Eastbourne A
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Professional Photographers in Eastbourne ( A )
W. Llewellyn Amos - William Atkinson - George Austin
Leon Balk - Eugene Bampton - Ernest Beattie - Mr Bennett - John Berryman - Albert Best - Bijou Portrait Studio - Frederick Bourne - Herbert Briggs - William Brothwell - Henry Browne
W. Llewellyn AMOS / William AMOS (born 1894, Shoreham, Sussex)
William Amos was born in Shoreham, Sussex, in 1894, the son of Alice and Charles Amos, a bus driver and former soldier. (In 1891, Charles Amos was a Lance-Corporal in the 6th Dragoons and based at the Cavalry Barracks in Preston, Sussex). In 1891, Charles Amos (born c1868, 'at Sea') married Alice Davis (born 1866, Bristol, Glos.) and this union produced at least 5 children - Charles Amos junior (born 1892, Brighton, Sussex), William Amos (born 1894, Shoreham, Sussex), Philip Amos (born 1895, Shoreham, Sussex), Ernest Amos (born 1898, Shoreham, Sussex) and Dora Amos (born 1908, Eastbourne, Sussex). I have not been able to trace Charles Amos senior (William's father) in the 1901 Census, so I presume he was serving with his regiment in South Africa during the Boer War (1899-1902). At the time of the 1901 Census, Mrs Alice Amos (William's mother) was the landlady of the Surrey Arms Inn, New Road, New Shoreham. [Charles Amos senior was registered as the licensee of the Surrey Arms in 1899]. On the 1901 Census return, 34 year old Mrs Alice Amos is recorded as a "Licensed Victualler (own account)" at the Surrey Arms Inn in New Road, New Shoreham, and she was residing on the premises with her four sons. By 1908, Charles and Alice Amos and their family had moved from Shoreham to the Sussex seaside resort of Eastbourne. The 1911 Census records 43 year old Charles Amos senior (described as a "Motor Bus Driver" receiving an "Army Pension" on the census return) residing with his wife and 5 children at 63 Sidley Road, Eastbourne, Sussex. At the time of the 1911 Census, 17 year old William Amos was employed as a "Photographer's Assistant", as was his 16 year old brother, Philip Amos. It appears that around 1917, William Amos, established his own photographic studio at 85 Seaside Road, Eastbourne under the name of 'W. Llewellyn Amos'. [ W. Llewellyn Amos is listed as a professional photographer at 85 Seaside Road, Eastbourne, in the 1918 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex ]. W. Llewellyn Amos remained the proprietor of the studio in Seaside Road, Eastbourne, until 1922. When the 1924 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex was published, W. Llewellyn Amos no longer appears under the heading of 'Photographers' in the trades section, but an Ernest Amos is listed as a photographer at 1 Seaside, Eastbourne. Ernest Amos (born 1898, Shoreham, Sussex) was the younger brother of the Eastbourne photographer William Amos. Ernest Amos was in business as a photographer at Seaside, Eastbourne until at least 1938. By 1934, Ernest Amos had opened a second studio at 14c North Street, Eastbourne. Ernest Amos died in Eastbourne in 1961 at the age of 63. |
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Postcard Portrait of David Thomas Shell and his wife Ann Grace Longlands by W. Llewellyn Amos of Seaside Road, Eastbourne. |
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David Thomas Shell was born in Bromley by Bow, East London, on 13th November 1883, the son of Mary Ann Morgan and David Thomas Shell senior (born 1862, Sheerness, Kent), a clerk who later ran a grocer's shop in Poplar, East London. As a boy, David Thomas Shell junior attended Glengall Road School in the Tower Hamlets district of London. After an apprenticeship, David Thomas Shell junior found work as an engineer. In 1906, at the age twenty-three, David Thomas Shell married Eliza Louisa Reggler (born 1883, Hammersmith, London), the daughter of James Reggler, a boat builder. On 30th January 1908, David Shell's wife gave birth to a baby boy, named David Thomas Shell like his father and grandfather before him. At the time of the 1911 Census, twenty-seven year old David Thomas Shell was employed as an 'Engineer's Turner & Fitter" at a 'Chemical Refining Plant' and was residing with his wife and child at 133 Mellish Street, Millwall, East London. In 1914, Mrs Eliza Shell died at the age of thirty, leaving David Shell as a young widower with a 6 year old son. On 30th October 1916, David Thomas Shell married for a second time. David Shell's new wife was Ann Grace Longlands (born 1894, Hackney, East London), known as 'Gracie', the twenty-two year old daughter of Alice and Frederick Longlands, a bookbinder of Stoke Newington. At the time of his marriage, David Thomas Shell was working as a "Marine Engineer". Because he was a skilled engineer, David Thomas Shell was in a 'protected occupation' and therefore exempt from military service during the First World War. Shortly after his marriage to 'Gracie' Longlands, David Thomas Shell travelled with his new wife to the Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne, where the couple were photographed at the studio of W. Llewellyn Amos at 85 Seaside Road, Eastbourne.
