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Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire Post Office Cambridgeshire Other local Stickyback and Mystery Mystery Ownership and |
Old Photographs - Cambridgeshire Photographers - Bi-Bk Photographers are listed alphabetically by surname on the following pages. 0 - 9 | Aa-Ak | Al-Ao | Ap-As | At-Az | Ba-Bak | Bal-Bam | Ban-Bd | Be-Bh | Bi-Bk | Bl-Bn | Bo-Bp | Br-Bt | Bu-Bz | Ca-Ck | Cl-Cn | Coa-Cor | Cos-Cz | Da-Dh | Di-Dq | Dr-Dz | Ea-Ec | Ed-Ez | Fa-Fh | Fi-Fz | Ga-Gd | Ge-Gq | Gr-Gz | Ha-Hd | He-Hh | Hi-Hn | Ho-Hz | Ia-Iz | Ja-Je | Jf-Jz | Ka-Kz | La-Ld | Le-Ln | Lo-Lz | Maa-Mad | Mae-Mar | Mas-Mb | Mc-Mi | Mj-Mz | Na-Nh | Ni-Nn | No-Nz | Oa-Oz | Pa-Pb | Pc-Ph | Pi-Po | Pr-Pz | Qa-Qz | Ra-Rd | Re-Rh | Ri-Rz | Sa-Sb | Sc-Sf | Sg-Sk | Sla-Slz | Sma-Ss | Sta-Std | Ste-Sth | Sti-Sy | Ta-Te | Tf-Ti | Tj-Tz | Ua-Uz | Va-Vz | Wa-We | Wf-Wh | Wi-Wz | XYZ Name: BIBBY'S STUDIO Name: BICKERSTAFFE, Lucy Camilla b: 1884 Leamington, Warwickshire. d:1937 Barton ![]() Illingworth advertisement from BJP Almanac 1921 p.211 Name: BILLING, William Rogers b.1853 d. 1937 William Rogers Billing, the son of Royal Marine William Billing (1818-1897), was born in 1853 at East Stonehouse, Devon. "Rogers" was his mother's maiden name. He spent his early years at Stonehouse where his father was a Royal Marine Dispensary Man at the Royal Marine Infirmary. By 1871 William Rogers Billing was a pupil teacher living with his parents and three sisters at East Stonehouse. The 1878 Whites Directory listed William as a schoolmaster at the National School, Farringdon, Devon. In 1874 William married Louisa Charlotte Simmons (1843-1886), daughter of a millwright, and they had three daughters, Kathleen Louisa (1876 - 1884), Edith May (1877-1963) and Nellie Marion (1880-1962). By 1881 William had finished his training and was a teacher at Sidlesham, Sussex. In November 1887 William and his family moved to Cambridgeshire and William was the schoolmaster at Elsworth, living in the School House, Brook Street. William's wife Louisa died in March 1886 and in November that year he married Elizabeth Jane (Bessie) Snell (1866- 1931) born in St Cleer Cornwall. They had two additional children, William Ernest Howard (1888-1984) and Janet Winifred (1891-1966). The 1891 census listed William as a school master at Elsworth and an organist. A further child, Bessie Elfrida, was born in 1893. By 1901 both William and Elizabeth were school teachers, and by 1911 Janet Winifred was also teaching. In 1911 the family was living at Woodbine Cottage Elsworth. William's son, William Ernest Howard Billing, also later became a school teacher. William left Elsworth school in March 1912 and became the headmaster of the Public Elementary School at Balsham, Cambridgeshire; a much larger school with 237 pupils compared with the 113 at Elsworth. According to the Electoral Register in 1915 and Kelly's Directory of 1916, William was living at Park House, Balsham. It is not known whether this was the schoolmaster's house or a temporary address, but in either case, Park House, along with The Green House, Balsham, both became Red Cross Auxiliary Hospitals for casualties during WW1 and according to family oral tradition, William and family helped out at the hospital. William retired in 1919 and at some point after he retired, moved to 63 Richmond Road Cambridge, his address in the 1921 Census and the electoral rolls from 1920-27. The 1921 Census shows William's occupation as an elementary schoolteacher and his last place of employment, at Foxton School. Then, around 1930, he moved to 11 Leys Road, Cambridge, which was his address until he died in 1937. William was something of a polymath. In addition to his long career as a schoolmaster, William had many other interests. He was actively involved in adult education, running an "Evening Continuation School" at Elsworth. He was an organist, a singer and a violinist, involved in a number of local musical performances. He was a long term member of the Elsworth Conservative Club and its Secretary for some years. He was a keen bee keeper, winning prizes in local shows with his honey and honeycomb. He was also a skilled woodworker, and was awarded a lathe as a prize from the County Council's Technical Education Committee, following an excellent performance in