William Kessler - Photographer in Brighton & Portslade

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William Kessler - Photographer in Brighton & Portslade

Louis Kessler - Lorrayne & Co.

Notes from the combined research of Peter L. Kessler and David Simkin

William Henry Kessler was the son of Ludwig Kessler, a German-born musician, and his English wife Ann. William Henry Kessler was born on 5th April 1859 at his parent's home on Victoria Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Ludwig Kessler, William's father, was born in 1834 in the German state of Hesse. In 1855, Ludwig Kessler married Ann Waghorn of Kent and settled in Tunbridge Wells, where William and his brothers were born. The Kessler family moved to New Cross and then Mile End, in East London. Ludwig Kessler died in Mile End in 1872 at the age of 37. William and his brothers were brought up by their widowed mother in London.

Initially, William Kessler earned his living as a musician, as his father had done before him. Around 1875, the young musician arrived in Brighton, where he met publican's daughter Eliza (Elizabeth) Bailey (born 1861, Brighton). The couple married in Brighton on 11th December 1876. On the marriage certificate, seventeen year old William Kessler gave his occupation as "Teacher of Music". Two months later, on 11th February 1877, William and Eliza became the parents of a baby girl who was named Mary Annie Louise Kessler. William and Eliza found lodgings at 17 Upper North Street, Brighton, where their son, Charles Ludwig Kessler, was born on 25th May 1879. By this date, William Kessler was working as a photographer as well as a musician.

When the 1881 census was taken, William Kessler and his family were living at 44 Gardner Street, Brighton :

1881 CENSUS : 44 Gardner Street, Brighton

NAME

  

OCCUPATION

AGE

PLACE OF BIRTH
William H. Kessler Head Photographer and Musician

21

 Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Elizabeth Kessler wife  

20

 Brighton, Sussex
Charles Kessler son  

1

 Brighton, Sussex
* Mary Annie Kessler, aged 4, was staying with relatives in London at the time of the census. Her place of birth was given as East Dulwich.

William Kessler was possibly earning a living as an itinerant photographer and musician at the time of the 1881 census. Eventually, William Kessler might have found employment in one of the thirty or so photographic studios that were operating in Brighton during this period. William's wife was pregnant with their third child when the 1881 census was carried out. On 26th July 1881, Eliza gave birth to a baby boy, who was named Arthur Francis Kessler. When young Arthur was christened at Brighton's Chapel Royal on 4th July 1883, William Kessler's profession was entered as "Musician" in the register of baptisms. [ When Eliza Kessler died in 1942, the informant advised the registrar that Eliza's late husband had been a "Music Composer" ]. William's fourth child, Harold Kessler, was born in Brighton on 18th July 1883. When Harold's birth was registered, William Kessler gave his occupation as "Photographer" and his home address as 10 Cheltenham Place, Brighton.

[ABOVE] A portrait of a young William Kessler, around the time he arrived in Brighton as a teenage musician.  [PHOTO: COURTESY OF PETER L. KESSLER]

 William Kessler as "Louis Kessler"

By 3rd September 1883, William Kessler was living in the centre of Brighton at 15 New Road, close to the Theatre Royal and a few doors from the Oxford Music Hall of Varieties. Sometime between 1883 and 1887, William Kessler and his wife Eliza separated. It appears that Eliza Kessler left Brighton for London, taking her three eldest children with her.

In 1883, the business premises at 15 New Road, Brighton was used as a tobacconist's shop by Mrs Rosina Streete, a 51 year old widow. In 1887, Mrs Streete allowed the room above her shop to be used as a photographic studio by one of her tenants.  Page's Brighton Directory of 1888, lists Louis Kessler, a photographer, alongside Mrs Streete, tobacconist, at 15 New Road, Brighton. William Kessler appears to have adopted the first name of Louis for his photographic activities. ( Pike's 1888 Directory of Brighton lists "W. Kessler" as the photographer in business at 15 New Road ). While he was using the upstairs room at 15 New Road as a studio, William Kessler lived at 72 Lewes Road, Brighton. By the start of 1889, the studio of "Louis Kessler" at 15 New Road had been sold to the photographer Robert Armitage.

[ABOVE] The Dome Cafe at 15 New Road, Brighton, the site of the photographic studio of "Louis Kessler". To the right of No. 15 is the large Empire Theatre building which was built in 1892, four years after "Louis Kessler" had vacated his studio in New Road. When this photograph was taken the Empire Theatre had become the Paris Continental Cinema. The cinema was demolished in 1967.

By December 1888, Henry Kessler had moved to 1 Aberdeen Road, Brighton. Once again, under the name of "Louis Kessler", Henry Kessler used the rooms at his residence as a photographic studio. (In Page's Trade Directory of 1889, William Kessler's studio at 1 Aberdeen Road was recorded under the name of "Louis Kessler". However, Pike's 1889 Street Directory lists "W. Kessler, photographer" at 72 Lewes Road, Brighton. The studio of "L. KESSLER" at 1 Aberdeen Road was still listed under the heading of "Photographic Artists" in Page's 1890 Directory of Brighton.

