Worthing Photographers (R)

Professional Photographers in Worthing (R)

  Click here to return to Home Page

Jennie Rewman - Josiah Russell - Russell & Sons (Worthing)

 

Jennie REWMAN (born c1855, Berlin, Germany)

Manageress and Proprietress of the Worthing Portrait Company between 1898 and 1907.

Jennie Rewman, was the Manageress and Principal, and later the Proprietress, of the Worthing Portrait Company.

Jennie Rewman was born in Berlin, Germany around 1855, but she and her family settled in London before 1880. Jennie Rewman found employment as an assistant photographer with Edward Pattison Pett (1845-1896), a photographer who had taken over the Worthing studio of James Russell & Sons at Bath Place, Worthing around 1880.

In 1893, the photographers Walter and Annie Gardiner purchased Edward Pattison Pett's photographic studio in Bath Place. Although, Jennie Rewman advertised the fact that she had worked for Edward Pattison Pett for 13 years, she makes no mention of being employed as a photographer in the Walter Gardiner studio, so we can presume that her services were not retained at Bath Place.

In the Summer of 1898, the Worthing Portrait Company opened a studio at 4 Railway Approach, Worthing, "under the management of Miss Rewman". By 1901, the Worthing Portrait Company was being run by Jennie Rewman and her business partner, Florence Kate Stewart (born c1854, Kingsland, London, Middlesex). From 1902, Miss Jennie Rewman went from being the Manageress to being described as the Principal of the Worthing Portrait Company. In Kelly's Directory of 1905, Miss Rewman is listed as the "Proprietress" of the Worthing Portrait Company. Miss Rewman is still recorded as the owner of the Railway Approach studio in 1907, but when Kelly's 1909 Directory was published, the Worthing Portrait Company was in the hands of the photographer Charles Tidy.

[ABOVE ] From 1898, Jennie Rewman was the Manageress of the Worthing  Portrait Company at 4 Railway Approach, Worthing. This trade plate from around 1903 describes Jennie Rewman as the "Principal", rather than the "Manageress" of the company. By 1905, Miss Rewman was recorded as the "Proprietress" of the Worthing Portrait Company.

 

For a more detailed account of the life and career of Jennie Rewman and to see examples of the photographic work of the Worthing Portrait Company, click on the links below:

Jennie Rewman and the Worthing Portrait Company

Worthing Portrait Company : Photo Gallery

Josiah RUSSELL (born 1839, Chichester)

Photographer active in Worthing between 1867 and 1877. Proprietor of a studio at 16 High Street, Worthing between 1867 and 1873.

Josiah Russell was born in Chichester, Sussex, in 1839, the second eldest son of Frances Aylmore and James Russell, a cabinet maker of Chichester. James Russell (1809-1899) opened a photographic studio at The Hornet in Chichester around 1858. A few years later, around 1861, James Russell established a studio at 65 East Street, Chichester. James Russell was later to set up the business of James Russell & Sons, a successful firm of photographers which operated branch studios in Bognor, Littlehampton, Petworth, Worthing and London.

