Hastings

U. S. A. Studios - London & Provinces

Hastings branch of U.S.A. Studios at 1, 3 & 5 Palace Avenue, Hastings

Founder of U.S.A. Studios: John Harry Woolfe (1880-1942).

"U.S.A. Studios" was the name of a firm of portrait photographers which was set up in England during the Edwardian period. It appears that the firm U.S.A. Studios (also known as the American Photographic Company) was established around 1907, either by the photographer John Harry Woolfe (born 1880, Dresden, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire) or by his parents, Henry Wolfe (1852-1927) and Mrs Fanny Wolfe (born 1854). The firm of U.S.A. Studios was particularly successful during the First World War period, operating branches in London, Portsmouth, Chatham, Reading, Hastings and Birmingham. U.S.A. Studios was managed by members of the Woolfe family right up until the Second World War. After the death of John Harry Woolfe in 1942, U.S.A. Studios continued to operate in the Portsmouth area until at least 1969.

John Harry Woolfe was the eldest son of Fanny Adie (born 1854, Longton, Staffs.) and Henry Woolfe (born 1852, Yarlet, Staffs.), a shopkeeper who later became a mechanical engineer and a maker of "automatic machines". Henry Woolfe had married Fanny Adie in the Staffordshire district of Stone during the 3rd Quarter of 1877. The couple's first child, John Harry Woolfe was born a few years later in 1880. [The birth of John Harry Woolfe was registered in the Staffordshire district of Stone during the 2nd Quarter of 1880].John Harry Woolfe had a younger brother named William Swift Woolfe (born 1893, Poulton-cum-Seacombe, Cheshire) who also became a professional photographer.

When the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Henry Woolfe and his family were living in Broughton in Salford, Lancashire. The Woolfe Family are recorded at 8 Melbourne Street, Broughton-in-Salford, Lancashire, and on the census return Henry Woolfe, the 'Head of Household', is described as a twenty-nine year old "Storekeeper". In addition to his wife Mrs Fanny Woolfe and their one year old son John H. Woolfe, Henry shared his home with his wife's younger brother John F. Adie, a 15 year old "commercial clerk" and two lodgers. Slater's Street Directory of Manchester & Salford, published in 1883, lists Henry Woolfe as a "Storekeeper" at 2 Grosvenor Square, Lower Broughton. By the early 1890s, Henry Woolfe was living in Birkenhead, near Liverpool, and was working as a mechanical engineer. The 1901 census records Henry Woolfe and his family at an address in Poulton-cum-Seacombe, Cheshire. On the 1901 census return Henry Woolfe is described as a forty-nine year old "Automatic Machine Maker", being assisted in his business by his twenty-one year old son, John H. Woolfe. Kelly's Directory of Cheshire of 1902 records the Woolfe's family residence as 94 Brighton Street, Seacombe, Cheshire.

Sometime in the early 1900s, John Harry Woolfe became a professional photographer. John H. Woolfe took over a long-established photographic portrait studio at 34 Upper Street, Islington, London around 1907. This date seems to mark the birth of U.S.A. Studios.

Although he appears to have owned studios in London and the Provinces, there is evidence to show that between the years 1906 and 1911 John Harry Woolfe was based in the North-West of England. John Harry Woolfe married Lillian Roberts (born 1888, Poulton-cum-Seacombe, Cheshire) in 1906 [Marriage registered in the Cheshire districtof Birkenhead during the 3rd Quarter of 1906]. John Woolfe's daughter, Hazel Adeli Woolfe, was born in Liscard, Cheshire, during the 3rd Quarter of 1910. At the time of the 1911 census, John Harry Woolfe and his family were living in the Heaton Norris district of Stockport. The 1911 census records John Harry Woolfe and his family residing at "Yeadon", 2 Claremont Road, Heaton Chapel, Heaton Norris, Stockport, Cheshire. On the census return, John Harry Woolfe is described as a "Photographer", aged 31. Although he was clearly not based in London between the years 1906 and 1911, John Harry Woolfe is listed as a professional photographer with studios in Upper Street, Westbourne Grove, Edgware Road, Holloway Road and Whitechapel in Kelly's London Trade Directories during this period.

