Harold Armytage Sanders, F.R.P.S. (24 May 1867 – 4 September 1940) also known by the full name Harold Armytage Thomas Sanders, was father of World War I photographer Henry Armytage Bradley Sanders of New Zealand fame. As an

optician An optician, or ''dispensing optician'', is a technical practitioner who designs, fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision. Opticians determine the specifications of various ophthalmic appliances that will give the nec ...

he worked for

W. Watson and Son W. Watson and Son was an optical instrument maker. In 1837, the William Watson business was established in London for the manufacture of optical instruments. By the 1840s, the company moved into lanterns, slides and associated equipment. In 1868, ...

. He went into business with Crowhurst with the business named Sanders and Crowhurst, and then was in business by himself as Sanders and Company.

Life and times

In 1881, Sanders at the age of 13 went to work for

, a company that manufactured cameras and optical equipment.

Harry Arthur Crowhurst Harry Arthur Crowhurst (14 March 1868 – 8 December 1943) was a photographer, optician and partner in a lantern and optical supply business. Life and Times In 1868, Crowhurst was born at St George the Martyr, London. He was the son of William Hen ...

also worked at Watson & Sons. In 1900, Sanders and Crowhurst decided to form their own business and they left the employ of Watson & Sons and formed Sanders & Crowhurst, as proprietors of a photographic equipment and lantern supply business. At Sanders & Crowhurst, the team were agents for the W. Watson and Son company. The partnership was dissolved in 1908. Sanders continued in business as an

at Sanders & Co. until 1910 when he filed for bankruptcy. In 1885, Sanders married Louise Augusta Watkins at

Southwark St Saviour Southwark St Saviour ( ) was a civil parish in the metropolitan area of London, England, and part of the ancient Borough of Southwark. It was formed in 1541 from the union of the parishes of St Margaret and St Mary. It was abolished in 1930, ...

, London, England. In 1891, the Census recorded the Sanders family as Harold A. Sanders, age 24, wife Louisa A., age 23, and 3 sons, Henry A.B., age 4, Victor H.F., age 2, and Harold D., age 1. Occupation listed was opticians assistant. The family resided at 74 Leighton Road, Pancras, London in the St. Pancras parish of Kentish Town. In 1899, Harold Armytage Thomas Sanders and Louise Augusta Sanders were granted a divorce. On 4 September 1940, Sanders, age 73 died at

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London, England.

Acting career

In January 1920, Sanders was in the theatrical production as an extra in the play by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

, "On the High Road" at

St Martin's Theatre St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world. The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in t ...

Edith Craig Edith Ailsa Geraldine Craig ( Edith Godwin; 9 December 1869 – 27 March 1947), known as Edy Craig, was a prolific theatre director, producer, costume designer and early pioneer of the women's suffrage movement in England. She was the daughte ...

was responsible for production. In June 1920, Sanders was in the theatrical production as an extra in the play by Staint-Georges de Bouhélier, "The Children's Carnival" (Le Carnaval des enfants) at Kingsway Theatre.

was responsible for production. On 22 July 1928, Harold Armytage Sanders wrote a letter address to Miss Craig, (

) at The Cottage, Bigwood Road, Hampstead Garden Suburb NW11 regarding the death of Ellen Terry. Ellen Terry had died on 21 July 1928. The correspondence was a handwritten and signed 2-page letter of condolence on the death of Ellen Terry, and an apology that he could not attend the memorial service.

Films

''In Birdland''

In 1907, Sanders teamed with natural history photographer and filmmaker Oliver Gregory Pike for the pioneering

nature film A nature documentary or wildlife documentary is a genre of documentary film or series about animals, plants, or other non-human living creatures, usually concentrating on video taken in their natural habitat but also often including footage ...

production, ''In Birdland''. The film was the first British wildlife film to be screened to a paying audience. In August 1907, ''In Birdland'' premiered at London's

Palace Theatre of Varieties The Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster in London. Its red-brick facade dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus, London, Cambridge Circus behind a small plaza near the intersection of Shaftesbury Avenue and Charin ...

