Professional Photographers in Bo

Professional Photographers in Bognor (H-Q)

Frank Herbert - William Pankhurst Marsh - Imperial Photo Co.- King & Wilson - Donald Massey

Frank HERBERT (born c1844, Kensington, London)

Frank Herbert was born in Kensington, London around 1844. Frank Herbert was an artist and portrait painter by profession, but in the late 1870s and early 1880s he also worked as a portrait photographer. Between 1876 and 1880, Frank Herbert was living in Brighton, Sussex with his wife Kate (born c1848, Kensington, London). Two daughters were born to Frank and Kate Herbert during their stay in Brighton - Kate (born c1876) and Florence Grace [ birth registered in Brighton in December Quarter of 1877). By 1879, Frank Herbert was operating a photographic studio at 144 Western Road, Brighton. Frank Herbert is still listed as a photographic artist at 144 Western Road in Page's Brighton Directory of 1880, but by the time the 1881 census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Frank Herbert was living in London Road, Bognor with his wife and two daughters. In the census return, Frank Herbert gives his age as 37 and his profession as "Portrait Painter". By 1901, Frank Herbert was living in Marylebone, London. In the 1901 census return, Frank Herbert is recorded as an "Artist, Portrait Painter" and his age is given as fifty-two.

William Pankhurst MARSH (1850-1918)

Click here to view a more detailed account of the life and career of William Pankhurst Marsh

[ABOVE] The design on the reverse of a photograph by William Pankhurst Marsh, which gives details of his photographic studio in Waterloo Square, Bognor. (c1900)

William Pankhurst Marsh was born in Dover, Kent, on 9th October 1850. He trained as a photographer under Oliver Sarony (1820-1879) at the studio of Sarony & Co. in Scarborough. After his marriage to Margaret Jane Sinclair ( born c1851, Ashford , Kent ) in 1872, William Marsh settled in Chichester. For a few years between 1874 and 1875, Marsh worked as a photographer for Russell & Sons.

In 1875, W. P. Marsh left Chichester to set up his own studio in Bognor. Marsh's first studio in Bognor was at No 4 Somerset Terrace in Lyon Street, near Bognor Railway Station. The Somerset Terrace studio had previously been occupied by the photographer Frederick Stone (born c1836, Barnstaple, Devon).

By 1878, W. P. Marsh had moved into a new studio in a prime location on Bognor's seafront. The studio was situated on the eastern side of Waterloo Square, between Bognor's Fire Station and The Beach Hotel, and faced the Pier and a popular stretch of a Bognor's beach.

William Pankhurst Marsh earned much of his income from taking carte-de-visite portraits at his Bognor studio, but even in the mid 1870s he was producing "Views of the Neighbourhood". From around 1880, W. P. Marsh began taking "Instantaneous Photographs of High Seas and Breaking Waves" and showed these "Sea Studies" in exhibitions held in London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Vienna and Philadelphia.

In the 1890s, W. P. Marsh sold enlarged carbon prints of his "Sea Studies" and turned many of his local views into lantern slides. In the early 1900s, Marsh was able to re-issue many of his photographic views of the "high seas" at Bognor as holiday postcards. W. P. Marsh also produced views of Bognor seafront and portraits of local personalities and characters such as Mary Wheatland (1835-1924), the celebrated "Bathing Woman of Bognor."

Around 1905, after a long and successful career in Bognor, William P. Marsh moved back to Chichester with his wife and son and set up a studio at 39 Southgate, Chichester. William Pankhurst Marsh died at his home in Chichester on 18th March 1918 at the age of sixty-seven.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait by W. P. Marsh of Waterloo Square, Bognor. (c1885)

Click here to view examples of the photographic work of W. P. Marsh of Bognor

IMPERIAL PHOTO CO.

Under the heading of "Photographers" In the trades section of the 1909 Post Office Directory for Sussex, the Imperial Photo Co. is listed with a studio address of the Arcade, Bognor. This company is not listed in subsequent directories for Sussex.

KING & WILSON

[ABOVE] A studio portrait by King & Wilson of Arthur Percy Bale (1895-1916), the son of Frank Bale the Bognor Clown (see below under Donald Massey). Arthur Percy Bale enlisted as a Private in the Second Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment and was killed on the Somme in France on 17th October 1916 at the age of twenty. This photograph was probably taken early in 1916, before Arthur set off for France with his regiment.

