Dalmayne Photo Gallery

[ABOVE] The trade plate of the photographic firm of Dalmayne & Co. of 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1897).

[ABOVE] The firm of Dalmayne & Co. listed at 194 Queens Road, Hastings under the heading of "PHOTOGRAPHERS" in Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1899. "Dalmayne and Company" was the trading name of the Brighton born photographer Albert Charles Clements (1865-1940).

[ABOVE] The trade plate of the photographic firm of Dalmayne & Co. of 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1900). The Dalmayne studio in Hastings was operated by the photographer Albert Charles Clements from 1897 until around 1905 when it was acquired by Harry Bartram Boyd (1868-1954).

Dalmayne & Company of Hastings

Dalmayne & Company operated a photographic portrait studio at 194 Queens Road, Hastings from around 1897 until about 1905. The building in Queens Road had not been previously been used as a photographic studio; during the early 1890s, the business premises at 194 Queens Road, Hastings was occupied by a poulterer.

Albert Charles Clements (born 1865, Brighton), a professional photographer who had previously operated a studio in South-East London, converted 194 Queens Road into a photographic portrait studio around 1897. The photography firm of Dalmayne & Co. is first recorded at 194 Queens Road, Hastings in a Sussex trade directory published in 1897. Dalmayne & Co. continued to be listed under the heading of "Photographers" in local trade directories up until 1905. "Dalmayne" appears to have been an invented name, as no person is recorded with this name in the 1901 census of Hastings, nor in any previous census **.

Albert Charles Clements, the proprietor of Dalmayne & Co., began his career as a photographer in Brighton as a teenager. The son of Sarah Williams and Henry Kitterminster Clements, a civil engineer of Grand Parade, Brighton, Albert C. Clements was recorded as a 16 year old "Photographer" at the time of the 1881 census. By 1887, Albert Clements had married Philadelphia Hollingdale (born 1865, Brighton) and established his own studio at 3 Amersham Road, New Cross, S.E. London. After establishing the firm of Dalmayne & Co., Albert Clements settled in Hastings. The 1901 census records the photographer Albert C. Clements with his wife and five children at 9 Penrhyn Terrace, Hastings.

Carte-de-visite Portraits by Dalmayne & Co. of Hastings

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young child sitting in a folding chair and holding a ball, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1897). On the reverse of this carte, inscribed in pencil, is the negative number No.165.	[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman holding a scroll, posing by a pedestal, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Ink-stamped on the reverse of this carte is the Negative No.990.	[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman seated by a potted plant, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Ink-stamped on the reverse of this carte is the Negative No.1402.	[ABOVE] The plain back of the carte-de-visite portrait pictured on the left, produced at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Ink-stamped on the grey-coloured mount is the Negative No.1402.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a young woman leaning on a rustic fence, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Ink-stamped on the reverse of this carte is the Negative No.1801.	[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite vignette portrait of a young woman, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Ink-stamped on the reverse of this carte is the Negative No.1879.	[ABOVE] The plain back of the carte-de-visite portrait pictured on the left, produced at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Ink-stamped on the grey-coloured mount is the Negative No.1879.	[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of an elderly woman wearing a bonnet, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Ink-stamped on the reverse of this carte is the Negative No.2555.

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite vignette portrait of a young woman, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1902). Inscribed in pencil on the reverse of this carte is the negative No.5012.	[ABOVE] The plain back of the carte-de-visite portrait pictured on the left, produced at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Pencilled on the grey-coloured mount is the Negative No.1879.	[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite vignette portrait of a young woman, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1902). Inscribed in pencil on the reverse of this carte is the negative No.4405.	[ABOVE] The plain back of the carte-de-visite portrait pictured on the left, produced at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1898). Pencilled on the cream-coloured mount is the Negative No.4405.

Midget Cartes by Dalmayne & Co. of Hastings

[ABOVE] A "Midget" portrait of a girl, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1897). Ink-stamped on the reverse of this carte is the Negative No.496.

Midget Carte Photographs

The "Midget Carte" was the smallest format available for commercial portrait photography. The "Midget Carte" format was introduced in the early 1880s, but these tiny photographs did not become widely popular until the 1890s. Measuring 3 1/4 inches by 1 5/8 inches, the "midget" portrait was much smaller than the carte-de-visite and was significantly cheaper than the other popular portrait formats.

John H. Blomfield of Hastings was probably the first studio photographer in Sussex to advertise midget cartes. In 1883, Blomfield was offering "the new size, Midget Cartes" at 4s 6d a dozen. This was at a time when cartes-de-visite were sold for anything up to 10s 6d a dozen. In the early 1880s, twelve copies of a cabinet portrait would cost around 20 shillings. By the mid 1890s, the cost of portrait photographs had fallen. In 1894, a typical mid-range Sussex studio charged 10 shillings for a dozen cabinets and 5 shillings for a set of twelve carte-de-visite portraits. The same studio priced the Midget portrait at 3s 6d per dozen.

In 1894, William Atkinson, an Eastbourne photographer 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. At 3/6 a dozen, Atkinson's Midget photographs were very reasonably priced. In contrast, James Ernest Stanborough, a Bexhill photographer, charged 4s 6d for twelve Midget cartes in 1898.

