Brett Payne's Victorian & Edwardian
Home / Studio Index / England / Derbyshire / Ilkeston / William Seward
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William Seward was born at Tiverton, Devon in 1840, son of a builder and carpenter Richard Seward and his wife Elizabeth Ann. He grew up partly in London, where his family had moved around 1850. In 1865 he married Sarah Ann Kirk (daughter of a musician, Samuel Kirk, and his wife Sarah) at Nottingham, where they settled.
In early 1868, he was employed by John Burton & Sons as manager of their Nottingham branch studio, after the departure of Alfred Burton for New Zealand. The Burton & Sons studio closed in 1871, and William Seward appears to have operated on his own account from that date, although the first trade directory listings only show him working from the old Burton premises at Cobden Chambers, Market Street, Nottingham in 1874 and 1875.
From 1876 to 1878, Abraham Booth took over these premises, and in 1877 Seward was working from his home at 18 Lamartine Street. Then, between 1879 and 1881 he was back in the studio at Market Street, although from 1883 until 1889 he worked from new premises, at 5 Cobden Chambers in Pelham Street. Between then and April 1891, he and his wife moved to 6 Bromley Place, where he operated from home. Heathcote & Heathcote (undated) show him at this address in 1892 and 1893. The 1901 Census shows him living with his wife at 38 Hucknall Road, and still working as a photographer.
Seward and his wife appear not to have had any children. His brother-in-law, Sarah Ann's younger brother Samuel Kirk (1847-1925), was also a renowned Nottingham photographer.
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| Type I Used c. 1874-1875 Brown text on buff card Diagonal name, 3 fonts two ornate initial letters |
Type II Used c. 1876-1878 Brown text on white card Diagonal name, scrolls, stylised ivy and double line frame Marion Imp Paris |
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ID #: wseward01 Source: Collection of Brett Payne Artist: W. Seward, of Market Street, Nottingham & Bath Street, Ilkeston Negative No. - Size: Carte de visite (Mount 64.5 x 103 mm; Photo 58.5 x 95.5 mm) Card Type: Type I - Diagonal name, two ornate initial letters, 3 fonts. Date: Undated, probably taken c.1874-1875 Notes: Medium thickness card. Rounded corners. Marked "W. SEWARD (WS) NOTTINGHAM & ILKESTON" on front. Subject: Unidentified man, probably in his late 20s or 30s, half length seated portrait with leaning chair. |
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ID #: wseward02 Source: Collection of Brett Payne Artist: William Seward, of Lamartine Street, St Ann's Well Road, Nottingham Negative No. - Size: Carte de visite (Mount 64.5 x 103 mm; Photo 58.5 x 95.5 mm) Card Type: Type II - Diagonal name, scrolls, stylised ivy and double line frame. Date: Undated, probably taken c.1876-1878 Notes: Medium thickness card. Rounded corners. Marked "Wm. SEWARD NOTTINGHAM" on front. Subject: Unidentified man, probably in his late 20s or 30s, half length seated portrait with leaning chair. |
Anon (1887) Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Kelly & Co., London.
Adamson, Keith I.P. (1997) Professional Photographers in Derbyshire 1843 - 1914, The PhotoHistorian, No. 118 Supplement, September 1997, ISSN 0957-0209.
Heathcote, Bernard & Heathcote, Pauline (n.d.) Pioneers of Photography in Nottinghamshire, 1841-1910, Nottinghamshire County Council.
Heathcote, Bernard V. & Heathcote, Pauline F. (July 1979) Nottingham Photographic Studios in Victorian Times, The Royal Photographic Society Historical group.
Craven, Maxwell (ed.) (1993) Keene's Derby, Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202.
Historical Directories from the University of Leicester
Indexed 1841- 1901 Census Images from Ancestry.com
Partial Transcript of the GRO Index from FreeBMD
Many thanks to --- for kind contributions of images and information.