New Website

Following the launch of The W W Winter Heritage Trust we have a new website and blog which you can find at http://heritagetrust.wwwinter.co.uk
Take a look at our new blog entries, programme of talks, and exhibitions.

The website for our contemporary family portrait studio serving Derby and the surrounding area is at http://www.wwwinter.co.uk

We look forward to welcoming you to our studio on Midland Road, Derby, to become part of W W Winter's substantial history!

Personal Histories III

Enchanting Histories

Tracing personal histories is certainly addictive. When you know someone has worked in the same place, sat at the same table, worn away the same steps, and made friendships in the same place as you, learning about these people of the past becomes enchanting.
Today's personal histories blog is about Minnie Cassandra Lovegrove.

Lovegrove Family Tree

Minnie was born in January 1894 to William Roland Lovegrove (b. 1865, Chaddesden, Derby - d. 1903), and Martha Emma Lovegrove, née Wibberly (b. 1871, d. April 1894).
Minnie lost her mother at only 4 months old, and was brought up by her grandparents, William and Emma Lovegrove, and her father William Roland Lovegrove.
William Lovegrove was a Railway Engine Driver in 1881, and his son William R. was a machine apprentice. They lived on Bloomfield Street (off London Road) in Derby. By 1891 William R. is listed as a soldier in the Royal Marine Light Infantry: Chatham Division (enlistment date 11 July 1882). He must have left in late 1891 or early 1892, as he joins the Midland Railway in Derby in May 1892 as a 'Caller-up'. We're not sure what this occupation is - there is some thought that it is another term for 'knocker-up', or perhaps a 'Caller-off/caller-out who "Loads and unloads trucks in a goods  depot; calls out particulars of incoming and outgoing consignments, from  labels on goods, to goods checkers in preparation for their removal  from platform or wagon by goods porters."

Shortly thereafter, in 1893, William R. marries Martha Wibberly, and Minnie is born the following year. Martha dies the same year and Minnie next shows up in the 1901 census.

Borough Isolation Hospital Derby

In the 1901 census, Minnie is listed (age 7) as a patient at the Borough Isolation Hospital. The address of the hospital is Mansfield Road, Derby. It was also known as Derby Borough Infectious Hospital, and the Derwent Hospital. The hospital no longer exists but was in the area now known as Hampshire Road. It was opened as an isolation Hospital in 1883, and closed in 1985-6, when housing was built n the land.

You can see photos of the hospital on Flickr and Picture the Past.

In the 1911 census Minnie and her grandmother are living as lodgers at 39 Grange Street Derby. By this time Minnie has lost her mother, father, and grandfather (who both died in 1903*). Later that year, aged 17, Minnie starts work at W. W. Winter Photographers.

We can see from the wages ledger that she takes over from Nellie Manning:

She clearly has bouts of poor health though as illness is listed under her wages on several occasions.

She eventually leaves in February 1914, although she must spend some time in a sanatorium in 1913 as she is referred to in some of the letters (as Cassie) that Bernard Sheppard wrote to William Henry King.
In a letter dated September 15 1913, Sheppard writes, "Miss Lovegrove is out of the sanatorium again. She came in on Friday evening. She looks a big rosy faced country lass compared with what she was before, and has gained about a stone in weight. Can't say when she will return here yet - got to see the medical advisers first."
Just three days later Sheppard writes in another letter to King, "Cassie had left the premises only half an hour before he came in. She had had a bad coughing bout the night before, and seemed a bit low spirited in consequence. Am afraid that poor kid 'aint going to be patched up to mean anything after all."
Sadly Minnie dies in 1914 aged just 20.

While Minnie doesn't have any offspring she does have a number of relatives via various aunts and uncles, and we are hoping to find a possible living relative through these.
Names we are looking for include: George E. Lovegrove; Harry R. Lovegrove; Velsha M. Lovegrove; Florence, Margaret and Jean Sands; and Doris M. Weston, who would all have been cousins of Minnie. Get in touch if you think you might be related!
Email: office@wwwinter.co.uk
Facebook: @WWWinterLtd


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*The Midland Railway ledgers show William R. has several periods of illness from January to May 1897, November 1902 to March 1903, and finally leaving in August 1903.

Personal Histories II

Families, Photos, and Tracing Links to Today

Staff Stories

One of the main early and long serving employees of W. W. Winter was Samuel Wain.

We have highlighted him in some of our social media posts as he was present in a number of staff studio portraits.

Staff group at W. W. Winter, Samuel Wain highlighted.

We were fortune to get a ‘hit’ from these posts as a gentleman got in touch to query whether or not we had identified the correct person. Intriguing!