Josiah Russell probably trained as a photographer under his father in the late 1850s. On 7th October 1860, Josiah Russell married Emma Howard (born c1842, Chichester) at St Andrew's Church, Chichester. Josiah and Emma settled in Littlehampton, where he established a studio in the town's High Street that was independent of his father's business.  After a short stay in Littlehampton, Josiah and Emma returned to Chichester, where he probably worked as a photographer in his father's studio. Around 1862, Josiah and Emma Russell's first child, a daughter named Amelia was born in Chichester. In 1863, Josiah and his family were at Newport on the Isle of Wight, where his second child Charles James Russell was born. Two more children were born in Chichester - Emma Laura towards the end of 1865 ( birth registered during the December Quarter of 1865) and Hezekiah Reuben Russell who arrived early in 1865 ( birth registered during the March Quarter of 1865). Around 1867, Josiah Russell moved to Worthing to take over a photographic portrait studio at 16 High Street, previously owned by the Worthing photographer Harvey Goble (1822-1867) who had recently died at the age of forty-five. Josiah and Emma Russell's fifth child, Hepzibah, was born in Worthing in 1870 ( birth registered in the East Preston District during the September Quarter of 1870). In the 1871 Census, Josiah Russell, his wife Emma and their five children are shown living in Worthing's High Street. In the census return, Josiah Russell is described as a "Photographic Artist", aged 31. Around 1873, the firm of James Russell & Sons took over Annette and Blanche Fox's photographic studio in Bath Place, near Worthing's seafront. Josiah Russell closed his studio at 16 High Street, Worthing and probably took over the running of Russell & Sons' studio in Bath Place, Worthing. Josiah Russell and his wife were still residing in Worthing in 1874 when their son Alfred Josiah was born at the end of 1874 ( birth registered in the East Preston District during the December Quarter of 1874). Josiah Russell left Worthing around 1877 and eventually settled in Hampshire around 1881. When the 1881 Census was taken, Josiah Russell and his family are recorded at 75 Frederick Street in Portsea, Hampshire. Josiah Russell is described as a "Photographer", aged 41. There is one addition to the Russell family that left Worthing - three year old George Russell, who was born at Bath in 1877. Josiah Russell was running his own studio at 522 Commercial Road, Portsmouth in 1890 and in 1907 he is recorded as the proprietor of a studio at 47 London Road, Portsmouth.

 

Photographs by Josiah Russell of Worthing

[ABOVE] Portrait of a married couple (1870). This wedding photograph by Josiah Russell of 16 High Street, Worthing shows Thomas Henry Crouch (born c1841, Salisbury, Wilts ) and Isabel Mary Blake ( born c1841, Southampton, Hampshire ), who were married on 4th August 1870 in Portswood, Hampshire. Thomas Henry Crouch was a goldsmith and jeweller who lived at 11 South Street, Worthing. This wedding portrait was probably taken at Josiah Russell's studio in Worthing after the ceremony in Portswood. The couple had at least seven children, one of whom, Edmund F. Crouch (1881-1967) was an active member of the Worthing Camera Club (founded April 1904).

[RIGHT] Three carte-de-visite portraits by Josiah Russell of 16 High Street, Worthing. The top two portraits date from around 1870. The portrait of the girl propped up on the deep-cushioned posing chair was taken around 1872.[BOTTOM RIGHT] The back of  a carte-de-visite produced by Josiah Russell of 16 High Street, Worthing. Josiah Russell had taken over the studio of  the Worthing photographer Harvey Goble, who had died in 1867 at the age of 45.

 

 

James RUSSELL & Sons

Firm of photographers based in Chichester with a branch studio at Bath Place Worthing between 1873 and 1881

[ABOVE] Portrait of a young woman . Carte-de-visite portrait photographed at the studio of James Russell & Sons at Bath Place, Worthing. (c1878)

The firm of James Russell & Sons was formed in the mid 1860s by James Russell (1809-1899) and his photographer sons - Josiah, Thomas, Hezekiah and John. James Russell was originally a cabinet maker in Chichester, but, after he was made bankrupt in 1854, he became a professional photographer. James Russell opened a photographic studio at The Hornet in Chichester around 1858. A few years later, around 1861, James Russell established a studio at 65 East Street, Chichester. James Russell & Sons, became a successful firm of photographers and in the 1870s they opened branch studios in the Sussex towns of Bognor, Littlehampton, Petworth, and Worthing.

James Russell & Sons took over Annette and Blanche Fox's photographic studio in Bath Place, near Worthing's seafront, around 1873. It appears that Josiah Russell was persuaded to close his own premises in Worthing's High Street and take control of the Bath Place studio on behalf of his father and brothers. When Josiah Russell left Worthing around 1877, the managerial duties at the Bath Place studio passed to Edward Pattison Pett (1845-1896). E. Pattison Pett managed Russell & Sons' Worthing branch until about 1880, when he took over the ownership of the Bath Place studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ABOVE] The back of  a carte-de-visite produced by the studio of James Russell & Sons at Bath Place, Worthing. (c1878)

Click here to read a detailed account of the photographic career of James Russell and his photographer sons :

James Russell & Sons of Chichester