[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a woman, photographed at Edgar Gael's Rembrandt Studio in Station Road, Bexhill-on-Sea (c1892).

[ABOVE] A memorial group portrait photographed by Edgar Gael at the 50th Jubilee Meeting of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society held at the Polytechnic Hall in Falmouth, Cornwall on 5th September 1882. In the Annual Report of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society published for that year, it was noted that at "the conclusion of the President's speech, Mr Gael took a couple of Memorial Photographs of the platform, which will be highly prized in days to come."  Between 1881 and 1883, Edgar Gael was working as a professional photographer from his home at 9 Berkeley Vale, Falmouth, Cornwall.

[BOTTOM]

[BOTTOM]

[BOTTOM]

[BOTTOM]

[RIGHT ] A photograph of the pond at Little Common, Bexhill, taken around 1910, showing the Wheatsheaf Inn, where the itinerant photographer Alfred Harding and his 13 year old son were staying at the time of the 1881 Census.

[ABOVE ] John Hicks, the Horsham photographer, captured by the camera at the unveiling of the Jubilee Fountain in Horsham in 1897. John Hicks became a well known figure in the town of Horsham. Hicks was active in local affairs and by 1891 he was a Committee Member of the Horsham Mutual Improvement Society.

By 1864, William Hicks had left the Isle of Wight and had returned to his native Sussex with his wife Ann and their two children - five year old John and his older sister Clara (born 1858, Ryde, Isle of Wight). John Hick's father opened a photographic studio in Eastbourne early in 1864 and owned a photography business in this seaside town for the next fifteen years. After running studios in Eastbourne at Cornfield Road, Albert Place and Seaside Road, William Hicks finished his career as a professional photographer at a studio situated at 3 Terminus Road, Eastbourne. By the late 1870s, John Hicks was running the Terminus Road studio for his father. According to Charles Simmons, an Eastbourne businessman who resided near the Terminus Road studio, the young John Hicks was not a particularly diligent photographer. In an article published in the Eastbourne Gazette in December 1899, Simmons recollected the time when John Hicks would 'cast up his books at the end of the summer, and after remarking, "It has been a good season ! " would close his premises until the following spring ! '. ( Although Simmons specifically states "this was done by Mr. John Hicks, a photographer", he was looking back over twenty years and may have been referring to the working practices of John's father, William Hicks ).

By the time of the 1881 census, William Hicks was no longer taking an active role in the studio he once ran in Terminus Road. In 1881, the Hicks family were living comfortably at a house called "Mayfield", near Upperton Gardens in Eastbourne. It appears that William Hicks was now involved in property development and he is described on the census return as a "Builder", aged 50. John Hicks, William Hicks' only son, is entered on the return as a "Photographer", aged 21. Around this time the Hicks' studio at 3 Terminus Road, Eastbourne was sold to Rudolph Vieler (born c1853, Westphalia, Prussia).

In 1881, John's sister, Clara Hicks, had married John Berryman (born 1853, Wells, Somerset), a professional photographer with his own studio in Deal, Kent. John Hicks is not listed as a studio proprietor in Eastbourne after 1881 and so it is possible that John Hicks worked as a photographer for his brother-in-law between 1882 and 1884.

In 1884, John Hicks married Jane Williams (born 1860, Chelsea), the niece of Alexander McBain of Eastbourne, apparently a wealthy man who derived his income from "Houses & Dividends" and was possibly a business associate of John Hicks' father, William Hicks the builder. [ The marriage of John Hicks and Jane Williams was registered in Eastbourne during the third quarter of 1884]. After their marriage, John and Jane Hicks settled in Horsham, where their first child Louisa Clara Hicks was born during the second quarter of 1885.

John Hicks opened a photographic studio at No 18 Richmond Terrace, Carfax around 1884. John Hicks worked as a photographer at 18 Richmond Terrace - generally known as the Carfax Studio - for the next fifteen years. (See the section on the The Carfax Studio, Horsham).

On 13th November 1888, John's father, William Hicks, died at the age of 57, at his residence of Woodlands, Horeham Road, near Heathfield in Sussex. Around this time, John Hicks became a father for the second time. Mrs Jane Hicks gave birth to a daughter named Dorothy May Hicks during the fourth quarter of 1888. By 1890, John Hicks was living with his family at 15 East Street, Horsham.

In February 1890, John's mother, Mrs Ann Hicks, died during a train journey from Horsham to Eastbourne. John's mother did not live to see the birth of her third grandchild, Thora Margaret Hicks [ birth registered in Horsham during the fourth quarter of 1891 ]. John and Jane Hicks' fourth child, a son named William Alexander Hicks, was born in Horsham during the second quarter of 1898.

John Hicks remained at 18 Richmond Terrace until around 1900, when he sold the Carfax Studio to William Henry Brigden. For a short time, John Hicks worked at a studio attached to his home address at 15 East Street, Horsham. In trade directories of the time, Hicks' studio address is given as 15e East Street, Horsham. When the 1901 census was taken, John Hicks and his family are recorded at 15 E East Street, Horsham. In the census return, John Hicks is described as a "Photographer - own account (at Home)", aged 41. Also listed on the census return is John Hicks' wife Mrs Jane Hicks, aged 40, and their four children - Louisa, aged 15, Dorothy aged 12, Thora, aged 9 and three year old William.

[ABOVE ] The trade plate of John Hicks, Photographer, Carfax Studio, Horsham (c1888)

[ABOVE ] John Hicks pictured in 1897, when he was working as a professional photographer in Horsham.

[ABOVE ] John Hicks, the Horsham photographer - a detail from a group photograph taken in Horsham around 1890.

Acknowledgements