Cuckfield Photographers

Cuckfield Photographers

Professional Photographers in Cuckfield

Rubens Anscombe - Albert Burtenshaw - John Craig - Edwin Dann - Albert Dumsday - Edward Gilby - Thomas Tester- Frank Wilkins

Rubens Thomas ANSCOMBE (born c1848, Cuckfield, Sussex)

A Dealer in Photographic Materials and Photographic Apparatus in Cuckfield between 1899 and 1905

Rubens Thomas Anscombe was born in Cuckfield in 1848. [The birth of Rubens Thomas Anscombe was registered in Cuckfield during the 4th Quarter of 1848]. Rubens Anscombe was a plumber and glazier by trade and in advertisements he states that his business was established in 1845. This suggests that Rubens was the son or close relative of Joseph Anscombe, who is listed in local trade directories as a plumber and glazier in Cuckfield between 1851 and 1866. From the mid 1890s, Rubens Thomas Anscombe is recorded as a plumber, painter, glazier and sign writer with business premises in High Street, Cuckfield. In 1899, Rubens Thomas Anscombe is also listed in Kelly's Post Office Directory of Sussex under the heading of "Photographic Material Dealers".

Rubens Anscombe married Clara Ann Beeny (born 1863, Wartling), the daughter of Ann and Herbert Beeny, at Cuckfield in 1896. Clara's father, Herbert Beeny was a grocer and draper in Wartling, Sussex. Early in 1900, Clara Anscombe gave birth to a baby daughter named Marjorie. Margery (Marjorie) Anscombe was baptised on 9th January 1900. At the time of the 1901 census, Rubens Anscombe was living in Cuckfield with his wife Clara and baby daughter Marjorie (Marjory). In the census return, Rubens Anscombe is described as a "Plumber & Decorator", aged 52. Between 1905 and 1911, Anscombe is entered in trade directories as a plumber in Cuckfield's High Street, yet advertisements from around 1905 mention that he was also a "Photographic Materials & Apparatus Dealer" with his own "Dark Room for Clients".

When the census was taken on 2nd April 1911, Rubens Thomas Anscombe was described on the census return as a "Plumber & Decorator", aged 62. Rubens Anscombe was residing at his house in Cuckfield's High Street with his wife Clara Ann Anscombe (aged 47), their only child, Marjorie, a schoolgirl of 11, and a twenty-three year old domestic servant named Mabel Edwards.

Rubens Thomas Anscombe died in in Cuckfield during the 2nd Quarter of 1932, aged 83.

R. ANSCOMBE. Practical Sanitary Plumber & Decorator. Photographic Materials & Apparatus Dealer. Dark Room for Clients

[ABOVE] An advertisement detailing the services provided by Rubens Thomas Anscombe of High Street, Cuckfield ( Entry under Cuckfield, Sussex, in Bennett's Business Directory of 1904-1905 ).

[ABOVE] A folding half-plate camera with leather bellows, a "roller-blind" shutter and camera plate holders - the type of camera and photographic apparatus Rubens Anscombe might have sold at his shop in Cuckfield in the early 1900s.

Albert BURTENSHAW (born 1848, Cuckfield, Sussex)

Active as a photographer at St John's Common, Clayton, around 1870 and in Cuckfield between 1873 and 1877


[ABOVE] A portrait of an elderly man dressed in a farm worker's smock. This photographic copy was made by Albert Burtenshaw of Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield, around 1870, but the original portrait was probably a collodion positive portrait taken on glass about a decade earlier.	[ABOVE] The reverse of the carte-de-visite by Albert Burtenshaw of Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield, showing the decorative "trellis and vine" design (c1873). Although this card mount was produced in the early 1870s, the image on the front of the cdv dates from around 1860.
[PHOTO: Courtesy of Roger Packham]	[PHOTO: Courtesy of Roger Packham]

Albert BURTENSHAW (1848-1936)

[ABOVE] Albert Burtenshaw listed as a photographer at St John's Common, Clayton, near Hurstpierpoint, in the Trades section of the 1870 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] Albert Burtenshaw listed as a photographer at Cuckfield in the Trades section of Kelly's 1874 Post Office Directory of Sussex. Photographs taken by Albert Burtenshaw during this period carry the address of Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield, Sussex.

[ABOVE] Albert Burtenshaw, previously a photographer and a former butler to Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell M.P. of West Grinstead Park, relaxes with his second wife, Mrs Jane Burtenshaw, in the garden of their home at Ockenden Cottage, South Street, Cuckfield. (c1908). Albert Burtenshaw's second wife Jane Bell (born c1855, Rochford, Essex) was, like her husband, a former domestic servant. Mary, who is thought to have worked as a Lady's Maid to Lady Dorothea Burrell, the wife of Albert's former employer, married Albert Burtenshaw in 1905, when she was approaching 50 and her husband was fifty-seven.

[ABOVE] A photograph of a small cottage and shop in South Street, Cuckfield (c1910). On the right of the picture, is the sweet shop of Alfred J. W. Cook at No. 30 South Street, Cuckfield. Alfred John William Cook was a confectioner in South Street, Cuckfield, between 1910 and 1915. Alfred John William Cook (born 1863, Cuckfield) was originally a naturalist and in trade directories published between 1899 and 1905, Cook is listed as a "bird stuffer" with premises in South Street, Cuckfield. Albert Burtenshaw lived in South Street, Cuckfield from 1890 until his death in 1936.

Albert Burtenshaw was born in 1848 at Cuckfield, Sussex, the son of Sarah Packham (born c1815 Wivelsfield, Sussex) and Edward Burtenshaw (born c1816, West Grinstead, Sussex), an agricultural labourer.[ Albert Burtenshaw 's birth was registered in Cuckfield during the September Quarter of 1848]. At the time of the 1861 Census, Albert Burtenshaw was living with his parents at Ludgate Farm, Cuckfield.

