Eastbourne Photographers N-O

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Professional Photographers in Eastbourne (N-O) 

Henry A. Niblett - George William Nye - Albert Owen

 Henry Augustus NIBLETT  [see EASTBOURNE PHOTOGRAPHIC ESTABLISHMENT]

Henry Augustus Niblett was born in 1826 within the parish of St Brides, in the Fleet Street area of London. On 16th December 1857, Henry Augustus Niblett married Ellen Assiter (born c1828, Maidstone, Kent) at the Church of St Botolph without Aldersgate, London. At the time of his marriage to Ellen Assiter, Henry Augustus Niblett was working as a "Drapery Traveller". The couple's first child was born on 26th August 1858 in the St Pancras area of London and was christened Mary Ellen Niblett at the Old Church, St Pancras on 21st November 1858. A second child, a son named Henry Assiter Niblett, was born in the Clerkenwell district of London in 1860. Mrs Ellen Niblett gave birth to a third child, a daughter named Emmeline Elizabeth Niblett, in the London district of Pentonville in 1863. [The birth of Emmeline Elizabeth Niblett was registered in the London district of Clerkenwell during the 3rd Quarter of 1863].

In 1865, Henry Augustus Niblett arrived in the Sussex seaside resort of Eastbourne and established a photographic portrait studio at 42 Terminus Place, Eastbourne. Henry Niblett's photography business in Terminus Place went under the name of "The Eastbourne Photographic Establishment". An advertisement for The Eastbourne Photographic Establishment, dated 12th April 1865, described Henry Niblett's photographic studio as "the Largest Gallery in Eastbourne". This claim implied that there were a number of photographic studios operating in Eastbourne in 1865, when, in fact, there was probably only four photographic portrait studios in Eastbourne at that time. The Eastbourne Photographic Establishment's three competitors in the field of portrait photography were Mr. W. Miller's Victoria Photographic Studio at 5 Albert Place, Seaside Road, William Hicks' Original Photographic Studio at 4 Cornfield Road and T. S. Gowland's Photographic Studio at The Library in Eastbourne's Marine Parade.

Henry Augustus Niblett announced the opening of his "Photographic Establishment" in April 1865. An advertisement for The Eastbourne Photographic Establishment, which appeared in The Eastbourne Gazette on12th April 1865, described a wide range of photographic services. In addition to the taking of "First-Class Portraits", Niblett's photographic establishment also offered to make copies of works of art and arrange for a specialist in outdoor photography to take pictures of "Mansions, Estates, Out-door Groups, Cattle, &c.". Henry Niblett also advertised "Local Views of Interest, Stereoscopic Cartes" and "a great variety of Photographic Scraps, from the Old and New Masters" which could be purchased at his premises at 42 Terminus Place, Eastbourne.

It appears that Henry Niblett might have over-stretched himself financially, because on 9th October 1865, just six months after he had opened his Photographic Establishment in Eastbourne, Niblett was declared bankrupt.

Henry Augustus Niblett returned to London, where, in 1866, he opened a photographic portrait studio at 14 Albany Street, close to London's Regent's Park. After only a year, Niblett was forced to close his studio at 14 Albany Street, London. Undeterred, Henry Niblett continued his career as a professional photographer, mainly operating in the Marylebone district of London.

The 1870s were a sad time for Henry Niblett. In 1877, after nearly twenty years of marriage, Henry Niblett's wife Ellen died in Islington, London, at the age of 49. The following year, Henry Niblett's only son Henry Assiter Niblett died before reaching his 18th birthday. [The death of Henry Assiter Niblett was registered in the Kent district of Thanet during the 4th Quarter of 1878].

When the census was taken on 3rd April 1881, Henry A. Niblett and his two daughters, Mary and Emmeline, were recorded at 178 Marylebone Road, London. Although, Henry Niblett was still working as a photographer, he had been obliged to take in three lodgers; two middle-aged spinsters and a twenty year old trainee in the Indian Civil Service. Henry Augustus Niblett was recorded at different addresses in London's Marylebone Road for the next twenty years. In 1891, Henry Augustus Niblett was described as a "photographic art publisher & agent" living at 67 Marylebone Road, London. A decade later, Henry Niblett was recorded as a photographer at 176 Marylebone Road, London.

