Somerset's first photographer Thomas Sharp

We are researching Somerset Photographers which we hope to publish , could any one help throw some light on Thomas Sharps demise, He was in parnership with Richard Beard and was licenced to work in Somerset, He came to the Victoria Gardens Bath in 1841, toured Somerset Devon and Dorset Weymouth were he sold his Studio and Camera equiptment to Theodore Brunell in 1853. He rejoined Beard in London and wrote three letters to Fox Talbot , He remarried in 1860 by 1861 he refered to himself as Gentleman , In 1866 his wife died and left him a legacy and also left Jabez Hogg a legacy, there the trail goes cold, Hope someone can help,,,,Allan

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  • 2768209209?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024Larry, I've attached a copy of Thomas Sharps signiture on his 26 Apr 1860 Marriage certificated .just a few days after his last letter to Fox Talbot , I can confirm his address on the certificate 60 Albert Street London , Could you compere the signitures and let me know . Allan  
     
    Allan Collier said:

    Larry, thankyou for your interest in our project , when the work on Somerset photographers is published I will make available a copy for you , as you know Sharps trail goes cold in 1867 after his wife mentioned him in her will , I have failed to find his death here in UK, he dosn't appear in the 1871 census nor does he seem to appear in the US1870 census , his wife left him some shares in the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in Massouri , it seems that the railroad parcelled out some land in 1869 and he may have gone to America as a shareholder , I am currently writing to various libraries repositories over there and they have tried to help but no success so far regarding these shares,  could you suggest any other avenues I could explore to find if he went there and possibly died there between 1867 and 1870 . His wife also left a sum of money to Jabez Hogg but for what reason is'nt clear , so our man seems to be well connected , Hogg seems to have had no further connection with him after 1867,  regards Allan
     
    Larry J Schaaf said:

    Sharp is proving elusive!  I can confirm that the handwriting and signature on the three letters to Talbot (from two different London addresses 1858-1860) is the same

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=7781

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=8074

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=8076

    Just who worked with Beard is less clear (and there may have been more than one Sharp).  Certainly the Mr Sharp who advertised in 1846 and 1847 from Duke St in London as being "licensee and late operator to Mr Beard" was Cornelius Sharp (confirmed by the POD)

    With the limited resources that I have here, I cannot confirm David Webb's information for Thomas Sharp.  The address on the marriage certificate would seem to prove that your Thomas Sharp was the one corresponding with Talbot.  If you can provide me with his birth date and perhaps a bit more data I can update the Correspondence website

    Larry

  • Larry, thankyou for your interest in our project , when the work on Somerset photographers is published I will make available a copy for you , as you know Sharps trail goes cold in 1867 after his wife mentioned him in her will , I have failed to find his death here in UK, he dosn't appear in the 1871 census nor does he seem to appear in the US1870 census , his wife left him some shares in the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in Massouri , it seems that the railroad parcelled out some land in 1869 and he may have gone to America as a shareholder , I am currently writing to various libraries repositories over there and they have tried to help but no success so far regarding these shares,  could you suggest any other avenues I could explore to find if he went there and possibly died there between 1867 and 1870 . His wife also left a sum of money to Jabez Hogg but for what reason is'nt clear , so our man seems to be well connected , Hogg seems to have had no further connection with him after 1867,  regards Allan
     
    Larry J Schaaf said:

    Sharp is proving elusive!  I can confirm that the handwriting and signature on the three letters to Talbot (from two different London addresses 1858-1860) is the same

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=7781

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=8074

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=8076

    Just who worked with Beard is less clear (and there may have been more than one Sharp).  Certainly the Mr Sharp who advertised in 1846 and 1847 from Duke St in London as being "licensee and late operator to Mr Beard" was Cornelius Sharp (confirmed by the POD)

    With the limited resources that I have here, I cannot confirm David Webb's information for Thomas Sharp.  The address on the marriage certificate would seem to prove that your Thomas Sharp was the one corresponding with Talbot.  If you can provide me with his birth date and perhaps a bit more data I can update the Correspondence website

    Larry

  • Sharp is proving elusive!  I can confirm that the handwriting and signature on the three letters to Talbot (from two different London addresses 1858-1860) is the same

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=7781

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=8074

    http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptDocnum.php?docnum=8076

    Just who worked with Beard is less clear (and there may have been more than one Sharp).  Certainly the Mr Sharp who advertised in 1846 and 1847 from Duke St in London as being "licensee and late operator to Mr Beard" was Cornelius Sharp (confirmed by the POD)

    With the limited resources that I have here, I cannot confirm David Webb's information for Thomas Sharp.  The address on the marriage certificate would seem to prove that your Thomas Sharp was the one corresponding with Talbot.  If you can provide me with his birth date and perhaps a bit more data I can update the Correspondence website

    Larry

  • Larry , thank you for your reply regarding Thomas Sharp , We are now of the opinion that the Thomas Sharp Photographer / Boot maker born 1819 was not Somerset’s first photographer , we have almost assembled his time line except his demise , Our man seems not to have appeared in the 1871 census , we are slowly ruling out the 6 deathcert possibilities , assuming he died between 1867 his 2nd wife’s will and the 1871 census , The address in his second letter to Fox Talbot is the same address as on his 2nd marriage certificate, As full a biography as we can will be included in the eventual publication which now seems not too distant ,regards Allan

  • David Webb's normally excellent PhotoLondon has him as being born in Liverpool in 1819 and dying there in 1873 - http://www.photolondon.org.uk/pages/details.asp?pid=6958 - this is the source that I cited in the Talbot Correspondence - Sharp was particularly interesting for first seeing the potential in the daguerreotype and later for Talbot's photoglypic engraving (photogravure) -  perhaps David's information will point you in a direction, Larry

    Sharp, Thomas

    Born 1819. Died 1873.

    Biography

    Sharp, Thomas
    Born in Liverpool 1819.
    Md Ann Elizabeth Dean (b St Pancras 1814) January 21 1845 in St Pancras.
    2 sons & 2 daughters.
    1861: photographer living at 48 Marlborough Road, High Street, Peckham. Also bootmaker.
    Died in Liverpool 1873.

  • Hi Marcel, hope you are well , thanks for your reply , I have his second wife Elizabeth Ann ne LEACH will of 1867 , interestingly she left a legacy to Jabez Hogg , but no reason given, Sharp was the only son he had four sisters , His father came from Yorkshire was married in London were Thomas and one of his were born , the family moved to Devon were the other three sisters were born , he and one of the younger sisters were chemists there , I,m in touch with the archivist of Blundells , and have sent for yet another D cert , Slowly his life is imerging , ,,Allan
     
    Marcel Safier said:

    Hi Allan. I expect you found Thomas as a "fundholder" living at 16 Mabledon Place, St. Pancras in the 1861 census. Herbert Spencer was living at 88 Kensington Garden's Square in 1865, the address given as Elizabeth Ann Sharp's place of death in 1866. I can't add anything else. The latest date we have him working as a photographer is 1849. I wonder if any of the other various photographers named Sharp are related.

  • Hi Allan. I expect you found Thomas as a "fundholder" living at 16 Mabledon Place, St. Pancras in the 1861 census. Herbert Spencer was living at 88 Kensington Garden's Square in 1865, the address given as Elizabeth Ann Sharp's place of death in 1866. I can't add anything else. The latest date we have him working as a photographer is 1849. I wonder if any of the other various photographers named Sharp are related.

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