Sussex PhotoHistory Index
Sussex PhotoHistory Home Page
Sussex PhotoHistory
This website is devoted to photographers active in the English counties of East Sussex and West Sussex during Victorian and Edwardian times. It is designed to be used by people researching their family history who wish to date family photographs and those interested in the history of photography. The counties of East Sussex and West Sussex were created in 1974. In Victorian and Edwardian times there was a single county called Sussex. For the sake of clarity and consistency, I have, for the purposes of organisation, divided the old single county of Sussex into two distinct sections headed West Sussex and East Sussex. This division follows the way the counties of West Sussex and East Sussex are constituted today. Click on the links against each town or village for details of photographers and studios active between 1841 and 1910.
|
West Sussex |
East Sussex |
|||
Angmering | Photo History Studio Directory | Arlington | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Arundel | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Bognor | Photo History Studio Directory | Battle | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Burgess Hill | Photo History Studio Directory | Bexhill | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Brighton & Hove * | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Chichester | Photo History Studio Directory | *NOTE: Brighton & Hove is on a separate website | ||
Clayton | Photo History Studio Directory | Brighton Photographers 1841-1910 | ||
Cocking | Photo History Studio Directory | Cooksbridge | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Crawley | Photo History Studio Directory | Cross-in-Hand | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Cuckfield | Photo History Studio Directory | Crowborough | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Easebourne | Photo History Studio Directory | Eastbourne | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Eridge | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
East Grinstead | Photo History Studio Directory | Etchingham | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Flimwell | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Harting | Photo History Studio Directory | Hailsham | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Hassocks | Photo History Studio Directory | Halland | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Haywards Heath | Photo History Studio Directory | Hastings & St Leonards | ||
Horsham | Photo History Studio Directory | Heathfield | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Hurstpierpoint | Photo History Studio Directory | Hellingly | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Herstmonceux | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Ifield | Photo History Studio Directory | Hove & Aldrington | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Keymer | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Lancing | Photo History Studio Directory | Lewes | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Lindfield | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Littlehampton | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Maresfield | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Midhurst | Photo History Studio Directory | Mayfield | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Newhaven | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Newick | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Northiam | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Petworth | Photo History Studio Directory | Nutley | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Portslade | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Poynings | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Pulborough | Photo History Studio Directory | Pevensey & Westham | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Pyecombe | Photo History Studio Directory | Ringmer | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Robertsbridge | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Rustington | Photo History Studio Directory | Rotherfield | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Rottingdean | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Rye | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Shoreham | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Staplefield | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Steyning | Photo History Studio Directory | Seaford | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Storrington | Photo History Studio Directory | Southwick | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Three Bridges | Photo History Studio Directory | Ticehurst | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Uckfield | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Walberton | Photo History Studio Directory | |||
Westbourne | Photo History Studio Directory | Wadhurst | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Wick | Photo History Studio Directory | Waldron | Photo History Studio Directory | |
Worthing | Photo History Studio Directory | Winchelsea | Photo History Studio Directory | |
West Sussex |
East Sussex |
Hooe | Link to John Newport's website on History of Hooe Village |
Sussex Photohistory is an ongoing project. I have information on nearly every photographer who was active in Sussex between 1841 and 1910. Over the coming months I will be adding material to the Sussex Photohistory website until each of the towns and villages named above has its own Photohistory and Studio Directory. If the information you require is not yet featured on this website, feel free to contact me by e-mail. [SEE YELLOW PANELS BELOW TO SEE HOW TO CONTACT ME BY E-MAIL]. |
SUSSEX PHOTOHISTORY WEBSITE: Established August 2005. |
WEBSITE LAST UPDATED: 25th May 2018 |
|
||
AUTHOR & COMPILER: David Simkin |
|
To read an account of the early history of photography in both East Sussex and West Sussex, click on the following link : |
An Outline History of Professional Photography in Sussex from 1841 to 1855 |
