At the turn of the 20th century, photographers found a new outlet for their images in the form of photographic postcards.
This example titled ‘The Setting Sun’ effectively captures a view of the River Tyne and the Newcastle skyline beyond.
Looking for further clues about the well-thumbed card’s provenance, it is credited ‘photo by T. H. Dickinson’ and dates from the period either side of the First World War when postcard sales boomed.
As to its photographer, public records reveal that Thomas Howson Dickinson (1878-1959) was born in Halesowen, Shropshire where his father was an elementary school teacher.
By the time of the 1891 Census, the Dickinson family had moved to the picturesque Northumberland village of Allendale west of Newcastle where Thomas’s interest in photography may have been kindled.
A decade later, he had married and moved along the Tyne Valley to Gateshead from where his wife Mary Farrer hailed.
There Thomas worked as a ‘traveller, stationery’ and within a few years, the name ‘T. H. Dickinson’ was linked to a business producing ‘real photo’ postcards in both black-and-white and colour.
How this business was set up and established is not known, but its arrival was timely and attracted press interest.
According to a 1907 report in the Hexham Courant: “The cards produced by Mr. Dickinson of Gateshead, late of Allendale, are worthy of special note, being excellent pieces of work both from the artistic and photographer’s point of view.”
‘T.H. Dickinson’ seems to have thrived, at least initially, and for the 1911 Census, Thomas recorded his ‘personal occupation’ as ‘picture postcard publisher’ working ‘at home.’
Thanks to the quality of his photography, multiple examples featuring the initials ‘THD’ or ‘THD Series’ of views of the North East of England are to be found today on postcard auction sites.
Pressphotoman 
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