Stickells Family

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The Stickells Family of Photographers

David Ambrose Stickells (c1828-1902): Itinerant Photographer in Sussex, Kent and Surrey from 1857-1881

David A. Stickells & Son(s): Photographers based in Cranbrook, Kent, but active in Sussex, Kent and Surrey 1880-1902

Ambrose Henry Stickells (1864-1940): Photographer in Crowborough from 1896 to 1938

Arthur Edward Stickells (born, 1869, Ashford, Kent): Photographer based in Cranbrook, Kent, but active in Sussex, Kent and Surrey

Percy (Percival) R. Stickells (born 1897, Crowborough, Sussex): Photographer in St Leonards, Sussex, from 1921 to 1936

Ambrose Henry Stickells junior (born 1895, Robertsbridge, Sussex): Photographer in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, from 1921 to 1941

David Ambrose Stickells (c1828-1902)

David Ambrose Stickells was born in Rustinge, Kent, around 1828, the son of William Stickells, a publican. By the late 1850s David Stickells was working as an itinerant photographer. When David Stickells married Frances Shaw Bensley (born 1834, Gorleston, Suffolk) in Canterbury on 14th April 1857, the groom was already working as a travelling photographer in Kent. When his marriage to Frances Bensley was registered in Canterbury, David Stickells gave his profession as "photographer" and his place of abode as "The Three Compasses Inn, St Peter's Street, Canterbury".

The union of David Stickells and Frances Shaw Bensley produced at least five children - Laura Rosetta Stickells (born 1857, Ashford, Kent), Flora Agnes Stickells (born 1862, Ashford), Ambrose Henry Stickells (born 1864, Hythe, Kent), Arthur Edward Stickells (born 1869, Ashford), and Ada Eliza Stickells (born 1872, Ashford). In between stints as a travelling photographer, David Stickells worked as a draper and grocer in New Romney and sold beer in the town of Ashford. Rendel Williams has discovered that when Ambrose Stickells was born in 1864, David Stickells was earning his living as a "beer retailer".

[LEFT] David Ambrose Stickells described as a "Grocer and Draper" of New Romney, Kent, in a notice published in The London Gazette on 19th October 1860. In between spells as a grocer & draper and beer retailer, David Stickells worked as a travelling photographer in kent, Sussex and Surrey.

During the 1860s and 1870s, David Stickells worked as an itinerant photographer, travelling around Kent, Sussex and Surrey in a "photographic saloon", a horse-drawn portable studio on wheels. David Stickells was often on the road, visiting various towns and villages in his "photographic saloon", but the Stickells family had a fixed address in Ashford, Kent. Carte-de-visite portraits produced by David A. Stickells during the mid 1860s and early 1870s were "photographed by D. A. Stickells at his East Kent Portrait Saloon", but his "permanent residence" is given as Ashford, Kent. The 1871 census records David Stickells and his family at an address in Ashford. In the late 1870s, David Stickell's photographs carry a business address of 36 Queen Street, Ashford.

Around 1880, David Stickells and his family moved from Ashford in Kent to the Sussex seaside resort of Hastings. By 1881, Mrs Frances Stickells, the photographer's wife, had taken over the running of a lodging house at 124 St Andrews Road, Hastings, a boarding establishment previously managed by two middle-aged spinsters, Miss Mary Elizabeth Fairburn and her younger sister Eliza. When the 1881 census was taken, Mrs Frances Stickells, described as a forty-seven year old "Lodging House Keeper", was recorded at 124 St Andrews Road, Hastings, with three of her children - Laura, aged 23, Arthur, aged 12, and Ada, aged 9. Meanwhile, in Marden, a village nine miles south of Maidstone in Kent, David Stickells was recorded with his sixteen year old Ambrose Stickells in their mobile photographic studio parked in Fowle's Yard, an open area off the High Street belonging to Thomas Fowle, a local builder and carpenter. David Stickells is described as a "Photographer (Master)", aged 53, while the teenage Ambrose is simply referred to as "Son of the Above". Photographic portraits produced by David Sitckells between 1880 and 1882 carry a business address of 124 St Andrews Road, Hastings.

In the early 1880s, David Stickells  brought his eldest son into the business as a junior partner and during the early 1880s, the carte-de-visite portraits produced by David Stickells are marked "Stickells & Son". By this time, the Stickells family had settled in Cranbrook in Kent and David Stickells had established a permanent photographic portrait studio in this market town's High Street. Kelly's Directory of Kent, published in 1882, lists Stickells & Son as "portrait and landscape photographers" in High Street, Cranbrook. By 1884, David Sickells' two sons, Ambrose and Arthur, were assisting him in his Cranbrook studio and for a brief time the photographs carried the legend "Stickells & Sons, Cranbrook".