Albert Burtenshaw was married before he was twenty. Albert Burtenshaw married Elizabeth Breden (born c1841, Balcombe, Sussex ) in the London district of Westmister in 1868. Albert and Elizabeth Burtenshaw''s first child, Edith Mary Burtenshaw was born in Lewes, Sussex during the 2nd Quarter of 1868. When Edith Mary was baptised in Lewes on 14th June 1868, Albert gave his occupation as "servant". Albert, his wife Elizabeth, and their young baby Edith then moved on to the Hurstpierpoint area of Sussex, where the couple's second child Lily Maude Burtenshaw was born during the 4th Quarter of 1869. It is in 1870 that Albert Burtenshaw is first recorded as a photographer in a local trade directory. In the 1870 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory for Sussex, Albert Burtenshaw appears under the heading of 'Photographers' with an address of St John's Common, Clayton, Hurstpierpoint.

By 1871, Albert Burtenshaw was employed as a butler in the household of barrister and Justice of the Peace, Walter Wyndham Burrell (1814-1886). Walter Wyndham Burrell, a High Sheriff of Sussex, was the third son of Sir Charles Burrell, a Conservative MP and 3rd Baronet of Valentine House. The Burrell family owned property and land in the area of Horsham, Cuckfield and West Grinstead. Walter Wyndham Burrell spent much of his time in London, but he had his family home at Ockenden House in the West Sussex town of Cuckfield. At the time of the 1871 census, Albert Burtenshaw was residing in London with his employer, Walter Burrell, while Albert's wife and two daughters were living at a house in a row of terraced buildings in St John's Common, Clayton. On the 1871 census return, Mrs Elizabeth Burtenshaw describes herself as a "Butler's wife", aged 34. Albert Burtenshaw is recorded as a "Butler - Domestic Servant" at Walter Burrell's London residence at 5 Richmond Terrace, Westminster. Walter W. Burrell, the Head of the Household, gives his profession and occupation as "J.P. County Sussex, Landowner".

As Walter Wyndham Burrell's butler, Albert Burtenshaw's main duties were carried out in the Burrell family home in West Sussex. Although Albert Burtenshaw was primarily employed as a domestic servant for the Burrell family, he appears to have continued his career as as a photographer. The 1874 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory for Sussex records Albert Burtenshaw as a photographer based in Cuckfield. A carte-de -visite view of Cuckfield, photographed by Albert Burtenshaw around 1875, carries a business address of Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield, Sussex.

Albert Burtenshaw and his family resided in the area of Cuckfield during the period 1872 to 1877. Albert's wife, Mrs Elizabeth Burtenshaw gave birth to four more children during their stay in Cuckfield - Blanche Louisa Burtenshaw (birth registered during the 2nd Quarter of 1872), Guy Percy Burtenshaw (birth registered during the 4th Quarter of 1873), Hugh Maurice Burtenshaw (birth registered during the 4th Quarter of 1875) and Digby Henry Burtenshaw (birth registered during the 2nd Quarter of 1877).

In the year 1876, the prospects of Walter Wyndham Burrell, Burtenshaw's employer, improved greatly. In July 1876, Walter Wyndham Burrell's elder brother Sir Percy Burrell, the 4th Baronet, died at the age of 64. Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell succeeded to the Baronetcy and inherited West Grinstead Park, a country house and estate in West Sussex. In that same year of 1876, Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell was elected Conservative MP for New Shoreham. Sir Walter Burrell's new status as a Peer of the Realm and a Member of Parliament resulted in more social occasions at his new country residence in West Grinstead. As his duties as Sir Walter Burrell's butler grew, Burtenshaw was probably obliged to give up his second career as a professional photographer. After 1876, Albert Burtenshaw's name does not appear in the lists of photographers published in local trade directories .

Around 1880, Albert Burtenshaw and his family took up residence at South Lodge on the West Grinstead Park estate. Albert and Elizabeth's seventh child, Basil Frederick Burtenshaw, was born at West Grinstead early in 1881 and baptised in the parish of Cuckfield on the 25th March 1881. In the 1881 census, Albert Burtenshaw is recorded as a 32 year old butler, one of fifteen servants in Sir Walter Burrell's household at West Grinstead Park. Albert's wife and family are shown living at South Lodge, West Grinstead. Mrs Elizabeth Burtenshaw, is described on the census return as a "Butler's Wife", aged 40. All seven of the Burtenshaw children, three daughters and four sons, are recorded at South Lodge, including the latest addition to the family, two month old Basil Frederick Burtenshaw.

Albert Burtenshaw was employed as butler to Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell, MP, at his large house on the West Grinstead Park estate up until the death of his employer on 24th January 1886. It is likely that Sir Walter Burrell left some property to Albert Burtenshaw, who had served as Burrell's butler for fifteen years or more. The 1891 census records Albert Burtenshaw as a forty-two year old "Farmer", residing at 21 South Street, Cuckfield, with his wife Elizabeth and five of their children.

In the 1901 census, Albert Burtenshaw is recorded as living in South Street, Cuckfield with wife Elizabeth, aged 60, and three of their children - Blanche, Guy and Basil. (One of Albert and Elizabeth's sons, Digby Henry Burtenshaw, had died in 1895 at the age of 17). Albert Burtenshaw is described on the 1901 census return as a "Farmer & Waiter", aged 52. At the time of the 1901 census, Guy Percy Burtenshaw (born 1873, Cuckfield) was working as a "Coach Builder" and Basil Frederick Burtenshaw (born 1881, West Grinstead) was serving his apprenticeship as a printer. The following year, Guy Burtenshaw married twenty-four year old Elizabeth Simmons, who gave birth to their first child Dulcie Winifred Burtenshaw during the 4th Quarter of 1902.

Albert Burtenshaw's first wife, Elizabeth died on 28th September 1903 at Ockenden Cottage, the family home in South Street, Cuckfield. Albert Burtenshaw subsequently married Jane Bell (born c1855, Rochford, Essex) a former lady's maid. [ The marriage of Albert Burtenshaw and Jane Bell was registered in the district of Steyning during the 2nd Quarter of 1905 ]. Jane Bell had been in domestic service for most of her working life - in 1871 she had been a twenty-six year old "Housemaid" at a Ladies' School in Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea and by 1891, she was employed as a "Ladies' Maid" in Paddington, London. It has been suggested that Albert Burtenshaw first met Jane Bell when she was working as a lady's maid to Lady Dorothea Burrell (1829-1892), the wife of his late employer.

