wisbech - mid-19th century photographs & DRAWINGS
By the time these photographs were taken all of the Howards from whom we're directly descended had either died or left for America (John B. Howard and Sarah Frances Pratt departed with their three year old daughter Elizabeth in 1842), but several of their relatives remained in Wisbech.
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Two versions of the same photograph of the Market Place in Wisbech taken by Samuel Smith on June 15th, 1857, at 6.30am. Smith was a successful timber merchant who moved to Wisbech in the late 1840s when he retired from business. He took up photography in the early 1850s, and used his camera and the paper negative process to systematically record Wisbech during a period of dramatic growth and change. Although his photography was confined to barely more than a decade of his long life, he is regarded as one of the pioneers of documentary photography.
Samuel Smith's photograph of Wisbech Cornhill, September 6th, 1854. Shops include McNeil's Confectionery, Goode the Sadler, Barley the Chemist, and Ford's Ironmongers with an excellent display of tin baths.
Wisbech, Albion Place, The Old Workhouse, built 1720-1722, replaced approx. 1835 and sub-divided into smaller premises, including the Custom House. Taken September 4th, 1854, by Samuel Smith.
Nene River - circa 1854