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a girl holding a parasol, photographed by "L. Kessler "of the Pavilion Studio, 15 New Road, Brighton (c1888).
 
[ABOVE & BELOW] Trade directory entries for a Brighton photographer named Kessler. W. Kessler. photographer, listed  at 15 New Road, Brighton, in Pike's Directory of 1888 (above). W. Kessler of 1 Aberdeen Road, Brighton, listed under "Photographers" in Page's 1890 Directory (below). In 1893, under the pseudonym of "Eugene de Fontaine", Kessler took over the photographic studio of Lorrayne & Co. at 43a Ship Street, Brighton.

 

Cabinet Portraits from the Studio of Lorrayne & Co. at 43 Ship Street, Brighton

[ABOVE] A studio portrait of a couple posing by a rustic wooden fence. Cabinet photograph by Lorrayne & Co. of 43 Ship Street, Brighton (c1891). [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young man with a moustache, photographed by Lorrayne & Co. of 43 Ship Street, Brighton (c1891).

Lorrayne & Co. of 43 Ship Street, Brighton

Before the end of 1889, a new studio opened at 43a Ship Street, Brighton under the name of Lorrayne & Co. Circumstantial evidence links William Kessler to the studio of Lorrayne & Co. The firm of Lorrayne & Co. operated from 43a Ship from 1889 to 1892. Lorrayne & Co. of 43a Ship Street, is listed under "Photographic Artists" in the commercial section of Page's 1890 Directory, but, listed two names above this studio, is the entry "KESSLER, L. 1 Aberdeen Road". The 1890 and 1891 editions of Page's Street Directory lists Lorrayne & Co. at 43a Ship Street and 2 Elm Tree Cottages (Elm Tree Cottages were small tenements in a dead end road near 36 North Street, Brighton).

Pike's Brighton & Hove Blue Book of 1891, lists "Louis Lorrayne" as living at 53 Conway Street, Hove. Page's Street Directory of 1892, which would have been compiled during 1891, lists Louis Lorrayne at 51 Clarendon Road, Hove, yet when the 1891 census was taken on 5th April, the occupant of 51 Clarendon Road is recorded as William H. Kessler, a thirty year old photographer. (In fact, William Henry Kessler celebrated his 32nd birthday on 5th April, 1891). Also living at 51 Clarendon Road was William's youngest son, Harold Kessler (born 1883, Brighton) - William Kessler's wife, Elizabeth, was living elsewhere in Brighton with their three other children - Arthur, aged 9, Charles, aged 11, and fourteen year old Annie (Mary Annie Louise).** Residing with William Kessler and his eight year old son was a housekeeper, who is entered on the return as "E. Lyne",  a single woman of thirty, who gives her place of birth as "Brighton, Sussex". [The only exact match to this mysterious "E. Lyne" who was sharing William's home is Ellen Harriet Joan Lyne (born 1861, Brighton), the daughter of Captain Thomas Lyne (1826-1886), a widowed cavalry officer. Another candidate is Ellen Lynn (born c1860, Brighton), a married woman who at one time was lodging in the same street as Mrs Kessler, however this Ellen Lynn was recorded as a servant at another house in Brighton during the 1891 census).

On the 1891 census return, William H. Kessler is entered as the Head of the Household and his occupation is given as "Photographer (employed)". This suggests that William Kessler was not a partner in Lorrayne & Co.'s studio at 43 Ship Street, Brighton, yet it is odd that both "Louis Lorrayne" and William Kessler are both recorded as the occupants of  51 Clarendon Road, Hove. [Pike's Directory of 1892 gives the home address of Mr Louis Lorrayne as 51 Clarendon Road ]. I have not managed to find a "Louis Lorrayne" in the 1891 census for Brighton and this name does not feature in any of the registrations of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales. The suggestion is that "Louis Lorrayne" was an assumed name and that "Lorrayne & Co." was used simply as a trading name. Given that William Kessler seems to have previously operated as a photographer under the name of "Louis Kessler", it is possible that "Louis Lorrayne" was another of William's pseudonyms.

 

** Between 1896 and 1899, various Brighton & Hove Street Directories, lists Mrs Eliza Kessler, William Kessler's estranged wife, at 9 Lower Market Street, Hove. Kelly's 1899 Directory of Sussex lists Mrs Elizabeth Kessler as a lodging house keeper with apartments at 9 Lower Market Street, Hove.