Henry Augustus Niblett died in Hendon, Middlesex, in 1909, at the age of 83.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the photoLondon website for providing information on the London career of Henry Augustus Niblett in The Database of 19th Century Photographers and Allied Trades in London: 1841-1901. The information in The Database of 19th Century Photographers in London is based on the research of the London photo-historian David Webb.

[ABOVE] An advertisement for The Eastbourne Photographic Establishment at 42 Terminus Place, Eastbourne which appeared in The Eastbourne Gazette on 12th April 1865. The proprietor of the  Eastbourne Photographic Establishment was Henry Augustus Niblett, a former drapery salesman from London.

[ABOVE] A modern map  of Eastbourne showing the location of Terminus Place where Henry Niblett opened his  Photographic Establishment  in 1865. Terminus Place was absorbed by Terminus Road around 1869.

[ABOVE] Terminus Road, Eastbourne, photographed in 1881. Henry Niblett's photographic studio was located at 42 Terminus Place, Eastbourne in 1865. Four years after Henry Niblett left Eastbourne, the parade of buildings known as Terminus Place were absorbed by Terminus Road. When the buildings were re-numbered around 1869, "No. 42 Terminus Place" became "No. 71 Terminus Road".

George William NYE (born c1857, City of London)

George William Nye was born in the City of London between 1856 and 1858. As a young man, George Nye was apprenticed to a carver & gilder and by 1881 he was working as a "gilder" in central London. (The 1881 census records George Nye lodging alongside two other picture frame makers at 1 Winchester Cottage, Clerkenwell, London, the home of Mrs Mary Holmes, a fifty-eight year old widow, whose son Alfred Holmes was also employed as a "gilder").

George William Nye married Elizabeth Jane Poulton in Shoreditch, London, in 1882. The couple had moved to Eastbourne by 1891, and by the end of the decade George Nye had established a picture framing business at 179 Seaside, Eastbourne. (George William Nye is listed as a "carver & gilder" at 179 Seaside, Eastbourne in the 1899 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex).

When the 1901 census was taken on 31st March 1901, George William Nye was recorded as a forty-five year old "carver & frame maker" at 179 Seaside, Eastbourne.

Although George Nye was clearly taking photographic portraits at his business premises in Seaside, Eastbourne between 1899 and 1901, he was never listed as a professional photographer in the local trade directories published at the time. The only evidence I have that George Nye worked as a photographer is a single cabinet portrait and an impressive portrait of a member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (see below). One of the reasons why there are so few surviving photographs by George William Nye of Eastbourne is that he was not a full-time professional photographer. George Nye was a carver & picture frame maker by trade, and photography was just a sideline to his main business. It appears that George Nye was taking photographs at 179 Seaside, Eastbourne, Sussex, for only a couple of years, between 1899 and 1901.

 

[ABOVE] George William Nye listed as a "carver & gilder" in the 1899 edition of Kelly's Directory of Sussex.

[ABOVE] A modern map showing the location of George William Nye's premises at 179 Seaside, Eastbourne.

 

[ABOVE] The reverse of a cabinet portrait showing the trade plate of George William Nye, a part-time photographer who worked as a carver & gilder at 179 Seaside, Eastbourne during the late 1890s.

[PHOTO: Courtesy of  Frances Muncey]

[ABOVE] A group portrait of a man, his wife and their young child, photographed by George William Nye of 179 Seaside, Eastbourne (c1898).

[PHOTO: Courtesy of  Frances Muncey]

 
[ABOVE] A copy of a large format photographic portrait of a gentleman wearing the regalia of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes with the picture credit "Geo. W. Nye, Photographer, 179 Seaside, Eastbourne (c1900). The original photograph is owned by Jayne Ball, who believes it depicts her great, grandfather Edward John Hodges (1853-1923) who resided in Eastbourne from the late 1890s until his death in 1923.

Edward John Hodges was born in Bath, Somerset, in 1855. A pharmacy dispenser by profession, Edward John Hodges married Fanny Elizabeth Frazer (born 1854, Ombersley, Worcestershire) in 1880 and settled in Worcester. At the time of the 1881 census, Edward J. Hodges was recorded as a twenty-seven year old "Dispenser" based at the Bank Street Dispensary in Worcester, where he was living with his wife and baby daughter, Fanny Eliza Hodges. Three more children were born in Worcester -   Gilbert Edward Hodges (born 1882), Winifred Kate Hodges (born 1885) and Henry William Hodges who was born in Worcester in 1887. Edward John Hodges was recorded as the Dispenser at the Provident Medical Institution & Dispensary, Bank Street, Worcester in a Worcester Directory published in 1896. When the census was taken on 31st March 1901, Edward John Hodges was residing in Eastbourne with his wife and four children. At the time of the census,  Edward John Hodges was serving as the town's Vaccination Officer. Edward John Hodges died in Eastbourne in 1923 at the age of 70.

