Twelve months ago, I presented new research on the early years of the celebrated photography firm W. &. D. Downey of South Shields, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and later London.

For its trip to Newcastle in November 2022, the Historical Group of the Royal Photographic Society visited locations with strong links to the early decades of photography in the North-East of England.

In the morning, the Literary and Philosophical Society (known as the Lit & Phil) hosted a talk about Sir Joseph Swan by fellow group member Paul Cordes in its Westgate Road headquarters.

Then in the afternoon, we moved to the Anglican Cathedral of St. Nicholas with its distinctive lantern tower where I presented an illustrated talk on Downey’s activities in the 1850s and 1860s.

This was repeated as a livestream event in March 2023 that can be viewed in the “Video Talks” section of this website.

As my Downey research is ongoing, this anniversary seemed a timely opportunity to share new findings from recent months about the company’s first decade.

One discovery in particular has added further detail to how and when the Downey brothers, William (1829-1915) and Daniel (1831-1881), began taking photographic portraits in the Northumberland port of Blyth.

The first mention in the press of their activities that I had previously found came in the North and South Shields Gazette (5th June 1856).

A brief article credited to “Correspondent” described Downey’s Crystal Palace Portrait Gallery as “a handsome, commodious, and substantial wood building” in the yard of the Star and Garter Inn, Blyth.

However, a recent newspaper archive search has now revealed an earlier  report in the Newcastle Guardian published on 10th May 1856.

It described how “Messrs. Downey Brothers of South Shields” had been taking photographic portraits “for several weeks past” at another pub in Blyth, the Ridley Arms Inn.

In addition, “Mr. W. Alder, bookseller” was named as providing a shop window where Downey’s “portraits of several public characters and others” could be seen.

The revelation that Downey’s residency at the Ridley Arms pre-dated its time at the Star and Garter adds further detail to its beginnings as a photography enterprise.

Records held at Blyth Library reveal that the Ridley Arms started life in the 1770s as a private house and was one of the town’s original public houses.

By 1846, a “Mr. Grimson” was its landlord and “ran the daily post coaches to North Shields,” a service gradually replaced by the railways in most provincial towns in Britain during the 1850s.

In Northumberland, the Blyth and Tyne Railway (B&TR) began life in 1853, largely transporting coal from the area’s collieries.  

These details about the evolution of mid-19th century transport links in the region shed further light on how the Downey’s maintained communication with their native South Shields fifteen miles to the south.

What is less clear is how the brothers processed their wet plate negatives and then produced prints for sale to the general public.  

The mention of “Mr. W. Alder, bookseller” in the Newcastle Guardian article provides a clue.

The 1858 Post Office Directory for Blyth lists William Alder as “printer, bookseller, bookbinder, stationer and news agent.”

Access to printing facilities in Blyth would have been helpful to producing Downey’s “life-like portraits” that were “much admired for their correctness.”

In identifying William Alder (1829-1883) as a suitable collaborator in their fledgling business, the Downey brothers chose well.

He went on to become a significant figure in Blyth, notably in publishing and printing The Blyth Illustrated Weekly News from 1874.

The ultimate for Downey collectors is to find examples of the brothers’ early portraits produced in Blyth or from their photographic van during its tour of country towns and villages in Northumberland during the summer of 1856.

For this researcher, that search continues.

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