Frank Harris - Ainslie Harwood (Hastings Photographic Company) - Hastings School of Photography - Arthur Charles Heilbronn - A. Murray Henderson

Ainslie Hall Harwood was born in London around 1823, the youngest of eleven children born to Captain Robert Harwood and Mary Soutter of Stepney, London. Ainslie Harwood's brothers included Robert Harwood junior (born 1791), George Harwood (born 1793), William Harwood (born 1804), Edwin Soutter Harwood (born 1806), James Shepherd Harwood (born 1809), Thomas Soutter Harwood (born 1811), Alfred Humble Harwood (born 1812), Octavius Harwood (born 1816), and Henry Harwood.  [ See red box below ]

In 1850, Ainslie Harwood married Eliza Green (born c1823, Barford St Martin, Wiltshire) in her home village of Barford St Martin. (Eliza Green was probably the daughter of Harriet and John Green. John and Harriet Green's daughter Eliza was baptised in Barford St Martin, Wiltshire on 20th August 1825). After their marriage, Ainslie and Eliza Harwood moved to Brighton. Around 1851, Ainslie Harwood established a clothing shop in Brighton's East Street, selling lace and gloves. The 1851 census records Ainslie and Eliza Harwood residing at their shop at 24 East Street, Brighton. Ainslie Harwood is entered on the census return as a "Laceman and Glover", aged 27. Mrs Eliza Harwood gave birth to their first child, Harriet Soutter Harwood towards the end of 1851. (When Harriet Soutter Harwood was baptised at the Chapel Royal, Brighton on 26th May 1852, her father was entered in the baptism register as a "Laceman" of East Street, Brighton).

By the Summer of 1853, Ainslie Harwood, his wife Eliza and their young daughter Harriet had moved along the Sussex coast to the seaside resort of Hastings. Ainslie and Eliza Harwood's second daughter, Emma Mary Harwood, was born in Hastings during the 2nd Quarter of 1853. Initially, Ainslie Harwood set up a clothing store at 12 Robertson Street, Hastings. Robertson Street was a new fashionable shopping parade in the centre of Hastings developed in the early 1850s by Patrick Francis Robertson (born c1808, Scotland - died 1885, London), a wealthy London merchant and M. P. for Hastings. In trade directories published between 1853 and 1855, Ainslie Harwood is variously described as a hosier, haberdasher, milliner and lace man at 12 Robertson Street, Hastings. By 1855, Ainslie Harwood had built up a flourishing clothing business and from this date his shops went under the name of Harwood & Co. The 1855 Post Office Directory lists Ainslie Harwood as the proprietor of the "Lace and Baby Linen Warehouse" at 12 Robertson Street, Hastings. By 1856, Harwood & Co. had opened a "Berlin Wool & Fancy Repository" in Pelham Arcade, Hastings. Around this time, Ainslie Harwood shifted the centre of his business operations from Robertson Street to White Rock Place on Hastings' seafront. An advertisement for " Harwood & Co., Lacemen, Glovers and Haberdashers" in the Hastings & St. Leonards News, dated 21st March 1856, gives Harwood's new business address as 27 White Rock Place, Hastings. Harwood remained in business in the area of White Rock for the next twenty years or so. Although Harwood & Co. gave notice in March 1858 that they were "relinquishing the trade" and letting out the business premises at 27 White Rock Place, the 1859 edition of the Post Office Directory of Sussex gives details of "Harwood & Co., Baby Linen Warehouse, Haberdashers & Lacemen" at 27 White Rock Place, Hastings. Ainslie Harwood, himself, is recorded in the same directory as a "collector of land, assessed & income tax for the Parish of St. Clement", based at 2 Spring Gardens & 28 White Rock Place, Hastings.

Between 1856 and 1860, Ainslie and Eliza Harwood produced three more children -  Harry Ainslie Harwood (born 4th Quarter 1856, Hastings), Francis Edward Harwood (born 3rd Quarter 1858, Hastings), Ainslie Goodwin Harwood (born 4th Quarter 1859, Hastings) and Agnes Newman Harwood (born 4th Quarter 1860, Hastings).

At the time of the 1861 census, Ainslie and Eliza Harwood were living in Hastings with five of their children. Ainslie Harwood's eldest child Harriet Soutter Harwood was residing with his wife's relatives in the Wiltshire village of Barford St Martin. The last addition to the Harwood household was a baby boy named Sidney Bennett Harwood, who was born in Hastings during the 3rd Quarter of 1862.