[PHOTO: Courtesy of  Jayne Ball and Chas Bell of the Norway Lodge of the RAOB]

The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes

The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) is a social and benevolent fraternal organisation. The RAOB aids members, their families and the widows and orphans left behind by deceased brethren. The RAOB also supports other charitable organisations. The original Order of Buffaloes is thought to date back to the 16th century, but the modern form of the organisation came into existence around 1822.

The Eastbourne Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes

The Eastbourne Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes was established in the town in August 1880. Eastbourne's Order of Buffaloes was strongly associated with the Club Hotel, a public house and assembly room in Pevensey Road, Eastbourne, which hosted meetings and fund raising events organized by local mutual societies (The Ancient Order of Foresters, the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes, etc.). When George Nye was taking photographs in Eastbourne at the turn of the century (1899-1901), the Club Hotel was being run by Albert Lewis (1864-1944), who was evidently a member of the the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. (Around 1899, Albert Lewis failed to attend an important Buffaloes' meeting, at which he was to have been presented with a jewel by the Provincial Grand Primo).

An account of the Club Hotel (later called the Britannia Theatre) which was situated at 82 Pevensey Road, Eastbourne and was strongly associated with the Eastbourne Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes at the turn of the 19th Century. [Extracts from the Britannia Varieties website]

In the late 1870s the Club Hotel's spacious function room, popularly known as the Societies Hall, became a favoured venue for fund-raising entertainments organized by mutual societies, such as the Ancient Order of Foresters, who regularly used the premises. One of the senior Eastbourne Foresters was a joiner and blind maker called Albert Hounsom; he took over the Hotel in the early part of 1880, even though his father, John, a well-known builder and carpenter, was a firm abstainer.

On Thursday, 5th August 1880, the Eastbourne Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes was inaugurated at the Club Hotel with great pomp and ceremony; and the Eastbourne Gazette remarked, "We have every reason to believe that this will be one of the most influential lodges in the kingdom... Host Brother Hounsom has placed one of the finest rooms in his house at the disposal of the Society." Later the same month, The Signalmen and Switchmen of the London, Chatham & Dover Railway selected the hotel for their annual luncheon, for which occasion Albert Hounsom arranged a musical entertainment. By now it had occurred to him that the large room - in a building located at the corner of two busy roads in the artisan area of a growing town that was crying out for good, affordable amusement - would make an ideal music hall. And so it was that Eastbourne's first truly full-time theatre was created not by the ducal 'fairy-godfather,' but by the enterprise of a tradesman.

In the late 1890s, the "licensed victualler" of the Club Hotel in Pevensey Road, Eastbourne was Albert Lewis (born 1864, Eastbourne).

Local press coverage ceased from the beginning of October, but Fred Southern and - increasingly - his wife, May Emery, continued to produce the entertainment at the hall; and The Stage described 11th October's show as 'an exceptionally powerful programme', which was further augmented on the Wednesday to celebrate the anniversary of the Empire's opening. But the Southerns left in mid-November and thereafter things began to slide. Perhaps Southern and Albert Lewis fell out, or perhaps ill health dogged the landlord of the Club Hotel just as it had done his predecessor; for Lewis failed to attend an important Buffaloes meeting at which he was to have been presented with a jewel by the Provincial Grand Primo

By 1905, the landlord of the Club Hotel was John Albert Trotter.

Extracts from the webpage Britannia Varieties by Mark H. Jones (2009)

The photographic portrait illustrated on the left was taken by George William Nye of 179 Seaside, Eastbourne around 1900 and shows a gentleman wearing the regalia of a Grand Primo in the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. This would indicate that the subject of the portrait was the Sitting Primo or leading officer of the Eastbourne Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. The owner of the photograph, Jayne Ball, believes that the photograph probably depicts her great, grandfather Edward John Hodges (1853-1923) who resided in Eastbourne from the late 1890s until his death in 1923.