After he married Jane Bell in 1905, Albert Burtenshaw continued to live at Ockenden Cottage, South Street, Cuckfield. By the end of 1905, with the exception of his youngest son, Basil Frederick Burtenshaw (born 1881, West Grinstead), all of Albert's children had left the family home. Albert's two eldest daughters, Edith Mary Burtenshaw (born 1868, Lewes) and Lily Maude Burtenshaw (born 1869, Hurstpierpoint) had both married in the 1890s. Blanche Louisa Burtenshaw (born 1872, Cuckfield), Albert's youngest daughter, married schoolmaster Stephen Frank Lewin (born 1873, Cuckfield) in 1905. Sadly, Blanche died within a year of the union, at the age of 33, on 10th April 1906, shortly after giving birth to a son named Basil Llewellyn Lewin. Albert's youngest son, Basil Frederick Burtenshaw married Evelyn Lottie Cordery in 1908.

Albert Burtenshaw was still living at Ockenden Cottage in 1927 when the author Robert Thurston Hopkins paid him a visit. In his book, The Lure of Sussex (1928), Hopkins describes Burtenshaw as " a fine, grand old gentleman ... a good figure of a man", who provided him with "very potent home made cider", reputedly made from apples and animal bones. Robert Thurston Hopkins also gave details of Albert Burtenshaw's home in South Street, Cuckfield: "Ockenden Cottage ...Mr Burtenshaw drew us into a cottage with heavily timbered rooms. Ockenden Cottage was once the White Horse Inn ... The old bottle-glass windows in the interior doors, which date from the 17th century, and the deep hewn cellars suggest its former career."

Albert Burtenshaw resided in Cuckfield for over forty-five years. He derived a living from farming, but supplemented his income by working as a waiter. The 1901 census describes Burtenshaw as a "Farmer & Waiter". When the 1911 census was taken Albert and Jane Burtenshaw are recorded at Ockenden Cottage, South Street, Cuckfield. Albert Burtenshaw is described on the census return as a sixty-two year old "Race Official". However, it appears from the 1911 census return that both Albert and his wife Jane earned some money from waiting on tables and carrying out other duties at a local restaurant, inn or hotel. Alongside Jane Burtenshaw's name, under the heading of "Occupation" the census enumerator has written "2 in charge of waitress, cloak room, etc".

Albert Burtenshaw died at his home in Cuckfield in 1936 at the age of 88.

Albert Burtenshaw - Photographer at St John's Common, Clayton, and Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite view of Cuckfield by Albert Burtenshaw of Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield (c1875). Burtenshaw has pointed his camera down Cuckfield's High Street, showing the Talbot Hotel and Posting House at centre left and the spire of Holy trinity Church in the centre background. [The location of the Talbot Hotel is marked by a red dot on the map below].

[Photocopies of the carte-de-visite view by A. Burtenshaw kindly provided by Roger Packham]

[ABOVE] A Victorian map of the town of Cuckfield (1843). Albert Burtenshaw worked as a photographer from Ockenden Lane [ marked in yellow on the map]. The Talbot Hotel [ marked on the map by a red dot ] is featured in Burtenshaw's carte-de-visite view of Cuckfield's High Street ( See the photograph above the map).

[ABOVE] A photograph of South Street, Cuckfield (c1900). Albert Burtenshaw lived in South Street, Cuckfield from 1890 until his death in 1936.

[ABOVE] Albert Burtenshaw listed as a photographer at St John's Common, Clayton, near Hurstpierpoint, in the Trades section of Kelly's 1870 Post Office Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] The reverse of a carte-de-visite by Albert Burtenshaw of Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield, showing the "trellis and vine" design that was popular in the 1870s.

[Copy of the Burtenshaw cdv kindly provided by Roger Packham]

[ABOVE] Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell (1814-1886), Baronet and M. P. for New Shoreham. Albert Burtenshaw worked as a domestic servant for Walter Wyndham Burrell for many years. In the 1871 census, Albert Burtenshaw is recorded as a butler in Walter Burrell's London home. Walter Burrell also employed Albert Burtenshaw as a butler at his country house at West Grinstead Park in the 1880s.

[ABOVE] West Grinstead Park, the country seat of Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell (1814-1886), 5th Baronet of Valentine and Member of Parliament for New Shoreham. The country house at West Grinstead Park had been built for another member of the Burrell Family, but in 1831 it was passed over to Sir Charles Burrell (1774-1862), Walter Wyndham Burrell's father. Walter Wyndham Burrell inherited West Grinstead Park in 1876 on the death of his older brother Sir Percy Burrell, the 4th Baronet of Valentine.

As the 5th Baronet of Valentine, Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell maintained a large household at West Grinstead Park. In the 1881 census, the photographer Albert Burtenshaw is recorded as a 32 year old butler, one of fifteen 'live-in' servants employed in Sir Walter Burrell's household at West Grinstead Park. (See the list of servants at West Grinstead Park, as recorded in the 1881 census, in the table on the right). Albert Burtenshaw's wife and family resided at South Lodge on the West Grinstead Park Estate.

The Household of Sir Walter Wyndham Burrell in 1881
1881 Census: West Grinstead Park, West Grinstead
Sir Walter W. Burrell	Baronet, M. P. & J.P.
Dorothea Burrell	wife of Sir Walter Burrell
Edith H. Burrell	daughter of Sir Walter Burrell
Albert Burtenshaw (aged 32)	Butler
William Britt (61)	Coachman
Harriett Britt (61)	Domestic Servant
Lucy Torkett (37)	Cook
George Seleby (29)	Under Butler
Ernest Goodfellow (22)	Footman
Harry Tuld (18)	Footman
Annie Whitebread (25)	Lady's Maid
Elizabeth Marley (30)	Housemaid
Kate Farren (19)	Housemaid
Fanny Rogers (16)	Housemaid
Esther Jeffery (18)	Kitchen Maid
Joseph Holloway (26)	Under Coachman
Thomas Steyning (20)	Groom
Edwin Jupp (15)	Hall Boy

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Herbie Whitmore for supplying further information about Albert Burtenshaw and his family in Cuckfield. I am very grateful to Roger Packham for supplying copies of Albert Burtenshaw's carte-de-visite photographs. My thanks also goes to Gwyneth Fookes who provided the scans of the cdv portrait.