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
To access over 5000 images of West Sussex in the past, currently held in various West Sussex collections, just click on the link below : |
|
Sussex PhotoHistory Part 2 : Additional Indexes to Brighton and Sussex Photographers active in the 19th Century |
|||
|
|||
|
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ON BRIGHTON PHOTOGRAPHERS (A-Z) |
|
BRIGHTON BEACH PHOTOGRAPHERS (The Kings Road Arches) 1872-1918 |
PICTURE GALLERIES FEATURING THE WORK OF 19TH CENTURY BRIGHTON & SUSSEX PHOTOGRAPHERS |
Click on the names inside the blue box below to view a selection of work by Sussex and Brighton Photographers |
|
|
|
INFORMATION REQUIRED |
If you have any information on photographers active in Sussex during Victorian or Edwardian times or have examples of their work, please contact me by e-mail. I would also be pleased to hear from any person who has family links with a photographer who was active in Sussex between 1841 and 1910. Thanks, David Simkin |
If you have any questions or enquiries regarding Sussex PhotoHistory please contact me by e-mail
|
Portraiture in Sussex Before Photography |
|||
|
||
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
A special 'thank you' to the
following contributors who have provided information on the Sussex
photographers featured on this website or have supplied examples of the work
of photographers who were active in Sussex during Victorian and Edwardian
times : Kevin Bacon, Martin Balk, Kylie Barnes, Peter Bayliss, Brian Betts, Sally Blann, Helena Grace Blomfield, Johnny Blomfield, Alan Booth, Peter Booth, Debbi Botham, Brighton History Centre, Peter Cannings-Bushell, Gordon Childs, Chris Christian, Gill Clayton, Ron Cosens, John Counsell, Sue Craig, Joan Crook, David Cryer, Denise Dagen, Geoff Dernee, Jean Donovan, Linda Evans, Steven Evans, Winnifred Evans, Brian Faithfull, Don & Judy Fleming, Chris Francis, Paul Frecker, Alan Fry, Philippe Garner, Susan Guhm, Nicolette Gunn, Bernard & Pauline Heathcote, Christine Hibbert, Ted Hide, Heather Holford, Jeanette Holm, David Hooper, Brett Jeffery, Maxine Jones, Neil Kennett, Peter Kessler, Peter King, Jeremy Knight of Horsham Museum, Jackie Knott, Audrey Linkman, Craig Little, Deirdre Long, Zoe Lubowiecka of Hove Reference Library, Geoffrey Mead, Richard Meara, Peter Merrett, Eric Monahan, Alan Moore, Carolyn Nield, Pat O'Keefe, Roger Packham, Brett Payne, Jennifer Perraton, Sue Perry, Jacqueline Phillips, Rosemary & Stan Rodliffe, Michael Rogers, Marcel Safier, Jimmy Scutt, Jennifer Smith, Liz Smith, Nick Smith, Ruth Street, Peter Stubbs, David Ticehurst, Jillian Trethewey, Raymond Turley, Cris Van Hal, Roger Vaughan, Beryl Vosburgh, Dave Weedon, Sally Whiffing, Sheila Whittingham. A special thanks to John Roles who provided my first introduction to Victorian and Edwardian photographs. |
This website is dedicated to the memory of Arthur T. Gill (1915-1987)
|
|
Early Portrait Photographers in Sussex (1841-1855) East Sussex William Constable (1783-1861) opened his Photographic Institution in Brighton on 8th November 1841. William Constable was probably the first professional photographer to operate a photographic portrait studio in Sussex. By 1855, Constable had been joined in Brighton by at least 10 rival photographers. Around 1849, Richard Brothers Finlayson (c1815-1886), trading under the name of 'Richard Beauford', set himself up as a "Heliographist" in the Sussex resort of St Leonards-on-Sea. Initially, Richard Beauford took small daguerreotype portraits at the Assembly Rooms in St Leonards, but by August 1850, he had established a permanent photographic portrait studio at No. 6 East Parade, Hastings. Richard Beauford's married sister, Mrs Maria King (born c1827, London) took her brother's place in the Assembly Rooms at the beginning of 1851, thus becoming, probably, the first woman to work as an independent photographer in Sussex. Richard Beauford and his sister Mrs King left the Hastings & St Leonards district during the Summer of 1853, but within 2 years there were at least four photographers producing portraits in Hastings. In Lewes, in 1851, Edwin Blagrove and his partner Mr. Moore were taking daguerreotype portraits on Brack Mount, near Lewes Castle. James Russell junior was possibly taking photographic portraits at Edward Reeves' jeweller's shop in Lewes's High Street as early as 1855. West Sussex Professional photography had an uncertain start in West Sussex. In June 1847, a person identifying himself as "A. B." of Chichester was offering for sale a "Daguerreotype License" which covered 6 towns, namely Chichester, Bognor, Littlehampton, Arundel, Petworth and Midhurst. Evidence of photographic activity in these towns between 1847 and 1855 is sketchy. James Russell senior (1809-1899), a cabinet maker in Chichester, claimed he had been taking photographic portraits in the town since 1853. In 1855, the seaside resort of Worthing had its own resident photographer in Edward Charles Cortis (1837-1899), the son of a local chemist. The villages of East Sussex and West Sussex were served by itinerant photographers during the 1850s, but documentation about their activities is scarce. John Craig, a photographer who had travelled from Kent, died in the West Sussex village of Cuckfield on 31st January 1855, after a two week stay.
|
|
Click below to see a list of websites which provide information on photographers active in other parts of the British Isles during the period 1841-1910 |
The Personal Pages of David Simkin and his Family |
||||||||||||
|
|
Family History Websites - Links to Family History Services and Useful Genealogy Websites |
If you are planning to trace your own family history and want to produce a family tree that goes back further than your grandparents, but need professional assistance to make a start or progress to the next stage, help is available from an experienced genealogist.
|
Mathew Homewood M.A.
|
CONTENTS : INDEX TO THE SUSSEX PHOTOHISTORY WEBSITE |
What's New ? Recent additions to the Sussex PhotoHistory website [ 20th September 2014 ] |