Elliott & Fry was a

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

photography studio founded in 1863 by Joseph John Elliott (14 October 1835 – 30 March 1903) and Clarence Edmund Fry (1840 – 12 April 1897). For a century, the firm's core business was taking and publishing photographs of the Victorian public and social, artistic, scientific and political luminaries. In the 1880s, the company operated three studios and four large storage facilities for negatives, with a printing works at

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

. The firm's first address was 55 & 56

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

in London, premises they occupied until 1919. The studio employed a number of photographers, including Francis Henry Hart and Alfred James Philpott in the Edwardian era,

Herbert Lambert Herbert Richard Lambert, FRPS, (1882 – 7 March 1936) was a British portrait photographer known for his portrayals of professional musicians and composers including Gustav Holst. In 1923 he published ''Modern British Composers: Seventeen Por ...

and

Walter Benington Walter Benington (1872–1936) was a British photographer. Working in the Victorian era and the first half of the twentieth century, his important contribution to early twentieth century photography has been more fully recognised in the doctoral t ...

in the 1920s and 1930s and subsequently William Flowers. During World War II, the studio was bombed and most of the early negatives were lost; the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: *National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra *National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London, with s ...

currently holds all of the surviving negatives. With the firm's centenary in 1963, it was taken over by Bassano & Vandyk.

Joseph John Elliott

Joseph John Elliott (14 October 1835 CroydonHannavy, John ''Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Photography'', Volume 1 A-I' Published by Routledge (2007) pg 479
– 30 March 1903 Hadley Heath, near

) the son of John and Mary Elliott, married Clarence's sister, Elizabeth Lucy Fry (24 June 1844

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

– 23 February 1931), in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

on 20 August 1864, eventually producing 4 sons and 3 daughters. Elliott's partnership with Fry was dissolved on 31 July 1887, Elliott acquiring Fry's interest. Elliott's partnership with his own son, Ernest C. Elliott, was dissolved on 31 December 1892. Ernest went on to compile an album of 50 British sportsmen, ''Fifty Leaders of British Sport'', published in 1904.

Clarence Edmund Fry

In 1865 Clarence Edmund Fry (

1840 – 1897) married Sophia Dunkin Prideaux (*1838 Modbury, Devon), who was a photographic colourist. Clarence Edmund Fry was an early patron of Hubert von Herkomer, who in 1873 moved to Bushey apparently to be near his benefactor, and to start the ''Herkomer Art School''. Clarence was the eldest son of Edmund Fry and Caroline Mary Clarence (1809–1879), both members of the Religious Society of Friends or Quakers, and related to

Joseph Storrs Fry Joseph Storrs Fry (1767–1835) was an English chocolate and confectionery manufacturer and a member of the Fry Family of Bristol, England. Early life He was born in 1767, son of Joseph Fry (1728–1787), in business as a manufacturer of choco ...

, founder of the Bristol chocolate factory. Clarence's siblings were: *Walter Henry Fry (born 1841, Plymouth) *Hubert Oswald Fry (born 1843, Plymouth) *Lucy Elizabeth Laughton Fry (born 1844, Plymouth) *Allen Hastings Fry (born 1847, Plymouth) In 1867 the second eldest son, Walter Henry Fry, joined the youngest brother, Allen Hastings Fry, and started the photography firm of W. & A. H. Fry of 68 East Street, Brighton.

Gallery

File:Elliott & Fry08a.jpg File:Elliott & Fry10a.jpg, File:Elliott & Fry - Alfred, Lord Tennyson.jpg, File:Elliott & Fry04.jpg, File:Elliott & Fry - photograph W. S. Gilbert.jpg, File:Elliott & Fry - photograph W. S. Gilbert - back of card.jpg, Reverse of the Gilbert card. File:Mrs Margaret Blake wife of Edward Blake.jpg, File:Marie Engle model at Elliott Fry.jpg, Marie Engle File:Millicent Fawcett.jpg, Millicent Fawcett

References

Bevis Hillier Bevis Hillier (born 28 March 1940) is an English art historian, author and journalist. He has written on Art Deco, and also a biography of John Betjeman, Sir John Betjeman. Life and work Hillier was born in Redhill, Surrey, where the family liv ...

, ''Victorian Studio Photographs: Unique Portraits of the Makers of the High Victorian Age. From the Collections of Studio Bassano and Elliott & Fry, London'' (Ash & Grant, 1975)

External links

PhotoLondon Accessed 25 August 2012Elliott & Fry
in the

National Portrait Gallery (London) The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott and Fry Photographic studios 19th-century English photographers Photography companies of England 20th-century British photographers