Edmund Wheeler junior was born on 16th March,1836, at Dover, Kent, the son of Caroline Enock and Edmund Wheeler senior, then working as an ironmonger and gas fitter at 3 King Street, Dover.

Edmund Wheeler junior's Family

Edmund Wheeler senior (1808-1884), Edmund Wheeler's father, began his working life as an ironmonger, but in middle-age he was an admired scientific lecturer, a respected manufacturer of microscopes and a skilled preparer of microscopic slides. Edmund Wheeler senior was born in Kent at Strood, near Rochester, on 25th November 1808, the third of four sons born to Sarah Horsnaill and Samuel Wheeler (1775-1858), a grocer in Strood and a Member of The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).

On 20th February 1833, at the Friends' Meeting House in Birmingham, Warwickshire, twenty-four year old Edmund Wheeler married Caroline Enock (born 1807, Shrewsbury, Shropshire), the daughter of Sarah and Robert Enock, a grocer of Shrewsbury. The Enocks, like the Wheelers were prominent Quakers.

After his marriage to Caroline, Edmund Wheeler senior set himself up as as an ironmonger and gas fitter in Dover, Kent. During their time in this coastal town, Caroline Enock and Edmund Wheeler produced at least four children - Sarah Ann (born 1834, Dover), Edmund Wheeler junior (born 1836, Dover), Sophia (born 1838, Dover) and Mary Caroline Wheeler (born 1840, Dover).

The 1841 census, records, Edmund Wheeler, his wife Caroline, and their four children - Sarah Ann (age 7), Edmund Wheeler junior (age 5), Sophia (age 3) and Mary (6 months) - residing in King Street, Dover. At this time, Edmund Wheeler gives his occupation as "Ironmonger" and the local trade directories and advertisements in the Dover Telegraph newspaper list him as an ironmonger and gas fitter at 3 King Street, Dover.

It appears that sometime after the 1841 census was taken, Edmund Wheeler senior decided to return to his home town of Strood, a settlement on the northern bank of the River Medway directly opposite the city of Rochester. It is possible that Mrs Caroline Wheeler, Edmund Wheeler senior's wife, was seriously ill and that she and her husband had moved to Strood to receive assistance and support from Edmund's family and the Quaker community in Rochester. There is evidence that Mrs Caroline Wheeler died in Strood, Kent, not long after the family's arrival in the town. [The death of a Caroline Wheeler was registered in the Kent district of North Aylesford, which embraces the town of Strood, during the 3rd Quarter of 1842].

After leaving Dover, Edmund Wheeler senior embarked on a new career as a teacher of "Natural Philosophy" (Science) and earned his living as a travelling Science lecturer. In 1847, Edmund Wheeler senior was elected as a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.( Edmind Wheeler senior was later to join the Microscopical Society of London and in 1861 he became a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society]. Around 1849, Edmund Wheeler senior moved to lodgings in Finsbury, North London. When the census was taken on 30th March 1851, Edmund Wheeler senior and his 15 year old son Edmund Wheeler junior were lodging at the boarding house of Mrs Jane Tofft at 2 North, Buildings, Finsbury Circus, London. On the census return, Edmund Wheeler senior, a forty-two year old widower, is described as a "Lecturer of Natural Philosophy". Fifteen year old Edmund Wheeler junior is recorded as a "Scholar at Home". Young Edmund Wheeler might have been receiving his education from a fellow boarder at No. 2 North Buildings, fifty-nine year old William Hughes, who gives his profession as "Private Tutor". At the time of the 1851 census, Edmund Wheeler's elder sister, sixteen year old Sarah Ann Wheeler was employed as a "Governess" and teacher, and was residing at 18 Waterloo Crescent, Dover, with her uncle, Lambert Weston (born 1805, Chatham, Kent), the proprietor and the Principal of a boarding school called Hofwy College at the village of River, near Dover, Kent. Edmund Wheeler's younger sister, 13 year old Sophia Wheeler, was a scholar attending The Friends' School in Park Lane, Croydon, Surrey. Established in Croydon in 1825, The Park Lane Friends' School was a Quaker boarding school for boys and girls which had been specially set up for the "Education of Children who are Members of the Religious Society of Friends and whose parents are not in affluent circumstances".