In 1884, David Stickells agreed it was time for his eldest son Ambrose, then twenty years of age, to branch out on his own as a professional photographer. David Stickells, who by this date was operating a permanent photographic portrait studio in Cranbrook's High Street, provided his son with some working capital and equipped him with a horse-drawn photographer's van with which to tour the towns and villages of Kent and Sussex. With his eldest son, Ambrose, on the road as a travelling photographer, David Stickells was assisted in the studio by his younger son Arthur Edward Stickells (born 1869, Ashford). Photographs produced at David Stickells' studio in the High Street of Cranbrook now carried elaborate designs finely printed publicity on the reverse rather than the simple rubber-stamped trade plates that appeared on his photographs during his itinerant period. Studio portraits taken at David Stickell's Cranbrook studio in the late 1880s continued to carry the name of D. A. Stickells & Son.

When the 1891 census was taken, David Stickells, his wife Frances Shaw Stickells, and two of their children, twenty-one year old Arthur Stickells and eighteen year old Ada Stickells were residing in Cranbrook, Kent. Although most of his income was derived from studio portraits, David Stickells still ventured out with his camera. On 28th September 1892, David Stickells registered for copyright a photograph of "the first Passenger Train on the Paddock Wood and Cranbrook Railway", which he had taken at Hope Mill Station a few weeks before on 12th September.

 

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a seated girl, photographed on location by D. A. Stickells & Sons of Cranbrook (c1883).  By the early 1880s, David Stickells had brought both of his teenage sons, Ambrose Henry Stickells (born 1864) and Arthur Edward Stickells (born 1869), into his photography business.
 

[ABOVE] A daguerreotype saloon, a portable photographic studio on wheels, illustrated in an American journal published in 1847. During the 1850s and 1860s, David Stickells travelled around the southern counties of England in a similar vehicle which he dubbed the "East Kent Portrait Saloon".
 

[ABOVE] The trade plate of David A. Stickells, travelling photographer of Kent and Sussex , taken from the reverse of a group portrait. The trade plate states that the group portrait was photographed  by D. A. Stickells at his East Kent Portrait Saloon.
 
[ABOVE] A group portrait of a family taken by travelling  photographer David A. Stickells of Ashford, Kent (c1878).
 

[ABOVE] The trade plate of David A. Stickells of 36 Queen Street, Ashford (c1878).
 

[ABOVE] The trade plate of David A. Stickells of 124 St Andrew's Road, Hastings (c1880).

 

 

Carte-de-visite portraits by David A. Stickells

 [ABOVE] A portrait of a man photographed in his garden by D. A. Stickells from the East Kent Portrait Saloon (c1872).

[ABOVE] The trade plate of  David A. Stickells of the East Kent Portrait Saloon from the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait (c1872).

 [ABOVE] A portrait of a woman with her pet dog photographed on location by D. A. Stickells from the East Kent Portrait Saloon (c1872).

[ABOVE] A portrait of a seated man, photographed by David A. Stickells at his East Kent Portrait Saloon (c1872). [ABOVE] The trade plate rubber-stamped on the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait taken by David A. Stickells of 124 St Andrews Road, Hastings (c1880).  [ABOVE] A portrait of a girl leaning on a chair  photographed by D. A. Stickells of 124 St Andrews Road, Hastings  (c1880). 
     

Carte-de-visite portraits by David A. Stickells & Son

[ABOVE] A portrait of a smart lad, photographed at the temporary studio of D. A. Stickells & Son,  Cranbrook, Kent (c1882). [ABOVE] A portrait of a girl holding a basket photographed on location by D. A. Stickells & Son,  Cranbrook, Kent (c1883). [ABOVE] A portrait of a young woman, photographed at the studio of D. A. Stickells & Son,  High Street, Cranbrook, Kent (c1884).

[ABOVE] A portrait of a teenage girl photographed at the studio of D. A. Stickells & Son,  High Street, Cranbrook, Kent (c1884). [ABOVE] The trade plate printed on the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait produced at the studio of D. A. Stickells & Son in High Street, Cranbrook, Kent (c1884). [ABOVE] A portrait of a teenage lad, photographed at the studio of D. A. Stickells & Son,  High Street, Cranbrook, Kent (c1884).