It appears that members of John Harry Woolfe's family helped him manage the various branches of U.S.A. Studios. John Woolfe's mother, Mrs Fanny Woolfe, is sometimes listed as the proprietor of the U.S.A. photographic studios situated in the outlying London suburbs. When the 1911 census was taken on 2nd April 1911, John Harry Woolfe's parents and younger brother were living in accommodation attached to the U.S.A. studio at 268 Holloway Road, Islington, North London. John Harry Woolfe's younger brother, William Swift Woolfe (born 1893, Poulton-cum-Seacombe, Cheshire) is described on the 1911 census as a 17 year old "Photographer" living with his parents Henry and Fanny Woolfe at 268 Holloway Road, Islington, London. From around 1914, London trade directories list Mrs Fanny Woolfe (John H. Woolfe's mother) as a "Photographer" at several London branches of U.S.A. Studios [e.g. 427 Brixton Road, Brixton (1914), 18a Rye Lane, Peckham (1914-1919), 29 Powis Street, Woolwich (1914-1919) ]

Although U.S.A. Studios were based mainly in London for the first few years, by 1910, the firm had branch studios in Portsmouth, Chatham, Reading, Ipswich and Norwich. From the beginning of the First World War, U.S.A. Studios were advertising "London & Provinces" on their photographic mounts. By 1914, John Harry Woolfe was operating over a dozen studios in London and the London suburbs as well as in the provincial towns of Portsmouth, Chatham and Birmingham. During 1915
USA Studios also had a studio in the Sussex seaside resort of Hastings.

It appears that the Woolfe family moved to Bournemouth in the 1920s. Henry Woolfe, John Woolfe's father, died in Bournemouth in 1927. John Woolfe's daughter, Hazel Adeli Woolfe married in Bournemouth in 1945. The photographer and founder of USA Studios, John Harry Woolfe died in Bournemouth in 1942, aged 61.

U.S.A. Studios continued in the Portsmouth area until at least the end of the 1960s. The 1969 edition of Kelly's Directory of Portsmouth, lists USA Studios in Fratton Road, Portsmouth.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of U.S. A. Studios, as featured on mounted portrait photographs produced between 1909 and 1912.

[ABOVE] A portrait of a woman arranging flowers in a vase while seated on a stylish wooden bench. A photographic portrait produced at one of the branches of U.S.A. Studios around 1915.

[ABOVE] The photographic artist John Harry Woolfe listed as the proprietor of 5 London studios in the Post Office London Directory for 1910. The studios at 25 Westbourne Grove, 212 Edgware Road, 266 & 268 Holloway Road, 34 Upper Street and 109 & 111 Whitechapel Road were London branches of the U.S.A. Studios in 1910.

[ABOVE] Mrs Fanny Woolfe, the mother of the photographer John Harry Woolfe, listed as the proprietor of 3 photographic studios (each one a suburban branch of U.S.A. Studios ) in the Post Office London County Suburbs Directory for 1914.


U. S. A. Studios - Long Card Portrait Photographs

[ABOVE] A portrait of a young girl wearing a smart coat and matching hat, photographed at the Westbourne Grove branch of U.S.A. Studios around 1910. This photograph was taken at the studio at 25 Westbourne Grove, London, W.	[ABOVE] A portrait of a teenage girl wearing spectacles, photographed at the Woolwich branch of U.S.A. Studios in 1911. This photograph was taken at the studio at 29 Powis Street, Woolwich, in June 1911. (Photo Reference: 2,465/2 - viz. Negative No. 2,465 / Copy 2). The reverse of the card is inscribed in ink "June, '11".	[ABOVE] A portrait of a middle-aged woman wearing a locket and chain, photographed at the Portsmouth branch of U.S.A. Studios in 1915. This photograph was taken at the studio at 193 Commercial Road, Portsmouth (Photo Reference: 506 /4 - viz. Negative No. 506 / Copy 4).


Listings of U.S.A. Studios in London and the Provinces

[ABOVE] The London and Provincial branches of U.S.A. Studios listed on the reverse of a photographic mount produced around 1910.	[ABOVE] The London and Provincial branches of U.S.A. Studios listed on the reverse of a photographic mount produced in 1911..	[ABOVE] The London and Provincial branches of U.S.A. Studios listed on the reverse of a photographic mount produced around 1915.

[ABOVE] The London and Provincial branches of U.S.A. Studios listed on the reverse of a photographic mount produced around 1910.

[ABOVE] The London and Provincial branches of U.S.A. Studios listed on the reverse of a photographic mount produced around 1915.

