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| Clement
Rogers was born at Louth, Lincolnshire in about 1836, the only son of a
schoolmaster, Alexander Tallents Rogers (1804-1881) and his wife
Sarah.
He married Jessy Jane
Ranshaw at Louth in 1868. As a young man, he trained
as an architect, but by
April
1871, he was
living at 60 Green Lane, Derby and working as a photographer. A notice
in The Derby Mercury of 12
January 1870 states that "the
partnership ... of Francisco Sargent and Clement Rogers, in the trade,
business or profession of artists, arried on at Derby ... Bath ...
Bristol, and elsewhere, under the firm of Messieurs. Sargent and
Rogers, was this day dissolved by mutual consent. And that in
future the business will be carried on by the said Francisco Sargent,
on his separate account." On 20 November 1872, Rogers advertised in The Derby Mercury, stating that the studio, situated at Victoria Chambers, 36 Victoria street, would be temporarily closed for portraiture, due to unfavourable weather, until Monday December 2nd, although "orders for printing and other work will be attended to as usual during the interval." On 17 December 1873, another advert in the same newspaper publicised Clement Rogers' "New Carte de Visite Christmas and New Year's Card, a novelty ...." An article in the same edition states, "A very elegant form of vignette carte-de-visite, suited for sending out as Christma cards, has been submitted to us by Mr. Clement Rogers ... The designs are very pretty, and the 'idea' strikes us as a good one." Wright's 1874 trade directory entry shows Clement Rogers still operating from premises at Victoria Chambers, Victoria Street. On 23 December 1874, however, J.W. Price inserted the following advertisement in The Derby Mercury: "Mr. J.W. Price, of the "Babington" Photographic Studio, Derby, begs to announce that he has succeeded to the business carried on by Mr. Clement Rogers, as a photographer, at the Victoria Chambers, Victoria-street, Derby, and will continue it as heretofore, as soon as the alterations now in progress at the studio are completed, and trusts by careful attention to the requirements of his patrons, to merit a continuance of the favours bestowed upon his predecessor. As Mr. J.W.P. also retains the negatives taken by Mr. Rogers, re-orders off the same, addressed to him at the Victoria Chambers will have prompt attention." This suggests that Price purchased both studio and negative collection from Rogers some time in late 1874. Other photographers to use these premises include possibly H.J. Watson (1891-1904) and Layton & Lamb (1898). Further information provided by David Simkin shows that Clement Rogers moved his operations to St. Leonards-on-Sea, a seaside resort and neighbouring town to Hastings, on the Sussex coast, some time prior to May 1876. It was then that Pike & Ivimy's Annual Hastings & St Leonards Directory for 1876 was compiled, showing "Clement Rogers, Photographer, 24 Grand Parade, St. Leonards". In late 1877, when the Sussex Post Office Directory for 1878 was compiled, he was still working from the studio at 24 Grand Parade, St. Leonards. On 21 September 1878 a notice appeared in the Hastings & St Leonards Times which advertised "J F BENSON (Late Clement Rogers) PRIVATE PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIO, 24 Grand Parade, St Leonards on Sea", suggesting that Clement Rogers had by that time ceased operating. Certainly by 1881, Clement Rogers was living in Penge, Surrey, and working as a schoolmaster, which he continued to do until his death in 1899. |
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W. Naylor by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby, Undated, but probably taken c. 1870-1873 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Derby Local Studies Library Notes: Inscribed on the reverse, "W. Naylor, Cromford(?) Bank." |
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Unidentified elderly man by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby Undated, but probably taken c. 1871-1873 Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 60.5 x 103 Photo 58.5 x 91.5 mm Image © & collection of Brett Payne Notes |
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Unidentified
young lady, by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby, Dated 1872 on the reverse Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin Notes by David Simkin: I am less certain about the authenticity of this inscription than for the one shown below, but I still believe this image dates from the early 1870s. The characteristics described below apply to this photo too - pale vignetted image, hairstyle etc. The image is not that different from photographs I have that can be definitely dated from the period 1870-1872. |
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Rev.