John CRAIG (c1816-1855)

Itinerant photographer in Cuckfield in 1855

[ABOVE] A daguerreotype portrait of a young girl taken by John Craig at Saffron Walden in Essex in 1853. John Craig was an itinerant photographer who travelled around England with his photographic apparatus during the 1850s. John Craig was taking daguerreotype portraits in Essex in 1853. During 1854, Craig was travelling around Kent, visiting Dover, Margate and Ramsgate. By the beginning of 1855, John Craig had reached Cuckfield in Mid-Sussex, where he died on 31st January 1855 at the age of 39.

John Craig was born around 1816 and worked as an itinerant daguerreotype artist in the 1850s. There is some evidence that Craig was originally from Yorkshire. (Bernard and Pauline Heathcote in their comprehensive survey of early portrait photographers in the British Isles mention an itinerant photographer named Craig who was taking daguerreotype portraits in Holmfirth in 1850). By 1853, John Craig was taking daguerreotype portraits in Essex at Saffron Walden. From Essex, John Craig appears to have travelled to the seaside towns of Kent. By 1854, John Craig had visited Dover, Margate and Ramsgate with his photographic apparatus. It is clear that John Craig used his camera to capture views as well as portraits. A notice in a Sussex newspaper mentions Craig's splendid "sketches of scenery" and a photographic view he made entitled "Dover Pier and the Ship Hotel".

In January 1855, John Craig, arrived in Cuckfield with his camera and photographic apparatus. Craig was either making a tour of Sussex towns and villages or was making a break in his journey to the seaside resorts on the Sussex coast. During his stay in Cuckfield, Craig made a number of daguerreotype portraits and a report of his photographic work appeared in a local newspaper. The following item was published in The Sussex Express on 20th January, 1855 :

Mr Craig, of Margate, is paying us a visit with his photographic apparatus. Several gentlemen have had their portraits taken, and the specimens we have seen show a truthfulness and faithfulness almost impossible to surpass, while the new daguerreotype system practised by Mr Craig bring out the light and shade to perfection, especially in his sketches of scenery which are splendid. We may call the view of Dover Pier and the Ship Hotel as the top of the art.

John Craig's sojourn in Cuckfield lasted less than a fortnight. On 10th February, 1855, The Sussex Express printed the following notice :

DEATHS ... At Cuckfield, on the 31st ult., Mr John Craig, of Ramsgate, photographic and daguerreotype professor, aged 39. Mr Craig had only been staying at Cuckfield a few weeks.

John Craig was probably just one of a number of itinerant photographers who visited Cuckfield during the 1850s. The names of most of these photographers are not known as their visits were brief and unheralded*. John Craig's role as a photographer in Cuckfield has only been preserved in the historical record because he was unfortunate enough to die during his short stay in the market town.

* Occasionally, the details of a travelling photographer are preserved by chance in a census return - see, for example, Edward Gilby, below.

[ABOVE] An illustration published in an American journal in 1847, showing Mr Austin Avery's "Portable Daguerreotype Saloon". The daguerreotype artist John Craig possibly used a similar vehicle when he visited Cuckfield in 1855.

[ABOVE] The market town of Cuckfield described in the Post Office Directory of Sussex published in 1855.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Roger Packham for locating the newspaper article about John Craig's arrival and sudden death in Cuckfield.

Edwin DANN (1831-1896)

Active as a photographer in Cuckfield from 1859 to around 1872

Edwin Dann was born around 1831 in Cuckfield, the son of Ann and Edward Dann (c1797-1851), a master cooper. Edward Dann, Edwin's father, was born in Sevenoaks, Kent, but as a young man he settled in Cuckfield, Sussex. In Pigot's Directory of Sussex published in 1832, Edward Dann is listed as a cooper in Cuckfield. Edwin was trained as a cooper by his father. In the 1851 census, Edwin Dann is described as a "Cooper Journeyman", aged 20, and is shown living at Back Lane, Cuckfield.

Edward Dann died in the Summer of 1851 [ Death registered in Cuckfield during the 3rd Quarter of 1851 ] and his widow Mrs Ann Dann took over his barrel-making business. In 1855, Mrs Ann Dann is listed as the resident cooper in Cuckfield, but by the time the Melville's Directory was published in 1858, the business was in the hands of her son, Edwin Dann. In the 1861 census, thirty-year old Edwin Dann is described as a master cooper, employing one man. According to the census return, Edwin Dann also worked as a "Hardware Dealer" in Cuckfield.

Edwin Dann had married Mary Daffurn Wilson (born 16th May 1826, St Pancras, London, Middlesex) in 1856. [ Marriage registered in the Islington district of London during the 2nd Quarter of 1856 ]. At the time of the 1861 Census, Edwin Dann was living in Cuckfield Town with his wife Mary and his three sons - William, aged 4, Edwin Joseph, aged 3, and one year old George Henry Dann. What is particularly interesting is that on the evening of the census, Edwin and Mary Dann were sharing their home with a young photographer named Edward Gilby (born c1834, Walworth, Surrey). Edward Gilby, (entered as "Edward Gilly" on the census return) gives his profession as "photographer" and was staying at the home of Edwin Dann with his twenty-five year old wife Sarah and their baby son, Edward. The young family from Walworth, Surrey are entered on the census return as "visitors" and it is likely that Edward Gilby was working as a travelling photographer. I had previously assumed that during his stay with the Dann family, Edward Gilby had given Edwin Dann some instruction in the rudiments of photography, but there is now evidence that the cooper had been taking daguerreotype portraits in Cuckfield as early as 1859.

If Edward Gilly did give Edwin Dann further instruction in the art and science of photography, Cuckfield's resident cooper made good progress. On the 8th February 1862, the Sussex Agricultural Express reported :

Mr Dann, our native photographist, has been taking some very pretty views of the interior of the church, that are well executed. His sketches and portraits are really admirable, and we are pleased to see him so well patronised.