After the First World War, David Thomas Shell was employed as an engineer on the 'Laguna Belle' paddle steamer that ferried holiday makers from London to Clacton-on-Sea. David Thomas Shell died in Clacton, Essex, in 1959 at the age of 75. |
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Postcard Portrait of Charles Henry Jordan and his wife Rosina Wellbelove by W. Llewellyn Amos of Seaside Road, Eastbourne. |
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Charles Henry
Jordan was born in York in 1886, the son of Clara Harris and James
Jordan, an agricultural labourer. At the time of the 1911 census, 25 year
old Charles Henry Jordan was living in Scunthorpe,
Lincolnshire and working as a general labourer in a steel works, alongside
his father and an older brother.
On 4th March, 1916, at St Augustine's Church, Fulham, twenty-nine year old Charles Henry Jordan married a young domestic servant named Rosina Wellbelove (born 8th February, 1891, Chelsea, London). Rosina was the daughter of Jessie Skellett and Stephen Henry Wellbelove, a coach and carriage fitter. It appears that Charles Jordan attempted to join the army on 11th December 1915, when he completed a 'Short Service Attestation Form' at Kensington Town Hall and enlisted with the Royal West Surrey Regiment and was placed in the Army Reserve. On 19th August 1916, Charles Jordan (who was then a 30 year old married man, working as a milkman) was called up as part of the general mobilisation. After his medical, Charles Jordan was deemed unfit for frontline fighting and was transferred initially to the RAMC and later to the Labour Corps. From 25th March 1917 until 29th October 1917, Jordan performed 'light fatigues' on the Western Front in France, but after suffering from 'Trench Fever' and headaches he was moved to a Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) at Boulogne. Early in November 1917, Charles Henry Jordan was "sent home from France on account of D.V. (Defective Vision)" and on 4th November he was admitted to the New End Military Hospital in Hampstead, North London, where he remained until 20th December 1917. Discharged from the military hospital, Jordan was sent to a convalescent hospital in Eastbourne on the East Sussex coast. Charles Henry Jordan was based at the Summerdown Convalescent Camp in Eastbourne from 20th December 1917 until 16th March 1918. It was during his stay in Eastbourne that Charles was visited by his wife, Rosina. The couple made a trip to the photographic studio of W. Llewellyn Amos, which was located at 85 Seaside Road, Eastbourne. Dressed in his distinctive blue uniform (known as 'Convalescent Blues') Charles Henry Jordan posed alongside his wife in front of a painted backcloth in Amos's studio. [See photo on the left]. After the First World War, Charles and Rosina Jordan settled in the Fulham district of London where their two daughters were born - Muriel Jordan (born 1920) and Joy Jordan (born 1923). The Jordan family later moved to the Eton district of Buckinghamshire. Charles Henry Jordan died in 1957 at the age of 70 and his wife Mrs Rosina Jordan passed away in 1973. |
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Acknowledgements |
Thanks to Bill Shell and Daisy Shell for allowing me to feature the postcard portrait of David & Ann Grace Shell by W. Llewellyn Amos of Seaside Road, Eastbourne. Daisy Shell is the daughter of David Thomas Shell (1883-1959). Bill Shell, who is the grandson of David Thomas Shell, provided some very useful information about his grandfather. I am grateful to Peter Beesley for supplying the photographic portrait of Charles Henry Jordan and his wife Rosina which was produced as a postcard photograph by W. Llewellyn Amos of Seaside Road, Eastbourne. Peter Beesley is the grandson of Charles Henry Jordan (1886-1957) and Rosina Jordan [formerly Wellbelove] (1891-1973). |
William ATKINSON (born c1858, Liverpool - died 1927, Great Paxton, Huntingdonshire)
Active as a photographer in Eastbourne from around 1891 to 1898.
