William Lane - Brighton Photographer (2)
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William Lane (1818-1889) - Early Brighton Photographer
Part 2 : The Age of the Carte-de-Visite Portrait [1861-1877]
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Portraits from The Carte de Visite Company, 213 Western Road, Brighton (Manager: William Lane)
[ABOVE] A portrait of an elderley woman seated at a table, photographed by the Carte de Visite Company, 213 Western Road, Brighton (c1861). The Carte de Visite Company was managed by William Lane during the period 1861-1862. | [ABOVE] An unusual three-quarter length portrait of a young woman, photographed around 1862 at the Carte de Visite Company's studio at 213 Western Road, Brighton. The woman poses in front of an artificially painted fire-place. | [ABOVE] The trade plate of the Carte de Visite Company, 213 Western Road, Brighton, taken from the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait (c1861). William Lane is identified as the Manager of the Company. Further copies could ordered by quoting the negative number. | [ABOVE] A portrait of a man, photographed around 1861 at the Carte de Visite Company's studio at 213 Western Road, Brighton. On the reverse of this portrait was the Carte de Visite Company's trade plate and a negative number of 1,274. [See illustration on the left]. |
[ABOVE] A full-length portrait of a young woman, photographed around 1862 at the Carte de Visite Company studio at 213 Western Road, Brighton. The reverse of the cdv is inscribed with the name "Minnie" and carries the Negative No. 2496. | [ABOVE] The trade plate of the Carte de Visite Company, 213 Western Road, Brighton, taken from the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait (c1862). William Lane is identified as the Manager of the Company. Photographic negatives were kept so customers could order further copies. | [ABOVE] A full-length portrait of a young man leaning on a chair photographed around 1862 at the Carte de Visite Company studio at 213 Western Road, Brighton. The reverse of this carte-de-visite portrait carries the Negative No. 2485. | [ABOVE] A full-length portrait of a young woman posing in front of a painted backdrop. This portrait was taken around 1862 at the Carte de Visite Company studio at 213 Western Road, Brighton. The space reserved for the photograph's negative number has been left blank. |
William Lane at Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton
Around 1863, William Lane opened a new photographic portrait studio in Brighton's Queen's Road, a busy thoroughfare which ran southwards from the town's Railway Station; the road eventually leading to West Street and Brighton's seafront. An advertisement in the 1864 edition of Folthorp's General Directory of Brighton, declared that "Mr. Lane has much pleasure in announcing his removal to more convenient and commodious premises" at Talbot House, 32 Queens Road, Brighton. In the same advertisement William Lane informed the public that his new Talbot House studio he could provide a wide range of photographic portraits including "Carte de Visite, Album, Royal, Medallion, Vignette, Brooch, Locket, and Family Portraits". Lane added that all these portraits could be provided "Plain or Coloured".
William Lane was to remain at Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton, for the next 15 years, finally closing his photographic studio around 1878. The 1878 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory of Sussex lists William Lane as an "artist and illuminist" at 5 Prince Albert Street, Brighton. Lane's former studio in Queen's Road was occupied at this time by Richard Drage, a "fancy draper". When the 1881 census was taken, William Lane was recorded as a "Ticket Writer" at No. 2 Cheapside, Brighton. |
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William Lane's Photographic Studio in Queen's Road, Brighton
[ABOVE] A 19th century map showing the location of William Lane's studios in Brighton at 213 Western Road, No. 401/2 North Street and 32 Queen's Road. | [ABOVE] A late 19th century photograph of Queens Road, a busy thoroughfare which ran south from Brighton's Railway Terminus, leading to West Street and Brighton's seafront. William Lane opened his studio at 32 Queen's Road in 1863 | The location of William Lane's photographic studio at 32 Queen's Road. Lane's business premises was at the junction with North Road. |
The Carte-de-visite Portrait
[ABOVE] An uncut proof sheet containing 6 carte-de-visite portraits of a fashionable young lady (1861). In the 19th century, photographers utilised specially designed multi-lens cameras which could capture between four and a dozen images on a single photographic plate. A contact sheet produced from a single glass negative plate could be cut up to produce a set of small photographic cards measuring 2 1/2 inches by 4 1/4 inches or 6.3 cm by 10.5 cm. | [ABOVE] A young woman photographed in two different poses at a single sitting at William Lane's studio in Queen's Road, Brighton. For carte-de-visite portraits it was quite common for 6 or 8 photographs to be taken on a single plate, each one featuring a different pose. In the photograph on the left, the young woman holds a photograph album on her lap, but for the second photograph, the album has been placed on the occasional table. |
Carte-de-visite Portraits by William Lane of Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton
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[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of an elderly man with bushy side-whiskers. This photograph was taken around 1866 by William Lane at his studio at Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton. | [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a seated woman holding a book. This photograph was taken around 1866 by William Lane at his studio at Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton. | [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a seated woman posed in front of a painted backdrop, photographed around 1864 by William Lane at his studio at Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton. | [ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a man seated at an occasional table, photographed around 1867 by William Lane at his studio at Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton. |
