Harry Bartholomew - village photographer
For over 40 years, Harry Bartholomew plied his trade as a photographer from the house now numbered 35 on The High Street. He travelled extensively all over the county to find customers, and some of his photographic work has survived to this very day. Born in New Bradwell in 1862 to Henry Andrew Bartholomew and Jane Elizabeth Kemp. His father was a master blacksmith and in the fulness of time Harry would likely have expected to follow in his footsteps, but in 1871 Henry tragically passed away when Harry was just 9. This left his widow with 3 children to raise; Harry, his younger brother Albert and a sister Elizabeth, who was just 4.
At the time of Henry’s death, the family were living in the village of Haversham; Henry was buried there on April 25th, but what happened to his family in the immediate aftermath of his death is unknown. However, in 1881 we find 19 year old Harry in Brixton, London, working as an assistant grocer. Why he went to London, and how and when he made the leap from grocer to photographer is an intriguing mystery, but how he came to be based in Great Linford is much easier to explain.
At the time of Henry’s death, the family were living in the village of Haversham; Henry was buried there on April 25th, but what happened to his family in the immediate aftermath of his death is unknown. However, in 1881 we find 19 year old Harry in Brixton, London, working as an assistant grocer. Why he went to London, and how and when he made the leap from grocer to photographer is an intriguing mystery, but how he came to be based in Great Linford is much easier to explain.
His mother Elizabeth had been born in Great Linford, and after the death of her husband had remarried. Her new husband was David Walters, also of Great Linford, and they had wed at St Andrew’s on September 25th, 1879. On the 1881 census, we find Jane living in the village with her new husband and her children Albert and Elizabeth. She would be joined there sometime afterwards by Harry, as by the time of the 1891 census we find him established in his step-father’s household as a photographer, though his siblings had since departed; Alfred to marry and raise a family of his own in the village, and Elizabeth to become a housemaid in a large house in Somerset.
The life of a photographer
It seems Harry had not been long in business at Great Linford, as 1891 is the first year we find him listed in a Trade Directory for the village. Trade Directories were printed volumes issued periodically by various companies, which not only listed inhabitants and their trades, but also sometimes provided an eclectic gazetteer of additional information, including notable burials, the name of the school master, the basic geology of the local soil and what charities were in operation. There seems to be no Trade Directory listing for Harry anywhere else prior to this, which suggests he had started his photography business in Great Linford, rather than relocating it from somewhere else. We can push back the date for the start of his business a little further to 1890, as the Northampton Mercury newspaper of October 3rd, reported on a “Comic Cricket Match” played in Great Linford, in which the participants donned humorous costumes and marched through the village accompanied by a band. This must have been a sight to behold, and Harry reportedly took a photograph of the players, but regretfully newspapers had not yet embraced photography, so it was not reproduced and nor has a copy since come to light.
Though he was named Harry at birth, it should be observed that he most often went professionally by the name Henry, and indeed ran his business under that name, which with apologies to any Harry’s reading this, perhaps sounded a little posher to his clientele. However, to avoid confusion we will stick with Harry for the remainder of this history.
Thanks to an article carried in the June 21st, 1968 edition of The Wolverton Express Newspaper, we know a little more of Harry’s life as a photographer. The article came about because a Great Linford resident named Ralph Hall of Wood Farm had walked into the newspaper office bearing with him several boxes of glass photographic plates formally belonging to Harry. The article provides the fascinating detail that Harry had initially travelled on his photographic assignments by horse and trap with, “his cumbersome plate cameras and tripods”, but had later progressed to using a belt-driven motorcycle.
