James Russell (1809-1899) established a photography business in Chichester in the 1850s. Six of James Russell's ten children - Annetta Russell (born 1833), James Russell junior (born c1835), Josiah Russell (born 1839), Thomas Russell (born 1841), Hezekiah Russell (born 1844) and John Lemmon Russell (born 1846), - joined him in his photography business. James Russell's third daughter Ruth Russell (born 1837, Chichester), married John Fielder ( born c1836 Fritham, Hampshire ), who also became a photographer and later managed James Russell's studio at 65 East Street, Chichester.

In the mid 1860s, James Russell senior formed the firm of James Russell & Sons with his photographer sons. During the 1870s, James Russell & Sons established branch studios in Worthing, Littlehampton, Bognor, and, for a brief time, Petworth. Around 1881, James Russell's youngest son John Lemmon Russell, was despatched to London to establish branch studios of J. Russell & Sons in the capital and in other areas on the outskirts of London.

Thomas Russell probably worked as a photographer's assistant under his father James Russell during his early working career. On 28th July 1862 at St Mary's Church, Portsea, twenty year old Thomas Russell married Harriett Mary Stroud (born c1835 Chichester). The couple's first child, Alice Frances Aylmore Russell was born in Chichester in 1863 [The birth of Alice Frances Aylmore Russell was registered in Chichester during the 4th Quarter of 1863]. A son named Hezekiah Reuben Russell was born in Chichester during the First Quarter of 1867. At least three more children followed - Mary Russell (born 1877), Thomas James Russell (born 1881) and Martha Lydia Russell (born 1883). Sadly, Thomas, the couple's youngest son died shortly after his first birthday. During this period it is likely that Thomas Russell was employed as a photographer in the firm of James Russell & Sons, but around 1885 Thomas Russell broke away from the family firm and set up his own studio at Eastgate in Chichester.

[ABOVE] 1881 census return for Thomas Russell and family

After operating from his studio in Eastgate, Chichester, for a few years, Thomas Russell opened a second studio in Southgate, Chichester. By 1890, Thomas Russell was working solely from the Southgate Studio and he continued working at this studio until his death in 1903.

[ABOVE] The design on the reverse of  a cabinet portrait by Thomas Russell which gives Russell's studio address as 20 Southgate, Chichester (c1895). Before 1895, Thomas Russell's studio was given simply as Southgate, Chichester with no building number.

[ABOVE] The reverse of  a carte-de-visite by Thomas Russell, produced when he was operating two studios in Chichester - one at Eastgate and the other at Southgate (c1888).

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of an unknown man by Thomas Russell of Southgate, Chichester (c1890).

[ABOVE] The reverse of  a carte-de-visite by Thomas Russell which gives details of  Russell's studio in Southgate, Chichester (c1889).

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young child by Thomas Russell of Southgate, Chichester (c1890). Thomas Russell later became well known for his "instantaneous photographs of children"

Thomas Russell described himself as an "Artist & Photographer" in his publicity and the advertising on his early photographs describe his business premises in Southgate as a "Fine Art Studio". In common with other photographers in the 1880s and 1890s, Thomas Russell provided a service whereby the original carte sized portrait would be "enlarged to any size and finished in oil or water colors". Thomas Russell also photographed "works of art" which were then enlarged or reduced in size and "painted artistically". Russell also worked as a gilder and was therefore able to present his finished hand-coloured photographs in handsome picture frames.

With the the availability in the 1880s of commercially produced, highly sensitive gelatin dry plates which reduced exposure times to fractions of a second, photographers became expert in photographing children. In the 1890s, Thomas Russell promoted his "instantaneous photographs of children". ( A few examples of Russell's child portraiture can be viewed in the Thomas Russell Gallery ).

Thomas Russell was assisted in his Southgate Studio by his wife Harriett and his grown-up children. As a teenager, Hezekiah Reuben Russell, Thomas Russell's son, worked as an operator in his father's studio. The 1881 census records the fifteen year old Hezekiah as a "photo operator ". Thomas Russell's eldest daughter, Alice (born 1863) and his youngest daughter Martha (born 1883) were also employed as "assistants in photography" at the Southgate Studio.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young man by Thomas Russell of Southgate, Chichester (c1898).

Hezekiah Reuben Russell, Thomas Russell's eldest son, was born in Chichester in 1867. In his early teens, Hezekiah trained as a photographer under his father and by the age of fifteen he was employed as a "photo operator". When Thomas Russell opened his own studio in Chichester around 1885, Hezekiah Russell became his chief assistant.

Early in 1886, at the age of nineteen, Hezekiah Russell married. [Hezekiah Russell's marriage was registered in the London district of Kensington during the First Quarter of 1886 and his bride was either Annetta Kate Duffy or Beatrice Annie Frecker]. The couple set up home in Orchard Road, Chichester, and produced two children between 1886 and 1893. On Thursday, 23rd March 1893, following a bout of influenza, Hezekiah Russell died at the age of 26 from acute rheumatic fever. [The death of Hezekiah Reuben Russell was registered in the West Sussex district of Westhampnett during the First Quarter of 1893].

Thomas Russell and Family in 1901

After the death of his son Hezekiah in 1893, Thomas Russell relied heavily on his daughters. The 1901 census records Thomas Russell, his wife and three daughters residing at 227 Oving Road, Chichester. Thomas Russell, the Head of Household, is described on the census return as a "Photographer & Gilder (Employer)", aged 59. Alice Russell, the eldest daughter, is entered on the census return as an "Assistant in Photography (Employed)", aged 37. Alice's youngest sister, seventeen year old Martha Russell, is also listed as an "Assistant in Photography". The middle sister, Mary Russell, is described by the census enumerator as a "Mother's Help & Domestic". The twenty-four year old provided assistance to her mother Mrs Mary Harriett Russell, who was now in her sixties. ( On earlier documents, Thomas Russell's wife gave her first name as "Harriett", but in 1901 she is recorded as "Mary H. Russell" ). Also residing at Thomas Russell's home in Oving Road was his ten year old grand daughter Dorothy Russell (presumably a daughter of his late son Hezekiah) and his brother-in-law George Stroud, aged 53,  a "cripple from birth", who was unable to earn a living. Also boarding at the house was George Henry Allen (born 1876, Chichester), described as an unmarried man of twenty-five, employed as an "Operator in Photography". George Henry Allen was to take on an important role in Thomas Russell's Southgate Studio over the coming years.

[ABOVE] A modern map of the southern part of Chichester, showing the position of Southgate (orange), where Thomas Russell 's studio was located and Cawley Road (blue), where the Russell family lived in the early 1890s.

Click on the link below to view a selection of portraits taken at Thomas Russell's Studio in Chichester :

Thomas Russell Gallery