By 1863, Harwood & Co. were firmly established at 22 White Rock Place, Hastings. An advertisement in the Hastings & St. Leonards Chronicle, dated 6th May 1863, describes Harwood & Co. as "Complete Wedding and Colonial Outfitters" and gives details of a branch in High Street, Tunbridge Wells as well as the main store in Hastings at 22 White Rock Place. The newspaper advertisement mentions the "large assortment of new goods" at Harwood's store, including "cambric (lightweight cotton) handkerchiefs" and "an elegant selection of lace and muslin embroideries, ladies' linen and underclothing of every description."

In 1866, Ainslie Harwood and his family were residing at 46 Havelock Road, Hastings. Ainslie Harwood was still earning his living as a "Ladies' Outfitter" but was supplementing his income as an Insurance Agent. The business address for both of these commercial activities was 22 White Rock Place, Hastings. When the 1871 census was taken, Ainslie and Eliza Harwood and three of their children were recorded at the family home at 46 Havelock Road, Hastings. Ainslie Harwood, the Head of Family, is described as a "Laceman", aged 47. No profession is given for Emma Harwood, Ainslie and Eliza''s seventeen year old daughter. Two of the children listed, Agnes Harwood, aged 10, and her eight year old brother Sidney Harwood were of school age and are recorded on the census return as "scholars". Ainslie and Eliza Harwood's eldest child Harriet Soutter Harwood, now aged 19, was again away from home and residing in Wiltshire when the census was carried out. (Harriet Harwood was to marry a couple of years later in 1873). Two of the Harwood boys, Francis Harwood, aged 12, and Ainslie Harwood, aged 11, were recorded in Essex, possibly at boarding school or with relatives.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of the Hastings Photographic Company of 22 White Rock Place, Hastings.(c1876).

In the Spring of 1870, Ainslie Harwood, who had had the opportunity to observe the demand for the services of the successive photographers who had shared his business premises at 22 White Rock Place, decided to take over the recently vacated studio. Parson's Directory of Hastings and St Leonards, published in 1871, includes the name of Ainslie Harwood of 22 White Rock Place, Hastings, in its list of photographers working in the town. During 1872, advertisements appeared in the local press for the Hastings Photographic Company at 22 White Rock Place. The advertisement pointed out the studio's seafront location ("Facing the Sea") and gave the following details of the services provided - "Portraits Executed in the First Style of Art from Carte de Visite to Life Size. Finished in Oil, Water Colour or Crayon. Carte de Visite Portraits, 7s.6d. per doz.; 6 for 5s.".

Although the 1871 edition of Parson's Directory of Hastings and St Leonards had listed the name of Ainslie Harwood as one of the dozen photographers at work in the town, it does not appear that Harwood actually operated the camera at 22 White Rock Place. Ainslie Harwood's name was not printed on the carte-de-visite and cabinet portraits produced at the studio at 22 White Rock Place and when his name did appear in a trade directory listing of the Hastings Photographic Company, Harwood was either styled as the Company's "Secretary" or "Manager". Ainslie Harwood was still heavily involved in the clothing business that shared the same building at 22 White Rock Place. Harwood probably employed an experienced professional photographer at the Hastings Photographic Company' studio. Harwood's interest in the Hastings Photographic Company was primarily financial and he used the wealth generated by his clothing company to develop the facilities at the studio. In June 1873, the Hastings Photographic Company announced the opening of a "New Reception Room on the First Floor" of the White Rock studio. In 1878 the address of the Hastings Photographic Company changed from No. 22 to No. 25 White Rock Place. Harwood retained a financial interest in the Hastings Photographic Company until about 1881. W. T. Pike's Sussex Directory & Blue Book, (corrected to July 1881) lists the Hastings Photographic Company at the new address of 25 White Rock Place, Hastings, but this was the last time that either of Harwood's companies were mentioned in Sussex trade directories. By the time the 1881 census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Ainslie Harwood and his family had left Hastings and were residing in Hornsey, Middlesex.

When the 1881 census was taken, Ainslie Harwood and his family were living at 22 Finsbury Park Road, Hornsey, Middlesex. Ainslie Harwood, the Head of Household, is described on the census return as a "Retired Lace Maker", aged 57. Frank (Francis Edward) Harwood is entered on the return as a twenty-two year old unemployed draper. (Presumably, Frank Harwood had previously worked in his father's clothing business). No occupation is given for twenty-one year old Ainslie Goodwin Harwood, the other grown-up son residing at his parents' house in Finsbury Park Road. Also living at 22 Finsbury Park Road was Emma Harwood, an unmarried daughter of 27, and the Harwood's youngest daughter, twenty year old Agnes Harwood.