Thomas
Gascoigne (1814-1883) by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby, Undated, but probably taken c. 1872-1873 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Derby Local Studies Library Notes: Inscribed on the reverse, "Rev. T. Gascoigne." Thomas Gascoigne was born in 1814 at Hemsworth, near Wakefield, Yorkshire, son of Thomas Gascoigne senior and Mary Fletcher. He was educated at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, graduating with a B.A. in 1844, and being ordained deacon at Lincoln the same year. After a spell as curate of Carlton (Lincs) he served as Assistant Master at Derby Grammar School from 1846 to 1848, and then master of a school at Spondon, and a lecturer at St. Peter's, Nottingham. He was also vicar of several places in Suffolk. At the time that this portrait was taken, he appears to have been described as a "clergyman (Church of England) without cure of souls," but also owned a farm in Spondon. He died in 1883, at the age of 69. (see also portrait by Winter) |
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Thomas
Wedgwood Walton (1790-1875) by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby, Dated 1872 on the reverse Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Derby Local Studies Library Notes: Inscribed on the reverse, "Thos. Wedgwood Walton, Derby, Taken 1872, He being 82 years of age." Thomas Wedgwood Walton was a chemist and druggist with a shop at 28 Corn Market. He was born at Lichfield in 1790 and died at Derby in 1875. |
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Unidentified
young woman with child by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby, Dated 1873 on the reverse Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin No further information available. |
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| Notes by David Simkin: I am pretty confident that the date on this cdv is genuine. It has been written in a contemporary hand and the ink has the characteristics of Victorian penwork comparable to authentic inscriptons on other cdvs in my collection. Moreover, the card is of thinner stock and the mount has square corners which would indicate an earlier period i.e. closer to 1873 than 1878. The generally paler quality of the print and the style of the image also suggests early 1870s. Vignette photographs that tried to suggest the quality of a crayon drawing i.e. shading at the edges, are typical of portraits from the early 1870s. Having said that, Rogers was producing vignette portraits when he first opened his studio in St Leonards around 1877 (see below). However the fashions in those are clearly from the late 1870s. |
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Unidentified
woman by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby Undated, but probably taken c.1873-1874 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Christine Hibbert Nothing further is known about this photograph. |
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Unidentified
woman by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby Undated, but probably taken c. 1872-1874 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin
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Mrs. Henry
Cole by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby Undated, but probably taken c. 1873-1874 Size: 63 x 105 mm Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Roger Vaughan No further information available. |
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Unidentified
young woman, possibly a Walters, by Clement Rogers of Derby, Undated but probably taken c. 1873-1874 Size: 63 x 105 mm Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of David Sparks No further information available. |
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| Edwin Pratt (1836-1913), by Clement
Rogers
of Victoria Chambers, Derby, Undated, but probably taken c. 1873-1874 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Derby Local Studies Library Notes: Inscribed on the reverse, "Edwin Pratt, Chamberlain."? Edwin Pratt was born in Derby in 1836 and, after an apprenticeship, worked as clerk to the Derby Borough magistrates in the 1860s and 1870s. Trade directories for 1870 and 1874 also show him as chamberlain to the Corporation offices at the Town Hall, Market Place, Derby. The uniform is possibly that of an officer of The Derbyshire Rifle Volunteers or another militia regiment, although Wright's 1874 trade directory does not list him in either The Derby Volunteers or The Derbyshire Militia. The photos would have been taken when he was in his late 30s. By 1881, he had retired and moved to Lincoln. |
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Unidentified
seated woman by Clement Rogers of Victoria Chambers, Derby, Undated, but probably taken c. 1873-1874 Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Samantha Smith No further information available. |
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Unidentified
young woman by Clement Rogers of 24 Grand Parade, St. Leonards on Sea Undated, but probably taken c. 1874-1876 Format: Carte-de-visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin Clement Rogers had just moved from Derby to St. Leonards, and was overprinting his old stock of card mounts with his new studio address. This photo can therefore be fairly accurately dated to late 1874 to 1876. |
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Unidentified
woman by Clement Rogers of 24 Grand Parade, St. Leonards on Sea Undated, but probably taken c. 1878 Format: Carte-de-visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin Written on the reverse: For "dear Mama"/With Bessies love. |
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Ethel R. Sivewright by Clement Rogers of St. Leonards on Sea Undated, but probably taken c. 1877-1878 Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 63 x 103.5 Photo 60 x 96.5 mm Image © & collection of Brett Payne Notes:
Identified on the reverse as, "Ethel
R. Sivewright,
Mother of Vivian
Sivewright & Blanch." |
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Unidentified
woman by Clement Rogers of 24 Grand Parade, St. Leonards on Sea Undated, but probably taken c. 1877-1878 Format: Carte-de-visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin After the last supply of overprinted card stock had been exhausted, Rogers reverted to simpler designs. |
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Unidentified
woman by Clement Rogers of 24 Grand Parade, St. Leonards on Sea Undated, but probably taken c. 1878 Format: Carte-de-visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin Nothing further is known about this photo. |
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Unidentified
woman by Clement Rogers of 24 Grand Parade, St. Leonards on Sea Undated, but probably taken c. 1878 Format: Carte-de-visite Image © & courtesy of David Simkin Nothing further is known about this photo. |
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| References Images kindly provided by Derby Local Studies Library, Brett Payne, Samantha Smith, David Simkin, Christine Hibbert, David Sparks and Roger Vaughan Wright (1874) Trade Directory of Derbyshire Craven, Maxwell (ed.) (1993) Keene's Derby, Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202. - by kind courtesy of Sonia Addis-Smith Victorian & Edwardian Photographs web site by Roger Vaughan Pike & Ivimy's Annual Hastings & St Leonards Directory for 1876 (corrected to May 1876), Hastings Reference Library, Courtesy of David Simkin Sussex Post Office Directory for 1878, Courtesy of David Simkin Hastings & St Leonards Times, 21 September 1878, Courtesy of David Simkin Information kindly provided by David Simkin. David has made a special study of photographers active in Sussex in Victorian and Edwardian times, and would be happy to respond to queries related to studios in East and West Sussex. He has his own web site devoted to Brighton Photographers 1841-1910, which includes a directory of Photographic Studios. |
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