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".

[ABOVE] Examples of photographic jewellery. In an 1864 advertisement, William Lane was offering photographic portraits set in brooches and lockets.	[ABOVE] A "Medallion Portrait", one of the novelty variations on the standard carte-de-visite offered by William Lane.

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.

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.

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".

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.

[LEFT] The Talbot Registry Office, Mr & Mrs  Lane's servants' registry at 32 Queen's Road, Brighton, advertised in the West Sussex Gazette on 9th May 1867. The Talbot Registry Office, an employment agency for domestic servants, was managed by Mrs Caroline Lane with the assistance of her daughter Dora Lane.

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.

To view examples of the photographic work of William Lane of Brighton, click on the Gallery links below

William Lane of Brighton : Gallery One

William Lane of Brighton : Gallery Two

Click here to go to a History of Photography in Brighton, 1841-1910