Photographic Views by William Lane William Lane was primarily a portrait photographer, but he is known to have taken photographs of local scenes; a favourite subject being the Swiss Gardens, an amusement park or pleasure garden located in nearby Shoreham. William Lane had been taking photographs at Edward Goodchild's Swiss Gardens since the mid-1850s. In the Summer of 1864, William Lane published a series of topographical photographs entitled "Views of the Swiss Gardens, Shoreham". Lane's views of the Swiss Gardens could be purchased at various places in the pleasure gardens, including the bar, the ballroom and the confectionery. The photographs were produced in two sizes and priced accordingly. An "Album Royal" print cost one shilling and the "Full Size" prints could be had for 1s 6d. For 3 shillings, the view could be presented in a gilt frame. |
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[ABOVE] Advertisement for Views of the Swiss Gardens, Shoreham, photographed by William Lane of Talbot House, 32 Queen's Road, Brighton. (Brighton Guardian, 20th September 1864 ). | [ABOVE] A photographic view of the Swiss Gardens, Shoreham by an unknown photographer. Similar views photographed by William Lane were sold at various places inside the Swiss Gardens amusement park. |
William Lane's Family
William Lane had
married Caroline Snelling, the
twenty-three year old daughter of Robert and Sarah Snelling, on 1st
January 1844 at St Nicholas' Church, Brighton. At the time of her
marriage to William Lane, Caroline Snelling was already pregnant
and she gave birth to a daughter, Kate Lane, within a few
months of the wedding. [ The birth of Kate Lane was registered in
Brighton during the 1st Quarter of 1844 ]. William Lane junior,
William and Caroline Lane's next child, was born in Brighton
during the 4th Quarter of 1847. Dora Lane, William Lane's
second daughter, was born in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of
1852. I have found very few details about the life and career of William Lane's son, William Lane junior (1847-1908). William Lane junior was not living at home when the 1861 census was taken. In 1871, twenty-three year old William Lane was living with his parents and unmarried sister at 32 Queen's Road, Brighton. On the census return, William Lane junior's occupation is given as "Steward, Brighton Rowing Club". William Lane junior is difficult to trace in subsequent census returns. There is a middle-aged, Brighton-born man named 'William Lane' recorded in Brighton at the time of the 1901 census, but his age is not an exact match for William Lane's son, who would have been 53 at the time of the census. The 'William Lane' recorded in the 1901 census is described as a fifty-one year old "Collector of Rates". What is known is that William Lane junior died in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1908 at the age of 60. On 25th October 1868, at St Nicholas' Church, Brighton, Kate Lane, William Lane's eldest daughter, married John Pusey (born 1833, Thatcham, Berkshire), the son of John and Hannah Pusey. On 18th October 1868, a week before her marriage to John Pusey, Kate Lane was christened at St Nicholas' Church, Brighton. A year earlier, on 20th October 1867, Dora Lane, Kate's younger sister, had been christened at the same church. William Lane junior, who had been born in 1847, also had a belated baptism at the age of 21. After his marriage to Kate Lane, thirty-four year old John Pusey set himself up as a newsagent, tobacconist & confectioner in Brighton. In 1890, John Pusey is listed as a shopkeeper at 62 Southover Street, Brighton. In the 1915 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex, John Pusey is recorded as a newsagent near the railway station at 18 Terminus Street, Brighton. In 1879, Dora Lane, William Lane's second daughter, married John Francis Williams (born 1855, London), a salesman for a paper clothes-hanger manufacturer. The union of Dora Lane and John Francis Williams produced two children - Dora Lilian Williams (born 1881, Brighton) and John Lionel Williams (born 1882, Brighton). By 1901, John Francis Williams, Dora's husband, had been promoted to the position of "Paperhanger Tailor's Manager". |
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William Lane and the End of the Photographic Studio at 32 Queen's Road When the census was taken on 2nd April 1871, William and Caroline Lane and their two unmarried children were residing at William Lane's business premises at 32 Queen's Road, Brighton.
Around the year 1867, to supplement his main income as a "Photographic Artist", William Lane had established a 'Servants' Registry' (a sort of employment agency for domestic servants) under the name of The Talbot Registry Office. The Servants' Registry' was managed by Mrs Caroline Lane, William's wife, who styled herself as the Matron of The Talbot Registry Office. Mrs Lane was assisted by her youngest daughter, Dora Lane, who took on the role of 'Secretary' at the The Talbot Registry Office.
Documentary evidence in the form of trade directory entries suggest that William Lane continued as a photographer at 32 Queen's Road, Brighton until around 1877. William Lane is last listed as a "Photographic Artist" at 32 Queen's Road, Brighton in the 1880 edition of Page's Directory of Brighton. Entries in the 1878 edition of Kelly's Post Office Directory of Sussex, however, suggests that William Lane has closed his photographic studio at 32 Queen's Road, Brighton well before 1878. Kelly's Post Office Directory of Sussex published in 1878 records William Lane as an "artist and illuminist" at 5 Prince Albert Street, Brighton. In 1878, William Lane's former studio in Queen's Road was occupied by a draper named Richard Drage. Nearly all the William Lane photographs in my collection date from the 1860s, with a few perhaps dating from the early 1870s. I have not seen any portraits taken at Lane's Queen's Road studio which can be dated between 1874 and 1878. When the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, sixty-two year old William Lane was recorded as a "Ticket Writer" at No. 2 Cheapside, Brighton. It should be remembered that William Lane had worked as a 'Ticket Writer' in Brighton during the 1840s. William Lane died in Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1889 at the age of 71. William Lane's widow, Mrs Caroline Lane, lived on into her early eighties. In 1901, Mrs Caroline Lane is recorded as an 80 year old widow earning her living as a "Needlewoman". Mrs Caroline Lane died in Brighton early in 1903 at the age of 82. |
Photographic Portraits by William Lane
To view examples of the photographic work of William Lane of Brighton, click on the Gallery links below |
Click here to go to a History of Photography in Brighton, 1841-1910 |
Click here to return to William Lane - Early Brighton Photographer Part One [1852-1861]