[ABOVE] A later portrait of William Atkinson taken at George Organ's photographic portrait studio at 215 The Grove, Hammersmith. (c1918). The fact that William Atkinson and members of his family continued to have their portraits taken at George Organ's studio at 215 The Grove, Hammersmith after Atkinson closed his studio in Perry Vale, Lewisham, around 1918 suggests that the two photographers were still closely associated after the end of the First World War. George Edward Organ (born 1872, Gloucester) remained in charge of the studio at 215 The Grove, Hammersmith until 1935. In 1926, George Edward Organ brought his son Richard Spring Organ (born 1908, Hammersmith) into the business and his studio in Hammersmith went under the name of "G. E. Organ & Son" until 1932. [PHOTO: Courtesy of Pat Parent] |
William Atkinson was born in Liverpool
around
1858. In his early twenties, William Atkinson was earning a living by
painting portraits. When the 1881 census was taken, both William
Atkinson and his brother George Atkinson (born c1856, Liverpool) were
recorded on the census return as portrait painters. In 1881, William
Atkinson was boarding, alongside his brother George, at the home of Mrs
Sarah Armstrong, a farmer's widow who lived at 10 London Road Terrace, Botchergate,
Carlisle, Cumberland.
William Atkinson is described on the census
return as a "Portrait Painter", aged 22.
William Atkinson appears to have worked as an itinerant artist, travelling around the north of England painting portraits. From the Botchergate district of Carlisle, William Atkinson journeyed south towards the Lake District. At Haverthwaite, a village a few miles south of Lake Windermere, William Atkinson met Sarah Jane Bannister (born 1858, Sawtry, Huntingdonshire), a young domestic servant who was working as a nursemaid in the home Ann and Richard Heighway Kirby, the vicar of Haverthwaite. In 1884, William Atkinson and Sarah Jane Bannister travelled to Sarah's home village of Sawtry in Huntingdonshire, where the couple were married. [The marriage of William Atkinson and Sarah Jane Bannister was registered in the district of Huntingdon during the 2nd Quarter of 1884]. After their wedding in Huntingdonshire, William and Sarah Atkinson returned to Haverthwaite, where their first child Edith Mary Atkinson was born towards the end of 1885. [The birth of Edith Mary Atkinson was registered in the Cumbria / Lancashire district of Ulverston during the 4th Quarter of 1885]. A second child, a son named Charles Atkinson, was born in Ulverston, Lancashire (now Ulverston, Cumbria) the following year. After the birth of his first two children, William Atkinson resumed his itinerant lifestyle. By 1890, William Atkinson and his family had reached Yorkshire, where their third child Hilda May Atkinson was born. [The birth of Hilda May Atkinson was registered in the district of Huddersfield during the 2nd Quarter of 1890].
William Atkinson - Portrait Photographer in Eastbourne By 1891, William Atkinson had settled in the Sussex seaside resort of Eastbourne, where he established himself as a portrait photographer. The 1891 census records William Atkinson as a thirty-two year old "Photographer" residing at a villa in Ocklynge Road, Eastbourne, with his wife, Sarah, and their three children - Edith (aged 5), Charles (aged 5) and Hilda (11 months). Initially, William Atkinson was employed by an established Eastbourne photographer (possibly by John Berryman of The Palace Studio, Eastbourne) but by 1894 he was running his own portrait studios in Eastbourne. William Atkinson operated two photographic studios in Eastbourne, one at 67 Grove Road, near the Town Hall and close to Eastbourne's Fire Station, and another at 56 Terminus Road, not far from Eastbourne's Railway Station. William Atkinson's studio at 56 Terminus Road, Eastbourne, known as the Palace Studio, closed around 1896, but he operated the studio at 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne