frank Berry's sixteen year old daughter, Florence Edith Berry (born 1884, Acton, Middlesex), was employed as a  "Photographer's Receptionist" at Takewhel & Pretti's Walthamstow studio.

For a couple of years, the firm of 'Takewhel & Pretti' was apparently the official photographer to the Essex County Cricket Club. A copyright form completed on 24th May 1901 records the photographer Frank Berry as the author of a picture depicting the eleven members of the Essex County Cricket Team. A second group photograph of the Essex County Cricket Team taken by Frank Berry was registered for copyright on 28th May 1902. On the registration forms for both cricket team photographs, the copyright owner is named as Joseph Pettingall. On the first registration form, dated 24th May 1901, the 'copyright owner of the work' is given as "Joseph Pettingall, trading as Takewhel & Pretti of 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow". The second form, which was completed on 24th May 1902, the 'copyright owner of the work' is given as "Joseph Pettingall, 7 The Parade, Chingford", while the 'copyright author of work' is named as "Frank Berry of 163 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, Manager to Joseph Pettingall". A third copyright registration form, dated 18th May 1903, regarding a photograph of an historic lace collar called 'The Star of Camden' names the 'copyright author of work' as "Frank Berry, c/o of Takewhel & Pretti, 163 Hoe Street, Walthomstow, Essex" so we know that Frank Berry was employed by Joseph Pettingall as a photographer and studio manager for at least 3 years. At the time of the 1901 census, Joseph Pettingall was residing with his wife and two children at The Parade, Chingford, Essex. On the census form, 34 year old Joseph Pettingall gives his occupation as "Photographer (Employer)". The birth details of his two children indicates that Joseph Pettingall had been residing in Chingford, Essex, since the Spring of 1895, so it is clear why he had to employ managers at his studios in Walthamstow and Manor Park.