488
Further Reading
Sir William de W. Abney, Instruction in Photography, 10th Ed.,
Sampson Low, Marston & Company, London, 1900.
C. E. Kenneth Mees, The Theory of the Photographic Process,
Macmillan, NY, 1942 and subsequent editions.
Martin Reed and Sarah Jones, Silver Gelatin, A User’s Guide to
Liquid Photographic Emulsions, Working Books, Richmond,
England, 1995.ENGLAND, WILLIAM (1816–1896)
British photographer and inventor
William England is arguably one of the forgotten giants
of 19th century British photography and, regretfully,
his work is largely ignored today. Born in London in
1816 England began his photographic career in the early
1840s as a daguerreotypist, going on to use both the wet
and dry collodion processes and printing with albumen.
After building a reputation as both a gifted technician
and portrait photographer of some talent, he eventually
abandoned portraiture to join The London Stereoscopic
Company, upon its founding in 1854. England soon be-
came the company’s principle photographer and leading
technical innovator. England was largely responsible
for building London Stereoscopic Company’s global
reputation over the next decade and his travels took in
a wide variety of foreign destinations such as Ireland
(1858), the U.S. and Canada (1859) and Paris (1860 and
1861). It was primarily these ‘exotic’ views that captured
the imagination of the public and contributed greatly
to the rapid rise of London Stereoscopic Company in
the 1850s and 60s when stereography was at the height
of its popularity. Originally founded by George Swan
Nottage, London Stereoscopic Company produced a
wide variety of stereoscopic views that were all the
rage during the Victorian era and London Stereoscopic
Company were one of the very fi rst companies to license
their imagery for commercial reproduction on a global
basis. Staff photographers such as Reinhold Thiele and
William England traveled the world in their mobile,
horse-pulled darkrooms shooting a variety of subjects
and views for commercial reproduction by London
Stereoscopic Company. Aside from his outdoor work
England produced a variety of subject matter including
formal portraiture and London Stereoscopic Company’s
renowned ‘Comic’ series which included the hugely
popular ‘ghost’ stereographs, employing double ex-
posure techniques. England left London Stereoscopic
Company at the height of their popularity in 1863 to
concentrate on a freelance career though his last major
project on behalf of London Stereoscopic Company was
as the exclusive photographer for the International Exhi-
bition od 1862 in London. England’s collection of some
15,000 stereoscopic plates have survived relatively intact
over the years and was once ‘saved’ from being turnedinto greenhouse glass shortly after London Stereoscopic
Company ceased trading in the early 1920s.
The invention of 3-D photography (stereography)
fi rst received popular acclaim at the Great Exhibition
of 1851 in London and within 10 years stereographs
had entered almost every home in Europe and America
as a new form of entertainment. England’s most im-
portant series for London Stereoscopic Company were
taken during his American journey in 1859. He traveled
from New York, up the Hudson river and through the
Catskill’s to Niagara into Canada, capturing over 230
views along the way, as well as other locations includ-
ing Philadelphia and Washington D.C. where he shot
the Capitol under construction. His focus was on both
urban and engineering works including the railroads as
well as the dramatic scenery of the rivers and waterfalls
and this series the fi rst American views to be com-
mercially available in Europe. His memorable shot of
Blondin crossing Niagara Falls on tightrope became one
of the best selling stereographs of all time—allegedly
selling some 100,000 copies worldwide. The majority
of England’s stereo views were taken on a single short
focus lens ‘pocket’ stereoscopic camera which was
introduced by London Stereoscopic Company in 1858.
The entire apparatus was a mere 20cm long × 12 cm
wide × 5cm deep and, weighing in at just over half a
kilogramme, meant it was eminently mobile and suited
England’s travels perfectly. The only problem with this
type of single lens design was the fact the whole camera
needed to be laterally moved along a groove or track,
after the fi rst image had been taken on one half of the
plate. Though the camera movement could be varied up
to a distance of 33cm, scientists of the day advised this
not to be any more than the distance between the pupils
of the eyes—about 6cm—for the proper stereo effect
to be achieved. The single lens camera was soon super-
seded by the development of the ‘binocular’ or twin lens
camera which took both images simultaneously which
signifi cantly accelerated the picture taking process.
As well as being a fi ne photographer with an instinct
for style and composition, England was also a great tech-
nician and a number of London Stereoscopic Company’s
developments in photographic apparatus—particularly
those connected with stereography—were largely due to
England’s technical expertise, for example he developed
a shutter with variable openings in 1861. After leaving
London Stereoscopic Company in 1863 to pursue a free-
lance career, England continued with his stereo work,
capturing views all over Europe; France, Switzerland
and Italy in particular. The many Alpine views taken by
England were considered to be some of his fi nest and
were very much his forte, those taken of the Chamonix
Glacier being particularly sought after and the result-
ing stereographs sold all over the continent as well as
in Britain. In 1867 England erected a photographicEMULSIONS
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