until about 1899. In 1897, William and Sarah Atkinson's fourth child, a son named George Leslie Atkinson, was born in Eastbourne. [The birth of George Leslie Atkinson was registered in Eastbourne during 3rd Quarter of 1897]. Around 1899, William Atkinson sold his photographic studio at 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne to two brothers Clement John Cordrey and Walter Sydney Cordrey. William Atkinson career as a Professional Photographer after 1900 William Atkinson and his family eventually moved to Walthamstow in Essex, where William continued his career as a photographer. William Atkinson is recorded as a "Photographer", aged 42, in the 1901 census of Walthamstow. It appears that, around 1903, William Atkinson was employed as a photographer at a West London studio owned by a photographic artist named George Edward Organ (born 1872, Gloucester). In 1898, George Organ had taken over Douglas Fitzpatrick Windsor's photographic portrait studio at 215 The Grove, Goldhawk Road, Hammersmith. By 1905, George Organ was operating two photographic studios in the London area - one at 215 The Grove, Hammersmith, the other at 62 Perry Vale, Forest Hill, Lewisham. Evidence suggests that William Atkinson managed G. E. Organ's Perry Vale studio up until 1908, when he took over the studio from his employer. In 1911, William Atkinson is listed in Kelly's London County Suburbs Directory as the proprietor of G. E. Organ's former photographic studio at 62 Perry Vale, Forest Hill, Lewisham. When the census was taken on 2nd April 1911, William Atkinson, who is described on the census return as a 52 year old "Photographer", was residing at 99 Perry Vale, Forest Hill, London S.E., with his wife Sarah Jane and two of their children - twenty year old Hilda May and George Leslie Atkinson, at that time a 13 year old school boy. The Street Directory section of in Kelly's Post Office London County Suburbs Directory, published in 1914, records William Atkinson as a "Photographer" at 69 & 62A Perry Vale, Forest Hill, Lewisham. The 1916 and 1917 editions of the Post Office London Suburbs Directory lists William Atkinson as a "Photographer" solely at 62 Perry Vale, Forest Hill. It appears that William Atkinson's Perry Vale studio had closed by 1918. William Atkinson and his wife Sarah Jane Atkinson retired to Great Paxton, a village near St Neots in Huntingdonshire. William Atkinson died in Great Paxton on 20th July 1927, at the age of 69. His widow, Mrs Sarah Jane Atkinson died in the Huntingdonshire district of St Neots during the 3rd Quarter of 1941 at the age of 83. |
William Atkinson's Photographic Portrait Studios in Eastbourne |
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William Atkinson's Photographic Studios in Eastbourne
[ABOVE] An advertisement from 1894 giving details of William Atkinson's two photographic studios in Eastbourne. ( The Eastbourne Chronicle, 29th September 1894). Atkinson established his first studio at 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne around 1894. A second studio at 56 Terminus Road, Eastbourne, known as the Palace Studio, was opened later that same year. William Atkinson began his working career as a portrait painter and this advertisement bills him as a "Photographer and Portrait Painter". William Atkinson was not a high class photographer and his prices were relatively cheap. Atkinson charged 3s 6d for a dozen Midget Photographs, 5 shillings for a dozen carte-de-visite portraits and 10 shillings for a dozen portraits in Cabinet format. In the same period, Frederick Arthur Bourne (1860-1921), a photographer with a studio in Langney Road, Eastbourne, charged 8s 6d for a dozen carte-de-visite portraits and 17s 6d for a dozen Cabinet portraits. At 3/6 a dozen, Atkinson's Midget photographs were very reasonably priced. In contrast, James Ernest Stanborough, a Bexhill photographer, and John Henry Blomfield of Hastings both charged 4s 6d for twelve Midget cartes.
