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| William
Brentnall
Pearson was born in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, and baptised as William
Brentnall on 28 January 1827, eldest son of William Brentnall and Mary
Pearson.
He married Mary Ann Merriman (1828-1878) at Derby in 1849, and by 1851
they were living at Court 7, Bridge Gate, Derby St Alkmund, where he
was working as a chimney sweep. It is interesting that he had
started to use his mother's surname by this time. According to Adamson (1997), William Pearson started working as a photographer from 17 St. Peter's Church Yard in 1858. The 1861 census shows him as both chimney sweep and photographic artist. Electoral registers and census records show this address variously as 14, 17 or 18 St. Peter's churchyard. He continued living and working at this location until about 1871. By late 1873 or 1874, he had moved to 26½ (or 25½) St. Peter's Street, at the back of the studio of J. Roberts (at No. 26), while the electoral registers show his residence at 1 Court, 3 St Peter's Street until 1878. Mary Ann Pearson died in 1878, and William remarried two years later, to Mary Ann Walker of Nottingham. He died in late 1885. |
| Portfolio |
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Unidentified
woman and young boy
by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken in the mid-1860s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & collection of Brett Payne Nothing further is known about this photograph |
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Unidentified
woman probably taken at the studio of William Pearson, of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken in the mid-1860s Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 65.5 x 103.5 mm Photo 58.5 x 96.5 Image © & courtesy of Nigel Aspdin Notes: Although not marked as by Pearson, this cdv was in the same album as the one by Pearson of a younger woman immediately below this one. It has the same curtain and chair as a portrait of the young woman (see below), and a similar, although not identical, carpet. The painted backdrop is probably the same one seen in an earlier, unrelated, portrait (see above). The same table, tablecloth, vase of flowers, carpet, painted backdrop and curtain appear in another photograph of a child from the same album (see below). |
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Unidentified
young woman by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken in the mid-1860s Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 62 x 97 mm (trimmed at base) Photo 56 x 93.5 Image © & courtesy of Nigel Aspdin Notes: |
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Unidentified
woman by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken in the mid-1860s Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 64 x 105.5 mm Photo 58 x 96.5 Image © & courtesy of Nigel Aspdin Notes: |
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Unidentified
couple by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken in the mid- to late 1860s Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 65 x 103.5 mm Photo 58.5 x 96 Image © & courtesy of Nigel Aspdin Notes: |
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Unidentified
girl by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken in the mid-1860s Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 62 x 105.5 mm Photo 57 x 95.5 Image © & courtesy of Nigel Aspdin Notes: |
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Unidentified
woman and child
by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken around 1868-1870 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Cynthia Maddock Notes |
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Unidentified
man
by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken around 1868-1870 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Christine Hibbert Nothing further is known about this photograph |
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Unidentified
man with a beard
by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken in the early to mid-1870s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Cynthia Maddock Notes |
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Unidentified
older woman
by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken around 1870-1873 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Cynthia Maddock Notes |
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Unidentified
man with beard
by Pearson of 17 St. Peter's Church Yard, Derby, Undated, but probably taken around 1870-1873 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Cynthia Maddock Notes |
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| References
Images provided by Nigel Aspdin, Cynthia Maddock, Brett Payne and Christine Hibbert FreeBMD International Genealogical Index - online from the LDS church 1841-1901 UK Census - online from Ancestry.com Derby Electoral Registers 1874-1885 Wright C.N. (1874) Directory of South Derbyshire, Third Edition, October 1874, Derby. Anon (1881) 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. Courtesy of John Bradley. Craven, Maxwell (ed.) (1993) Keene's Derby, Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202. - by kind courtesy of Sonia Addis-Smith |
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