By 1851, Edmund Wheeler senior had established himself as a talented amateur scientist with an interest in physics, anatomy, physiology, botany, entomology, geology, and mineralogy. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Edmund Wheeler of 2 North, Buildings, Finsbury Circus, London, had exhibited his own patented invention, a set of "Equilibrium slide valves for steam engines, to relieve the valve from the pressure due to the elastic force of the steam". During a period of over 30 years, from 1850 until 1882, Edmund Wheeler senior took on the role of a "travelling scientific lecturer" visiting schools and scientific institutions across the country. Edmund Wheeler senior was a frequent guest lecturer at the Ackworth School, a Quaker boarding school in Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Wheeler also visited other schools associated with The Religious Society of Friends, such as Polam Hall School, Darlington, County Durham, a Quaker boarding for Girls. Edmund Wheeler senior delivered lectures on a wide range of scientific and technological subjects, conducting simple experiments for the benefit of school children and presenting papers to learned societies. In 1866, Edmund Wheeler senior, billed as "Edmund Wheeler F.R.A.S. of London" delivered a lecture on "Ocean Telegraphy" to the Saffron Walden Literary and Scientific Institution at the town library in Saffron Walden, Essex. It is reported that Edmund Wheeler senior, in his role as a "travelling lecturer", also delivered talks on astronomy, physics, modern (Victorian) technology and, in his practical experiments, demonstrated the power of electricity.

At the time of the 1861 census, Edmund Wheeler senior was residing at 11 William Street, Islington, London, with his three surviving children. Edmund Wheeler senior is described on the census return as a fifty-two year old "Teacher of Science". Edmund's eldest daughter, twenty-six year old Sarah Ann Wheeler gives her occupation as "Proprietor of Houses", Edmund Wheeler junior, then aged 25, is recorded as a "Working Optician". No employment or occupation is given for Edmund's youngest daughter, 23 year old Sophia Wheeler. On 17th August 1863, Sarah Ann Wheeler, Edmund Wheeler's eldest daughter, died at the family home in North London at the early age of 29.

Sometime in the early 1860s, Edmund Wheeler senior established a business at 48 Tollington Road, Holloway, North London, where he sold microscopes, telescopes, pocket lenses and a large range of "microscopic objects" (specially prepared slides containing materials which could be viewed through a microscope). By 1864, Edmund Wheeler senior's trade in microscopes and "microscopic objects" was flourishing. An advertisement published in The Quarterly Journal of Science in 1867, refers to "1,000 Varieties (of microscopic slides), illustrating every Department of Natural Science which were "prepared and sold by Edmund Wheeler, 48, Tollington Road, Holloway, London". In 1880, Edmund Wheeler senior published a trade catalogue which listed "3,000 varieties of microscopic objects ... of the highest attainable perfection". Edmund Wheeler senior was noted for the high quality of his microscopic preparations and has been described as "one of the most famous microscope slide makers of the Victorian era",

Edmund Wheeler senior was in business as a manufacturer of microscopes, telescopes and binocular glasses and as a preparer of microscopic slides for a period of 18 years. Contemporary sources report that during the 1860s Edmund Wheeler senior was assisted in his business by his children Sarah Ann, Sophia and Edmund Wheeler junior. A report in the Transactions of the Microscopical Society of London, published in 1864, noted that Edmund Wheeler senior's slides were "prepared and mounted by himself and the other members of his own family, his sons (sic) and his daughters".

By 1871, Edmund Wheeler's two surviving children had left the family home in Holloway. Edmund Wheeler junior, together with his younger sister Sophia Wheeler, had moved from North London to Brighton, where Edmund junior hoped to establish himself as a portrait photographer. When the census was taken on 2nd April 1871, Edmund Wheeler senior was living at his business premises at 48 Tollington Road, Holloway, North London. Edmund Wheeler senior was now assisted in his business by his nephew, Frederic Enock (born 1845, Manchester). Both Edmund Wheeler senior and Frederic Enock give their profession on the 1871 census return as "Naturalist". [Fred Enock (1845-1911) went on to become a respected entomologist, becoming a Fellow of the Entomological Society in 1876. Enock gave public lectures on subjects such as "Insect Intelligence" and wrote detailed studies of the life histories of flies, spiders and wasps. Today, Fred Enock is well-known for his exact microscopic drawings of insects].