[ABOVE] A tiny "Midget" portrait of a young woman wearing a straw boater, photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1900). The tiny mount is only 6cm high.

A Cabinet Portrait by Dalmayne & Co. of Hastings

The Cabinet Portrait format was introduced in 1866 by London photographer Frederick Richard Window. The cabinet card was a photographic print mounted on a sturdy card measuring 41/4 inches by 61/2 inches (roughly 11cm x 17cm). Frederick Window believed the larger dimensions of the 'cabinet print' (4 inches by 51/2 inches or approximately 10.2 cm x 14.1 cm) would enable the professional photographer to demonstrate his technical and artistic skill and produce portraits of a higher quality than the small carte-de-visite format would allow. The cabinet photograph increased in popularity as the demand for carte-de-visite portraits fell during the late 1890s.

[ABOVE] Eva Emma Cozens (1870-1940) as she appeared a year or so before her marriage to William James West in 1901.

Eva Emma Cozens was born in Southampton Hampshire in 1870, the daughter of Fanny and James Cozens, a fisherman from the Botany Bay district of Southampton. (Eva Emma Cozens was christened at the parish church of St Mary Sholing, near Southampton, on 31st July 1870). James and Fanny Henrietta Cozens were the parents of at least eight children. Eva was one of the middle children, having at least three brothers and four sisters.

When the 1901 census was taken, thirty-year old Eva Cozens and her youngest sister Flora were working in domestic service as laundry maids in the Sussex seaside town of Hastings. Later that year, Eva Emma Cozens married William James West (born 1871, Woolston, Southampton), the eldest son of Jane and James West, a ship's carpenter. When the couple married in the South Stoneham district of Southampton during the 4th Quarter of 1901, William James West was working as a "Mariner".

The Family of William James West and Eva Emma Cozens - The union of William West and Eva Cozens produced four children. Eva's twin sons, Harry James West and William George West were born in 1906 in the South Stoneham district of Southampton. Another son, Edwin Ernest West, was born in1908. The couple's fourth child, a daughter named Rona May West was born in the South Stoneham district of Southampton during the 3rd Quarter of 1909. When the 1911 census was taken, Mrs Eva West was recorded with her husband and three of their children in the South Stoneham district of Southampton. William James West, Eva's husband, was recorded on the 1911 census return as a forty year old "Mariner Yachtsman"

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of Eva Emma Cozens photographed at the studio of Dalmayne & Co. at 194 Queens Road, Hastings (c1900). Written in pencil on the reverse of this carte is the negative No.3481.

[PHOTO: Courtesy of Eve Measner]

Photographers Employed by Dalmayne & Co. of Hastings (1897-1905)

When the 1901 census was taken, Albert C. Clements was employing his sister-in-law, Mary Jane Hollingdale (born 1871, Brighton) as a photographer. A local photographer, Arthur Herbert Malins (born c1886, Hastings, Sussex) was also recruited as an assistant at the Dalmayne & Co. studio. When the photographer Harry Bartram Boyd (1868-1954) acquired the studio at 194 Queens Road, Hastings in 1905 or 1906, he retained the services of Arthur Malins as a studio manager. [Arthur Herbert Malins moved to Eastbourne in 1909, the same year he married Caroline Elizabeth Saywell (born 1881, Hastings). After a brief time as a photographer in Eastbourne, A. H. Malins changed his name to Geoffrey Malins and moved to London to become a cinematographer for the Clarendon Film Company. During the First World War, Geoffrey Malins operated as a cameraman on the Western Front and achieved some fame for filming the Somme offensive in July 1916].

After selling his studio at 194 Queens Road, Hastings to Harry Bartram Boyd, Albert Charles Clements returned to his home town of Brighton. The census taken on 2nd April 1911 records forty-six year old Albert Charles Clements as a "Photographic Artist" working on his "own account" from an address at 39 Vere Road, Brighton. At the end of his photographic career, Albert Charles Clements retired to Wokingham where he died in 1940 at the age of 75.

The Studio at 194 Queens Road, Hastings, after 1905

Around 1905, Dalmayne & Co. ceased trading in Hastings. By 1906, the photographic studio at 194 Queens Road, Hastings had been acquired by the London-born photographer Harry Bartram Boyd (1868-1954) and for the next couple of years traded under the name of Boyd & Co. After Harry Boyd returned to London around 1907, the studio at 194 Queens Road, Hastings was managed on Boyd's behalf by Arthur Herbert Malins (born c1886, Hastings, Sussex), a former employee of Dalmayne & Co. By 1908, the studio at 194 Queens Road carried the name of Arthur H. Malins. Around 1909, Arthur Malins moved to Eastbourne and the studio at 194 Queens Road passed to the photographer J. W. Jarrett, who, after only a year, sold the business to Archibald Mark Breach (1875-1954), a Hastings photographer and picture postcard publisher who had his main studio at 37 White Rock, Hastings. Archibald Breach disposed of his branch studio at 194 Queens Road, Hastings around 1912. By 1915, the shop at 194 Queens Road, Hastings was occupied by Charles Adams, a ladies' outfitter.