 

***

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young man with a moustache, photographed by Lorrayne & Co. of 43 Ship Street, Brighton (c1890). [PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE BRIGHTON HISTORY CENTRE]

[ABOVE]  The reverse of a cabinet portrait produced by Lorrayne & Co. of 43 Ship Street, Brighton (c1890). [PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE BRIGHTON HISTORY CENTRE]
 

[ABOVE]  The reverse of a cabinet portrait produced by "Eugene Defontaine" successor to Lorrayne & Co., 43a Ship Street, Brighton (c1893). The Lorrayne & Co. trade plate has been amended by a rubber stamp. The rubber-stamped addition reads "DEFONTAINE  SUCCESSOR TO ... (Lorrayne & Co.). In 1893, William Kessler, working under the pseudonym of "Eugene de Fontaine".

[ PHOTO: Courtesy of Julia Sherborne ]

 [ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of James Thomas Sharp North, bookbinder, photographed by "Eugene Defontaine" (William Kessler) successor to Lorrayne & Co. of 43a Ship Street, Brighton (c1893). William Kessler, working under the pseudonym of Eugene de Fontaine, used Lorrayne & Co.'s photographic mounts in the early part of 1893, stamping "DEFONTAINE" on the reverse of the cabinet cards.

 [ PHOTO: Courtesy of Julia Sherborne ]


Portrait of James Thomas Sharp North, bookbinder of Brighton, photographed by "Eugene Defontaine" (William Kessler) of 43a Ship Street, Brighton.
 
James Thomas Sharp North was born in 1863, in Islington, London. In 1889, at Brighton, James Thomas Sharp North married Lillian Egerton Lambert. A son named Dudley North was born to the couple in 1890. By 1899, James T. S. North was living at 33 Chatham Place, Brighton and running a bookbinding business at 2 & 3 Prince's Place, Brighton. James Sharp North was still working as a bookbinder in Prince's Place in 1905. James S. North and his family were residing at 30 Wolstonbury Road, Hove, at this date. By 1911, James S. North had moved his bookbinding business to 44 Market Street, Brighton, next to The Pump House pub. The bookbinding business at  44 Market Streetwas eventually passed on to James North's son, Dudley North. The shop of J. S. North, bookbinder, survived until the middle of the twentieth century. (see below)


[ABOVE] The shop of James Sharp North, bookbinder, at 44 Market Street, Brighton, photographed in the early 1950s

 

 William Kessler as "Eugene de Fontaine"

[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait from the studio of Eugene de Fontaine at 43A Ship Street, Brighton.

[ABOVE] The decorative design on the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait produced at Eugene de Fontaine's photographic studio at 43A Ship Street, Brighton.

 Around 1893, the name of the studio at 43A Ship Street changed from Lorrayne & Co. to Eugene de Fontaine. The new proprietor of the studio at 43A Ship Street can be identified as William Kessler as he used "Eugene de Fontaine" as a nom´-de-plume for the remainder of his photographic career and this name is also entered as an alias on his death certificate. The studio of Eugene de Fontaine is listed under the heading of "Photographic Artists" in Brighton trade directories for the next three years (1893, 1894 and 1895) until it was acquired by William Hillmer (born 1849, Islington, London) around 1896.

William Hillmer was based in Southampton and it is possible that he retained the services of William Kessler ("Eugene de Fontaine") as a studio manager or chief photographer in the Ship Street studio. William Hillmer's new wife, Elizabeth Mentor (born 1861,Stepney, London), had owned photographic studios in Southampton and Portsmouth before she married William Hillmer in 1894. After their marriage, the studio in Southampton continued under the name of E. Mentor & Co, but when William Hillmer purchased Eugene de Fontaine's Brighton studio around 1896, the studio went under the name of William Hillmer & Co.

Between 1896 and 1900, E. Mentor & Co. the firm of photographers established by Elizabeth Mentor, William Hillmer's wife, expanded rapidly. Over a five year period, E. Mentor & Co. opened studios at Newport on the Isle of Wight, Bournemouth, Southsea, Cheltenham, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Coventry, Kidderminster, and at Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria. By 1899, William Hillmer's studio at 43a Ship Street, Brighton was also carrying the name of E. Mentor & Co.

It is possible that William Kessler was employed by E. Mentor & Co as a photographer at their studio in Brighton until the studio closed around 1900. Interestingly, as soon as E. Mentor & Co. closed their Brighton branch studio at 43A Ship Street, Eugene de Fontaine emerged again as a studio proprietor, this time in the Brighton suburb of Portslade.

