| Barrowclough
(sometimes
written incorrectly as Barraclough) Wright Bentley was born around 1829
in Accrington, Lancashire, the son of Richard Bentley, a bootmaker.
Between
November 1851
and March 1852, Bentley was making daguerreotype portraits in
Stockport,
Cheshire. By July the following year, Bentley had settled in
Derbyshire
and established what became the first permanent studio in Buxton, at
Market
Place [Buxton Herald,
23 July 1853 , page 2 col. 2 ]. His trade directory entries
first appeared in 1854, but later advertisements claimed that he had
started in 1850. Adamson (1997) states, "In the absence of other
contenders this would make him the third photographer in Derbyshire and
the first to establish a permanent studio."
A
daguerreotype submitted by Derek Smith (see below) has been identified
as being of John Lomas of Bakewell, who died on 26 June 1853.
Family members state that prior to being damaged successively by damp
and in a robbery, the date of 1851 was legible on the book being held
by the subject, and they believe that the photo was taken at that
time. If this is the case, then this may be one of the
earliest
surviving photographs taken in Derbyshire.
In about 1856
Bentley
moved
his studio to number 6 The Quadrant in Buxton. B.W. Bentley
had a
branch studio at the Royal Exchange Arcade in Manchester from around
1861
to1865, and moved these operations to 4(a) St. Anne's Square before
1868.
The branch studio in St Ann's Square remained in business from 1868
until
at least 1874. In
1865,
Bentley, together with an associate William
H. Bailey, filed a
patent
for finishing and embossing photographs.
On 31 July
1869, Bentley
married Emma Hadfield (born c1839 in Manchester), with whom he had
three
sons and two daughters, although two sons died in infancy.
Robert
Hadfield
Bentley (1872-1902) died as a young man, and did not marry.
B.W. Bentley
opened
additional premises at 4 Eagle Parade in Buxton by 1870 (Harrod),
although
they appear to have closed by 1881. He was working from the
studio
at The Quadrant until his death on 24th June 1886. His wife
continued
the business, with her elder daughter Mary working as an assistant,
until
she died in about May 1891.
A photo of
buildings
in Buxton by J.D. Board & B.W. Bentley, dated c. 1880, is
included
on the Picture the
Past -
North
east Midland Photographic Record
web site. On the same site
is
a photo by Bentley, dated at "pre-1875", of Terrace Road,
Buxton.
Another photo inscribed "The Opening of the Partington Convalescent
Home"
is dated fairly dubiously at 1908.
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