716
HOUGHTON, GEORGE (1836–1961)
English photographic studio
The fi rm of George Houghton and Son had it’s origins
before photography was announced and continued as
a photographic business until circa 1961. During its
history the company absorbed or merged with a signifi -
cant number of other British photographic businesses,
including the lens makers Ross & Co, sensitised material
makers Elliott and Sons, chemical producers Johnson
and Sons as well as several smaller camera makers.
The origins of the fi rm date to 1834 when Antoine
Claudet established a French glass warehouse at 87
High Holborn selling sheet glass, lamp shades and glass
domes. In 1836 he was joined by George Houghton
trading as Claudet and Houghton and from the early
1840s began supplying optical glass and photographic
materials. Claudet concentrated his efforts on his pho-
tographic studio in Regent Street and seems to have
had less to do with the glass business. Houghton’s son,
George, junior (1835–1913), joined the business in 1852
and the fi rm became Claudet, Houghton and Son. On
Claudet’s death in 1867 the business was renamed as
George Houghton and Son and continued to expand with
photographic goods playing an increasingly important
role on the company. George junior’s son Edgar (died
1950) joined in 1887 and with brother Charles the
business was renamed ‘and Sons’ for a short time from
1892 by which time it was one of the leading general
photographic retailers and manufacturers alongside
Marion & Co and Fallowfi eld. The company offered a
large range of cameras and accessories under its own
name and trade names, principally ‘Ensign’ which it
either made or had made for it and re-badged. It also
retailed equipment and sensitised goods from other
British manufacturers.
It became a limited company in 1902 and in 1904
Houghtons Ltd when it absorbed four signifi cant photo-
graphic manufacturers. By 1908 their Walthamstow fac-
tory employed over 700 staff in a fl oor space of 71,300
square feet and 1000 employees in Great Britain. It was
Britain’s leading photographic manufacturer. George
Houghton junior died in 1913 leaving a signifi cant estate
valued at £17,835 10s 9d.
In 1915 it formed British Photographic Industries
Ltd with W Butcher and Sons Ltd and in 1926 the two
fi rms merged completely maintaining a manufacturing
dominance that was only matched by Kodak Ltd. A
selling company Ensign Ltd was set up in 1930 which
was absorbed by Johnson and Sons in 1941 when it’s
premises at 88 and 89 High Holborn took a direct bomb
hit. The manufacturing side of the business continued,
becoming Barnet-Ensign in 1945 with further mergers
taking place until its demise circa 1961.
Michael Pritchard
HOUSEWORTH, THOMAS (1828–1915)
American photographer
Thomas Houseworth, sailed from New York City with
George S. Lawrence on April 4, 1849, intent on min-
ing for gold in California. As fate would have it, they
instead became among the best known early California
photographers.
For two years, they worked the mines before settling
in San Francisco, where Lawrence opened the fi rst
optical shop on the West Coast. Houseworth joined
him in 1855.
In 1859, they began selling stereographs, work-
ing with local photographers to obtain images of San
Francisco, California’s boom towns, various mining
operations and scenic sites. Soon, they offered the largest
collection of stereo views on the West Coast, with more
than 1,000 views of California alone.
When Lawrence retired in 1868, the fi rm became
Thomas Houseworth & Company. Houseworth became
embroiled in a public squabble with another local pho-
tographic fi rm, Bradley & Rulofson, after commission-
ing photographer Eadweard Muybridge to make a set
of mammoth plate images of Yosemite, only to see his
competitors publish them. The controversy left House-
worth in debt and damaged his reputation. His fi nancial
troubles mounted in the 1870s and he eventually was
forced to turn to other vocations to make a living, such
as optometry and accounting.
One of the Library of Congress’s earliest photo-
graphic acquisitions, in 1867, was a set of more then 900
Lawrence & Houseworth half stereo prints.
Bob ZellerHOW, LOUISA ELIZABETH (1821–1893)
Australian amateur women photographer
Louisa Elizabeth How was born in England in 1821 and
was married to James How (c. 1818–1868), a labourer
from Melvern, Cambridgeshire with whom she had two
sons. The How’s emigrated to Port Philip, Australia in
November 1849 perhaps encouraged by the fi nancial
success of a relative, Robert How (c. 1790s–1859).
Robert How initially employed James in his thriving
merchant and shipping company in Sydney and, by
1857, he had become a principal director of his own
company. In line with their new status, the How family
lived at ‘Woodlands,’ Kirribilli Point—a prime location
on Sydney Harbour. It was whilst here that Louisa began
to photograph, placing her salted paper photographs in
a carefully constructed album that she titled and signed.
The album (which is now owned by the National Gal-
lery of Australia, Canberra) is signifi cant as the earliest
extant work by an Australian woman photographer.
Louisa How’s choice of subjects largely centred around