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Glamorgan Photographers

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The Index is a list of over 1,600 references to commercial photographers working in the county of Glamorgan from the early days in the 1850s up to about 1930.

The Index is based on the following sources -

  • 1.      Extracts from trade directories
  • 2.      The 1881 census (LDS CDs)
  • 3.      Reports from members of the Glamorgan Rootsweb list based on photographs in their personal collections or in some cases knowledge of photographers in their own family.

Some of these sources are obviously more useful than others.  A surprising number of people listed as photographers in the 1881 census are otherwise unknown and may well have been employees who never traded under their own names. Most reports from listers giving dates based on family tradition or the general style of an image, costume etc., have in fact turned out to be remarkably accurate.

It should be stressed that the work is not complete, particularly for the period during and after World War I. Any additions, corrections, offers of help ... contact Peter Meazey, project coordinator, via the Glamorgan mailing list.

HOW TO SEARCH

Data has been listed under the following headings :

  • A        Name    Supposed typos have been standardised, variant forms are given in column B. Trade names ("Globe Studio") are listed under A with a reference to the photographer's name as the main entry.
  • B        First name    Includes title etc, in the form found in the source, name or initials, & sons, & co etc.
  • C        Street number
  • D        Street name   There seem to be some discrepancies, notably a mixture of St and Rd which do not necessarily mean anything. Local knowledge is the only solution for 88 High St, Pontmorlais, Merthyr Tydfil.
  • E        Town    A few off-limit entries have been included where relevant (Newport MON)
  • F        Date limits    Including some estimates and unconfirmed reports. These should not be taken as definitive.
  • G        Source date
  • H        Directory    Titles of trade directories as cited by informants.
  • I         Additional information    Odds & sods, cross-references
  • J         Initials of informant     JB is John Ball, SB is Sandy Barrie, and a huge thank you to both of them. And to all the others, too numerous to mention.

The most obvious search combination is A plus G, giving an alphabetical list by order of date.
There are other fascinating possibilities. You may wish to sort by E (Town) plus G (Date) to explore local commercial history (who was the first photographer in Barry ?).

Sorting by D (Street), C (Number) and G (Date) will give the history of Bute Street, well worth a look, or of particular premises. Some studios remained in operation for several decades despite numerous changes of proprietor.

Click here to access the index which is a csv file (114kb) which can be downloaded into Excel or Word etc for personal research purposes only.

© 2003. The copyright in this database remains with its compilers, namely Peter Meazey and project colleagues

[Last Updated : 6 December 2003 - Gareth Hicks]