S. W. Grey - Brighton Photographer
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Sidney W. Grey (born1873) - Brighton Photographer
Sidney William Grey (aka Sydney W. Grey)
Sidney
William Grey was the youngest son of
the veteran photographer Stephen Grey (1822-1891).
Sidney Grey was born in 1873 [ birth
registered in Brighton during the Second Quarter of 1873]. Like his
three older photographer brothers - Charles
Stephen Grey (born 1854), George Elijah Grey (born 1859)
and Walter James Grey (born 1865) - Sidney Grey worked as a
photographer's assistant in Stephen Grey's studio as a teenager. When
the 1891 census was taken,
Sidney was the only son living
with his parents at the family home at 32 Caledonian Road, Brighton.
Sidney W. Grey is described on the census return as a "Photographer's
Assistant", aged 18. By this date, all three of Sidney's brothers had
married and, in the case of Charles and George, had established
photographic studios under their own names. Walter Grey was
possibly working as the main photographer in the studio of Stephen Grey
& Son at 32 Caledonian Road during this period. In 1891, Sidney Grey was
probably assisting his father and brother at the family studio in
Caledonian Road. On 29th April,1891, shortly after the 1891 census was taken, Stephen Grey died in hospital following an operation to treat a strangulated hernia. Walter Grey did not want to pursue a photographic career, so Stephen Grey's studio at 32 Caledonian Road passed into the hands of his youngest son, Sidney, who was only eighteen year of age. Sidney may have only remained at No 32 Caledonian Road for a brief time - the studio is not listed in trade directories after 1892. A carte-de-visite dating from around 1892, gives details of "S. W. Grey, Photographer" at an address in Caledonian Road, Brighton ( the number of the premises has been erased and inked over with another number, which looks like a number "5"). Presumably, Sidney Grey worked as a photographer throughout the 1890s, yet his name does not appear as a studio proprietor until the publication of Kelly's Directory of Sussex in 1899. In adult life, Sidney preferred to spell his name as "Sydney W. Grey". In Kelly's 1899 edition of the Directory of Sussex, Sydney W. Grey is listed as a photographer at 172 Lewes Road, Brighton. Pike's Brighton Directory of 1900, names the proprietor of the studio at 172 Lewes Road as "S. W. Grey", and it is this form of Sydney's name that appears on the majority of his photographs. In 1901, Sydney William Grey married Madeline Sarah Gorringe (born 1879, Brighton), the daughter of Annie and Harry Gorringe (1840-1892), a Brighton bootmaker and shoe shop proprietor. [ The marriage of Sydney and Madolin (Madeline) Grey was registered in Brighton during the Third Quarter of 1901 ]. Sydney W. Grey operated the photographic studio at 172 Lewes Road until the end of the First World War. ( S. W. Grey's studio is listed in trade directories issued in 1918). By 1921, S. W. Grey’s studio at 172 Lewes Road was in the hands of the London photographer Henry Brabazon. |
[ABOVE] The reverse of carte-de-visite showing the details of S. W. Grey's studio in Caledonian Road, Brighton (c1892). |
Photographic Portraits by Sidney William Grey
[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young railway employee in the uniform of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR) by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1900). | [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young boy by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1907). |
Cabinet Portraits by Sidney William Grey
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young woman and a little girl by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1905).
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[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a woman and a young child by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1902). | [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young boy by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1907). |
[ABOVE ] A cabinet portrait of a young woman by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1905). |
[ABOVE ] A cabinet portrait of a young woman by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1905). |
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[ABOVE ] A cabinet portrait of a young woman by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1910). |
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young woman by S. W. Grey of 172 Lewes Road, Brighton (c1905). |
To view more photographs by S. W. Grey and to read further details about his studio in Brighton's Lewes Road, click on the link below : |
Cabinet Portraits by S. W. Grey and the Studio at 172 Lewes Road, Brighton |
Acknowledgements & Additional Information |
Thanks to Gill Clayton, a great, great grand daughter of Stephen Grey, for providing additional information on Stephen Grey's family. Thanks also to Alan Fry of Lincolnshire for extra information on Stephen Grey's family. Alan Fry is a great, great grandson of Stephen Grey. Alan's great grandmother was Elizabeth Annie Grey (aka Anne Elizabeth Grey), one of Stephen Grey's daughters. Elizabeth Annie Grey married Elias Richard Patching (1857-1889) in 1884 and together they ran The Bridge Inn at Upper Beeding, where Alan's grandmother was born in 1885. |
Click on this link to go to : Stephen Grey - Brighton Photographer |
Click on this link to go to : Charles S. Grey - Brighton Photographer |