The firm of King & Wilson were described as "Theatrical Photographers and View Publishers". King & Wilson operated from 8 Pier Arcade, Bognor from around 1915 until about 1930.The firm of King & Wilson were amongst the top half dozen picture postcard producers in Bognor during and after the First World War, but they also produced studio portraits.

Some of the picture postcards published by King & Wilson carry a photographer's credit of "KING, PHOTO, BOGNOR". The photographer could have been Fred King (born 1883, Littlehampton), the son of Alfred King (born c1850, Isle of Wight), a professional photographer in Littlehampton who had he retired around 1910.

[ABOVE] A photograph entitled "A Big Splash" published as a picture postcard by King & Wilson, 8 Pier Arcade, Bognor. The original photograph is credited to King.

[ABOVE] Details of King & Wilson of Bognor as printed on the reverse of a picture postcard.

Donald MASSEY (born 1870, Spalding, Lincolnshire)

Donald Massey was born in 1870 in Spalding, Lincolnshire [Birth registered in the District of Spalding in the September Quarter of 1870]. Donald Massey was the son of Susannah and William Massey of Lincolnshire. Donald's father, William Massey( born c1835 Fleet, Lincoln - died 1895, Worthing), was a poultry breeder and in 1881, he and his wife Susannah (born c1842 Holbeach, Lincolnshire) were living at 32 Albert Street, Spalding with their seven children. Sometime before 1891, Donald Massey and his family moved to Worthing, where his father ran a tobacconist's shop. Donald Massey found employment in Worthing as a photographer's assistant. In 1893, Donald Massey married Martha Brown Knowles (born c1856, Brighton) in Worthing [marriage registered in the East Preston District during the Fourth Quarter of 1893].

By 1895, Donald Massey had established his own photographic studio at Dorset House, London Road, Bognor. A photograph of Massey's studio at Dorset House appeared in an advertisement published in a local trade directory published in 1906. In this 1906 advertisement, Massey is described as a "oil and water colour painter" as well as a photographic artist.

Donald Massey produced mainly carte-de-visite studio portraits in the late 1890s and early 1900s, but after 1905 he concentrated on the production of photographic picture postcards. He issued studio portraits of local personalities in the increasingly popular postcard format and also took his camera out onto the streets of Bognor to capture views of the town. Massey seems to have been fascinated by the high waves at Bognor and he issued a number of picture postcards on this subject (see below, right).

Donald Massey worked as a photographer in Bognor up to the First World War and beyond. Massey is still listed as a photographer at the Dorset House address in Kelly's 1918 Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a man wearing freemason's medals by Donald Massey of Dorset House, London Road Bognor. (c1896)

Carte-de-visite Portraits by Donald Massey of Bognor

[ABOVE] A photographic portrait of a woman by Donald Massey of Dorset House, London Road Bognor. (c1900)

[ABOVE] A photographic portrait of a woman by Donald Massey of Dorset House, London Road Bognor. (c1902)

Postcard Photographs by Donald Massey of Bognor

Frank Bale - The Bognor Clown

[ABOVE] A studio portrait of Frank Bale the Bognor Clown, photographed by Donald Massey of Bognor around 1909. Donald Massey took a number of portraits of Frank Bale, an entertainer who became known as "The Bognor Clown". This postcard portrait is blind-stamped "Donald Massey, BOGNOR". [ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt, great grand daughter of Frank Bale ]

Click on the link below for more material on the Bognor Clown

Frank Bale - The Bognor Clown

[ABOVE] A photograph of high waves at Bognor by Donald Massey which was issued as a postcard and blind-stamped with his trademark "Donald Massey - BOGNOR".

[ABOVE] "A Storm Scene at Bognor - High Breaking Waves" (No.605). A photograph by Donald Massey which was issued as a postcard and blind-stamped with his trademark "Donald Massey - BOGNOR" .

Postcard Photographs of the Bale Family of Entertainers by Donald Massey of Bognor

[ABOVE] A studio portrait of Dorothy Bale, the daughter of Frank Bale the Bognor Clown, photographed by Donald Massey of Bognor around 1912. [ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt ]

[ABOVE] A postcard portrait of Frank Bale the Bognor Clown performing with his acrobatic dog, "Towzer" (c1910). [ PHOTO : Courtesy of Karen Nesbitt ]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Karen Nesbitt for providing the portraits of her great grandfather Frank Bale and her grandmother Dorothy Bale, photographed by Donald Massey of Bognor.

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