Photographer's Profile : Henry Davey of Exeter
Brett Payne's Victorian & Edwardian
Portrait Photo
Collection
Cardstock designs, arranged in approximate date order
Move your cursor over an image to read about the design
::::: Photographers' Profiles :::::
Type I (red), ornate initials, scroll, ivy and extra text, probably used in the late 1860s © Roger Vaughan
Type II (red on orange), diagonal name, ornate initials, 5 fonts, and extra text, probably used in the mid- to late 1870s © Brett Payne

Trade Directory entries

History, Gazetteer & Directory of Devon (1878-79)
- Davey Henry, 4 Iron bridge, and 135A Fore street, Exeter

Kelly's Directory of Devon (1889)
- Davey Henry, 4 Ironbridge, Exeter

Kelly's Directory of Devon & Cornwall (1893)
- Davey Henry, photographer, 3 & 4 Ironbridge, Exeter

Besley's Post Office Directory of Exeter & Suburbs (1894-95)
- Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's Exeter (also cycle agent at 3 Iron Bridge)

Post Office Directory of Exeter (1895-96)
- Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter (also cycle agent at 3 Iron Bridge)

Kelly's Directory of Devon & Cornwall (1902)
- Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, Exeter

Besley's Exeter Directory & Business Guide (1906-11)
- (1906) Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter
- (1909) Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter
- (1910) Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter
- (1912) Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter

Besleys' Directory of Exeter & Suburbs (1913)
- Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter

Besleys' Directory of Exeter & Suburbs (1914)
- Davey Henry, photographer, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter

Besleys' Directory of Exeter & Suburbs (1915)
- Davey Henry, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter

Besley's Directory of Exeter and Suburbs (1916-19)
- (1916) Davey Henry, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter
- (1917) Davey Henry, 4 Iron Bridge, St David's, Exeter

References

Historical Directories from the University of Leicester

Indexed 1871- 1901 Census Images from Ancestry.com

1881 Census Transcript & International Genealogical Index (IGI) from the LDS Church's web site FamilySearch

Partial Transcript of the GRO Index from FreeBMD

Photographers in Devon 1842-1939 : a brief directory for photograph collectors, by C.G. Scott, 1985, The PhotoHistorian Supplement No. 101, ISSN 0957-0209

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Roger Vaughan for kind contributions of images and information.
Brett Payne's Victorian & Edwardian Photo Collection Index to Photographic Artists Index to People identified in the Photographs
Henry Davey (b. 1838) of Exeter

Henry Davey was born at Tiverton, Devon in 1838, son of a carpenter/builder James Davey (1816-1903) and his wife Jane née Hill (c1809-1885).  The family moved to St Thomas, Exeter in the late 1840s.  Henry appears to never have married, and lived until at least 1917.

James DAVEY b. c.1816 Watchet SOM d. 1903 Exeter DEV m: 13 Feb 1837 Tiverton SOM Jane HILL b. c.1809 Spreyton DEV (dau of Samuel & Betty HILL) d. 1885 Exeter DEV
|- Elizabeth DAVEY b. 1837
|- Henry DAVEY b. 1838 Tiverton DEV
|- James Walter DAVEY b. 1842 Tiverton DEV m: 1869 Axbridge DEV Mary DAWTON b. c.1848 Newton Abbott DEV
|- Clermont W. DAVEY b. c.1869 Exeter DEV
|- Fanny DAVEY b. 1844 Tiverton DEV m: William George SMITH b. 1846 Creech St Michael SOM
|- Edith Fanny SMITH b. c.1868 Exeter DEV
|- Samuel DAVEY b. 1846 Cullompton DEV
|- Edwin DAVEY b. 1849 St Thomas Exeter DEV
|- Emma DAVEY b. 1850 St Thomas Exeter DEV
|- John DAVEY b. 1852 St Thomas Exeter DEV

Henry Davey probably started working as a photographer in the early 1860s.  By the late 1860s he had premises at 135a Fore Street Hill, Exeter - Scott (1985) shows an earliest date for him at this address as 1870 - and in April 1871 he was living at the studio.  An assistant Elizabeth Isaacs (c1816-1877), a widow, was also living there.  His younger brother John Davey (1852-), living with his parents
at 4 North Street (Iron Bridge), St David Exeter, was shown as a photographer in the census of that year, and was possibly assisting Henry.  In about 1877 Henry opened new premises at the family home at 4 North/Iron Bridge, which he initially called the Albert Studio.  It was located two doors from the Crown & Sceptre Hotel

In 1879, Henry had moved to 4 Iron Bridge,
and the Fore Street Hill premises appears to have been closed at this time.  The studio continued to operate at Iron Bridge until at least 1914.  His sister Emma Davey (1850-) and nephew Ernest Davey (c1873-) were both assisting in the shop in April 1891 and 1901, while a niece Mabel Davey (c1879-) was working there in 1901.  For a brief period from 1893 to 1895, Henry Davey also operated a cycle agency next door to the studio, at number 3 Iron Bridge.

If you have any further information about the various members of the Davey family of Tiverton & Exeter and their studios, or if you have any photographs by them, please email me.  I welcome contributions of images to increase the variety of coverage on this site.  If you are able to identify or provide further information of any of the subjects of the photographs shown below, I would also be very keen on hearing from you.

Click on an image to see a larger version, or on the  to see the reverse of the photo
© Roger Vaughan ID #: hdavey02
Provenance:
Collection of
Roger Vaughan
Artist:
Henry Davey, 135 Fore Street Hill, Exeter
Negative No. none
Size: Carte de visite
Card Type: Type I (red), ornate initials, scroll, ivy and extra text.
Date: Undated, but probably taken c. 1867-1871
Notes: Thin card. Square corners.
Subject: Unidentified young man, probably in his late teens. Full-length standing portrait.
© Brett Payne

ID #: hdavey01
Provenance:
Exeter Album Collection of Brett Payne
Artist: Henry Davey, Albert Studio, North Street and at 135 Fore Street Hill, Exeter
Negative No. 23815
Size: CDV Mount 63.5 x 105 mm; Photo 58 x 94.5 mm
Card Type: Type II (red on orange), diagonal name, ornate initials, 5 fonts, and extra text.
Date: Undated, but probably taken c. 1874-1878
Notes: Thick card. Rounded corners.  Red border on front.
Subject: Unidentified elderly woman, probably in her 70s or 80s. Three-quarter-length seated portrait, with book and posy basket.

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