[ABOVE] Carte-de-visite Portraits from the studio of Eugene de Fontaine of 43A Ship Street, Brighton

 William Kessler and Fontaine & Co. of Portslade, Brighton

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a young man in uniform holding a gun, photographed by Fontaine & Co. of Portslade, Brighton (c1901).  [PHOTO: Courtesy of Dennis Parrett]

When the 1901 census was taken, William Kessler was living under the name of Eugene Fontaine. The census return for Lyndale, 20 Carlton Terrace, Southern Cross, Portslade records Eugene Fontaine as a self-employed photographer, aged 42. Also living at 20 Carlton Terrace was Fanny Fontaine, a thirty-two year old photographer, who is entered on the census return as Eugene's wife. Presumably, Fanny was William Kessler's common-law wife. His legal wife, Eliza or Elizabeth Kessler (1861-1942) was still alive in 1901 and there is no record of William's divorce or re-marriage. At the time of the 1901 census, William's youngest son, eighteen year old Harold Kessler was living at his grandmother's house in Deptford. In 1901, William Kessler's son Arthur Francis Kessler was working in service as a footman in a household in Bedfordshire and his daughter Mary Annie Louise Kessler (born 1877, Dulwich) was employed as a housemaid in London. Mary Annie Louise Kessler (generally known as "Annie") married on 22nd December 1906.

Like her companion (William Kessler/ Eugene de Fontaine), Fanny Fontaine (born c 1869 Hampstead, London ), is recorded as a "Photographer" working "at home" on her "own account". Eugene Fontaine (William Kessler) and Fanny Fontaine appear to have combined forces to form the photography firm of Fontaine & Co. Bennett's Business Directory of 1902 records the firm of Fontaine & Co. at 20 Carlton Terrace, Southern Cross, Portslade.

The Fontaines appear to have left Portslade around 1903. The 1904-1905 edition of Bennett's Business Directory lists Walter Le Hair at Lyndale, 20 Carlton Terrace, Southern Cross, Portslade. Walter Le Hair was not yet another fancy nom´-de-plume adopted by William Kessler. Walter Le Hair (born 1883, Grantham, Lincolnshire) was employed by a factory manufacturing agricultural implements before he moved down from Grantham to Portslade on the Sussex coast.

William Kessler virtually disappears from the historical record for the next sixteen years. There is evidence to indicate that William Kessler was still working as a photographer after he left Portslade. When Annie Kessler married in 1906, she gave her father's occupation as "photographer".  William Kessler, in the guise of Eugene Fontaine, re-appeared as a photographer in Eastbourne, Sussex, at the end of the First World War. Mr. E. Fontaine is recorded at 18 Willowfield Road, Eastbourne in Pikes's Eastbourne, Hailsham & District Local Directory in 1920 and 1921. Gowland's Eastbourne Directory also lists Eugene Fontaine at 18 Willowfield Road in its 1922 edition. Around this time, Eugene Fontaine (William Kessler) and Fanny Fontaine parted company. In 1924, Mrs Fanny Fontaine is recorded at 41 Sydney Road, Eastbourne and she is listed in local street directories at different addresses in Eastbourne over the next few years.

Sometime after 1922, William Kessler (Eugene Fontaine) was admitted to the Infirmary in Eastbourne's Church Street. Formerly part of the Eastbourne Union Workhouse, No. 123 Church Street had been designated an infirmary for the old and infirm. ( In 1930, the Institution and Infirmary in Church Street became St. Mary's Hospital, Eastbourne). William Kessler was suffering from chronic bronchitis and during the winter months of early 1929 he was showing symptoms of hypostatic pneumonia. William Kessler died at Eastbourne's Institution & Infirmary in Church Street on 18th March, 1929 at the age of 71. The death certificate for William Kessler also mentions his alias of Eugene Fontaine. William Kessler is described on the death certificate as a photographer, formerly of 18 Willowfield Road, Eastbourne. William Henry Kessler, also known as Eugene Fontaine, was buried as a pauper in a common grave on 21st March 1929.

 

Fontaine & Co.'s Portrait of a Young Soldier

Can you recognise this young man's uniform ?

The portrait of the young man in uniform holding a gun (see above, left) was probably photographed around 1901 at Portslade by William Kessler (Eugene Fontaine) or his partner Fanny Fontaine.

On the left, I have shown details from the photograph, showing the collar badges and the badge on the belt worn by the young soldier. If anyone viewing this page can identify the young man's uniform or regiment, or provide any further details about the photograph, would they please contact me by e-mail.

My e-mail address can be found on the Home Page of Sussex PhotoHistory.

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Acknowledgements & Sources
Thanks to Peter Kessler for providing details of William Kessler's family history and the portrait of William Kessler as a young musician. Peter Kessler is the great grandson of William Kessler. Peter's grandfather was Charles Ludwig Kessler (born 1879, Brighton), William Kessler's eldest son. Thanks to Dennis Parrett for providing Fontaine & Co.'s photograph of the young soldier. Thanks also to the Brighton History Centre for allowing me to feature front and reverse of the cabinet photograph by Lorrayne & Co. of  Brighton. Thank you to Julia Sherborne for providing the portrait of James T. S. North, photographed by "Eugene De Fontaine" (William Kessler) of 43a Ship Street, Brighton.

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