U.S.A. STUDIOS - BRANCHES IN LONDON AND PROVINCES
LONDON
STUDIO ADDRESS	Proprietor/ Manager	DATES ACTIVE
34 Upper Street, LONDON, N.	John H. Woolfe (1907-1910)	1907-1915
212 Edgware Road, LONDON, W.	John H. Woolfe (1910)	1909-1912
222 Edgware Road, LONDON, W.	John H. Woolfe (1912)	1912-1915
25 Westbourne Grove, LONDON, W.	John H. Woolfe (1910)	1909-1915
266-268 Holloway Road, LONDON, N.	John H. Woolfe (1910)	1909-1915
109-111 Whitechapel Road, LONDON, E.	John H. Woolfe (1910)	1909-1911
90 High Street, Whitechapel, LONDON, E.		1915
18a Rye Lane, PECKHAM	John H. Woolfe (1911-1913); Mrs Fanny Woolfe (1914-1919)	1909-1919
96 North End, CROYDON		1911-1919
29 Powis Street, WOOLWICH	Fanny Woolfe (1914-1919)	1909-1919
177 High Street, Camden Town, LONDON		1912-1915
427 Brixton Road, Brixton, LONDON, S.W.	Mrs Fanny Woolfe (1914-1915)	1912-1915
221 Brompton Road, LONDON, S.W.		1912-1915
87 Blackfriars Road, LONDON, S.E.	John H. Woolfe	1910
PROVINCES
193 Commercial Road, PORTSMOUTH	John H. Woolfe (1907-1911); Manager: John Alfred Birdsey (1920)	1907-1920
220a Commercial Road, PORTSMOUTH		1923-1927
220b Commercial Road, PORTSMOUTH		1923-1928
1 Arundel Street, PORTSMOUTH		1931
312 Fratton Road, PORTSMOUTH		1934-1939
USA Studios Ltd., Fratton Road, PORTSMOUTH		1958-1969
90 High Street, CHATHAM		1912-1915
51 High Street, CHATHAM		1909-1911
67 Broad Street, READING		1909-1915
1, 3 & 5 Palace Avenue, HASTINGS		1915
22a Westgate Street, IPSWICH		1909-1911
Orford Place, NORWICH		1909-1911
99 Corporation Street, BIRMINGHAM		1915
[ABOVE] The London and Provincial branches of U.S.A. Studios (1907-1939). A photographic firm known as U.S.A. Studios also operated in Fratton Road, Portsmouth, between 1958 and 1969.


U. S. A. Studios - Large Long Card Portrait Photograph

[ABOVE] A large format studio portrait of a family photographed at the Edgware branch of U.S.A. Studios around 1911. This photograph was taken at the studio at 212 Edgware Road, London, W.	[ABOVE] The reverse of the large format studio portrait opposite, listing over a dozen branches of U.S.A. Studios in London and the Provinces (c1911).

Post Card Portraits produced at branches of U.S.A. Studios

[ABOVE] A U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait of two women with a young child (1911). The reverse of the card is inscribed in ink "Taken Nov. 1911".	[ABOVE] A U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait of a married couple (c1914). The reverse of the card is inscribed "Love to Aunt Sara from George & Daisy"	[ABOVE] A U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait of a woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat,(1916). The reverse of the card is inscribed "With love & Best wishes from Gertie, 26/12/16"



[ABOVE] The reverse of U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait dated 1911. The distinctive American shield design printed in the stamp box was used on U.S.A. Studios postcards between 1907 and 1911.	[ABOVE] A U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait of a group of soldiers (c1916). A negative number of 35,542 is pencilled on the reverse of the post-card.

[ABOVE] The reverse of U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait dating from around 1914. The distinctive stamp- box with the "American eagle and shield" design shown here was used on U.S.A. Studios postcards between 1912 and 1915.	[ABOVE] The reverse of U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait dating from around 1916. The American eagle and shield design of the stamp-box has been replaced by a stylised monogram of the company's initials, 'U', 'S' and 'A'.


[ABOVE] The embossed "American Eagle" emblem which appeared on the photographic card mounts produced by U.S.A. Studios between 1909 and 1915.	[ABOVE] The "American stars & stripes shield" stamp-box design used on U.S.A. Studios postcards (1907-1911)	[ABOVE] The "American eagle and shield" stamp- box design used on U.S.A. Studios postcards (1912-1915)	[ABOVE] The "Stylised Monogram" stamp-box design used on U.S.A. Studios postcards (1916-1918)

[ABOVE] The reverse of a U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait dating from around 1915.The American eagle and shield design was printed in the stamp-box between the years 1912 and 1915.

[ABOVE] The reverse of a U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait dating from around 1916, showing the stylised USA monogram in the stamp-box.

[ABOVE] A U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait of Mildred Gray Bunting, the daughter of Mary and Walter Gray Bunting, a tobacconist based in Bracknell, Berkshire. Mildred Gray Bunting was born on 5th September 1910 at Bracknell in the Berkshire district of Easthampstead. Mildred was probably photographed at the Reading branch of U.S.A. Studios around 1915.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Christine Coles

[ABOVE] A U.S.A. Studios post-card portrait of a young man with a fancy walking-stick (c1916). A negative number of 69,939 is pencilled on the reverse of the post-card. Post-card portraits produced by U.S.A. Studios between 1907 and 1918 can be approximately dated by observing the distinctive designs and type- faces printed on the reverse of the photographic portraits. Three versions of the stamp-box designs are illustrated above, each design representing a specific period of years. The reverse of this particular post-card portrait carries the stylised USA monogram in the stamp-box, which indicates a date from around 1916.