At the Paris Universal Exhibition, held in 1878, Edmund Wheeler senior exhibited a selection of his "microscopic objects" for which he was awarded a "Prize Medal for Excellence and Variety". By this date, Edmund Wheeler senior was regarded as the leading London retailer of prepared microscopic slides.

When the census was carried out on 3rd April 1881, Edmund Wheeler senior was visiting Polam Hall School, Darlington, County Durham in his capacity as a travelling lecturer. On the census return, Edmund Wheeler senior, who was now in his early seventies, is described as a "Public Lecturer".

In 1884, Edmund Wheeler senior sold his microscope and microscopic slide business to the firm of W. Watson & Sons and retired to Brighton to live with his son Edmund Wheeler junior, who now was an established portrait photographer in Brighton's Western Road. Science journals reported that Edmund Wheeler senior was obliged to retire from business through continued ill-health. Towards the end of 1884 within months of his arrival in Brighton, Edmund Wheeler senior died at the age of 76. [Death registered in the district of Brighton during the 4th Quarter of 1884].

Edmund Wheeler junior (1836-1930) - Early Career

Edmund Wheeler junior attended a Quaker boarding school The Friends' School in Park Lane, Croydon, Surrey, between 1845 and 1851. When the 1851 census was taken, fifteen year old Edmund Wheeler junior was residing with his widowed father at 2 North, Buildings, Finsbury Circus, London. On the 1851 census return, Edmund Wheeler junior is described as a "Scholar at Home", but, according to the records of The Religious Society of Friends in Rochester, as a teenager, Edmund junior served as an apprentice in Strood, Kent. When the census was taken a decade later on 7th April 1861, twenty-five year old Edmund Wheeler junior is recorded as a "Working Optician", so it is likely that he trained as an optician when he was in his teens. Interestingly, Edmund Wheeler's father is sometimes listed as an optician in London trade directories and, in the early 1850s, when Edmund Wheeler and his son were lodging at 2 North, Buildings, Finsbury, their residence was in short walking distance from the Royal London Ophthalmic Hospital (later re-named Moorfields Eye Hospital), which was situated in City Road, Finsbury.

In addition to working as an optician, it appears that, from around 1864, Edmund Wheeler junior assisted his father at Wheeler's workshop in Tollington Road, Holloway, assisting in the assembly of microscopes and telescopes and the preparation of microscopic slides.

Edmund Wheeler junior and Photography

The Wheeler Family had close and strong links with the Weston Family, who had turned from teaching to professional photography during the early 1860s. Edmund Wheeler junior was the nephew of Jasper Weston (1810-1878), who had opened a photographic portrait studio in Folkestone and Lambert Weston (1805--1895), who, with his son Sidney Cooper Weston (born 1842, Ashford, Kent), had established two photographic portrait studios, one in Dover, the other in Folkestone. By 1867, Lambert Weston & Son had opened a new photographic studio at 23 Sandgate Road, Folkestone. Meanwhile, Jasper Weston and his son Frederick Jasper Weston had set up another studio at 20A Sandgate Road, Folkestone under the name of J. Weston & Son.

The Wheeler and Weston families were related to each other and these family ties were later to be strengthened through marriage. When the 1851 census was taken, Edmund junior's eldest sister Sarah Ann Wheeler, a sixteen year old "Governess", was living with her uncle and aunt, Lambert Weston and Mrs Anna Maria Weston (Greenwood) at 18 Waterloo Crescent, Dover. Edmund junior's youngest sister, Sophia Wheeler, was especially close to her cousin Emily Maria Eliza Weston (born 1845, River, near Dover), the second eldest daughter of Jasper Weston and his wife Maria Jane Saunders. After the death of her mother, Mrs Maria Jane Weston, in 1869, Emily Weston and Sophia Wheeler became close companions, and when Edmund Wheeler junior made the decision to move to Brighton to take over a photographic portrait studio at 43 Western Road, Brighton, his sister Sophia and his cousin Emily Weston went with him. [ In 1871, at Brighton, Edmund Wheeler junior married his cousin Emily Maria Eliza Weston, while her younger sister Edith Jane Weston (born 1848, River, near Dover) married her cousin, the photographer Sidney Cooper Weston (born 1842, Ashford, Kent) in Christ Church, Folkestone, Kent ].

