The First Fully Researched Biography of Frederick Scott Archer. I first began researching the life and work of Frederick Scott Archer in 2005, whilst writing my ‘magnum opus’ on the history of astronomical photography, ‘Catchers of the Light’- a work which took 7 years to complete.
I began writing this book based on my knowledge and experience as both a professional astronomer and as a trained genealogist. It soon became clear that much of what had been previously written on the life and work of the photographic pioneers featured in my book, was either missing, badly researched or blatantly wrong. Of the many men and women included in ‘Catchers’, the one pioneer whose life and work was the subject of the greatest misrepresentation and falsehoods was Frederick Scott Archer.
What had little that had been written of him was either badly researched or wrong, even on a basic level of when and where he was born, and his family background.
His Wikipedia entry states: “Frederick Scott Archer (1813 – 1 May 1857) was an English photographer and sculptor who is best known for having invented the photographic collodion process… Scott Archer was the second son of a butcher in Bishops Stortford in Hertfordshire who went to London to take an apprenticeship as a goldsmith and silversmith with Mr. Massey of 116 Leadenhall Street...’
Almost all the above is either incorrect or incomplete. It is also commonly believed that he was orphaned as a child – also untrue!
FSA was born on the 30th August 1814 at Bull Plain, Hertford not in Bishops Stortford. He was the fifth son of the seven children born to Thomas Archer, a butcher and former Mayor of Hertford. FSA’s mother died in 1817, but his father was very much alive when he remarried in 1830! This is just the beginning of the misrepresentation of FSA’s life and work.
I had originally intended that my biography should be published to coincide with the actual bicentennial of his birth in 2014; but delayed it because I felt it was incomplete and required much more research. Instead, I self-published a short eBook on his life and work. Now, a decade later I returned to the task, and finally completed the task.
Like FSA, I have decided to release a draft of my biography freely to the photographic community; with the aim of improving upon through your comments, criticisms and any additional information you can provide.
Whilst researching my biography several extremely interesting facts were uncovered. It became clear that most of FSA’s photographs were based on the same subjects and locations of the early drawings and watercolours of the great English landscape artist, J M W Turner. In addition, FSA even exhibited his photographs in the same street and possibly the same building in which he had been born, some forty years earlier – a coincidence?
If you are interested in reading my biography, it can be downloaded as a zip file from:
https://catchersofthelight.com/downloads/Collodion Chemist.zip
Also included is an Excel spreadsheet which details those individuals, companies and institutions that contributed to his Testimonial Fund, which was setup following his his death in 1857.
So, any comments etc., can be forwarded to me at this email address: biography@frederickscottarcher.com
Thank you.
Kind Regards,
Dr. Stefan Hughes
Photographic Historian
Comments
Very Many Thanks Stefan, for producing & sharing this - I'm really looking forward to reading it!
Thank you Stefan, a magnanimous gesture, downloaded and added to my holiday reading list!