In Kelly's Directory of Middlesex, published in 1899, Ainslie Harwood is listed as an Insurance Agent with an address of 'Blaimore', Cumberland Park, Acton, Middlesex. When the census was taken on 31st March 1901, Ainslie Harwood was still residing in Acton with his wife Eliza and two of their grown-up children - Emma Mary Harwood, then aged 47, and Ainslie Goodwin Harwood. Ainslie Harwood senior is described on the census return as a "Retired Lace Merchant", aged 77. Six years later, Ainslie Harwood is listed with an address of 57 Myrtle Road, Acton in a local street directory.

At the time of the 1901 census, Ainslie Harwood junior described himself as a "Manufacturer", aged 37. ( Ainslie Goodwin Harwood was actually 41 years of age in March 1901 ). Six years earlier, Ainslie G. Harwood was listed in the 1895 edition of Kelly's Post Office London Directory as a "Wholesale Confectioner" based at 44 Hatton Wall, London. Ainslie Goodwin Harwood pre-deceased his father, dying in Cheltenham in 1908 at the age of 48.

Ainslie Harwood died in Acton, Middlesex, during the 4th Quarter of 1909, at the age of 86.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of The Hastings School of Photography, 81 High Street, Hastings, printed on the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait (c1870).

[ABOVE] Portrait of a seated woman holding a book, a carte-de-visite portrait produced at The Hastings School of Photography studio at 81 High Street, Hastings (1870). Negative No. 6681.

William Heilbronn (1822-1900)

William Heilbronn, Arthur's father, was born in Kennington, Lambeth, on 30th October 1822, the son of  Sebastian Adolph Heilbronn (name sometimes given as Adolph Sebastian Heilbronn) and Ann Lacey (1792-1847). William Heilbronn was baptised with his twin sister Louise on 15th December 1822 at St Saviour's Church, Southwark . William had at least six siblings - Mary Ann (born 1818, Southwark), Adolph (born 1820, Bermondsey), Louisa (born 1822, Kennington, Lambeth), John (born 1825) George (born 1827) and possibly Therese (born 1834). Sebastian Adolph Heilbronn, William's father died before 1841. When the 1841 census was taken, Mrs Ann Heilbronn was a widow living in South London with her seven children. By the time the 1851 census was carried out on 30th March 1851, William Heilbronn had married and was living in Lambeth with his wife Mary Ann (Marian) Catherine Heilbronn (born 1822, London) and their two children Henry William Heilbronn (born 1849) and Arthur Charles Heilbronn (born 1850). Over the next decade, William Heilbronn fathered four more children - Sebastian Adolph Heilbronn (born 1852), Edward Booth Heilbronn (born 1854), Therese Marian Heilbronn (born 1855) and Catherine Heilbronn (born 1860).

In the early 1860s William Heilbronn embarked on his photographic career. In 1863, William Heilbronn joined forces with Edward Schnadhorst *(1830-1913) to form the firm of Schnadhorst & Heilbronn. For the past few years, Edward Schnadhorst had been operating a photographic portrait studio at 433 Strand, Westminster, London. (The studio at 433 Strand was the former studio of Cornelius Jabez Hughes. This fashionable London studio had been opened by the famous photographer John Jabez Edwin Mayall (1813-1901) in 1847). From 1863 until September 1864, the studio at 433 Strand carried the name of Schnadhorst & Heilbronn. On 1st October 1864, the partnership between Edward Schnadhorst and William Heilbronn was dissolved. The studio at 433 Strand was retained by William Heilbronn, who immediately entered into a partnership with photographer John Henry Robert Pike (1805-1866), forming the firm of Heilbronn & Pike. This business partnership lasted less than a year and in July 1865, William Heilbronn and John Pike went their separate ways.

William Heilbronn moved to the East End of London, where in he established a photographic studio at 8 Coburn Road, Bow Road, Bethnal Green, London. William Heilbronn opened a second studio at Park House, Coborn Road, Bethnal Green but his business failed and Heilbronn was declared bankrupt in April 1867. Heilbronn  was discharged as a bankrupt in June 1867 and around 1869 he entered into yet another business partnership, this time with a man named William Henry Allerton. In 1870, the two men re-opened the photographic studio at 8 Coburn Road, Bow Road, Bethnal Green, London. Like William Heilbronn's previous partnerships, the firm of Heilbronn & Allerton only lasted about a year.