Edmund Wheeler senior, F. R. A. S. : Amateur Scientist and Travelling Lecturer
[ABOVE] A Victorian brass microscope. Edmund Wheeler senior was a keen amateur scientist with a particular interest in microscopy. In 1847, Edmund Wheeler senior was elected as a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.	[ABOVE] A scientific lecture delivered by Michael Faraday in the mid-19th century. Edmund Wheeler senior was a "travelling scientific lecturer". Between 1849 and 1882, Wheeler spent much of his time travelling around the country giving scientific lectures. He paid frequent visits to Ackworth School (a noted boarding school for Quakers) to deliver scientific lectures.

[ABOVE] An advertisement for Edmund Wheeler senior's "Microscopic Objects, Microscopes and Pocket Lenses" published in 1880. Edmund Wheeler senior opened his establishment at 48 Tollington Road, Holloway, London around 1864 and was based at this address for the next 20 years. Edmund Wheeler senior sold his business in 1884

Edmund Wheeler senior and The Quakers [ABOVE] The teaching staff of Ackworth School (1859) photographed by William Pumphrey in 1859. Ackworth School, a Quaker boarding school in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, was visited regularly by Edmund Wheeler senior, a travelling science lecturer, between 1852 and 1882. Edmund Wheeler senior (1808-1884) was from a family of Quakers (Members of The Religious Society of Friends). Edmund Wheeler married the daughter of Robert Enock, a prominent Quaker in Shrewsbury, and the births of his four children were recorded in registers held by the Society of Friends. There is evidence that Edmund Wheeler senior's children were educated at Quaker boarding schools (both Edmund Wheeler junior and his younger sister Sophia  attended The Friends' School in Park Lane, Croydon, Surrey, a Quaker boarding school for boys and girls. During his time as a travelling science lecturer, Edmund Wheeler senior regularly visited the Quaker schools that had been set up across the country (e.g. Ackworth School in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, Polam Hall School, Darlington, County Durham). In 1850, when he was residing in Finsbury, Edmund Wheeler senior was distributing copies of the Quaker pacifist journal "The Peace Advocate". When his daughter Sophia Wheeler died in 1871, her death was reported in "The Annual Monitor or Obituary of the Members of The Society of Friends", in which she is described as the "Daughter of Edmund Wheeler of Holloway", so presumably both Sophia and her father were still Quakers in 1871. Brian Stevenson, in his account of 19th century microscopists, refers to Edmund Wheeler as a "lapsed Quaker", but it is not clear where he gets his evidence for this. Brian Stevenson might have concluded that Edmund Wheeler senior had abandoned his Quaker beliefs because of two religious pamphlets which were authored by a writer named Edmund Wheeler during the 1850s - "What shall we do at Delhi? An Englishman's letter to the humanitarians" (1857) and an earlier piece entitled "An Englishman's letter to the Evangelicals on the Sabbath Question" . In the 1857 pamphlet, "What shall we do at Delhi?, this Edmund Wheeler criticises the Quakers pacifist stance on the Indian Mutiny, but it is likely that the author was actually a namesake and not the Edmund Wheeler senior who in 1871 was still recorded as a Member of The Society of Friends. It seems unlikely that Edmund Wheeler senior, the amateur scientist and microscopist, had an antipathy to the ideals of the Society of Friends as he was still regularly lecturing at Quaker schools in the early 1880s. *