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[ABOVE] A newspaper article in the Eastbourne Chronicle, dated 13th October 1894, reporting "a sad affair" at William Atkinson's Grove Road Studio, when Mrs Jane Eleanor Biron, aged 55, suffered a stroke during a photography session. Mrs Biron, the wife of Dublin-born barrister Robert John Biron, Q.C., died a day or so after her seizure. Mrs Biron was not posing for her own portrait when she was struck down. Mrs Biron had called in at William Atkinson's studio at 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne, to have a number of photographs taken of her pet dog. Mrs Biron was "suddenly seized with a paralytic stroke while in the act of posing the dog and fell down in an unconscious condition ". Mrs Biron's husband, Mr Robert John Biron, Q.C., died in London the following year at the age of 65. |
1891 Census Return for William Atkinson & Family
1891 Census : Villa, Ocklynge Road, EASTBOURNE |
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NAME |
OCCUPATION |
AGE |
PLACE OF BIRTH |
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William Atkinson | Head |
Photographer |
32 |
Liverpool | |
Sarah Atkinson | wife |
33 |
Huntingdonshire | ||
Edith Atkinson | daughter |
5 |
Lancashire | ||
Charles Atkinson | son |
5 |
Lancashire | ||
Hilda Atkinson | daughter |
11 months |
Yorkshire | ||
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Portraits by William Atkinson of Grove Road, Eastbourne - Cartes-de-visite, Cabinets and Midget Photographs |
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[ABOVE] The trade plate of William Atkinson, Photographer & Portrait Painter, 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne, taken from the reverse of a carte-de-visite photograph (c1894) |
[ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a woman by William Atkinson of 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne (c1894). Atkinson charged 5s 0d per dozen for his carte-de-visite photographs. |
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[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a woman by William Atkinson of 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne. (c1894). Atkinson charged 5s 0d per dozen for his carte-de-visite photographs. |
[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young child, probably photographed by William Atkinson at his Palace Studio at 56 Terminus Road, Eastbourne. (c1894) |
Carte-de-visite Portraits by William Atkinson of 56 Terminus Road and 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne |
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[ABOVE] A vignette portrait of a school boy photographed by William Atkinson of Eastbourne (c1894). This portrait might have been taken at Atkinson's studio in Terminus Road, Eastbourne. | [ABOVE] A vignette portrait of an unknown woman photographed by William Atkinson of Eastbourne (c1895).This portrait might have been taken at Atkinson's studio in Terminus Road, Eastbourne. | [ABOVE] The trade plate of William Atkinson, Photographer & Portrait Painter, 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne, taken from the reverse of a carte-de-visite photograph (c1898) | [ABOVE] A vignette portrait of an unknown woman photographed by William Atkinson of 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne (c1898). By 1898, Atkinson had sold his Palace Studio at 56 Terminus Road, Eastbourne. |
PHOTOGRAPHS: Courtesy of Wanda Bellenie of Canada. Wanda is the great grand-daughter of Edwin and Rose Skinner - formerly Rosina Pennegar |
Cabinet Portraits by William Atkinson of 56 Terminus Road and 67Grove Road, Eastbourne |
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[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young woman by William Atkinson of The Palace Studio, Terminus Road, Eastbourne (c1896). William Atkinson charged 10s 0d per dozen for his cabinet photographs. | [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young woman by William Atkinson of 67 Grove Road, Eastbourne (c1898). |
The Children of William Atkinson and Sarah Jane Bannister
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Acknowledgements |
Thanks to Pat Parent for providing photographs of William Atkinson and his family. Pat Parent is the grand-daughter of Hilda May Atkinson, William Atkinson's youngest daughter. Thanks to George & Jean Atkinson for providing the self portrait painted by William Atkinson. Jean Atkinson's husband, George Atkinson, is the son of George Leslie Atkinson, William Atkinson's youngest son. Both Pat Parent and Jean Atkinson have supplied family history information relating to the Atkinson Family. Thanks to Frances Muncey, local historian of Eastbourne, for locating the newspaper article in the Eastbourne Chronicle of 13th October 1894, reporting Mrs Jane Biron's fatal seizure at William Atkinson's Grove Road Studio in Eastbourne. |
George AUSTIN (born 1864, Bromley-by-Bow, London - died 1949, Eastbourne, Sussex)
Active as a photographer in Eastbourne from around 1894 to around 1922.
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George Edward Austin was born on
13th March 1864 in Bromley-by-Bow in the East London district of
Poplar (1).
