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Professional Photographers in Littlehampton (W)

William Wareham - John White - John White & Son - Arthur H. White

William WAREHAM ( born 1862, Brighton, Sussex - died 1933, Littlehampton, West Sussex)

William Wareham was born in Brighton in 1862, the son of Harriett and Henry Wareham, a couple who ran lodging houses in Brighton. [The birth of William Wareham was registered in Brighton during the 3rd Quarter of 1862]. William's father Henry Wareham (born c1826, Exton, Hampshire) had settled in Brighton before 1861 and by 1871 he was the proprietor of a lodging house at 127 King's Road, Brighton. At the time of the 1881 census, eighteen year old William Wareham was working as a carpenter and living with his parents and two sisters at their lodging house at 15 Clifton Terrace, Brighton

In 1890, William Wareham, who was now working as a County Court Bailiff in Worthing, married Ada Baker (born 1864, Aldingbourne, West Sussex), the daughter of Ruth and Maurice Baker, a miller and baker of Aldingbourne, a small village near Chichester. In 1890, William Wareham was based in Chapel Road, Worthing, but by 1892 he had moved to the seaside town of Littlehampton, setting himself up as a bookseller and stationer at a shop in Beach Road, Littlehampton.

Local trade directories published in the 1890s list William Wareham as a bookseller and stationer in Beach Road, Littlehampton. Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1895 records William Wareham as a bookseller and stationer at No. 5 Beach Road, Littlehampton, but by the end of the decade Wareham's business address is given as 3 & 4 Beach Road, Littlehampton.

Around 1905, William Wareham started to issue his own photographic views of Bognor and the surrounding area in the form of picture postcards. William Wareham was a photographer as well as a publisher of photographic views and so it is likely that most of the images which appeared on his picture postcards were taken with his own camera. A trade directory published in 1915, lists William Wareham as a photographer at 60 Pier Road, Littlehampton. William Wareham is recorded as a photographer at the Pier Road address until 1930.

William Wareham died in Littlehampton in 1933 at the age of 71.

[ABOVE]  A coloured picture postcard produced by William Wareham of the Ornamental Water, situated near the seafront at Littlehampton (c1915)

To read a more detailed account of William Wareham's career as a publisher of picture postcards and to see further examples of his photographic work, see Rendel Williams' Sussex Postcards.Info website at:

Picture Postcards by William Wareham of Littlehampton

 

John WHITE  ( born 1850, Lyminster / Leominster, Sussex - died 1932, Littlehampton)

John White was born in Lyminster (Leominster) Sussex in 1850, the son of Thomas and Betsy White and was baptised in that village on 10th February 1850. Thomas White, John's father, was born in Lyminster in 1814 and married Betsy Cheal (born c1817, Lyminster) on 8th August 1841. Thomas White was a cattle dealer and drover and he and his wife produced seven children during their marriage.

It appears that John White set himself up as a picture frame maker when he first arrived in Littlehampton in the early 1870s. John White established a photographic studio at 11 River Road, Littlehampton around 1874. According to H. J. F. Thompson, the author of The  Picturemakers, John White was able to finance his photography business from the proceeds of "a monetary award that was made to him for his part in providing information which led to the apprehension of a smuggler". In June 1876, after a couple of years at the River Road studio, John White moved to 32 High Street, Littlehampton, where he was to remain for more than twenty years.

On 20th July 1876, John White married Alice Arnott (born 1855, Shepherd's Bush), the daughter of Mary and Frederick Arnott, a London coachman.

John White was Littlehampton's leading photographer throughout the 1880s and 1890s. At the time of the 1881 census, John White was living at his High Street premises with his London-born, 25 year old wife Alice (born 1855, Shepherds Bush) and their two young children - Arthur Harold White, aged 4, (birth registered in the East Preston District during the 2nd Quarter of 1877) and Lillie Alice White aged 2, (birth registered in the East Preston District during the 3rd Quarter of 1878). The White family's live-in servant, 16 year old Emma Arnott from London, worked as John White's assistant in his photography business. Sadly, Emma Arnott was to die young three years later, when she was only nineteen years of age.

[ABOVE] The photographer John White (1850-1932), pictured in 1904.
 

J. WHITE - PORTRAIT & LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER, 11 RIVER ROAD, LITTLEHAMPTON

Cartes de visite  5/- per dozen ,  Vignettes & Children 7/- per dozen.

All kinds of pictures framed to order. A large stock of pictures and frames always in stock. Re-Gilding in all its branches. Ladies' needlework & drawings tastefully mounted and framed. Mounts cut to any size or shape to order.

