| James Russell
senior makes his first appearance as a professional photographer in
Chichester in Melville & Co.'s Directory of Sussex, published in 1858.
In his advertisements, James Russell suggests his photography business was
established in 1853, but although it is possible that Russell was taking
photographic portraits on the premises of his cabinet making business in
East Street, Chichester, as yet, there is no documentary evidence of
this. What can be established, is that the workshops that housed
Russell's cabinet making and upholstery business were put up for sale
towards the end of 1854 and James Russell's name disappears from
Chichester's trade directories until he re-appears as a photographer at
the Hornet, Chichester in 1858. The fact that his eldest son, James
Russell junior, was running his own photographic studio in Lewes in
1858 at the age of twenty-three, implies that James Russell was engaged
in photography around the time his cabinet making business collapsed in
1854. By the time the 1861 Census
was taken, James Russell was back in business in Chichester's East
Street. In the census return, James Russell is described as a
"Photographer", aged 51. James Russell's married daughter, Mrs
Annetta Smythe, is recorded as a Photographer's Assistant, aged 28.
Annetta's two children, two year old Ada and baby James, are also listed
at their grandfather's East Street address. Hezekiah Russell,
James Russell's 16 year old son, also described as a "Photographer", is
shown residing with his cousins at a house on the Hornet in Chichester.
In 1862, James Russell exhibited a series
of views entitled "Ruins of Chichester Cathedral" at the
International Exhibition at South Kensington, London. According to
James Russell's own publicity, these photographic views received an "Honourable
Mention" from the Royal Commissioners of the Exhibition.
The Russell Family operated a
photographic studio at 65 East Street, Chichester for over 40 years,
from 1862 to 1903. Hezekiah Russell, was Russell's main operator
at the East Street studio. In the 1871 Census, sixty-one year old James
Russell is shown living at 65 East Street and is described as a
"Photographer & Picture Frame Manufacturer", employing four men and one
boy. Sharing the same house is James's twenty-seven year old son,
Hezekiah Russell, occupation "Photographer", and his new wife,
Elizabeth. Hezekiah Russell had recently married Elizabeth Felicia
Button (born c1845, Burton, Hampshire) in Christchurch, Hampshire
(Marriage registered in March Quarter of 1871).
James Russell and Sons
All of James Russell senior's sons became
photographers. By 1858, his eldest son, James Russell junior (born 1835),
had established a photographic studio in Lewes, at 68 High
Street. Josiah Russell
(born 1839), Russell's second
son, had married Emma Howard (born c1842, Chichester) at St Andrew's
Church, Chichester, on 7th October 1860, and then settled in
Littlehampton. Josiah Russell became one of the first professional
photographers to establish a portrait studio in Littlehampton. The 1861
Census records Josiah Russell as a 22 year old photographer
living with his young wife in Littlehampton's High Street.
After a short stay in Littlehampton, Josiah and Emma returned to
Chichester, but around 1868, Josiah Russell moved to Worthing
to set up a photographic portrait studio at 16 High Street,
Worthing.
Josiah Russell left Worthing around 1877 and eventually settled in
Hampshire around 1881. James Russell's daughter Ruth Russell
(born 1837, Chichester) had married John Fielder ( born c1836
Fritham, Hampshire ), a builder and undertaker of Chichester. John
Fielder may have arranged the transfer of Josiah Russell's Worthing
studio to George Fielder (born c1847 Fritham, Hampshire) of
Fielder & Co. around 1877.
John Fielder was later employed by
Russell & Sons as a photographer, as was George Fielder.
In the mid 1860s, James Russell formed the firm of
J.
Russell & Sons with his photographer sons. During the 1870s, J.
Russell & Sons established branch studios in Worthing,
Littlehampton,
Bognor
and, for a brief time, Petworth.
Around 1881, John Lemmon Russell (born 1846), Russell's youngest
son, was despatched to London to establish branch studios in the
capital. Over the next decade, John Lemmon Russell set up branch
studios of J. Russell & Sons at Tufnell Park in N. W. London,
Brompton Road in S. W. London, Brecknock Road in North London, and Baker
Street in West London. Branch studios of the firm were also established
in Wimbledon and Windsor.
Two of Russell's sons, Hezekiah and Thomas,
remained in Chichester to pursue their photographic careers. Hezekiah Russell (born 1844)
continued to work as a photographer alongside his father in the Russell's
East Street studio. At the time of the 1881 Census, Hezekiah Russell was
living in East Street, Chichester with his wife Elizabeth and five
children - Lizzie Gertrude (born c1875), Alfred James (born c1876),
Emily Grace (born c1878), Evelyn Minnie ( born c1880) and
James Herbert Russell (born c1881). James Russell senior, the founder of Russell & Sons,
had effectively retired from photography by this date. The 1881 Census
records the widowed James Russell senior living in St Martin's Street
with a single servant for company. James Russell senior, now aged
seventy-one, informed the census enumerator that he was a "Painter -
Artist", by profession. Around 1885,
Thomas Russell (born 1841)
broke away from the family firm and set up his own studio at
Eastgate in Chichester. By 1891,
John Fielder (James Russell
senior's son-in-law) was running the
studio at 65 East Street, Chichester on behalf of Russell & Sons
Russell & Sons were well known for
their photographic portraits of "distinguished persons" and
members of the Royal Family. Among the celebrities who sat for Russell &
Sons were Aubrey Beardsley, artist, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, novelist,
and the politician Arthur Balfour. In 1868, the studio of James
Russell & Sons photographed Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (later
Queen Mary) and, in 1870, the firm took a series of portraits of Alexandra, Princess of Wales.
In 1873, Russell & Sons produced a double portrait of Alexandra, Princess of Wales, and her sister
Tsarevna Marie Feodorovna of
Russia. Other Royal sitters included the Prince of Wales, the Duke of
Edinburgh, Princess Louise, Prince Nicholas of Russia and the
Crown
Prince of Germany. On 3rd May,1897, a Royal Warrant
was granted to Russell & Sons. By this date the head of the firm was
John Lemmon Russell. The wording of the Royal Warrant refers to "J.
L. Russell, A. H. Russell, & E. G. Russell, trading as Russell &
Sons, Photographers to Her Majesty."
John Lemmon Russell was
"J. L. Russell" and "A. H." and "E. G." were apparently his two
photographer sons - Arthur Henry Russell (born 1875, Chichester)
and Edward G. Russell (born c1882 London).
James Russell senior, one of
Chichester's earliest photographers and the founder of Russell & Sons,
died in Chichester during the 3rd Quarter of 1899 at the age of 89.
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[ABOVE] A carte-de-visite portrait of a seated man
by James Russell, Photographer of East Street, Chichester (c1863).
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[ABOVE] The reverse of a carte-de-visite
by James Russell, Photographer, of East Street, Chichester (c1866).
The medals on the design represents the award of "Honourable Mention"
given to James Russell at the International Exhibition of 1862. |
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