George was the second son of Frances Geering and Frank
(Francis) Austin, a rigger, possibly employed in the nearby East
India Docks or the Millwall shipyards. As a "rigger"
Frank Austin could also be employed to maintain the rigging of sailing
ships and there is evidence that he did go to sea as member of a ship's
crew (2). Francis (Frank) Austin
married Frances Geering (born c1836) in Stepney, East
London in 1861. The couple settled in Bromley-by-Bow in the
Poplar district of East London and produced three children -
Francis James Austin (born 1862), George Edward Austin (born
1864) and Alice Austin (born 1866). Towards the end of 1865, not
long after the conception of the couple's third child, Frank Austin died
at the age 34. (The death of Francis Austin was recorded in the London
district of Poplar during the 4th Quarter of 1865, Alice, his daughter,
was born the following Summer). After the death of her husband, Mrs
Frances Austin moved a short distance south to the Blackwall area of London and
found work as domestic servant in order to support her three children. When the 1881 census was taken, George Edward Austin was residing with his widowed mother and siblings in Green's House, Blackwall, on the western edge of the East India Docks. George's mother Mrs Frances Austin, a widow of forty-five, is recorded as the Head of Household and she is entered on the census return as a "Housekeeper" or "House Cleaner". On the 1881 census the family name is spelt "Austen" rather than "Austin". George E. Austen (Austin) is described on the census return as a "joiner", aged 17. Francis Austin, George's nineteen year old brother was working as a basket maker, and fifteen year old Alice Austin was employed as a milliner. Around 1891, George Austin met Priscilla Massey (born 1857, Sheerness, Kent), the daughter of William Massey, a carpenter. When George Austin met Priscilla she went under the name Oswald, the surname of her common law husband. Priscilla had previously been married to a man named James Heer (Hur). Priscilla was only seventeen when she married James Heer early in 1875 and she had given birth to his daughter Ada some months before the wedding. [ Ada Prilly (Priscilla) Heer was born in the London district of Poplar during the Second Quarter of 1874. Priscilla Massey married James Hur (Heer) in Poplar during the First Quarter of 1875 ]. By 1878, Priscilla was living with a marine engineer named Oswald - either Henry "Harry" Oswald (born 1856, Stoke-on--Trent) or his younger brother, Thomas "Tom" Heath Oswald (born 1856, Stoke-on--Trent). Priscilla gave birth to a daughter named May Christina Oswald during the 3rd Quarter of 1878. At the time of the 1881 census, Priscilla was living under the name of "Priscilla Oswald" at 99 Abbott Road, London, not far from Cawdor Street, Bromley-by-Bow where George Austin and his family had once lived. "Priscilla Oswald" is described on the census return as a twenty-three year old "Marine Engineer's wife" with two children - six year old Ada Priscilla Oswald (who had been born as Ada Prilly Heer in 1874) and two year old May Christina Oswald, who had been born in Poplar during the 3rd Quarter of 1878. Priscilla is listed as "Head of Household" on the census return because her husband was living away from home ( Harry Oswald and Tom Heath Oswald, who both give their occupation as "Marine Engineer", were lodging at a boarding house in St Mary's, Southampton when the 1881 census was taken. In 1891, Priscilla "Oswald" was pregnant with George Austin's child. George Austin's daughter was born early in 1892 and the birth was registered by Priscilla, the child's mother, under the name of Florence Austin Oswald during the 1st Quarter of 1892 in the London district of Poplar. George Austin did not marry the mother of his child until 1904. |
(1) George Austin was born on 13th March 1864 at his parents' home at 25 Cawdor Street, Bromley-By-Bow, London. Information courtesy of Rendel Williams of Sussex Postcards Info. | |||||
(2) When George Austin married in 1904, he described his father on the marriage certificate as Francis Austin, Seaman (Deceased). Information courtesy of Rendel Williams | |||||
The Area of London where George Austin lived between 1864 and 1894 | |||||
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George Austin's Photographic Career in Eastbourne (1894-1922) |
[ABOVE] A tinted postcard view of the seaside resort of Eastbourne, where George Austin worked as a photographer from 1894 until around 1922. This view Eastbourne's Parade and seafront was taken from the Wish Tower, the area where George Austin worked as a beach photographer in the mid-1890s.
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In the early 1890s George
Austin was in his mid twenties and working as joiner in the carpentry
trade. Although he was not married to "Priscilla Oswald", George Austin
did take responsibility for Florence, the daughter who was born to Priscilla
in 1892. ( Priscilla was probably still legally married to James Heer
and although she posed as the wife of Mr Oswald, the marine engineer, and
gave birth to his child, May Christina Oswald, in 1879, there is no