Agent for Smith's noted flexible stamps for Shop & Office use.

 

[ABOVE]  The text of an advertisement for John White's photography studio  and picture framing business at 11 River Road, Littlehampton ( Littlehampton News, 1st April 1876 )

 

John White's Photographic Studios in Littlehampton

[ABOVE]  A 1905 map of Littlehampton showing the locations of John White's photographic studios between 1874 and 1910. John White's first studio at 11 River Road, Littlehampton was established around 1874. After 2 years in River Road, John White moved his photography business to No 32 High Street, Littlehampton. Around 1895, John White had a purpose-built studio constructed at [ABOVE]  A carte-de-visite portrait of a seated woman taken at John White's first studio at 11 River Road, Littlehampton (c1875). An advertisement for his River Road studio issued in April 1876, states that White charged 5 shillings for a dozen copies of a carte-de-visite portrait. A year or so after this photograph was taken, John White moved his photography business to a more commanding position at No 32 High Street, Littlehampton.

[ABOVE] A portrait of a young man taken at John White's studio at 32 High Street, Littlehampton. (c1885)

[ABOVE]  Detail from the back of a cabinet portrait taken at John White's studio at Gresham House, Beach Road.

[ABOVE] John White's studio at No 32 High Street can be seen at the centre of this photograph of Littlehampton's High Street.(c1890). The last three letters of the word "PHOTOGRAPHER" can be seen on the side of the building.

John White - Photographer of Littlehampton

[ABOVE]  The trade plate of John White, Art Photographer, 32 High Street, Littlehampton (c1886).

At the time of the 1891 census, John White was still living at 32 High Street, Littlehampton, with his wife and two children. During the 4th Quarter of 1895, Alice White gave birth to a third child, a son named John Percival White. Around this time, John White established a new photographic studio in Beach Road, Littlehampton. Around 1895, John White had a purpose-built daylight studio and darkroom constructed at Gresham House, 7 Beach Road, Littlehampton.

The 1901 census records John White and his family at 7 Beach Road, Littlehampton. John White's eldest son Arthur H. White is entered on the census return as a twenty-four year old photographer. Fifty-one year old John White, is recorded by the census enumerator as a "Photographer (Employer at Home)".

[ABOVE] Littlehampton's High Street photographed by John White around 1885. On the far right stands James Findley (born 1854, South Shields, Durham), a master tailor who worked from 35 High Street, Littlehampton. A few doors up from James Findley's tailoring business is the shop of Timothy Banfield (born c1825, Woodmancote, Sussex), a pork butcher and poulterer of 41 High Street, Littlehampton. (Part of the shop sign "T. BANFIELD - Poultry" can be seen on the side of the clapboard building).

When this photograph was taken, John White was residing at his studio premises at No. 32 High Street, Littlehampton. Around 1895, John White established a new, purpose-built photographic studio at 7 Beach Road, Littlehampton, but he retained his links with Littlehampton's High Street. John White later opened a shop at No. 6 High Street, Littlehampton.

   
[LEFT] High Street, Littlehampton, photographed around 1895. On the left is the shop of George Thomas Groom at 10 & 11 High Street, Littlehampton. In Kelly's 1905 Directory of Sussex, George Thomas Groom is described as a grocer, and a wine, spirit & beer merchant. Further down the High Street is George William Norris's "Toy & Fancy Bazaar".  The location of John White's studio at No 32 High Street can be seen at the centre of this photograph, marked with a red dot. The last three letters of the word "PHOTOGRAPHER" can be seen on the side of the building.

[ABOVE] A picture postcard showing Beach Road, Littlehampton (1905)

 

Carte-de-visite portraits by John White of Littlehampton

[ABOVE ]  The back and front of a carte-de-visite portrait of  two girls taken at John White's studio at 32 High Street, Littlehampton (c1878).