From 1862, Edwin Dann worked jointly as a photographer and cooper in Cuckfield. In the local trade directories which were published in the 1860s, Edwin Dann is listed as "cooper & photographer". ( Dann is also entered as an insurance agent for the Royal Fire & Life Insurance Company ). When the 1871 census was taken, Edwin Dann is recorded in Cuckfield's High Street with his wife Mary and six children - William junior, aged 14, George , aged 11, John, aged 9, Emily, aged 8, Fanny (Annie), aged 6, and four year old Thomas. ( Edwin and Mary's second son Edwin Joseph Dann , had died in 1864 when he was about six years of age ). Edwin Dann, now aged 40, is described by the census enumerator as "Photographer, Cooper, etc.", which suggests he was still dealing in hardware and was still employed as an agent for the Royal Fire & Life Insurance Company. Significantly, for the first time, his profession as photographer is listed ahead of his trade as cooper.

Edwin Dann in Redhill

Edwin Dann is not recorded as a photographer in Cuckfield in Kelly's Post Office Directory of Sussex published in 1874. In the 1878 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory for Surrey, Edwin Dann is entered as a "Landscape Photographer" at Brighton Road, Redhill. In 1879, Edwin Dann lost two more children - George Henry Dann, who died before his twenty-first birthday, and Emily, who was only sixteen at the time of her death. In the 1881 census, Edwin Dann, his wife Mary, and three of his children are shown living above his studio premises in Brighton Road, Redhill under the registration district of Reigate Foreign in Surrey. Edwin Dann is described in the census return as a "photographer employing one girl and one boy". Nineteen year old John Dann was working as a grocer's assistant and Thomas Dann was still at school, but Edwin Dann's sixteen year old daughter Annie (Fanny) might have been assisting her father in his photography business. William Dann, Edwin's eldest son, had left home and was lodging in Guildford, where he was working in a grocer's shop.

After he left school, Thomas Dann (born c1866, Cuckfield) joined his father in the photography business. From 1884, the studio in Redhill went under the name of Edwin Dann & Son. In 1885, Edwin Dann's wife Mary died at the age of 59. When Edwin Dann died in 1896* at the age of 64, his son Thomas took over the running of the Redhill studio. In the 1901 census of Redhill, Thomas Dann is recorded as a photographer, aged 34.

* Edwin Dann's death was registered in the Reigate District during the 2nd Quarter of 1896 .

1861 Census : Cuckfield Town
NAME		AGE	OCCUPATION	PLACE OF BIRTH
Edwin Dann	Head	30	Master Cooper & Hardware Dealer	Cuckfield, Sussex
Mary D. Dann	wife	34
William Dann	son	4		Cuckfield, Sussex
Edwin Dann	son	3		Cuckfield, Sussex
George Dann	son	1		Cuckfield, Sussex
Edward Gilly	visitor	27	Photographer	Walworth, Surrey
Sarah Gilly	wife	25		Walworth, Surrey
Edward Gilly jnr	son	2 months		Walworth, Surrey

[ABOVE] Details of the Dann Family in the Census Return of 1861. It is possibly significant that a travelling photographer named Edward Gilly (Gilby), together with his wife and child, was staying with Edwin Dann and his family when the census was taken.

[ABOVE] An engraving showing the interior of Cuckfield Church. In February 1862, a local newspaper reported that "Edwin Dann, our native photographist, has been taking some very pretty views of the interior of the church".

1871 Census : High Street, Cuckfield
NAME		AGE	OCCUPATION	PLACE OF BIRTH
Edwin Dann	Head	40	Photographer, Cooper, etc	Cuckfield, Sussex
Mary D. Dann	wife	44		St Pancras, Middlesex
William Dann	son	14		Cuckfield, Sussex
George H. Dann	son	11		Cuckfield, Sussex
John Dann	son	9		Cuckfield, Sussex
Emily Dann	daughter	8		Cuckfield, Sussex
Fanny Dann	daughter	6		Cuckfield, Sussex
Thomas Dann	son	4		Cuckfield, Sussex
Lucy Thorpe	lodger	22	Milliner & Dressmaker	Guildford, Surrey

[ABOVE] Details of the Dann Family in the Census Return of 1871

A Daguerreotype Portrait of Henry Holder (1848-1941) by Edwin Dann of Cuckfield

[ABOVE] A copy of a daguerreotype portrait taken in Cuckfield in 1859 by Edwin Dann. The subject of the photograph is Henry Holder (1848-1941). Henry, who was born at Cuckfield in 1848, is shown wearing an agricultural worker's smock, known as a "round-frock".

In 1859, Henry Holder, the ten year old son of a carrier based in Haywards Heath, sat for his portrait in the premises of Edwin Dann, a master cooper who supplemented his income by taking daguerreotype likenesses in the village of Cuckfield.

Henry Holder, the young lad who posed for Edwin Dann the 'photographist' in 1859, was born at Cuckfield on 22nd January 1848. Henry Holder senior, young Henry's father, worked as a carrier, taking passengers and goods daily between Haywards Heath and the villages of Lindfield and Cuckfield. Each afternoon, Henry Holder senior carried goods to Cuckfield and it was probably on one of these occasions that he took along his son. Before heading back to Haywards Heath, Henry Holder and his ten year old son called in at the premises of Edwin Dann to have their likenesses taken.

In 1860, Henry Holder senior and his family moved to Chichester. After leaving school, Henry Holder junior found work as a cowman. On 28th June 1870, Henry Holder married Mary Harris (born 1850, Sidlesham, Sussex), the daughter of James and Maria Harris. For twenty years, Henry Holder was employed as a cowman by Mr Moore of Chichester. When the 1881 census was taken, Henry Holder, his wife Mary, and their five children were recorded at 15 Orchard Street, Chichester. On the census return, Henry Holder is described as a "Gardener & Cowman", aged 33. In later life, Henry Holder worked as a "jobbing gardener".

Henry Holder was engaged in public service throughout his long life. In 1875, he joined the Chichester Fire Brigade and served as a fireman for forty-five years, retiring from the fire service in 1920 at the age of 72. Henry Holder was also a long-serving member of the Chichester Ambulance Service. At the outbreak of the First World War, sixty-six year old Henry Holder enlisted in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Interviewed in 1930 at the age of 82, Henry Holder remarked that he had "never drunk alcohol, never smoked, and never shaved". Henry Holder died in 1941 at the age of 93.

Acknowledgements

The information on the life of Henry Holder has been taken mainly from a 1930 edition of the Sussex County Magazine. I am grateful to Roger Packham for locating the article and providing me with a copy.

