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Brighton's first photographer, William Constable, was commemorated with a blue heritage plaque at the site of his studio, 57 Marine Parade. Constable was a Beard licensee and operated the daguerreotype process from late 1841 making it one of the first studios in Britain. The plaque was unveuiled on Friday by Claire Constable, William's great, great, great niece and biographer, and the historian Philippe Garner. Members of the extended Constable family, Brighton's blue plaque committee, and other guests were also present. 

Separately, work has been undertaken by Professor Annebella Pollen and two of her PhD students Sally Jones and Sylvie Jane Lewis, from the University of Brighton, alongside Shannon Perich of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The museum owns 130 of Constable's daguerreotypes made between 1841 and 1861, donated by the collector Albert Boni (1892-1981) who purchased the Constable Collection from Parke-Bernet auction house in 1970. They were given to the museum in 1972 as part of a large group of photographic materials.

A digitisation project along with new research will go live in the summer. BPH will report further when the project goes live. 

The research was part of a AHRC Techne / Smithsonian Virtual Placements programme to research the photographer’s history, his contributions to the field and to Brighton, to improve museum’s catalogue records. 

See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93xx23l9z3o

Claire's multi-volume series on the Constable family is out of print. The volume dealing with William is The Constables of Brighton and Reigate: William - the Photographer, Clair - the Town Clerk, (Book Guild Publishing Ltd, 2005,  ISBN 13: 9781846240058).

Image: (top): Philippe Garner and Claire Constable unveil the plaque to William. © Michael Pritchard; (right) The University of Brighton team with Philippe and Claire. © Michael Pritchard; (left): Portrait of Leone Glukman, William Constable and Clair James Grece. Daguerreotype by William Constable. c.1841-1850. PG 71 22 125.  Credit: Courtesy of Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. William Constable (centre) poses for a portrait with his friend and fellow daguerreotypist Leone Glukman (above), and his nephew, Clair James Grece (below). Constable used a rotating platform in his photographic studio at 57 Marine Parade to maximise the available natural light. This portrait shows the rotating platform in use.  

A Blue Plaque to William Constable is to be unveiled in Brighton on the 29 May 2026 at 57 Marine Parade. The unveiling is scheduled for 1130 and attendees are asked to gather for 1115. Following the unveiling those attending are encouraged to go for a fish and chip lunch in the restaurant on Brighton's Palace Pier.

William Constable (1783-1861) was the first person to open a photographic portrait studio in Brighton. A 58-year-old inventor who had previously worked as a flour miller and high street draper, he had recently been employed as a land and road surveyor. Constable's Photographic Institution opened on Monday, 8 November 1841 at 57 Marine Parade, a large four-storey building situated on Brighton’s eastern seafront, at the corner of Atlingworth Street. Holding an exclusive licence from Richard Beard, Constable had a virtual monopoly in the production of photographic portraits in Brighton between November 1841 and 1851. He closed his studio at number 57 in 1854. 

Read more about William Constable here: https://victorianedwardianphotographersinbrightonhove.uk/brighton-photographers-1841-1860/ and see: Philippe Garner, 'William Constable. Brighton's First Photography', History of Photography, 15(3), Autumn 1991, 236-240.

Image: A daguerreotype portrait of William Constable. Courtesy of Philippe Garner.