When Harry started out, he would have been utilising what was known as the dry plate process of photography, in which a negative image was captured on a glass plate. This had largely superseded the similar wet plate collodion process developed in the 1850s, which had required the photographer to develop his pictures on the spot, meaning that he had to travel with a portable dark room. Dry plate photography that took off in the 1870s allowed the photographer to return at his leisure to his dark room and develop pictures his pictures there. The article of 1968 provides the following fascinating detail of Harry’s technique. “The plates were processed in his darkroom at the rear of his home in Great Linford, High Street. Then they were set out in frames in the sunlight to make the familiar brown prints.” This is not a strictly accurate description, as the process required first that the glass plate be developed in a dark room, then the plate was put in contact with a sheet of sensitive paper in a wooden frame. It was this paper that was exposed to sunlight to create a positive print from the negative glass plate. The brown colour of the print was the result of a final toning process, without which the picture was prone to have a yellow hue. The process was known as "printing out".
The 1910 tax map for the village does indeed show a building (now demolished) to the rear of number 35 on The High Street in the occupancy of Harry Bartholomew. It seems reasonable to speculate that this was his dark room.
Thanks to an article carried in the June 21st, 1968 edition of The Wolverton Express Newspaper, we know a little more of Harry’s life as a photographer. The article came about because a Great Linford resident named Ralph Hall of Wood Farm had walked into the newspaper office bearing with him several boxes of glass photographic plates formally belonging to Harry. The article provides the fascinating detail that Harry had initially travelled on his photographic assignments by horse and trap with, “his cumbersome plate cameras and tripods”, but had later progressed to using a belt-driven motorcycle.
When Harry started out, he would have been utilising what was known as the dry plate process of photography, in which a negative image was captured on a glass plate. This had largely superseded the similar wet plate collodion process developed in the 1850s, which had required the photographer to develop his pictures on the spot, meaning that he had to travel with a portable dark room. Dry plate photography that took off in the 1870s allowed the photographer to return at his leisure to his dark room and develop pictures his pictures there. The article of 1968 provides the following fascinating detail of Harry’s technique. “The plates were processed in his darkroom at the rear of his home in Great Linford, High Street. Then they were set out in frames in the sunlight to make the familiar brown prints.” This is not a strictly accurate description, as the process required first that the glass plate be developed in a dark room, then the plate was put in contact with a sheet of sensitive paper in a wooden frame. It was this paper that was exposed to sunlight to create a positive print from the negative glass plate. The brown colour of the print was the result of a final toning process, without which the picture was prone to have a yellow hue. The process was known as "printing out".
The 1910 tax map for the village does indeed show a building (now demolished) to the rear of number 35 on The High Street in the occupancy of Harry Bartholomew. It seems reasonable to speculate that this was his dark room.
A successful business
From the early 1890s, Harry makes regular appearances in newspaper stories, generally mentioned as the photographer at various social, sporting and official events. He seemed seldom to advertise outside of Trade Directories, and indeed the only newspaper advertisement bearing his name that can be found relates to a cabinet photo of a champion runner named Charles Pearce (known as Little Charlie), copies of which he was selling for 6d each in 1891; larger photographs to include Pearce’s collection of trophies retailed at 1 shilling. Pearce was a resident of Wolverton, and something of a sporting celebrity, having held the record for the 4 mile grass race. It seems photographs of sporting personalities were popularly collected.
Harry was almost a lifelong bachelor, but in 1929, at the age of 67 he married Ellen Tryphena Hathaway, 57 years of age. Alas it was to be a short marriage, as Harry passed away in 1934, at the age of 72. Frustratingly, the one thing we do not have is a photograph of Harry himself, and though one might imagine his passing would rate an obituary in a local newspaper, sadly no such notice can be found. His photographs are however a fitting legacy.
Harry was almost a lifelong bachelor, but in 1929, at the age of 67 he married Ellen Tryphena Hathaway, 57 years of age. Alas it was to be a short marriage, as Harry passed away in 1934, at the age of 72. Frustratingly, the one thing we do not have is a photograph of Harry himself, and though one might imagine his passing would rate an obituary in a local newspaper, sadly no such notice can be found. His photographs are however a fitting legacy.