To view examples of the photographic work of Edwin Dann and his son Thomas Dann, click on the link below:

Edwin Dann & Son of Redhill

Albert DUMSDAY (1844-1903)

Active as a photographer in Cuckfield around 1874


[ABOVE] A view of the Talbot Hotel and Posting House photographed around 1874, the year that Albert Dumsday was recorded as a photographer in Cuckfield. The proprietor of the *Talbot Hotel* during the 1870s was Ambrose Dumsday (1812-1895), Albert Dumsday's father.	[ABOVE] A photographic portrait of Albert Dumsday (1844-1903) taken in Australia around 1895. Some twenty years earlier, when Albert Dumsday was aged about 30, this hotel keeper's son worked as a photographer in Cuckfield.	.[ABOVE] Mrs Norah Dumsday, Albert Dumsday's second wife. Norah Jannette Davids was born in Bexley Heath, Kent, in 1841. At the age of twenty-nine, Norah Davids married Albert Dumsday, a court bailiff and photographer.

Albert DUMSDAY (1844-1903)

[ABOVE] An advertisement for the Talbot Family Hotel , Commercial and Posting House, Cuckfield, in the mid 1850s when it was owned by the brewer Thomas William Best. Ambrose Dumsday, Albert Dumsday's father, took over the Talbot Hotel in January 1858. A document in the National Archives shows a signed agreement, dated 7th January 1858, between Thomas William Best, brewer of Cuckfield and Ambrose Dumsday, innkeeper of Cuckfield "for the demise to the said Ambrose of a messuage or dwelling house, Inn and premises called the Talbot Hotel in Cuckfield, with the tap and Stabling known as the Four Stalls with loft over and two stalls and other buildings belonging, with certain reservations. Term one year; yearly rent, £75".

[ABOVE] Albert Dumsday listed as the proprietor of the George Inn public house in Snargate Street, Dover, in the 1882 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory of Kent.

Albert Dumsday was born in Cuckfield, Sussex, on 26th February, 1844, the eldest son of Harriet Prescott* (c1810-1873) and Ambrose Dumsday (1812-1895), a victualler and hotel keeper. Ambrose Dumsday, who was born in Cuckfield on 14th October 1812, married Harriet Precott in London in 1841 or 1842. The couple's first child, Emma Eliza Dumsday, was born in London on 6th July 1842 [ birth registered in the Strand district of London during the 3rd Quarter of 1842]. Albert, their second child, was their first son. Another six children followed - Agnes Dumsday (born 1845 - died 1852), George Dumsday (born 5th December 1846), Ambrose Dumsday (born 12th March 1848), Edwin Dumsday (born 27th February 1850 ), Traiton Dumsday (born 7th February 1852) and Charles Dumsday (born 1853 - died 1860).

In 1858, Ambrose Dumsday took over the running of the Talbot Family Hotel & Posting House in Cuckfield. The Talbot Hotel was previously in the hands of Thomas William Best, a brewer and maltster of Cuckfield, and was an important building in the town, hosting the weekly petty sessions as well as providing accommodation for visitors to the town. In the 1861 census, Ambrose Dumsday, his wife Harriet, and their six surviving children are shown residing at the Talbot Hotel. On the 1861 census return, Ambrose Dumsday gives his occupation as "Victualler".

In 1866, Albert Dumsday married Emma Reynolds (born 6th November 1843, East Bergholt, Suffolk), the daughter of Jacob and Eliza Mary Reynolds. [ Marriage registered in the Samford District of Suffolk during the 4th Quarter of 1866 ]. Albert Dumsday returned to Cuckfield with his new wife and during the 2nd Quarter of 1868, a daughter, May Reynolds Dumsday was born. May Dumsday died in 1869 before she reached her first birthday. Mrs Emma Dumsday, Albert's wife, died the following year, aged 26.

When the 1871 census was taken, Ambrose Dumsday, described as a 58 year old "Hotel Keeper", is shown living at the Talbot Hotel with his wife and three of his children - twenty-nine year old Emma, her younger brother Traiton, aged 19, and twenty-seven year old Albert Dumsday, who is recorded in the return as a "Bailiff" to the County Court. The enumerator originally entered the word "widower" against Albert Dumsday's name, but this word has been scratched out and replaced with the abbreviation for "Married". Albert Dumsday had recently married Norah Jannette Davids (born 20th June 1841, Bexley Heath, Kent) in London [ Marriage registered in the Islington District of London during the 1st Quarter of 1871 ]. Norah was the daughter of Albert and Janet Davids.

Albert Dumsday is recorded as a County Court Bailiff in Cuckfield from 1871 to 1881, but in the Trades Section of the 1874 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory for Sussex, Albert is also listed as a photographer. In the late 1870s, Albert Dumsday worked as a "Colonnial Merchant" with a shop on the Brighton Road, selling tea, coffee, tobacco, nuts, fruit and other imported goods. At the time of the 1881 census, Albert Dumsday is recorded at 30 South Street, Cuckfield, with his wife Norah and six children - Leonora (born 1872), Rosa (born 1873), Lionel (born 1874), Harold (born 1875), Viola (born 1877) and Stella (born 1879). In the census return, Albert Dumsday is described as "Bailiff County Court, Tax Collector, &c". [ By 1881, Ambrose Dumsday had retired and the Talbot Hotel was being run by two of his unmarried children - Edwin Dumsday and Emma Dumsday ]. Around 1890, the Talbot Hotel was taken over by Thomas Thorroton Riches. After vacating the Talbot Hotel, Edwin Dumsday and his sister Emma Dumsday acquired the King's Head Family Hotel in South Street, Cuckfield.

Before the end of 1881, Albert Dumsday, his wife Norah, and their six children left Cuckfield and moved to Dover where Albert took over the running of the George Inn at 86 Snargate Street. Albert and Norah Dumsday's seventh child, Ralph Dumsday was born in Dover during the 3rd Quarter of 1881. After three or four years in Dover, Albert Dumsday decided to emigrate to Australia with his family. In 1885, Albert Dumsday, his wife Norah and their seven children - Leonora (aged 12), Rosa (aged 11), Lionel (aged 10), Harold (aged 8), Viola (aged 4), Stella (aged 5) and Ralph (aged 3) departed on the passenger steam ship 'Liguria' bound for Australia. The Orient liner Liguria' arrived at Adelaide on Wednesday 28th October 1885.