The Quakers and the World of Professional Photography [ABOVE] The trade plate of Jasper Weston & Son of 20A Sandgate Road, Folkestone, Kent. The firm of J. Weston & Son was established around 1874 when Jasper Weston was joined in his photography business by his only son  Frederick Jasper Weston (born 1849, River, near Dover, Kent) . A number of important Victorian photographic studios were established by members of The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Benjamin Beck, in his dissertation "A witness lasting, faithful, true": The Impact of Photography on Quaker attitudes to Portraiture provides an account of the entry of Quakers into the field of professional photography. Benjamin Beck mentions an early photographer named William Pumphrey (c1817-1905), a former science teacher at the Bootham School, a Quaker boarding school in the City of York. In July 1849, William Pumphrey purchased a licence to use the daguerreotype process in York, which suggests he was one of the first Quakers to take up photography as a profession. Francis Frith (1822-1898) is perhaps the most famous of the Quaker photographers. Born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, Francis Frith attended Ackworth School, the Quaker boarding school in West Yorkshire, before entering business as a cutler and grocer. Frith became involved in photography in the early 1850s and was a founder member of the Liverpool Photographic Society. After travelling to Egypt with his camera, Frith returned to England to establish the firm of Francis Frith & Co., which became one of the most successful suppliers of photographic views.  Unlike some other photographers who had been brought up as Quakers but turned to more orthodox Christian beliefs in adult life, Francis Frith remained within the The Religious Society of Friends throughout his life. Frith was an active Quaker, advocating pacifism and abstinence from alcohol. In 1894, Frith published a pamphlet entitled "The Quaker Ideal".  Quaker Photographers active in Brighton Samuel Fry (1835-1890) Allen H Fry (1847-1931) Walter Henry Fry (1841-1916) Clarence E. Fry (1840-1897) In Brighton alone, there were a number of professional photographers who came from a Quaker background - Samuel Fry (1835-1890), the brothers Allen Hastings Fry (1847-1931), Walter Henry Fry (1841-1916) and Clarence Edmund Fry (1840-1897), a photographer who went on to establish the well-known photographic firm of Elliott & Fry of London.  The Westons of Kent, a family of Quakers who originated from the Medway area of Kent, provided a number of professional photographers. Jasper Weston (1810-1878), a former school teacher, opened a photographic portrait studio in Folkestone, Kent, and Jasper's brother Lambert Weston (1805--1895) operated studios in Dover and Folkestone. The Westons established a dynasty of professional photographers, which included Sidney Cooper Weston (1842-1893) and Frederick Jasper Weston (1849-1931). The Brighton portrait photographer Edmund Wheeler junior (1836-1930) was related to the Weston Family of Kent and was married to Emily Maria Weston, the daughter of the veteran photographer Jasper Weston. To read Benjamin Beck's dissertation "A witness lasting, faithful, true": The Impact of Photography on Quaker attitudes to Portraiture, click on the link below: The Impact of Photography on Quaker attitudes to Portraiture

On 18th July 1871, Sophia Wheeler, Edmund Wheeler junior's younger sister, died at the age of 33. "The Annual Monitor or Obituary of the Members of The Society of Friends for the Year 1871" reported her death in a simple notice: "SOPHIA WHEELER (age) 33 - 18 (day) 7 (month) 1871. Prestonville, Brighton. Daughter of Edmund Wheeler of Holloway". (At this time, Edmund Wheeler senior was residing at his business premises at No. 48 Tollington Road, Holloway, North London.) Within 3 months of Sophia's death, Edmund Wheeler junior, married his cousin Emily Maria Eliza Weston in his home district of Prestonville. [ The marriage of Edmund Wheeler and Emily Maria Weston was recorded in the registration of Steyning during the 3rd Quarter of 1871]. The union between Edmund Wheeler and Emily Weston did not produce any children, but it is likely that his alliance with the Weston Family helped the 35 year old photographer to build up a successful photographic portraiture business in Brighton. Emily Maria Weston was the daughter of Jasper Weston (1810-1878), who, since the 1860s had been operating a flourishing photographic portrait studio in Folkestone. At the time of Emily Weston's marriage to Edmund Wheeler, Emily's uncle, Lambert Weston (1805--1895), with the assistance of his son Sidney Cooper Weston (born 1842, Ashford, Kent), was already running two successful photographic studios, one in Dover, the other in Folkestone. It seems highly probable that Emily's father, Jasper Weston, her brother Frederick Jasper Weston, her uncle, Lambert Weston and his son Sidney Cooper Weston were able to provide helpful practical advice, useful contacts, and even financial assistance to Emily's new husband. It is noticeable that the photographs produced by Edmund Wheeler junior at his Brighton studio were very similar in design and style to those produced by the Weston Family in Dover and Folkestone. For example in the 1870s, Edmund Wheeler of Brighton was using the same suppliers of card mounts, Marion & Co. of Paris, as those employed by J. Weston & Son of Folkestone, and portraits from both studios were printed with identically designed trade plates.