What we hadn’t noticed was that there were in fact two Samuel Wains in the staff wages ledger - Mr Wain, and S. Wain.

The Mr Wain our gentleman was aware of, was his grandfather who was thought to have worked in a photographers. It turned out this Wain was our S. Wain or, Samuel William Wain, and we could trace him through the census to be the son of Mr Samuel Wain.

Samuel Wain, Framemaker

Mr Samuel Wain (1844-1915) was born to Samuel and Margaret Wain in Littleover, Derby. In the 1861 census, aged 17, Samuel is living with his parents on Devonshire Street in Derby and is already listed as a carver and gilder (i.e. a frame maker).

In the 1871 census we can find no trace of him but we can see his wife (Selina) and child (Samuel William) registered at his parents house in Stockbrook Street. While we can’t account for him, it is likely that he is simply temporarily at another address and his name has been transcribed incorrectly from the original records.

Samuel Wain (back) in the W. W. Winter workshop

Two Generations of Wains

By 1881 Samuel is recorded as living on Burton Road with Selina and son Samuel William who was born in 1869 on the Isle of Wight where his mother, Selina, was originally from. Samuel is listed in 1881 as carver, guilder, and confectioner. Later census data shows Selina as a shopkeeper, so perhaps they owned a sweet shop.

At this point Samuel William is listed as scholar. This changes by the 1891 census where the two generations are working together at W. W. Winter, Samuel as gilder, picture framer, carver; and Samuel William as photographic finisher. They are living at an address on Lower Park which does not appear to exist any more but looks like it was between Wellington Street and Carrington Street.

By 1901 Samuel is working part time at Winters and appears to also be self employed as a confectioner. This coincides with a downturn in the business (by 1911 it would appear that he is a full time gilder and picture framer at Winters, while his wife Selina is a shop keeper). Samuel William has left home by this time, but appears in a ledger of the Railway Employment Records with the details:

Name: Wain, Samuel William

Date of Birth: Jan 5th 1869

Station: Derby

Date / Appointments and Advances / Wages:

April 21 1896 - Employed as Photographic Assistant - £1 1s.

April 28 1899 - Advanced to - £1 4s.

Oct 31 1901 - Left without notice. Competency fair. Conduct good

We can't locate Samuel William or his family on the 1901 census, and it is possible that they travelled abroad, but he reappears in the 1911 census as a 'Warehouseman Core Shop', with his wife, Hannah, listed as a Net Mender. Four of their children are living with them at the time.

Sam Wain

We have been able to fill in a few more details of Samuel William Wain's live via his grandson, Known to his descendants as Sam Wain, Samuel William served in WWI as a stretcher bearer, falsifying his age to join up (he would have been 46 at the start of the war).

“He and a companion worked in no man’s land collecting injured troops and brought them back to field hospitals. One day they were overcome by mustard gas and taken prisoner by the Germans. My grandfather’s eyes were damaged by the gas, a German surgeon repaired them, and in due course he was returned to the UK.”

By this time Sam had fathered seven children, the youngest of whom was daughter Ethel. Ethel went on to marry Charles Weston, and it is their son Geoff who has so kindly supplied us with the details about Sam. Winter’s continued to feature in the Wain/Weston family as there are Winter’s portraits of Charles and Ethel taken in the 1930’s most likely by William Henry King.

Geoff tells us: “Unfortunately [Sam’s] eyesight quickly deteriorated [after the war] and he soon went blind in one eye and by 1930 had both his eyes removed. He became a member of St. Dunstan’s (now Blind Veterans UK) and in the late fifties became their oldest surviving member. He died at the grand old age of 96 in 1964.”

Followers of Winter’s heritage will recognise photos of Samuel Wain (above) and we were delighted to bring his great-grandson news of his heritage as well as being able to add to ours. Geoff was unaware of his great-grandfather, and indeed, three generations of Samuels!

Of even greater delight, Geoff has provided us with some images of Sam which we reproduce here with his kind permission. 

Samuel William Wain, carrying grandchild, Geoff, around 1946

Samuel William Wain, 1959

Samuel William Wain, oldest surviving member of St. Dunstans, pictured here in around 1962

Heritage Open Days 2017

Do you think you have a Winters relative? We will be displaying information about staff from around 1900 at our free tours as part of Heritage Open Days. We will be open on 7th, 8th & 9th September with tours at 10am and 12.30pm. Booking is essential due to limited space. Do come along! You can book now by phoning W. W. Winter Ltd on 01332 345224.

Personal Histories

Ancestry searches!