the City and Guilds examinations. William was initiated into Freemasonry in 1911 at St Ivo Lodge No 2684 but resigned from the Lodge in 1915, possibly because of his move to Balsham. No advertisements or other records have been found suggesting that William was also a photographer, but clear evidence of this interest, and of William's photographic skills, comes from the survival of the photographs shown below. These appear to date from around 1910-13. Perhaps William intended to move into professional photography after he retired from Elsworth School or to take up a supplementary occupation. The first is a cabinet photograph with a full length portrait of as young man with a floral button hole and watch chain. (does the buttonhole decoration suggest this could be a photograph relating to a wedding?) He is standing in what appears to be a naturally-lit outdoor studio space. Behind the sitter is a brick wall and part of the wall is covered by a painted back-cloth. The backcloth depicts a large window with vegetation around the edges. The design of the backcloth is unfocussed and a number of the plants have a spiky appearance. On the right hand side of the image the vegetation in the back-cloth blends in with real vegetation, possibly a vine, growing against the wall. The backcloth may have been hand painted by the photographer rather than being purchased commercially. The young man is standing on a floral pattern cloth or carpet. A rustic bent-wood chair is used as a studio prop, and part of a second chair can be seen lying on the floor. The subject is well framed and perfectly focussed. The photograph is mounted on a green cloth finished card mount with serrated and gilt edges printed in gilt "W.R.Billing Elsworth Cambridge". The reverse of the mount is blank cream card. The second cabinet photograph, purchased from the same source, shows the same young man, dressed in similar clothes, plus a flat cap, standing holding a new looking bicycle. The photograph appears to have been taken on the same occasion. This photograph is taken in a garden, with a wall and staked bushes in the background. The subject is standing on a lawn. The bicycle has pneumatic tyres, not solid rubber ones. The front brake is a spoon brake the rear a rod brake. The overall appearance of the cycle is relatively modern, so perhaps it dates from around 1910 at the earliest. This photograph is on a much cheaper plain glossy chocolate brown mount with no information on the photographer. The source of these two photographs believed that they came from one of two local Elsworth families, Braybrook or Poulter, and written in pencil on the reverse of the bicycle photograph is the name "Braybrook". There were at least four different Braybrook families living in Elsworth at this time. One possibility is that this is a portrait of Walter Braybrook b 1885. These two cabinet photographs have been described in detail in the hope that this may lead to more of William Billing's work being recognised, perhaps in albums from families in neighboring villages. William's great grandson, David Hurst, has kindly provided the next five photographs below from his family archive, and allowed us to include the images here. These are described below. Collectively these show that William was a very competent photographer. He had purchased at least two sets of personalised cabinet photograph mounts, a hand embossing press with his name and address and at least two other types of mounts. He also produced prints on postcard printed photo cards. He produced at least two personalised photographic family Christmas cards. Expenditure of this nature would be unusual for an amateur photographer and tends to suggest a real interest in entering the field of professional photography, either as a career change or as a supplementary occupation. References: England census 1861,1871,1881,1891,1901,1911, 1921. Cambridge Chronicle and Journal - Friday 11 November 1892 p4, Cambridge Chronicle and Journal - Friday 10 March 1893 p8, Cambridge Independent Press - Friday 20 July 1894, Cambridge Chronicle and Journal - Friday 01 November 1895 p4. Elsworth Chronicle Issue 4 May 1992 and Issue 5 Dec 1992. www.elsworthchronicle.org.uk. Example (i) Cabinet Photograph outdoor portrait of unknown young man, surname probably "Braybrook", mount from J.R.Billing, Elsworth, Cambs.