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Jayne Ball  for providing a copy of George Nye's photograph showing an official in the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes wearing full ceremonial regalia. Jayne Ball is the great grand daughter of Edward John Hodges (1855-1923) who is believed to be the subject of the photograph. Thanks also to Chas Bell of the Norway Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes for alerting me of the existence of this portrait and for providing information on the Order of Buffaloes.

The extracts relating to the Club Hotel and the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes in Eastbourne are taken from Britannia Varieties a website created by Mark H. Jones.

 
Albert OWEN (1860-1930) - Beach Photographer in Eastbourne during the 1890s and early 1900s
Albert Owen was born in the market town of Wendover, near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1860. [The birth of Albert Owen was registered in the Buckinghamshire district of Wycombe during the 4th Quarter of 1860]. Albert Owen was the third child and second eldest son of Emanuel and Charlotte Owen of Wendover. [Albert Owen's siblings were Emanuel junior (born 1854, Wendover, Bucks.), Ellen (born 1858, Wendover, Bucks), Charlotte (born 1862, Marsworth, Bucks.), Henry "Harry" David (born 1864, Marsworth, Bucks.) Arthur (born 1867, Marsworth, Bucks.), Herbert James (born 1869, Marsworth, Bucks.) and Gertrude Miriam Owen (born 1867, Marsworth, Bucks.). Albert's father Emanuel Owen died in the village of Marsworth at the age of 37 in 1871, some months before the birth of his last child Gertrude Miriam Owen.

When the 1881 census was taken, Albert Owen was working as an agricultural labourer and living with his widowed mother Mrs Charlotte Owen (born c1833, Wendover, Bucks.) and four of his siblings at Startops End, Marsworth, Buckinghamshire. In 1885, Albert Owen married Janet Greenhill (born c1857, Perth, Scotland). [The marriage of Albert Owen and Janet Greenhill was registered in the  Buckinghamshire district of Eton during the 3rd Quarter of 1885].

Soon after their marriage Albert Owen and his wife Janet visited the Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne, where Mrs Janet Owen gave birth to their first child, Arthur Owen, during the 3rd Quarter of 1886. Albert Owen might have started taking photographs on Eastbourne beach during this period, but his first stay in this seaside resort was brief and the birth places of his next two children suggest an itinerant lifestyle. Albert and Janet Owen's second child David Alexander Owen was born in Balham, South London during the 2nd Quarter of 1888 and when their third son Albert Owen junior was born around 1890, the Owen family were in Perth, Scotland, Mrs Janet Owen's home town.

By 1892, Albert Owen had returned to the Sussex seaside resort of Eastbourne, where he was to work as a beach photographer for the next twenty years. During the 1890s, the Eastbourne Watch Committee regulated the activities of those who wished to operate their business activities on Eastbourne Beach. Beach photographers as well as pleasure boatmen, hawkers, seaside performers and entertainers were obliged to apply for a licence to conduct their business on the beach. In 1894, the Eastbourne Watch Committee granted licences to a total of five beach photographers, each photographer allotted a "Stand" at certain points spaced at intervals along Eastbourne's seafront. Albert Owen was given permission by the Eastbourne Watch Committee to take photographs at Stand No. 1, situated "near the Pier".

Licences Granted by the Eastbourne Watch Committee to Beach Photographers (1894)

Photographic Stand No.1 (near the Pier): to Mr Albert Owen
Photographic Stand No.2 (near The Wish Tower): to Mr George Austen (Austin)
Photographic Stand No.3 (opposite Hartington Place) to Mr J. A. Waylett
Photographic Stand No.4 (opposite Marine Parade) to Mr C. Cain
Photographic Stand No.5 (opposite Royal Parade) to Mr J. Heard
[ABOVE] A list of the beach photographers granted stands on Eastbourne beach by the Eastbourne Watch Committee (1894). Albert Owen was awarded a prime spot on the beach near Eastbourne Pier.

Albert Owen decided to settle permanently in Eastbourne with his wife and three young sons. Albert Owen's next three children were born in Eastbourne. Albert and Janet Owen's fourth child, a son named George Greenhill Owen, was born in Eastbourne during the 2nd Quarter of 1892. Charlotte Mary Owen, the couple's only daughter, arrived in 1894 and James Francis Owen was born at their home in Eastbourne in 1896.