It is likely that Edmund Wheeler junior arrived in Brighton sometime in 1870. It appears that Charles Nathaniel Wootton (c1820-1892) sold his photographic business at 43 Western Road & 33 Clarence Square Brighton to Edmund Wheeler junior before he and his son, Charles Darlow Wootton, departed for Cheltenham in 1870. The studio at 43 Western Road might have been re-furbished shortly after being acquired by Edmund Wheeler junior. Significantly, the 1871 edition of Page's Directory of Brighton lists Edmund Wheeler as a "Photographic Artist" solely at No. 33 Clarence Square Brighton. The main entrance to the studio was in Western Road and throughout his photographic career in Brighton the only studio address which appeared on his carte-de-visite and cabinet photographs was that of "43 Western Road, Brighton". Although Page's 1871 Directory of Brighton was published in 1871, the information which appeared in the Directory would have been compiled in the months leading up to November 1870.

Edmund Wheeler junior and his alphabetical carte-de-visite portraits

By 1871, Edmund Wheeler junior's studio at 43 Western Road, Brighton was open to the public. In the early years of his business, Edmund Wheeler junior specialised in the production of carte-de-visite portraits. Cartes-de-visite were small photographic paper prints on card mounts the same size as conventional visiting cards (roughly 21/2 inches by 41/4 inches or 6.3 cm by 10.5 cm). This photographic format originated in France and so a small portrait mounted on card came to be known as a 'carte-de-visite', the French term for visiting card.

In 1871, there were around 30 photographic studios in Brighton and Hove and the vast majority were producing carte-de-visite portraits. Edmund Wheeler junior was a reasonably competent photographer, but perhaps the most distinctive feature of his carte-de-visite production was his novel system of recording the negative number for future reference. It was common practice for photographers to write the negative number on the reverse of a card-mounted portrait so that customers could order further copies or enlargements. Roger Vaughan, the owner of a large collection of photographic portraits and something of an expert on carte-de-visite production, was quick to realise that Edmund Wheeler junior was using an alphabetical system for identifying the year in which a portrait was taken. Edmund Wheeler junior introduced a novel method of identifying the year a particular photograph was taken by adding a "letter suffix" to the negative number, which was customarily written in ink on the reverse of carte-de-visite portraits. Each letter of the alphabet represented a particular year of business. The  letter "A" matched the year 1873, the letter "B" corresponded to the year 1874, and so on, until the letter "Z" was reached. After utilizing nearly all of the letters of the alphabet (the letters "I" and "O" were excluded for obvious reasons), Wheeler would start again, but this time with a double letter "AA", "BB", "CC" and so on. There is some evidence to suggest that by the time he introduced his "double letter" suffix (probably because of the falling demand for carte-de-visite portraits and the consequent drop in output), Edmund Wheeler was no longer matching a "letter suffix" to a single year of production. For the first two decades that Wheeler was based at his Western Road studio, the "letter suffix" used with his negative numbers is a useful and generally accurate indicator of the year a particular portrait was taken, but

The majority of the photographic portraits produced by Edmund Wheeler junior during the 1870s were in the popular carte de-visite format, but from around 1878, he added the cabinet portrait to his photographic repertoire. The cabinet portrait was a photographic print mounted on a sturdy card measuring 41/4 inches by 61/2 inches. (roughly 11cm x 17cm). The cabinet portrait format had been introduced specifically for portraiture in 1866 by the London photographer Frederick Richard Window, but it did not begin to supplant the smaller carte-de-visite until a decade or so later. The cabinet portrait increased in popularity in the late 1880s and 1890s, as the demand for carte-de-visite portraits declined. As with his carte-de-visite portraits, Edmund Wheeler employed an alphabetical system for indicating when the original photograph was taken, but, with his cabinet portraits, matching the "letter suffix" with a specific year of production becomes more difficult.