Example (iii) Part of Christmas card showing the Billing family, 15.7 cm x 11.1 cm, In manuscript on the lower left corner is written "With best wishes for a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year" No photographer's name but the backcloth and setting match the cabinet card at (i) above, which has the the name "W.R.Billing Elsworth Cambs" on the mount. Reproduced with the permission of David Hurst. Example (iv) Cabinet photograph, oval cameo self portrait of William Rogers Billing, on rectangular dark green embossed mount with scroll work; impressed and printed along the lower edge is "W.R.Billing Elsworth Cambridge" . Reproduced with the permission of David Hurst. Example (v) Outside portrait of the Billing family, postcard format, c. 1913 - William Rogers Billing is in the centre of the group - he is probably the photographer, taking the photograph with a timed shutter release. Reproduced with the permission of David Hurst. Example (vi) Cabinet photograph outdoor portrait c.1900 of William Ernest Howard Billing (1888-1984) taken by his father W.R.Billing, whose name is on the mount. This is a black and white scan of a dark green personalised mount identical to (i) above. Reproduced with the permission of David Hurst. Example (vii) Mounted part of a photographic Christmas card depicting William Ernest Howard Billing and his two sisters, with a cycle and cycle trailer. This appears to be a different cycle to that in example (ii) above. Handwritten onto the photograph is "With best wishes from all for a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year". The photograph 4.25 x 6.5 in is mounted on a rectangular dark green 10 x 8 ins, embossed with a floral design and impressed beneath the image "W.R.Billing Elsworth, Cambridge". This impressed text was probably made with a hand operated embossing press, but is not the same as the impressed text in example (iv) above as, in this case, the words "Elsworth, Cambridge" are on the same line and there is no flourish beneath "W.R.Billing". Reproduced with the permission of David Hurst. Name: BINGE, John Photography b: d: Name: BINGHAM, Mary Ann b:1858 Brampton, Huntingdonshire. d: Name: BIRD, Frank. Frank Bird (Photography) b:1936 Name: BIRD, Vernon b: d: Name: BIRKITT, Malcolm b: d: Name: BISHOP, John b: d: 1943 The photo below reproduced with permission from the Cambridgeshire Collection ref W65.5.KO.27409 shows in the background a traveling photographer's caravan at a village feast of some sort, but the sign board appears to be for A.G.Bishop. Does this mean that John Bishop was a second generation traveling photographer? Below this is what is believed to be an example of Bishop's work. A cabinet photograph of a young boy (or possibly girl) aged around three years standing on the seat of a dining chair, in a dress with frilled collar and short sleeves with a tartan sash round his waist and holding the back of the chair over which is draped a rug of some sort. The photograph has a black border to the mount and black edging. Does this have any meaning connected with mourning the sitter, or is it merely artistic? The reverse is a very faded pinkish geometric pattern. The photographers name alone "John Bishop" can be made out below the image on the rh side of the mount. In the centre of the pattern on the reverse is "John Bishop Art Photographer". There is no indication of the photographer's address anywhere on the mount. Difficult to date, but could be 1890s or 1900s. Below this is a cabinet photograph c.1895, reproduced with permission by the Cambridgeshire Collection (Cat c.65.5) On the face is printed "John Bishop Art Photographer Guilden Morden". The reverse is blank. References: Cambridgeshire Collection’s Carte de Visite Collection c.65.5 has a photograph from John Bishop. Cambridge Independent Press 10/9/1943.
Cabinet photograph c.1895 from the Cambridgeshire Collection. Photographers are listed alphabetically by surname on the following pages. 0 - 9 | Aa-Ak | Al-Ao | Ap-As | At-Az | Ba-Bak | Bal-Bam | Ban-Bd | Be-Bh | Bi-Bk | Bl-Bn | Bo-Bp | Br-Bt | Bu-Bz | Ca-Ck | Cl-Cn | Coa-Cor | Cos-Cz | Da-Dh | Di-Dq | Dr-Dz | Ea-Ec | Ed-Ez | Fa-Fh | Fi-Fz | Ga-Gd | Ge-Gq | Gr-Gz | Ha-Hd | He-Hh | Hi-Hn | Ho-Hz | Ia-Iz | Ja-Je | Jf-Jz | Ka-Kz | La-Ld | Le-Ln | Lo-Lz | Maa-Mad | Mae-Mar | Mas-Mb | Mc-Mi | Mj-Mz | Na-Nh | Ni-Nn | No-Nz | Oa-Oz | Pa-Pb | Pc-Ph | Pi-Po | Pr-Pz | Qa-Qz | Ra-Rd | Re-Rh | Ri-Rz | Sa-Sb | Sc-Sf | Sg-Sk | Sla-Slz | Sma-Ss | Sta-Std | Ste-Sth | Sti-Sy | Ta-Te | Tf-Ti | Tj-Tz | Ua-Uz | Va-Vz | Wa-We | Wf-Wh | Wi-Wz | XYZ |
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