Brett Payne's Victorian & Edwardian Photograph Collection Index to Victorian & Edwardian Photographers & Photographic Studios Home / Studio Index / England / Derbyshire / Derby / R.K. Peacock R.K. Peacock of Derby

Robert Kendal Peacock was born in 1844 at Kirkby Malham, Yorkshire, son of William and Mary Peacock. He moved south to Burnley as a young man, where he married Ruth Mitchell (1843-1873) in early 1867. However, she died in 1873, shortly after the birth of their first surviving child, and he remarried two years later, to Mary Elizabeth Johnstone (1845-1894) from Birmingham.

Between 1883 and 1890, Robert K. & Mary E. Peacock moved to Derby, where they lived in a house at 95 Osmaston Road. Peacock is shown operating from premises known as the "Spot Studio" at 30 St. Peter's Street, Derby in an 1891 directory (Kelly), and must have taken over this studio from W.E. Swift in about 1889-1890. Craven (1993) states that he preceded George Gibson & Sons, who were shown at this address in 1895 (Kelly & Bulmer). However, his proprietorship of the studio must only have lasted three or four years, because Robert died at Derby in late 1893, and his wife a year later. It is interesting to note that in the April 1891 census, their eldest daughter Ruth Gertrude was shown as a "retoucher in photography", while in 1901 census, another daughter Edith was working as a "photographer's assistant."

Type I Used c. 18 Description	Type II Used c. 18 Description	Type III Used c. 18 Description

ID #: rkpeacock01 Source: Collection of Barry Muir Artist: R.K. Peacock, of "Spot" Studio, Derby Negative No. - Size: Cabinet card (Mount 106.5 x 165.5 mm; Photo 102 x 142 mm) Card Type: Type I Date: Undated, possibly taken in late 1891 or early 1892 Notes: Design on reverse largely obscured by fragments of pasted paper. Supposed classical design. Subject: Sarah Ann Miller n�e Bilson (b. 1861), three-quarter length standing portrait. Notes from BM: My maternal grandmother Sarah Ann Bilson was born on 31 Mar 1869 in Derby and was married to William Thomas Miller at Holy Trinity Church, London Road, Derby on 5 Dec 1891. It is thought that this photo could have been taken shortly after her wedding. You will note that she is making a good show of "flashing the ring" and I noted from a book on dating old photographs that this was a usual practice to denote having just been married.

ID #: rkpeacock03 Source: Collection of Martin Jackson Artist: R.K. Peacock, of "Spot" Studio, Derby Negative No. - Size: Carte de visite Card Type: Possibly Type I Date: Undated, probably taken c.1889-1891 Notes: Subject: Sarah Ann Williamson (b. c.1871), three-quarter length standing portrait. Sarah was born in Wirksworth, and is included on Martin's web site.

ID #: rkpeacock02 Source: Collection of Martin Jackson Artist: R.K. Peacock, of "Spot" Studio, Derby Negative No. - Size: Carte de visite Card Type: Possibly Type II Date: Undated, probably taken c.1891-1893 Notes: Subject: Unidentified young woman, three-quarter length seated portrait. Notes by BP: The subject looks very similar to the subject of another photograph by R.K. Peacock (see above), probably taken slightly earlier, also submitted by Martin Jackson, and identified as Sarah Ann Williamson (c1871-).

ID #: rkpeacock04 Source: Collection of Claire Casey Artist: R.K. Peacock, of "Spot" Studio, Derby Negative No. - Size: Carte de visite Card Type: Type II Date: Undated, probably taken c.1891-1893 Notes: Subject: Unidentified young woman, three-quarter length standing portrait.

ID #: rkpeacock05 Source: Collection of Hilary Booth Artist: R.K. Peacock, of The Spot Studio, St Peter's St, Derby Negative No. - Size: Carte de visite Card Type: Type III Date: Undated, probably taken in early to mid-1893. Notes: Plain card mount with purple studio stamp on reverse. Subject: Group portrait of class at St James' Road Board School, Normanton, Derby, with Francis Richard Porter (1887-1894) seated second from the left, in the second row from the front. See article on Photo-Sleuth for further discussion.

Historical Directories from the University of Leicester
Indexed 1841- 1901 Census Images from Ancestry.com
Transcript of the GRO Index from FreeBMD
Adamson, Keith I.P. (1997) Professional Photographers in Derbyshire 1843 - 1914, The PhotoHistorian, No. 118 Supplement, September 1997, ISSN 0957-0209.
Anon (1887) Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Kelly & Co., London.
Anon (1891) Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland & Nottinghamshire, Kelly & Co., London.
Anon (1895) Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Kelly & Co. Limited, London.
Anon (1895) History, Topography, and Directory of Derbyshire, T. Bulmer & Co.
Craven, Maxwell (ed.) (1993) Keene's Derby, Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202.

Many thanks to Hilary Booth, Claire Casey, Martin Jackson and Barry Muir for kind contributions of images and information.