Cased Porcelain Plaque Photograph by U.S.A. Studios of London & Provinces (1915)

[ABOVE] Mrs Olive Cosgrove and her two children, Edward and Gladys, a carbon print photograph on a porcelain plaque, presented in a cloth-bound, velvet-lined, folding case. This cased portrait was produced by U.S.A. Studios of London & Provinces around 1915. [PHOTO: Courtesy of John Cosgrove of Nova Scotia]

[ABOVE] The reverse of the cloth-bound folding case which contained the porcelain plaque photo of Mrs Cosgrove and her children. The case carries the gilt trade mark of U.S.A. Studios of London & Provinces.

The family group photograph illustrated on the left shows Mrs Olive Cosgrove and her two children, Edward Francis Cosgrove and Gladys M. Cosgrove.

Olive Halfpenny was born in Hilton, Staffordshire, in 1886, the youngest of five children born to Maria and Samuel Halfpenny, a road labourer from Church Eaton. In 1910, at Wolverhampton, Olive Halfpenny married Thomas Vincent Cosgrove (born 1879, Birmingham, Warwickshire), a soldier in the Royal Scots Guards. Thomas Cosgrove, Olive's husband, was the eldest son of Hannah and Thomas Cosgrove (born 1852, Leek Staffordshire) a hotel worker and later a self-employed "General Dealer".

In 1910, Mrs Olive Cosgrove (nee Halfpenny) set up home in Wolverhampton, where she gave birth to her first child, a boy named Edward Francis Cosgrove.[ The birth of Edward Francis Cosgrove was registered in Wolverhampton during the 2nd Quarter of 1910]. A daughter, Gladys M. Cosgrove, arrived during the early months of 1912.

It appears that Thomas Cosgrove emigrated to Canada before the birth of his second child. The Census of the Canadian province of Alberta conducted in 1916 recorded Thomas Cosgrove as a resident of Red Deer, Alberta. The census return records Thomas Cosgrove's year of immigration as 1911.

Eventually, Mrs Olive Cosgrove and her two children joined her husband in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. Joseph and Olive Cosgrove's son, Edward Francis Cosgrove (born 1910, Wolverhampton), later moved to Halifax in Nova Scotia and after the outbreak of the Second World War he served in the Navy.

[ABOVE] Mrs Olive Cosgrove and her two children, Edward Francis Cosgrove (born 1910, Wolverhampton) and Gladys M. Cosgrove (born 1912, Wolverhampton). A porcelain plaque photograph produced by U.S.A. Studios of London & Provinces around 1915. This family group was probably photographed in the Birmingham branch of U.S.A. Studios. [PHOTO: Courtesy of John Cosgrove of Nova Scotia]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Christine Coles who provided the U.S. A. Studios portrait of her mother, Mildred Gray Bunting (born 1910, Bracknell, Berkshire). I am grateful to David who contacted me to point out that the photograph references pencilled on the reverse of some of the portraits produced at branches of USA Studios comprise the negative number and the number of the edition or copy of the original photograph. For instance, the photograph reference 506/4 refers to the negative number (No. 506) and the edition or copy of the print (number.4) or, in David's words, the reference "506/4" pencilled on the back of the photographic card mount "is meant as negative number 506 and 4-off (thus an edition of 4 photos/cards)". In another example, the pencilled reference "2465/2" represents the negative number (2465) followed by the number of the edition or copy (2) - "the latter meaning 2-off". David also found a source in the National Archives which listed those branches of USA Studios operating in the year 2012. I have revised the year dates in the "DATES ACTIVE" column in my table headed "U.S.A. STUDIOS - BRANCHES IN LONDON AND PROVINCES" in accordance with this latest information from David. Thanks to John Cosgrove of Halifax, Nova Scotia who kindly supplied the images of the U.S.A. Studios porcelain plaque portrait of his grandmother, father and aunt.


U. S. A. Studios - Rectangular Card Portrait Photographs

[ABOVE] The London and Provincial branches of U.S.A. Studios listed on the reverse of a photographic mount produced in 1914 or 1915. The branch studio at 1, 3, & 5 Palace Avenue, Hastings was in business between 1914 and 1915.	[ABOVE] A portrait of two boys, identified as "Cyril & Harold", photographed at the Holloway branch of U.S.A. Studios around 1915. This photograph was taken at the studio at 266-268 Holloway Road, London, N.	[ABOVE] A portrait of a middle-aged woman wearing a necklace and drop ear-rings, photographed at the Edgware branch of U.S.A. Studios around 1915. This photograph was taken at the studio at 222 Edgware Road, London, W. (Negative No. 44,644).