In the early 1860s, Newcastle upon Tyne’s Eldon Square was a hotbed of photographic activity.
Firms such as W. & D. Downey at number 9 and W.S. Parry at number 17 became go-to destinations for well-to-do clients wanting their portrait taken.
However, before they set up their respective studios, there is evidence that Edward and Eliza Charlton, who lived at number 7, may have been keen amateur stereographers.
Their individual names featured on the verso of stereographs of Hexham Abbey that joined the Pressphotoman collection in 2024 and prompted a blogpost series about Eldon Square.
Given that women stereographers, in particular, were unusual in the early days of the medium, research has continued to uncover more examples of Eliza’s photography and learn more about her life.
Thanks to a recent discovery in one of my favourite second-hand bookshops, Slightly Foxed in Berwick-upon-Tweed, the latter aim has taken a huge step forward.
The book that caught my attention was titled Recollections of a Northumbrian Lady 1815-1866, first published in 1949 in London by Jonathan Cape and reprinted in a new edition in 1989.
Its author Barbara Charlton, pictured on the book’s front cover as a young married woman, was Edward and Eliza Charlton’s sister-in-law through marriage to Edward’s elder brother William Henry Charlton.
Barbara’s memoir offers a fascinating insight into life at Hesleyside in Northumberland, the ancestral home of the Border Reivers Charlton family for several hundred years.
What was wonderful was that Recollections of a Northumbrian Lady featured numerous mentions of Eliza Charlton for whom Barbara had a particular affection and for “her many inestimable qualities.”
Whilst there is no mention of Eliza’s photography, there are accounts of her interest in matters artistic.
These included sending a “beautiful stained-glass window” for “our newly decorated chapel” to mark the christening in 1850 of the only surviving Charlton boy.
Later (due to the window being smashed by Henderson, the estate carpenter), Eliza supplied a replacement, “… an oak carved Saint Barbara, my patron saint, complete with tower, sword and crown, too massive for any drunkard to break.”
However, many of the references to Eliza relate to a decline in her health that was not untypical, even for those of her wealth and standing in society.
In May 1854, Barbara recalled how: “… Eliza Charlton came to stay with us at Hesleyside and for the first few days of her stay we walked and talked together, with the children running on before, in the most natural way possible.
“I remember her remarking how happy we all were, and that these years would be for me and them the most joyful in our lives.
“But by degrees, unaccountably and for no apparent cause, she fell off, at last taking to her bed and becoming seriously ill.
“I loved her so dearly I was only too happy to nurse her day and night.”
Given the Last Rites and Holy Communion every morning as befitted a Roman Catholic, Eliza recovered and convalesced.
In the summer of 1860, Barbara was visiting Paris with her three eldest children, recalling that on the way back, “… dear Eliza Charlton met our train at Newcastle, and again I noticed her flush and her unnaturally bright eyes.
“A month later, I went to Newcastle and found her lying on the sofa, a professional invalid and seeing no one.
“She confided to me that she had been examined by the doctors and that both lungs had been affected past recovery, and that, with great care, she had been given about two years to live.”
The dating of the stereo of Hexham Abbey attributable to Eliza Charlton to September 1861 suggests that, despite her health worries, she was able to pursue her hobby as a photographer.
However, the doctors’ predictions came true and she died at 7 Eldon Square on 10th May 1862, aged 46, whilst her sister-in-law was abroad.
Barbara Charlton died in 1898, aged 83, having attended Queen Victoria’s final Drawing Room to mark her Diamond Jubilee.
Pressphotoman 
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