Albert Dumsday's family made a new life for themselves in Melbourne, Australia. When Ambrose Dumsday, Albert's father, died in September 1895, his obituary mentions that "two of his four sons were living in Australia". Albert Dumsday died in Melbourne, Australia in 1903. Albert Dumsday's younger brother George Dumsday (1846) died in Western Australia on 18th July 1926.

The Talbot Hotel and Cuckfield High Street in the 19th Century

[ABOVE] A view of Cuckfield High Street, showing the Talbot Hotel and Posting House on the left (c1875). It is possible that this view was taken by Albert Dumsday, son of Ambrose Dumsday, the proprietor of the Talbot Hotel.

[RIGHT] A view of the High Street in Cuckfield from the opposite direction, showing the Talbot Hotel on the right. (c1880). Ambrose Dumsday, father of the photographer Albert Dumsday, ran the hotel from 1859 until 1880.

[ABOVE] A photographic view of the High Street in Cuckfield showing the Talbot Hotel on the right. (c1880). Ambrose Dumsday, father of the photographer Albert Dumsday, was still the proprietor of the hotel in 1880.

Carte-de-visite Portrait of a Young Girl by Albert Dumsday of Cuckfield (c.1868)


[ABOVE] The trade plate of the Cuckfield photographer Albert Dumsday rubber-stamped on the reverse of the carte-de-visite illustrated on the right. A negative reference of '252' is hand-written in the centre of Albert Dumsday's trade plate.	[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young girl standing by a chair, photographed by Albert Dumsday of Cuckfield. Albert Dumsday was first listed as a professional photographer in a trade directory of 1874, but this photograph appears to date from the late 1860s.

The Dumsdays of Cuckfield

The Dumsdays of Cuckfield were a musical family. Ambrose Dumsday senior is recorded as a "conductor of the town band and choirmaster". Two of Ambrose Dumsday's sons - Traiton Dumsday (born 1852) and George Dumsday (born 1846) played cornet in the Cuckfield Town Band. Ambrose Dumsday's daughter Emma Dumsday (born 1842) was an accomplished pianist. Ambrose Dumsday junior, a stationer by trade, sold sheet music at his shop in the High Street of Cuckfield.

Both Traiton Dumsday and Ambrose Dumsday were bell-ringers at Cuckfield Church. A board in Cuckfield Church commemorates the Dumsday brothers' service to the church. Traiton Dumsday (born 1852, Cuckfield) married Agnes Jean Moir (born 1866 Wandsworth) in 1889. The couple settled in Wandsworth, where Traiton Dumsday, a former mercantile clerk, died in 1924 at the age of 72.

[ABOVE] Ambrose Dumsday listed as the proprietor of the Talbot Family & Commercial Hotel & Posting House in Cuckfield, as listed in the 1866 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory of Sussex. Edwin Dann, a cooper by trade, is the only resident of Cuckfield who is described as a photographer in Kelly's 1866 directory.

[ABOVE] A photograph of Ardingly's Original Brass Brass Band (1885). The Ardingly Brass Band was founded by a Traiton Dumsday. Presumably Traiton Dumsday the leader of the band was the musical son of Ambrose Dumsday (1812-1895), choirmaster and conductor of Cuckfield's Town Band. Another Traiton Dumsday (1849-1930) was a carpenter & joiner who originated from Worth, West Sussex, and lived in Ardingly between 1878 and 1901.

Albert Dumsday's Family In Australia


[ABOVE] Mrs Norah Dumsday (1841-1918), as pictured in a portrait by Yeoman of Prahran, Melbourne, Australia (c1895).	[ABOVE] Albert Dumsday (1844-1903) as pictured in a portrait by Yeoman of Prahran, Melbourne, Australia (c1895).
[ Photos of Dumsday family members courtesy of Roger & Carol Knowles]
In October 1885, Albert Dumsday, his wife Norah, and their six children - Leonora, Rosa, Lionel, Harold, Viola, Stella and Ralph - arrived in Adelaide, Australia, on board the passenger steamship 'Liguria'. Albert Dumsday died in Melbourne, Australia in 1903.

The Children of Albert and Norah Dumsday


1. Leonora Dumsday (1872-1954)	2. Rosa Dumsday (1873-1954)	3. Lionel Dumsday (1874-1926)
	1. Leonora Dumsday (b. 1872) 2. Rosa Dumsday (born 1873) 3. Lionel Dumsday (born 1874) 4. Harold Dumsday (born 1875) 5. Viola Dumsday (1877-1946) 6. Stella Dumsday (1879-1943) 7. Harold Dumsday (born 1881)
4. Harold Dumsday (1875-1942)		7. Harold Dumsday (born 1881)

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Carol Knowles of Melbourne Australia, for supplying additional details on Albert Dumsday and his family. Albert Dumsday (1844-1903) is Carol's great grandfather. Thanks to Roger Knowles for providing the portraits of Albert Dumsday and his wife Norah Dumsday (formerly Davids)

Edward GILBY ( Also recorded as Edward GILLY) (1834-1895 )

Active as a photographer in Cuckfield around 1861

Edward Gilby worked as a travelling photographer from around 1860 until his death in 1895. Edward Gilby was born in Walworth, Surrey around 1834.( Edward Gilby was baptised at Holy Trinity Church Newington, Surrey on 31st August 1834, the son of William and Ann Gilby ). At the time of the 1861 census, Edward Gilby, his wife Sarah, and their baby son Edward, were visiting Cuckfield, staying at the home of Edwin Dann (1831-1896), a Cuckfield cooper who occasionally took photographs in the town. [See the entry for Edwin Dann above]. In the census return, Gilby is entered as "Edward Gilly" and is described as a "Photographer", aged 27.

Little is known about Edward Gilby's career as a photographer, but circumstantial evidence suggests he toured the outskirts of London and the southern counties in a caravan, usually travelling with other showmen. The 1871 census records Edward Gilby camped out with his family on some open ground in Lambeth. Edward Gilby is described on the 1871 census return as a "Photographer", and he, together with his wife Sarah and young son, Edward Gilby junior, are recorded as living in a "Show Carriage" alongside a group of travelling hawkers and showmen.

