At the time of the 1861 census, William Scutt, his wife Margaretta, and their two children were living at 13 Surrey Street, Littlehampton. William Scutt is described as a "Schoolmaster", aged 24, and twenty-two year old Margaretta gives her profession as "Schoolmistress". An 1862 Directory for Littlehampton, lists William Scutt at The School, Surrey Street, which suggests No 13 served as both their home and place of work.

[ABOVE ] The trade plate of William Scutt, Photographist of Littlehampton, which appears on the reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait of  "G. Compton" [BELOW].

William Scutt's photographic career in Littlehampton was cut short because of his early death on 17th December 1864, at the age of twenty-eight. The following death notice appeared in the Sussex Express on 14th January 1865 : "On the 17th ult. at Braco, Perthshire, Mr William Scutt of Littlehampton, age 28". It has not been established why William Scutt was so far from home at the time of his death.

Mrs Margaretta Scutt had lost two young children and a husband in the space of two years. Mrs Scutt and her surviving children remained in West Sussex. On 17th March 1869, Margaretta, then a thirty year old widow, married shoemaker Barton Balchin (c1828-1873) in Horsham, West Sussex. After her second husband died in 1873 at the age of 44, Margaretta went on to marry John Voice (born c1832, Billinghurst), another Horsham shoemaker, on 18th October 1874. William Scutt's eldest son, William Herbert Scutt, joined the Royal Navy as an able seaman. In 1881, twenty-one year old William was serving on HMS Minotaur, an iron-clad warship.

[ABOVE ] A carte-de-visite portrait of  "G. Compton" by William Scutt, Photographist of Littlehampton (c1862)

[ABOVE ] A stereoscopic view of the Congregational Church, Littlehampton by William Scutt, Photographist.

[LEFT] The handwritten title "Congregational Church, Lt Hampton. W. Scutt. Photo. No3." which appears on the right-hand side of the stereo card.

Acknowledgements & Further Information on the Scutt Family

Thanks to Jimmy Scutt of Scutt Family Trees. Click on this link to connect to The Scutt Family Tree website.

By 1891, Frank Spry was living at 111 The Grove,Totnes in Devon. In the 1891 census return he is described as a single, twenty-two year old "Photographer". Sometime before 1901, Frank Spry moved to London to work as a photographer. Early in 1901, Francis Walter Spry married forty-two year old Rosina Hankin (born 1858, Ashwell, Herts) in the Lambeth district of South London. [Marriage registered in the March Quarter of 1901 ]. At the time of the 1901 census, Francis and Rosina Spry were living in Greenwich. Francis Spry's occupation is given as "Photographer - Assistant ", so presumably he was employed as an operator in a London photographic studio.

Around 1904, Frank Spry arrived in Littlehampton to take up employment as a photographer with John White (born c1850, Leominster/  Lyminster, Sussex ), the town's leading photographer. From about 1905, Frank Spry, began to take photographs under his own name. Photographs taken by F. W. Spry in the period 1905 and 1907 are rubber stamped with his home address of East Street, Littlehampton. In 1907, Frank Spry set up his own photography business in Surrey Street, Littlehampton. From 1907 to 1909, F. W. Spry, Photographer, is listed at 21 Surrey Street, Littlehampton in local trade directories. From 1909 to 1939, the studio address of  F. W. Spry is given as 25 Surrey Street, Littlehampton.

Frank Spry produced portraits at his Surrey Street studio, but he is more well known for his photographs of ships and shipping and his photographs of local scenes and events which he issued as postcards.

[ABOVE] F. W. Spry' s shop and studio premises at 25 Surrey Street, Littlehampton in 1927.

[ABOVE] Benjamin Farrell and Mabel Jane Ansell photographed at Frank Spry's studio in Littlehampton  around the time of their wedding in December 1917. Benjamin and Mabel Farrell were married at Clymping, West Sussex on 22nd December 1917. This Post Card photograph is blind-stamped "F. W. Spry, LITTLEHAMPTON" . Mr and Mrs Clapham eventually settled in the West Sussex village of Clapham. [ PHOTO : Courtesy of Michele Snewin ]

[ABOVE] Family Group Portrait by Francis Walter Spry. This Post Card photograph is blind-stamped "F. W. Spry, LITTLEHAMPTON" (c1917)

Acknowledgements & Sources

Thanks to Peter Merett, Jimmy Scutt and Sally Whiffing for providing additional information. Thanks also to Michele Snewin for permission to feature the wedding photograph of her paternal grandparents, Benjamin and Mabel Farrell, taken at F. W. Spry's Littlehampton studio.