Edmund Wheeler's Long Photographic Career in Brighton (1870-1906)

Edmund Wheeler's Residences in Brighton

Edmund Wheeler was in business as a photographer in Brighton for over 35 years, between 1870 and 1906. When the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Edmund Wheeler junior was residing with his thirty-four year old wife, Emily, at 17 Clifton Road, Brighton. Edmund and Emily Wheeler had only recently moved from Stanford Road to Clifton Road. The only other person recorded at Edmund Wheeler's house in Clifton Road was sixty-one year old widow Mrs Elizabeth Gage, who served as the couple's housekeeper and general domestic servant. On the 1881 census return, Edmund Wheeler is recorded as a "Photo. Portraitist", aged 45.

By the time the 1891 census was taken, Edmund Wheeler and his wife had to moved one of the new houses which had been built on the high ridge of a railway cutting overlooking Preston Park and the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway line which ran northwards to London. The 1891 census records Edmund and Emily Wheeler at 19 High Croft Villas, in the Preston district of Brighton.

To escape the rapidly developing urban sprawl of Brighton, Edmund Wheeler and his wife moved to Patcham on the outskirts of the growing seaside town. Patcham was a parish situated 3 miles north of Brighton. The 1899 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex records Edmund Wheeler as a private resident at "Elm Croft", London Road, Withdean, Patcham. Edmund Wheeler was still residing at "Elm Croft", London Road, Withdean, Patcham when the census was taken on 31st March 1901. On the census return,  Edmund Wheeler is described as a sixty-four year old "Photographer". As before, Mrs Emily Wheeler was assisted in the family home by a sole domestic servant, this time a single woman named Julia Parks (born 1867, Mayfield, Sussex).

Edmund Wheeler's Final Years

Around 1906, Edmund Wheeler disposed of his studio at 43 Western Road, Brighton to George Foxall (born 1858, Holborn, London) who had probably been managing Wheeler's studio since the late 1890s. Edmund Wheeler who was now in his early seventies, decided to retire. Around 1908, Edmund Wheeler and his wife Emily left Brighton and settled in the Parkstone district of Poole, Dorset.

When the 1911 census was taken, Edmund Wheeler was recorded with his wife at a house named 'Heather Crest' in Newton Crescent, Penn Hill Park, Parkstone, Dorset. No occupation is given for seventy-five year old Edmund Wheeler or his sixty-five year old wife, who is recorded as Mrs E. M. E. Wheeler on the census return. As was the case in previous census records, Edmund and Emily Wheeler shared their home with a single domestic servant. The 1911 and 1915 editions of Kelly's Directory of Dorset  lists Edmund Wheeler as a private resident at 'Heather Crest', Newton Crescent, Penn Hill Park, Parkstone, Dorset.

The Wheelers had a long retirement. Edmund Wheeler died near Poole, Dorset, in 1930 at the age of 94 [Edmund Wheeler's death was registered in the district of Poole during the 3rd Quarter of 1930]. Mrs Emily Wheeler, Edmund's widow, died three years later at the age of 87.