. The initial screening of the film was so successful, an additional 100 copies were made. Due to the popularity and demand, this would allow the film to be screened in cinemas throughout the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, none of the copies remain to this day as they were either subsequently lost or destroyed.Editor. (2015). Sanders & Crowhurst. History Librarium. Historic Camera.Editor. (2015). ''In Birdland''. Wild Film History. Wildscreen. Bristol. United Kingdom. The photographic team of Pike and Sanders employed groundbreaking techniques and jeopardised themselves as they took their cameras over coastal cliffs and dangled from ropes to capture a glimpse into the environment of Great Britain's seabirds. The rarely captured or seen film footage introduced the viewing audience into the intimate lives of kittiwakes, gannets,

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven ge ...

s and

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

''Guillemots''

''Guillemots''. (1907) Filmmakers: Oliver Pike and H. Armytage Sanders.

Photographic exhibits

For several year, Sanders regularly displayed his photographic works at the Annual Exhibitions of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

of Great Britain. In 1907, the Exhibition Catalogue entry for Sanders & Crowhurst, located at 71, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W., and 55, Western Road, Hove, Brighton included a listing for the current offerings. These included: The explanation that follows describes the notations after each exhibit listing, and is taken from the Exhibition Catalogue.Editor-HAS. (1907). H. Armitage Sanders. Scientific and Technical Photography and its Application to Processes of Reproduction. Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. The Photographic Journal. Volume 31.

1907 exhibit

1907 Fifty-second Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. *334. Gannet and young on nest. O. 15/- *335. Young Gannet (in down). O. 15/- *336. Female Gannet returning to nest, distinctly showing method of alighting. O. 15/- *337. Gannet and young on nest (taken ... with single combination of Dagor Series III. lens, camera extension 18 inches). O. 15/- *342.

Sea Birds Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine (ocean), marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ev ...

. (A selection of bromide prints from film negatives taken by the

cinematograph Cinematograph or kinematograph is an early term for several types of motion picture film mechanisms. The name was used for movie cameras as well as film projectors, or for complete systems that also provided means to print films (such as the Cin ...

Oliver G. Pike Oliver Gregory Pike, Zoological Society of London, FZS, FRPS. (usually credited as Oliver G. Pike; 1 October 1877 – 17 October 1963) was a British naturalist, wildlife photographer, author and early nature documentary pioneer, specialisin ...

and H. Armytage Sanders.

1909 exhibit

1909 Fifty-fourth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. *311. reed bunting

Cock Cock or cocks most commonly refers to: * Cock (bird) or rooster, a male of any bird species * Cock (slang), a slang term for the penis Cock or cocks may also refer to: Names * Cock (surname) * Cocks (surname) Places * Cocks Glacier, Ross Dep ...

, feeding young ( enlargement untouched). *315. Reed Bunting hen and young ( enlargement untouched). *318. Reed Bunting.

1911 exhibit

1911 Fifty-sixth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. *562. Cormorants on Nests.

1913 exhibit

1913 Fifty-eighth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. *646. Young Kestrels, 23 days old. They do not leave the nest until from 28 to 30 days old and by then nearly all traces of nestling down have disappeared. In the photograph the nestling down is still plentiful. *647. king vulture with wings spread.

1914 exhibit

1914 Fifty-ninth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. *476. Study of sedge warbler.

1915 exhibit

1915 Sixtieth Annual Exhibition of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. *299. king vulture. *300.

Wren Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...

at entrance to nest.

Use of Birdland camera

In the spring of 1914, Maud Doria Haviland during her travels on the Yenesei River in Russia, used a "Birdland" quarter-plate reflex camera with a 14-inch

focal length The focal length of an optical system is a measure of how strongly the system converges or diverges light; it is the inverse of the system's optical power. A positive focal length indicates that a system converges light, while a negative foca ...

lens that was built by H. Armytage Sanders of London.

Awards and honours

*Royal Photographic Society, member, 1902 *Royal Photographic Society, fellow, 1907 F.R.P.S.

Publications

*Environment. *The decline of dissolving views.Sanders, H. Armytage. (April 1900). The decline of dissolving views. The Optical Magic Lantern Journal. (11): 131.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Harold Armytage 1867 births 1940 deaths Businesspeople from London English cinematographers British opticians Photographers from London