The firm of Russell & Sons employed Alfred King (born 1851, Ventnor, Isle of Wight) as the manager of its Littlehampton branch at Terminus Road. Russell & Sons withdrew from Littlehampton around 1880 and the studio premises at Terminus Road passed to the former manager Alfred King.

At the time of the 1861 census, William Scutt, his wife Margaretta, and their two children were living at 13 Surrey Street, Littlehampton. The Head of the Household, William Scutt, is described as a "Schoolmaster", aged 24, and twenty-two year old Margaretta gives her profession as "Schoolmistress". An 1862 Directory for Littlehampton, lists William Scutt at The School, Surrey Street, Littlehampton, which suggests No 13 served as both their home and place of work.

It was not unknown for school teachers to serve as photographers in small communities. Robert Wright [1818-1862 ], who was the School Master at Lancing Grammar School from around 1844 until his death on 15th March 1862, was an early photographer of Lancing, who produced photographic stereo views of Lancing School and the surrounding area in the late 1850s. John Joseph Wright, a school teacher in Maresfield, took photographic portraits of the local inhabitants in the 1880s.

William Scutt's photographic career in Littlehampton was cut short because of his early death on 17th December 1864, at the age of twenty-eight. The following death notice appeared in the Sussex Express on 14th January 1865 : "On the 17th ult. at Braco, Perthshire, Mr William Scutt of Littlehampton, age 28". It has not been established why William Scutt was so far from home at the time of his death.

Mrs Margaretta Scutt had lost two young children and a husband in the space of two years. Mrs Scutt and her surviving children remained in West Sussex. On 17th March 1869, Margaretta Scutt, then a thirty year old widow, married shoemaker Barton Balchin (c1828-1873) in Horsham, West Sussex. After her second husband died in 1873 at the age of 44, Margaretta went on to marry John Voice (born c1832, Billinghurst), another Horsham shoemaker, on 18th October 1874. William Scutt's eldest son, William Herbert Scutt, joined the Royal Navy as an able seaman. In 1881, twenty-one year old William Scutt was serving on HMS Minotaur, an iron-clad warship.

Acknowledgements & Further Information on the Scutt Family

Thanks to Jimmy Scutt of Scutt Family Trees. Click on this link to connect to The Scutt Family Tree website.

At the time of the 1881 census, eleven year old Frank Spry was living with relatives at 16 Martin Street, Plymouth. The head of the household is given as James Spry (born c1816, Devonport), a 65 year old accountant. James Spry' s wife is entered on the return as Louisa Spry, aged 55 (born c1826 Devonport). Louisa Spry was previously married to a Mr Lascelles, and her daughter Rosa Lascelles (born c1856 Newport, Isle of Wight) is listed in the household. James Spry had married Louisa Lascelles in 1866 and the couple had a 12 year old daughter, Laura (born c1869 Devonport). Other Spry children in the household (with the exception of Frank) are listed as grandchildren. The relationship of Frank Walter Spry to James Spry it is not clear. Instead of "son" or "grandson" the enumerator has for Frank Spry entered the word "other" as his relationship to the Head of Household.

By 1891, Frank Spry was living at 111 The Grove, Totnes in Devon. In the 1891 census return he is described as a single, twenty-two year old "Photographer". Sometime before 1901, Frank Spry moved to London to work as a photographer. Early in 1901, Francis Walter Spry married forty-two year old Rosina Hankin (born 1858, Ashwell, Herts) in the Lambeth district of South London. [Marriage registered during the First Quarter of 1901]. At the time of the 1901 census, Francis and Rosina Spry were living in Greenwich. Francis Spry's occupation is given as "Photographer - Assistant", so presumably he was employed as an operator in a photographic studio in London or the London suburbs. In 1902, Frank and his wife were residing in Lewisham, where their only child, a son named Francis Reginald Spry, was born towards the end of that year. [The birth of Francis Reginald Spry was registered in the district of Greenwich during the 4th Quarter of 1902].

Around 1904, Frank Spry arrived in Littlehampton to take up employment as a photographer with John White (born c1850, Leominster/ Lyminster, Sussex ), the town's leading photographer. From about 1905, Frank Spry, began to take photographs under his own name. Photographs taken by F. W. Spry in the period 1905 and 1907 are rubber stamped with his home address of East Street, Littlehampton.

In 1907, Frank Spry set up his own photography business in Surrey Street, Littlehampton. From 1907 to 1909, F. W. Spry, Photographer, is listed at 21 Surrey Street, Littlehampton in local trade directories. From 1909 to 1939, the studio address of  F. W. Spry is given as 25 Surrey Street, Littlehampton.

Frank Spry produced portraits at his Surrey Street studio, but he is more well known for his photographs of ships and shipping and his photographs of local scenes and events which he issued as postcards.

Francis Walter Spry died in Littlehampton in 1955 at the age of 86.

Studio Portraits by F. W. Spry of Littlehampton

[ABOVE] A postcard portrait of Rita Edna Speller, aged 2 years, 8 months, photographed with her mother, Mrs Minnie Speller on 28th January, 1924. The photograph was taken by Francis Walter Spry at his Littlehampton studio. Rita Speller, who was born in Littlehampton in 1921, was the younger sister of Leslie Albert Dudley Speller (born 1914, Wick, near Littlehampton) who is featured in the postcard portrait below.

[ PHOTO: Courtesy of Michele Snewin ]

Frank Spry's Painted Backdrop featured in his Studio Portraits

Studio Portraits by F. W. Spry of Littlehampton