In the local trade directories published between 1870 and 1906, Edmund Wheeler is often listed as a photographer at two addresses - 43 Western Road, Brighton and 33 Clarence Square, Brighton. Although the directory listings suggest that Edmund Wheeler was running two separate studios, it is clear that he mainly worked from the studio at No. 43 Western Road. Wheeler's photographic studio in Western Road backed on to No.33 Clarence Square. Edmund Wheeler's studio spanned 43 Western Road, at the front, and 33 Clarence Square at the rear. The carte-de-visite portraits and cabinet cards produced by Edmund Wheeler indicate that the main public entrance to his photographic studio was located at 43 Western Road, Brighton. Presumably, No. 33  Clarence Square provided a rear entrance to his studio. Around 1906, Edmund Wheeler passed his photographic portrait studio at 43 Western Road, Brighton to George Foxall (born 1858, Thavies Inn, Holborn, London). It is likely that George Foxall, who had previously worked as a photographer in London, had been employed by Edmund Wheeler at his Brighton studio for a number of years, either as an assistant or studio manager. At the time of the 1901 census, George Foxall, who is recorded on the census return as a 42 year old single man working as a "Photographer", is shown living with his widowed mother and siblings at a house named 'Knoke' in Beaconsfield Villas, Preston, Brighton. Interestingly, George Foxall, although recorded as a "Photographer" is not categorised as a worker, employer or a self-employed photographer working on his "own account", which suggests he might have been a senior employee at Wheeler's studio.

When Pike's Directory of Brighton was published in 1907, George Foxall was recorded as the proprietor of Wheeler's former photographic studio at 43 Western Road, Brighton, yet in the Street Directory of Brighton, Edmund Wheeler is listed as a "photographer" at No. 33  Clarence Square, Brighton, which suggests that Wheeler held on to the Clarence Square studio for a brief period. By 1908, Edmund Wheeler had left Brighton and had retired to Parkstone, near Poole, Dorset.

*

Acknowledgements & Sources

PRIMARY SOURCES: Transactions of the Royal Microscopical Society (1864,1868); The Monthly Microscopical Journal (1869); The Intellectual Observer (1866); Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science (1864); Nature (1879); The Annual Monitor for 1872 (Obituary of the Members of the Society of Friends for the Year 1871 (1872); The British Friend (1863); List of Croydon Scholars from 1825 to1879 (1882); "What shall we do at Delhi? An Englishman's letter to the humanitarians" by Edmund Wheeler (1857); Dover Telegraph newspaper (1839);

CENSUS RETURNS: 1841, 1851, 1861. 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911.

STREET AND TRADE DIRECTORIES: Pigot's Directory of Kent (1840); Mathieson's Brighton & Suburban Directory (1870, 1871) ; Page's General Directory for Brighton & Hove (1871, 1872, 1873, 1875, 1876, 1877, 1879, 1880, 1890, 1891,1893, 1894 and 1895);  W. T. Pike's  Brighton and Hove Directory and Local Blue Book (1888, 1889, 1892, 1896, 1897, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1908.) ; Walser & Grist's Popular Shilling Directory for Brighton (1888) ; H. & J. Barnes' Popular Directory for Brighton, Hove and Preston (1895, 1896) ; Towner's Brighton and Suburban Directory (1896, 1898, 1899, 1900, 1901,1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907 and 1908) ; Kelly's Post Office Directory for Sussex (1870, 1874, 1878, 1882,  1887, 1890, 1891, 1893, 1894, 1897, 1899, 1905 & 1907 ); Walser's Directory of Brighton (1907); Kelly's Directory of Dorset (1911 & 1915) ; Kelly's Post Office Directory for Middlesex (1874); Kelly's Post Office London Directory (1882);

WEBSITES: Roger Vaughan's website Victorian and Edwardian Photographs - Roger Vaughan Photograph Collection (Roger Vaughan's article on Victorian Photograph Card Printers has been especially helpful).  Database of 19th Century Photographers and Allied Trades in London: 1841-1901 on the website photoLondon. Benjamin Beck's dissertation "A witness lasting, faithful, true": The Impact of Photography on Quaker attitudes to Portraiture on Ben Beck's website benbeck.co.uk. A record of the scholars who attended The Friends' School in Park Lane, Croydon, Surrey, can be found in the List of Croydon Scholars from 1825 to1879, an 1882 publication which is featured on the website of The Friends' School, Saffron Walden (friends.org.uk). Examples of Edmund Wheeler senior's microscope slides can be found on the following websites:  Microscopy-UK,  Microscopist.net  and  Victorianmicroscopeslides.com.