[ABOVE] The front and back of a carte-de-visite portrait of an unknown woman taken at John White's new studio at Gresham House, 7 Beach Road, Littlehampton. (c1902). [Negative No. G 13049]
 

[ABOVE] A portrait of a young man taken at John White's studio at 32 High Street, Littlehampton (c1892). [Negative No.16,586] [ABOVE] The trade plate design on the reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait illustrated on the left. This carte was produced at John White's studio at 32 High Street, Littlehampton around 1892. [Negative No.16,586] [ABOVE] A group portrait of a married couple and their young child photographed by John White of Littlehampton. This copy photograph  has been pasted on top of a paler copy of the same photograph. (c1892) [ABOVE] A  portrait of an unknown woman photographed at John White's studio at Gresham House, Beach Road, Littlehampton, around 1898. [Negative No. G 9795]
 

To view a further selection of photographic portraits taken by John White, click on the link below:

John White - Portrait Photographer of Littlehampton

 
John White & Son

By 1903, John White had taken his son, Arthur Harold White (born 1877,Littlehampton) into the business to form the firm of John White & Son. A group photograph (see right) suggests that John White and his son were employing nearly a dozen workers in 1904. In addition to the firm's photography business, John White & Son also operated as art dealers in Littlehampton. Between 1905 and 1915, editions of Kelly's Directory of Sussex record John White & Son as photographers at 7 Beach Road and as "fine art dealers" at 12 Beach Road, Littlehampton. The second shop at No. 12 Beach Road was where John White & Son had their picture- framing business.

John White died in Littlehampton on 1st December 1932 at the age of 82. John White's various businesses were divided between his three children - Arthur White (born 1877), John Percival White (born 1895) and Mrs Lillie Leggett (born 1878). [ Lillie Alice White had married house agent Lawrence Richard Leggett in 1904]. John White's eldest son, Arthur Harold White, took over ownership of the photographic business in Beach Road, Littlehampton. The photography business of J. White & Son continued well into the twentieth century, eventually closing down in 1968.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of John White & Son, Littlehampton (c1905)

[ABOVE] John White with his staff in 1904. The photographer Frank Spry was working for White in 1904, just before he left to establish his own photography business in Littlehampton. One of the younger lads in this group photograph could be Alfred (Alexander) MacDonald, who was killed in action on 24th January 1917, at the age of twenty-six, during the First World War.

 

[ABOVE] A large format photograph of two young children produced by John White & Son of Littlehampton. (c1905) [Negative No. G 17216]

Baby Portraits by John White & Son

John White & Son were justly proud of their photographic portraits of babies and young children. The publicity on their card mounts declare the firm's speciality as "Babies Portraits by Instantaneous Process". The fast exposure times which followed the introduction of dry plates and instantaneous photography in the late 1870s led to an improvement in the quality of baby portaits.

[ABOVE] The publicity for John White & Son, Photographers of Gresham House, Beach Road, Littlehampton, as printed on the reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait of  the twin babies shown on the right (c1902). [Negative No. G 13577]

 

John White & Son as a Publisher of Picture Postcards

In 1903, around the time Arthur White became a junior partner in his father's photography business, the firm of John White & Son began to produce picture postcards of the area. According to Rendel Williams, the author of the Sussex Postcards.Info website, by 1910, the firm of John White & Son had "become much the largest publisher of picture postcards of Littlehampton, Arundel and district". In addition to photographic views of Littlehampton and Arundel, J. White & Son produced picture postcards of surrounding villages such as Amberley, Angmering, Burpham, Bury, East Preston, Findon, Houghton and Slindon. Rendel Williams believes it is likely that the firm of J. White & Son produced around 3,000 different picture postcards of Littlehampton and the surrounding area.
 
 Rendel Williams has produced a detailed account of the postcard publishing firm of John White & Son. You can read Rendel Williams' account of John White & Son and view a gallery featuring a selection of the firm's picture postcard output by visiting Rendel's Sussex Postcards.Info website via the following link:

John White & Son of Littlehampton - Picture Postcard Publisher

[ABOVE] A picture postcard of Littlehampton's seafront produced around 1910 by J. White & Son
 

Click here to view the photographic portrait work of John White and J. White & Son

 

Acknowledgements & Sources

 The Littlehampton Story No.3 - The  Picturemakers by H. J. F. Thompson  (Littlehampton Printers,1981) is an excellent introduction to Littlehampton photographers and an invaluable source of information. Littlehampton : A Pictorial History by D. Robert Elleray ( Phillimore 1991). Primary sources include Census Returns (1861,1871, 1881,1891,1901), The Sussex Express, The Littlehampton  News, Street and Trade Directories for Sussex ( Kelly's Post Office. 1862,1874, 1878,1882,1887,1890,1895,1899,1903,1905,1907, 1909 &1911 ), Chapman & Co.'s Almanack (1877).

Thanks to Peter Merett  for supplying additional information about John White of Littlehampton. I am also grateful to Rendel Williams  who has provided further information on John White's life and career on the Sussex Postcards.Info website.

Click here to go to the Directory of Photographic Studios in Littlehampton

Click here to view the photographic work of John White and J. White & Son

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