[ABOVE] A portrait of a woman holding a basket of flowers, photographed at the studio of D. A. Stickells & Son, Artists in Photography, High Street, Cranbrook, Kent (c1888). [ABOVE] A group portrait of three women, photographed at the studio of  Stickells & Son, Portrait, Landscape & Architectural Photographers, High Street, Cranbrook, Kent (c1895). [ABOVE] The trade plate printed on the reverse of a carte-de-visite portrait produced at the studio of  Stickells & Son, Portrait, Landscape & Architectural Photographers,  High Street, Cranbrook ,Kent (c1895).
 

The Stickells Family of Photographers - Part 3

Arthur Edward Stickells (born, 1869, Ashford, Kent)

Arthur Edward Stickells was born in Ashford, Kent, in 1869, the son of Frances Shaw Bensley and David Stickells, a professional photographer who was active in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. After many years as an itinerant photographer, David Stickells , Arthur's father, established a permanent photographic portrait studio in High Street, Cranbrook. By 1883, Arthur Stickells and his older brother Ambrose were assisting their father in his Cranbrook studio. When, in 1884, Ambrose Stickells, David Stickell's eldest son, branched out on his own as a professional photographer, he brought his youngest son, fifteen year old Arthur Stickells, into the business and, from this date, photographs produced at the Cranbrook studio carry the name of D. A. Stickells & Son.

After the death of  David Stickells, in 1902, Arthur Edward Stickells took over his father's photographic studio in High Street, Cranbrook. Publicity on the reverse of the photographs produced by A. E. Stickells describe him as a "Portrait, Landscape & Architectural Photographer". Although based in Cranbrook, Arthur Stickells travelled across Kent, Surrey and Sussex with his photographic equipment.

Arthur Edward Stickells married Rosa Kate Pope (born 1882, Hastings, Sussex) in Cranbrook, Kent, in 1903. Rosa gave birth to a son, Cyril Charlie Stickells, in 1908.

Arthur Edward Stickells died in Maidstone, Kent, in 1943, aged 73.

[ABOVE]  A view of the High Street, Cranbrook, Kent, where Arthur Edward Stickells had his photographic studio in the early years of the 20th century(c1900).

 

[ABOVE] The trade plate of Arthur Edward Stickells of High Street, Cranbrook, Kent, as printed on the reverse of a cabinet portrait (c1902).

[ABOVE] A cabinet portrait of a bearded man produced by Arthur Edward Stickells of High Street, Cranbrook, Kent. (c1902).

The Stickells Family of Photographers - Part 3

Percival (Percy) Rufus Stickells (born 1897, Crowborough, Sussex)
Percival (Percy) Rufus Stickells was born in Crowborough, Sussex, during  the 3rd Quarter of 1897, the third child of Mary Ann Lade and Ambrose Henry Stickells, Crowborough's resident photographer. Ambrose Henry Stickells, who had previously worked as a travelling photographer in Kent and Sussex, settled in Crowborough around 1896 and was the town's principal photographer for over 40 years.

In 1917, Percival Rufus Stickells married Ethel Florence Free (born 1894, Bromley-by-Bow, London) in the East London district of West Ham. Percy R. Stickells established a photographic studio at 139 Bohemia Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex, around 1921. Percy Stickells remained in business as a photographer at this address until about 1936. Percy Stickells was primarily a portrait photographer, but there is evidence that he also produced postcard views of Hastings, St Leonards, and the surrounding area. [ You can see examples of Percy Stickells postcard views on Rendel Williams' Sussex Postcards.Info. website. See the link to the relevant pages of Rendel Williams' Sussex Postcards.Info. website in the box below this panel].

[ABOVE] Part of the listing of professional photographers in the Trades section of Kelly's 1924 Directory of Sussex, showing Percy R. Stickells as a photographer at 139 Bohemia Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, and his father Ambrose Henry Stickells as a photographer with a studio in Croft Road, Crowborough.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of Percy R. Stickells, Photographer, of 139 Bohemia Road, St Leonards-on-Sea,, rubber-stamped on the back of a postcard portrait (c1922)

[ABOVE] A postcard portrait of a woman photographed by Percy R. Stickells at his studio at 139 Bohemia Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, Sussex (c1922)

 

To view examples of Percy R. Stickells' postcard views on Rendel Williams' Sussex Postcards.Info. website, click on the link below:

Picture Postcards by Percy R. Stickells of St Leonards

 

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