Author: Alan Burnett

A Genius Too Great For Slaithwaite

I have a large box of Victorian studio photographs at home, and I am slowly working my way through them: looking at them, scanning them, and seeing where they take me. Today they took me on a fascinating trans-continental journey in the company of John Jabez Edwin Mayall, pioneer photographer, trans-Atlantic entrepreneur, and friend of … Continue reading A Genius Too Great For Slaithwaite

Mary The Munitionette

Studio Postcard of Unknown Woman : The only clue to the identity of this woman is a dedication on the reverse, "From Mary". The uniform she is wearing suggests that she was a munitions worker in World War I - one of the almost 1,000,000 women who went into the factories of Britain to make … Continue reading Mary The Munitionette

Wilson And Clara Fieldhouse

Wilson and Clara Fieldhouse (1930s) Wilson and Clara were the parents of the ubiquitous Frank Fieldhouse, husband of my father's sister, Miriam, collector of this, that and the other; and keeper of old photographs. Wilson, who was born in 1881 in Bradford, was a clerk on the railways, whilst his wife, Clara Ann, brought up … Continue reading Wilson And Clara Fieldhouse

Had You Been There

This postcard - dating back to 1913 - appears never to have been sent through the post. It was written by Andrew - who we can suppose is the man in the middle of this group - to Mary Campbell of Cowdenbeath, who fairly obviously doesn't feature in the trio. The message is as follows: … Continue reading Had You Been There

The Last Afternoon At Sea

Over the last couple of months I have been slowly scanning my way through a 1925 photograph album I bought on a second hand stall. Entitled "Cruise To The Northern Capitals of Europe on the SS City of Nagpur, July-August 1925", the album contains over 50 sepia photographs our unknown photographer took on a cruise … Continue reading The Last Afternoon At Sea

1738 : Lee Bank Mill, Halifax

A photograph of Lee Bank Mill in Halifax which I took in the early 1970s. It was an age of closed and crumbling mill buildings - an industrial heartland being reclaimed by vegetation.

Thomas Boxell Of Brighton …

  This small photograph of a seated woman is the work of a Victorian photographer called Thomas Boxell, who - at the time this photograph was taken in the late 1870s - was operating out of a studio in Pickering, Yorkshire. The story of Thomas Boxell is typical of so many of the semi-itinerant studio … Continue reading Thomas Boxell Of Brighton …