We are slowly working our way through an old ledger that lists Winter's staff names, wages, and addresses, from November 1889 to May 1902.
Many of the entries are quite vague - no first name or initials, no job titles. But, there are contact addresses which do seem to get updated yearly.
It is sometimes tricky to read the handwriting but once you get your eye in it is possible to match up local street names.

The entries are divided in to male employees and female employees, listed mostly from highest to lowest paid. Cross referencing the names, dates, and addresses with the census in 1881, 1891, and 1901 we are able to pinpoint some of the staff.

Miss Tomkinson

One of the entries that piqued our interest was for Tomkinson. Miss Tomkinson is listed in the ledger from the beginning (Nov 1889), and so may have been working at Winters before this date.
According to the ledger, Miss Tomkinson's address is listed as 52 Dashwood Street, Normanton Road, Derby. If we look at the census for 1891, however, whilst we find a Tomkinson family at his address, no one is listed in any occupation that would suggest working at Winters.

We do know that the census takes place in April and coincidentally Tomkinson is absent in the wages ledger at this point.

From 10th January to 2nd May Tomkinson is listed as ill, and then as away with typhoid fever! How can we find out which Tomkinson this is? Is there someone missing in the 1891 census? We can trace the family back to the 1881 census and therein we find, at the age of 8 years, Julia Tomkinson. Was Julia still alive in 1891? Now armed with a firstname and year if birth based on her age we can search again for Julia in 1891 - and here she is:

Julia Tomkinson is resident in the Lime Tree Lane Convalescent Home in Matlock. She is listed as a 'photographic assistant', born in Derby.

So what becomes of Julia? She returns to work in May 1891 and continues to be employed at W. W. Winter until the end of November 1896.

We thought, perhaps she had left to be married but out of curiosity we checked the marriage records and the 1901 census. It appears she remained single and dedicated the rest of her working life to nursing. In 1901 she is working  at Rainhill Asylum in Lancashire, and by 1911 she is Head Nurse at Boreatton Park in Shropshire.
Our access to the census ends here but death records show Julia lives to a good age of 78. We can only speculate but perhaps Julia's experience in the convalescent home inspired her future move to nursing!

Relations?

We are always looking for people who may be related to the Winter's extended family. Julia did not go on to have children but perhaps you are descended from one of her siblings (Laura, Albert, Bertha, Arthur)? Let us know!

In the Papers!

We have been excited and grateful to receive some local and national press coverage over the FORMAT17 Festival.
The Derby Telegraph have been supportive as always, as have BBC East Midlands. You can see one of our images on BBC Local Live with Gavin Bevis  (14:54, 7 Feb) , and there is a lovely piece on their news website covering the Derby Museums exhibition.

We have particularly had some lovely feedback from the Guardian article. A gentleman from France has been in touch to identify his Great Uncle from the Tickner photograph, and a lady from Spain has recognised her grandfather, Alf Goodere, from the newsagents.

We also spotted a new entry for W. W. Winter on Wikipedia quoting the Guardian article which was a typo. Winters was not in fact founded in 1865, and we can now confirm from a notice in the Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal that the original date for the business was 1852! This allows us to firmly place Winters as the longest continuously running photography studio in the world.
You can see a copy of the clipping from 31 March 1863 on our website

Last but not least, we came across this lovely blog post from 2014, 'My Great Aunt Norah's wartime diaries, 1938-1948' featuring a Winters portrait of a young woman - a great read for anyone interest in family history.

Researching Antiques

What is it?

Sometimes the first question we have to ask when we uncover something new in the building is, 'What is it?'

Some designs haven't changed much over the years and so it is easy to recognise an old tripod or a film canister. Other times it's not as obvious.
This is our latest find:

We think we have it the right way up as there are castors still attached on one side. You can see the other set of castors on the floor which are made of iron.

Here it is close up:

E. & H. T. Anthony & Co.
Embossed on the iron is E. & H. T. Anthony & Co. / New York. The company ran from 1862 to 1902 when it merged with the Scovill and Adams Company and became Ansco. E. & H. T. Anthony & Company was the largest supplier and distributors of photographic supplies in the United States during the 19th century (see Wikipedia).
You can see a catalogue of their equipment online here but nothing matches up to the piece above.

Our best guess is an easel probably used for enlarging prints by mural printing. We're not, however, entirely confident in this and would love some help in identifying its use.
Some detailed images might help!

The hooks running down the edges are locked in place and there is a bracket on top of each side. We are assuming the sides would be joined together. There are cogs and teeth and a sort of keyhole cover too:

 

If you have any ideas please share them. It would be a great restoration project for us.

Thank you!