At the time of the 1881 census, Edward Gilby was residing with his wife and son, together with two servants, in a caravan parked on a towpath in Putney, Surrey. In the 1881 census return, Edward Gilly (Gilby) gives his profession as a "Traveller - Hawker". The death of Edward Gilby was recorded in the Greenwich district of London during the June Quarter of 1895. In 1901, his son Edward Alfred Gilby (born 1861 Walworth, Surrey) was operating a travelling exhibition in London and was camped with his wife and children at a fairground near Deptford's High Street. In a neighbouring caravan was his sixty-six year old mother, Mrs Sarah Gilby, the widow of Edward Gilby senior, one of Cuckfield's earliest photographers.

[ABOVE] A daguerreotype of a photographic carriage in Lockport, New York (c1853). The Mammoth Daguerrean Saloon shown above was a mobile photographic studio which was 28 feet long, 11 feet wide and 9 feet high. Edward Gilby, an itinerant photographer who toured the outskirts of London and the southern counties of England, travelled in a specially adapted "Show Carriage".

[ABOVE] A photographic portrait of William Bishop junior (born c1870, Woodchurch, Kent), believed to have been taken in the early 1890s, either by travelling photographer Edward Gilby (1834-1895) or his son Edward Alfred Gilby (born 1861, Walworth, Surrey). William Bishop junior worked as a travelling showman in adult life, but when he was young, William's parents often shared the same camping ground as the photographer Edward Gilby and his family. At the time of the 1871 census, William Bishop senior's "show carriage" was parked alongside Edward Gilby's horse-drawn photographic studio. Thirty years later, when the 1901 census was taken, William Bishop junior was sharing the same grounds as Edward Alfred Gilby and his widowed mother Mrs Sarah Gilby.

[Photo courtesy of Richard Barnard]

Photographic Carriages used by Itinerant Photographers in the British Isles

[ABOVE] The photographic carriage of Frank William Micklethwaite (1849-1925), an itinerant photographer (c1870) Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire in 1849, Frank Micklethwaite and his family emigrated to Ireland in the 1850s. Frank was taught photography by his father William Barton Micklethwaite, a professional photographer who operated in County Down, Ireland. This photograph is believed to have been taken in Ireland in the early 1870s, before Frank Micklethwaite emigrated to Canada.

[Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro]

[ABOVE] The photographic carriage of Samuel John Govier, an itinerant photographer from Cornwall (c1900). Samuel J. Govier, the son of a Cornish copper miner, was born in Gunnislake, Cornwall in 1871. Standing in the doorway is Bessie Jane Govier (born 1872, Gunnislake, Cornwall), the photographer's sister. Photographic printing frames hang from the side of the carriage.

[Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Richard Barnard for supplying details of the 1871 census return for Edward Gilby and his family. Richard Barnard also provided the photograph of his grandfather William Bishop junior, possibly taken by fellow showman Edward Gilby.

Thomas TESTER (1819- 1890)

Active as a photographer in Cuckfield around 1862

Thomas Tester was born in 1819 at Balcombe, Sussex, the son of George and Elizabeth Tester. (Thomas was baptised in Balcombe in February 1819). Thomas Tester was a victualler and inn-keeper by profession and by 1861 he was running the Rose & Crown Inn on the London Road in Cuckfield. The 1861 census records Thomas Tester as a 42 year old victualler living in Cuckfield Town with his thirty-one year old wife Jane and their one year old son, George. Thomas Tester had married Jane Weaver (born c1830, Brighton) in Brighton during the 2nd Quarter of 1859. Their son George Tester was born in Cuckfield later that year.

The 1862 Sussex Directory lists Thomas Tester as a photographer in Cuckfield as well as the licensee of the Rose & Crown Inn. At the time of the 1871 census, Thomas Tester was still the landlord of the Rose & Crown Inn. The 1871 census return records Thomas Tester residing at the Rose & Crown Inn with his wife Jane, and six children - George (born 1859), Mary Jane (born 1861), Thomas (born c1864), Charles (born 1866), Frances Ann (born 1867), and Frederick Tester (born c1869) . ( A seventh child, John Tester, was born later in 1871). Thomas Tester is described in the census return as an "Innkeeper & Farmer of 8 acres", aged 51. By 1878, Thomas Tester was an Assistant Overseer and Collector of Poor Rates for the Cuckfield Union. In an 1879 directory, Thomas Tester is recorded as a Rate Collector at High Street, Cuckfield. When the 1881 census was taken, sixty-two year old Thomas Tester was living at Sergison's Cottages in Cuckfield's High Street and gives his occupation as "Assistant Overseer". Thomas Tester died in Cuckfield during the 3rdr Quarter of 1890, at the age of 71.

[ABOVE] A modern photograph of the Rose & Crown public house in London Road, Cuckfield. Thomas Tester was the landlord of the Rose & Crown Inn during the 1860s and early 1870s. It was during this period that Thomas Tester worked as a photographer.

Frank WILKINS (born 1873, Dover, Kent)

Active as a photographer in Cuckfield between 1911 and 1915

Frank Wilkins was born in Dover, Kent during the 1st Quarter of 1873, the son of Hannah and Charles Wilkins, an engine driver. Frank Wilkins married Emily Augusta Peake (born 1862, Dover), the daughter of Henry Peake, a Dover chemist, during the 3rd Quarter of 1900.

In the 1901 census, Frank Wilkins is recorded as a twenty-eight year old "Photographer's Assistant", living in Dover with his wife Emily.

Frank Wilkins is listed as a photographer at 1 Richmond Villas, Cuckfield in Kelly's 1911 Directory of Sussex. The 1911 census records thirty-eight year old photographer Frank Wilkins and his forty-nine year old wife Emily at Richmond Villas, Cuckfield. Frank Wilkins is still entered as a photographer in the Trades Section of Kelly's 1915 Directory, but this time his business address is given as Little London Lane, Cuckfield.

[ABOVE] Frank Wilkins listed as a photographer at Little London Lane, Cuckfield in the 1911 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] London Lane, Cuckfield as depicted in a picture postcard produced around 1910

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