It appears that Albert Owen had a drink problem. An Eastbourne newspaper reported in August 1900 that Albert Owen had been found heavily intoxicated on Eastbourne's Grand Parade by Police Sergeant Arthur Walls. The arresting officer told the Court that he had discovered the drunken photographer "lying on his back opposite Trinity-place" at 5pm in the late afternoon. Sergeant Walls went on to describe Albert Owen's drunken condition: "I put him on his legs, but he could not stand. I therefore procured a conveyance and brought him to the Police Station". The Court was told that Albert Owen had been convicted of drunkenness on two previous occasions. For this latest offence, Albert Owen was fined 10 shillings and was warned by the Mayor that the Watch Committee might decide to withdraw the photographer's permit which allowed Owen to stand on the beach with his camera.

In common with most beach photographers of the time, Albert Owen probably took photographs of holiday makers and "day trippers" with a camera which employed the "collodion positive" process; producing photographs on thin sheets of metal which were called "tintypes" or "ferrotypes". (see examples of "tintype photography" below and on the right).

When the 1901 census was taken, Albert Owen and his family were residing in Pendrill Mews, Terminus Road, Eastbourne. On the census return, forty year old Albert Owen is described as a "Photographer (own account, at home)". Living with Albert Owen in Pendrill Mews was his forty-three year old wife Janet, plus their six children - Arthur (aged 14), David (aged 12), Albert junior (aged 10), George (aged 8), Charlotte (aged 6) and four year old James Francis Owen. A decade later, Albert Owen was still working as a beach photographer in Eastbourne. The census which was taken on 2nd April 1911, describes fifty year old Albert Owen's occupation as a "Photographer (Beach)". Albert Owen was now assisted in his beach photography business by his twenty-one year old son, Albert Owen junior (born c1890, Perth, Scotland). The 1911 census records Albert Owen living at 179 Langley (Langney) Road, Eastbourne with three of his sons, Albert junior, George and James. George Owen (born 1892, Eastbourne) was working as "boot maker" and Albert's youngest son, fourteen year old James Owen was still at school. [George Greenhill Owen was to die two years later in 1913, aged 21]. There is no mention of Albert Owen's wife Janet on the census return, although Albert's marital status is given as "Married" rather than "Widowed". Albert Owen's only daughter, sixteen year old Charlotte Mary Owen, was employed as a live-in domestic servant a few doors away at 175 Langley (Langney) Road, Eastbourne, the home of Frank Denman, the manager of a sweet confectionery shop. Charlotte Mary Owen (born 1894, Eastbourne) later married Thomas F. Bowling. [The marriage of Charlotte Mary Owen and Thomas F. Bowling was registered in Eastbourne during the 2nd Quarter of 1915].

Albert Owen died in Eastbourne in 1931, at the age of 70. [The death of Albert Owen was registered in Eastbourne during the 2nd Quarter of 1931].

[ABOVE] "EASTBOURNE - The Beach" - A picture postcard by L. Levy showing the beach near Eastbourne Pier (c1908). It was on this stretch of the beach that Albert Owen had his "photographic stand" during the 1890s and 1900s.

[ABOVE] A "tintype" group portrait taken by a beach photographer  in the 1890s. The "tintype" or "ferrotype" was the most common form of beach photography in the 1890s and early 1900s. The "tintype" or "ferrotype" was a collodion positive photograph on a thin sheet of  iron. As the actual process was speedy, simple and straightforward to use and the necessary materials and equipment were relatively cheap, "tintype photography" was favoured by beach photographers. As "tintype" photographs could be produced fairly quickly, beach photographers could offer a "photographic portrait while you wait" service to "day trippers" and holiday makers. These inexpensive photographs which were made on these thin sheets of iron coated with a glossy black varnish, were popularly known as "tintypes". There was no actual tin in the photographic plates, but the word "tin"' was generally associated with thin sheets of metal and cheapness.

[ABOVE] An article in a local newspaper, dated 29th August 1900, detailing Albert Owen's drunken behaviour. According to this report. Albert Owen had been convicted of being drunk on two previous occasions.

 

"Tintype" Photographs taken by Beach Photographers between 1880 and 1900

[ABOVE] Two women and a child with a spade posed in front of a boat. A "tintype" group portrait taken by a beach photographer  in the 1880s. [ABOVE] A "tintype" photograph of two women and two children posing in front of a "bathing machine" on an English beach in the mid 1890s. [ABOVE] A "tintype" portrait of a mother and her three children, posing on the sands of an English beach in the early 1890s. [ABOVE] A "tintype" photograph of a young woman and her two young children, posing in front of a "bathing machine"(c1880)
 

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