By 1881, William Heilbronn had abandoned photography. The 1881 census records William Heilbronn at 105 Tredegar Road, Bow, East London. William Heilbronn is entered on the census return as a commercial shipping clerk, aged 56. Living at William Heilbronn's house in Tredegar Road at the time of the 1881 census was his wife Mary Ann (Marian), his youngest son Edward Booth Heilbronn, described as a twenty-six year old unemployed draper, and his two youngest daughters, twenty-one year old Catherine and Therese, a "Music Teacher" in her mid twenties. Two other family members were staying at William Heilbronn's house on the night of the census - Mrs Louisa Giles, a widowed sister, and his four year old grandson Egerton Beresford Heilbronn. Ten years later, William Heilbronn was living at the same address in Tredegar Road with his two unmarried daughters, Therese Heilbronn and Catherine Heilbronn. Henry's wife Mrs Marian Catherine Heilbronn had died in Bow the previous year at the age of 69. William Heilbronn is described on the 1881 census return as a widower of seventy-one, employed as a commercial clerk by the General Steam Navigation Co.

William Heilbronn died in the East London district of East Ham in 1900, at the age of 77.

*David Webb, the London Photohistorian, has identified William Heilbronn's partner as Edward Schnadhorst (born 1830 Birmingham). Edward Schnadhorst is a very unusual name and it seems unlikely that there were two men of this name residing in London during the early 1860s. However, the only Edward Schnadhorst recorded in London at the time of the 1861 census was a thirty-one year old Independent Church Minister. This Edward Schnadhorst, who was born in Birmingham on 6th March 1830, was the son of Amelia and John Schnadhorst, a Birmingham tailor, and the older brother of Francis Schnadhorst (1839-1900), the Liberal politician. If Heilbronn's partner in the firm of Schnadhorst & Heilbronn was Edward Schnadhorst (1830-1913) who worked as the Minister in the Congregational Church, his involvement in the photography business might have been purely financial.

Arthur Charles Heilbronn (1850-1917)

Despite his father's unsuccessful career as a photographer, Arthur Charles Heilbronn chose to earn his living through photography. At the age of twenty-one, Arthur Heilbronn was working as a photographic printer in London. Within a few years, Arthur Heilbronn was working as a free lance photographer, producing photographic views for London publishers.

Arthur Charles Heilbronn and Hastings

Arthur Charles Heilbronn's association with the Sussex seaside resort of Hastings seems to have started in the mid 1870s. Arthur Heilbronn's younger brother, Sebastian Adolph Heilbronn (born 1852, Brixton, Surrey), also a photographer, had settled in Hastings shortly after his marriage to Mary Hannah Fitch (born c1853, Strood, Kent) in 1873 [ Marriage registered in Hastings during the 3rd Quarter of 1873]. Sebastian and Mary Heilbronn remained in Hastings for the next five years, during which time at least three children were born to the couple - Amy Agnes Heilbronn (born 1874, Hastings), William Robert Heilbronn (born 1876, Hastings) and Henry Charles Heilbronn (born 1878, Hastings)*.  It appears that Arthur Heilbronn was taking photographic views of Hastings during this period. In the early or mid 1870s, Arthur Heilbronn produced a series of twenty or so views of Hastings, including pictures of some notable landmarks, church buildings, and beauty spots in the locality (e.g. Hastings Pier, The Ruins of Hastings Castle, The Albert Memorial Clock Tower, Battle Abbey, Fairlight Glen and the Waterfall at Ecclesbourne).

Around 1874, the London photographer and publisher John Henry Fox (born 1847, Essex) issued twenty-two of Arthur Heilbronn's photographs of Hastings and the surrounding area in carte-de-visite format. This series of carte-de-visite views was published under the title "The Views of Hastings, Photographed by A. C. Heilbronn " and was issued from John Henry Fox's business address at 295 Edgware Road, London. By 1877, John Henry Fox had left Edgware Road and moved out of London, first to Kent and then to Sutton Coldfield in Warwickshire.

Possibly, it was  during visits to his brother's home in Hastings that Arthur Heilbronn met his future wife Elizabeth Sheen (born 1852, Hastings). Arthur Charles Heilbronn married Elizabeth Sheen in Richmond, Surrey during the First Quarter of 1874. The couple's first child, Walter Cecil Heilbronn, was born in Richmond in 1875. a second son, Ernest Arthur Heilbronn, arrived a couple of years later in 1877.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of Schnadhorst & Heilbronn printed on the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait (c1864). This carte-de-visite was produced by Schnadhorst & Heilbronn studio at 433 West Strand, London. Although William Heilbronn was born in South London and Edward Schnadhorst originated from Wolverhampton, the studio emphasized their European origins with a motto in written in German.

[ABOVE] Portrait of an unknown man, a carte-de-visite portrait produced at the studio of Schnadhorst & Heilbronn at 433 West Strand, London (c1864). The partnership between Edward Schnadhorst and William Heilbronn lasted less than twelve months.