record of a marriage ceremony between her and Mr Oswald). George Austin appears to have given up the idea of a full-time career as a carpenter & joiner and by the 1890s he was supplementing his work in the woodworking trade with photography. By 1894, George Austin was working as a beach photographer in the Sussex seaside resort of Eastbourne. In the year 1894, the Eastbourne Watch Committee granted a photography licence to George Austin, permitting him to operate a "Photographic Stand" on Eastbourne's seafront. The Minutes of the Eastbourne Watch Committee records that Photographic Stand No. 2 ,"near The Wish Tower", was granted to "Mr George Austen (sic)" . Local trade directories show that George Austin was operating a photographic portrait studio at 54 Terminus Road, Eastbourne from around 1896. ( Arthur T. Gill in his survey "Photographers in Eastbourne, 1877-1910" records G. Austin at 54 Terminus Road for the period 1896-1897 ). Around 1899, George Austin established a photographic studio at 70 Seaside Road, Eastbourne, where he was to remain for over twenty years. The 1901 census records George Austin, his common-law wife Priscilla and their nine year old daughter Florence residing at 70 Seaside Road, Eastbourne. On the census return, George E. Austin is recorded as a "Photographer (Employer) at home". Priscilla, who is described on the census return as George Austin's "wife", gives her age as thirty-six, when in fact she was nearly seven years older than her "husband" and approaching her 44th birthday. Florence, the daughter fathered by George Austin, is entered on the census return as Florence Austin, although at the time of her birth in 1892, her name was registered as Florence Austin Oswald. George Austin did not marry Priscilla Austin until the Autumn of 1904. The marriage of George Edward Austin and Mrs Priscilla Heer took place at St Leonard's Church, Bromley-by-Bow on 19th October 1904 (3). On the marriage certificate, Priscilla is described as a "widow", so the couple might have delayed their marriage until there was confirmation that Priscilla's first husband had died. Mr Oswald, Priscilla's common-law husband, had by this time married another woman. [Henry Oswald had married Margaret (Mary) Ellen Mahoney in Liverpool in 1889 and had settled in the welsh town of Newport, while his brother Thomas Heath Oswald had married Louise Bessie Young in 1884 and was living in Wanstead, Essex]. George Austin operated the photographic portrait studio at 70 Seaside Road, Eastbourne from 1899 until around 1922. A local trade directory of 1904 also lists George Austin as the proprietor of a photographic studio at 53d Terminus Road, Eastbourne (George Austin was based at 54 Terminus Road, Eastbourne between 1896 and 1897). George Austin is last recorded as a photographer in Eastbourne in Kelly's 1922 Directory of Sussex. The 1924 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex does not list George Austin under the heading of 'Photographers' in the Trades Section of the directory for that year. George Edward Austin died in Eastbourne in 1949 at the age of 85. |
(3) Information regarding George Austin's marriage courtesy of Rendel Williams of Sussex Postcards Info. | |
Carte-de-visite and Cabinet Portraits by George Austin of 70 Seaside, Eastbourne
[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a woman standing by a rustic fence by George Austin of 70 Seaside, Eastbourne. Negative No. 5,518 (c1902). |
[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a woman standing by a plant stand, photographed by George Austin of 70 Seaside, Eastbourne. Negative No.9,713 (c1904).
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[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of an unknown man by George Austin of 70 Seaside, Eastbourne (c1902). |
George Austin's Boarding House Postcards (from the postcard collection of Brian Partridge) |
Between 1904 and 1922, George Austin produced a number of photographic picture postcards, taken at his studio and on location. Austin's speciality appears to have been picture postcards depicting holiday makers outside boarding houses or small hotels in Eastbourne. George Austin also photographed family groups outside their own homes and took outdoor group portraits of sports teams.
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Photographs by George Austin of 70 Seaside, Eastbourne |
[ABOVE] A group portrait of four young
women dressed in white, photographed by George Austin of 70 Seaside, Eastbourne.
Negative No. 24,290. (c1917).
The group portrait suggests a photograph to mark the girls' Confirmation
( this Christian ceremony
generally takes place when girls are in their teens ) - the white
dresses and the jewellery worn by the two
girls in the centre also suggests a confirmation ceremony. The girl at
centre-right appears to be wearing a
"Confirmation locket" and the girl standing to her right is also wearing
jewellery that could mark a girl's confirmation. At least one of
the girls in the picture is believed to be a member of the
Walker/Boardman families of Hailsham and Eastbourne. [PHOTO: Courtesy of Joyce and Ray Hooker] |
Click on the link below to view a selection of portraits taken at George Austin's Studio in Seaside, Eastbourne : |
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Click on the link below to view a group portrait of the Hylands Family, photographed at George Austin's Eastbourne Studio |
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Acknowledgements |
I am particularly grateful to Rendel Williams, author of the website Sussex Postcards Info, for supplying additional information about George Austin's life and family. Thanks to Joyce Hooker and Ray Hooker for providing the studio group photograph by George Austin of 70 Seaside, Eastbourne. Thanks also to Brian Partridge for providing picture postcards by George Austin taken from his own personal picture postcard collection. |
To read another account of George Austin's life and photographic career and view further examples of George Austin's picture postcards, go to Rendel Williams' excellent website Sussex Postcards Info by clicking on the link below : |
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