Comment or email us on office@wwwinter.co.uk

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The Iloca Stereogram

Look what we found this week!
A new old camera in our collection - an Iloca Stereo-Rapid.
Iloca produced cameras between 1948 and 1960 and the Stereo-Rapid (also known as Stereograms) came around from 1955.

On the front of the camera you can see 3D engraved into the metal. These wonderful cameras produced two images simultaneously which when viewed together created a 3D effect. The camera was used at Winters during weddings especially for the 'confetti shot'.
We haven't come across any stereoscopic prints yet but there is a current trend to turn stereoscopic images in to GIF files (images that move, like a short video). Here is a great example we found on mentalfloss.com

Is shows you the 3D effect achieved from having the same image taken from fractionally different angles via the two seperate lenses on the camera.

We also found a copy of the manual online, so know we have relearned how to use it we might just have to have a go! It will be on display with our other cameras for Heritage Open Days 2016.

Skilled Artworkers

Studio and Gallery

Walter William Winter advertised himself as as Artist in Photography. We are so used to being able to snap a photo on a camera or phone that we forget the artistry involved in producing a beautiful portrait. Winter came from a family of artists so it was natural for him to see photography as an art form. As such he fashioned his studio on Midland Road as a gallery including photography, landscape paintings and decorated ceramics. You can see the artworks on display in early photographs of the studio:

Art worker's Equipment

Photographs were originally retouched (altered and improved) directly on to the glass negative. Pencil marks would be used to smooth out a sitters skin, lightening under the eyes and contouring cheeks. To do this, art workers would use a range of pencils like the ones below.

This set was produced by the art supplies company Rowney & Co Ltd, who merged with Daler in 1983 to form Daler-Rowney.

Photographs could also be hand tinted prior to the development of colour printing. Usually printed in sepia, watercolour paints were then hand painted onto the photograph to produce a gently coloured image. At Winters both pans and tubes were used:

It is not known whether ceramics were hand painted at the studios. Winter would have seen the opening of Royal Crown Derby at its Osmaston Road site in 1877. However, we do have a gorgeous set of ceramic paints in the Winters collection dating from between 1859 and 1897.

The colour swatch names have been written in by hand.

All these lovely items will be on display at our open days and for private tours. You can keep up to date with our heriateg events by following Freinds of Winters on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofWinters/

Historical Photos for the Home

As we get more and more interest in the historical images owned by Winters we have decided to make some of the images available to buy online via our website. We are just dipping our toe in the water at the moment but hope to expand the collection if there is the demand.

We have chosen some of our favourite; beautiful images in themselves, and places that will resonate with Derby locals.

Longing for lazy days in the sunshine we have selected Regatta on the River Derwent dated 1907. There is a lovely idylic quality to the image with the soft haze and ripples on the river.

For those with Derby connections, we had to include Iron Gate Derby and the iconic view up the hill to the Cathedral with its 16th century tower.

And my personal favourite, The Hollow, Littleover. Remember when we used to have real snow and everything felt peaceful?

We hope these images make you feel as magical as they do for us!

We are offering them for sale fully framed with a crystal (almost invisible) laminate finish so you wont have to worry about reflections of glass. P&P is included for UK mainland but just contact us if you would like shipping further afield!

A Brief History of....

We are delighted to announce that the Derby Evening Telegraph have agreed to publish 'A Brief History of Winters' highlighting its place in the history and heritage of Derby City.
Below are a few excerpts to whet your appetite!

Midland Road, Derby

"By 1867, a purpose-built studio and premises had been constructed on the opposite side of Midland Road, designed by the Derby architect, Henry Isaac Stevens. The new premises had a row of huge, north-facing and church-like windows, allowing maximum diffused daylight to illuminate the subjects in the studio. [...] A very early central heating system was installed and although the coal-fired boiler has been removed, the huge radiators are still a feature in the building."

Industrial History

"In 1896, William Henry King joined the company as a photographic assistant, operator and re-toucher and was, in effect, Winter’s apprentice, learning all aspects of the business. A very scientific mind enabled William King to work with Winter on pioneering the use of flash photography and, at a later date, to install carbon-arc lighting adapted from the mining engineering company, Davis of Derby and powered by a generator on the premises, which was truly revolutionary for its time."

 Patronized by His Majesty

"Winter’s growing reputation for artistic photography and especially portraiture did not go un-noticed in Derbyshire and there were many famous visitors. The most prestigious patron was King Edward VII, who requested Winter to photograph him and his party at Chatsworth and the magnificent gilt-framed portrait is still on display at Winters."

Winter also photographed Edward's wife Queen Alexandra and the studio became known as 'The Alexandra Rooms'.

Winters Collection of Derby

Books about W. W. Winter Photographers

We have noticed that there are a couple of bargain price copies of The Winters Collection of Derby (Volume 1) available from Amazon at the moment. It is really worth investing in a copy if you are interested in photographic history and/or the history of Derby.

In case you need convincing we have put together a mini montage of the 120+ images from the book. Enjoy!

James Bond Cameras

Miniature Cameras

Okay, so not actually James Bond's cameras but take a look at the fantastic miniature 'spy' cameras in the Winters / Cameron collection!

V P Twin Camera

The largest of the cameras above is the VP Twin camera, origianlly launched in 1935 and relaunched in 1952. It was manufactured by W. Elliott Ltd in Birmingham, UK; and its body is made of Bakelite. It took 127 film producing sixteen 5/8" x 1¼" exposures. Small enough to fit in a top pocket!
The next size up on the image above, is the Sida Geesellschaft fur photographische Apparate m.b.H., Berlin, Germany. It shot 25x25mm images onto paper-backed 32mm "Sida" rollfilm.

'Super Snaps' Flicker

The Supasnaps Flicker was a 6cm miniature camera dating from the 1980's. Made of injection moulded
polystyrene that took a 110 cartridge film it was suitable for keeping on a keyring and was part of the modern generation of pocket cameras that took over from subminiatures.

Mycro IIIA

We've saved the best 'til last; The Mycro IIIA subminiature was last in the Mycro line and was produced in Japan for export only. You can see just how small it was here against a 50 pence piece. It used 17.5mm paper backed rollfilm with early versions producing 10×14mm exposures and later ones producing a sqiare 14×14mm exposure. The camera came with a leather case, and has a cable release attachment.

We think everyone should have one!

Camera Museum

Historical Camera Collection

As part of its working history, Winters has accumulated a collection of field and studio cameras which we display to visitors during open days and private tours. Alongside these we are now delighted to host 'The Cameron Collection'.

The Cameron Collection

On loan from Geoff and Hazel Blackwell 'The Cameron Collection' was established and developed by Frank

Cameron, a Nottingham amateur photographer who used the cameras to illustrate talks to youth groups about photography. Following his death in 2009 the collection was taken over by Jackie Blackwell, his great niece who had worked in the industry for a number of years. The collection has recently been maintained by Jackie's parents Geoff (Treasurer of the Royal Photographic Society) and Hazel Blackwell and enhanced by purchases and donations.
Additions to the collection have been received from Bromley House, Nottingham, from items surplus to their own needs. Bromley House contained the first professional photographic studio in the East Midlands from 1841.
The collection also includes a number of direct donations from photographers in the Derby area.

The Development of Camera Technology

Together the exhibitions showcase the development of camera technology from the earliest long exposure studio cameras to smaller more mobile plate cameras, and upto and including the invention of digital photography. We will be blogging here about some of the examples on display here at W. W. Winter.

Poloroid

The Polaroid 320 Land Camera was manufactured from 1969-1971. It featured folding bellows, automatic exposure (with an external 'Electric Eye' lightmeter beside the lens), and was desinged for the Polaroid 100-series Packfilm.

Penti

The Pentacon Penti was a stylish little camera introduced in 1959 by Welta, a camera maker based in Freital near Dresden in East Germany. Using a 35mm film it takes half frame images (18x24mm). On the right hand side image you can see the film advance rod. Instead of winding the film on, pressing the rod would wind on, and then pop out again as the shutter was released.

Next blog coming soon... miniature camera in the Cameron Collection!

Derby Operatic Company

Derby Heritage

We had another lovely few Heritage Open Days at the beginning of September and were lucky enough again to receive more Winter's original photographs from visitors, one of whom brought in a copy of a Derby Opera Company souvenir programme.

Commercial Photography

Hubert remembers doing regular work for Derby Theatre and Derby Operatic Company, and we were delighted to flick through the pages of the programme for the production of Glamorous Night by Ivor Novello.
You can see from the souvenir programme that the Derby Opera Company was established in 1891, and in the year of the production (1955) was performing at Derby Hippodrome Theatre.

It includes some fantastic portrait photography of the company by Hubert King who rembers cast members coming to the studio on a Sunday morning, ready in their costumes and make up.

I particularly like the portait of Company President, R. P. Williamson, with his fabulous pipe!

The progamme includes a number of adverts and it's good to see a couple of Winter's fellow Derby icons; Foulds, and Bennets.

Winter's still specilaises in portraiture - do come in for a new one or to share your old Winter's photos!

Heritage Tours in September

National Heritage Open Days 2015
Visit us 10-12 September for a free tour!
Full details in the HOD website