1211
Dallmeyer which did develop some truly original lens
designs the Ross company after Andrew Ross’s death
relied more on refi ning optical designs from Germany
and selling its own version as well as manufacturing
well-known German designs under licence. It introduced
few original optical designs of it’s own.
Michael Pritchard
See also: Dallmeyer, John Henry & Thomas Ross;
Talbot, William Henry Fox; Giroux, André; Daguerre,
Louis-Jacques-Mandé; Petzval, Josef Maximilian;
Henry Collen, Henry; Exhibition of the Works of
Industry of All Nations, 1851: Reports by the Juries;
and Calotype and Talbotype.
Further Reading
The Correspondence of William Henry Fox Talbot. http://www.
foxtalbot.arts.gla.ac.uk/.
Rudolf Kingslake, A History of the Photographic Lens. London:
Academic Press, 1989.
R. S. Clay, “The Twenty-fi fth Annual Traill-Taylor Memorial
Lecture: The Photographic Lens from the Historical Point of
View,” in The Photographic Journal, LXII, 11, (November,
1922), 458–476.
Michael Pritchard, “The Houghton-Butcher/Ensign Company
Tree,” in The Photographic Collector 5 (2), 204–205.
W. Taylor and H. W. Lee, “The development of the photo-
graphic lens,” Proceedings of the Physical Society. 47 (1935),
502–518.
ROSS, HORATIO (1801–1886)
A talented marksman and athlete, Horatio Ross was also
an important fi gure in the history of early photography
in Scotland. He was born at Rossie Castle, Forfarshire
Scotland on 5 September, 1801, the son of Hercules
and Henrietta (Parish) Ross. He joined the 14th light
dragoons in 1819 and retired as a Captain in 1826.
Ross then embarked on a political career as a member
of parliament for the Aberdeen and Montrose boroughs
but did not seek re-election after 1834. An avid hunter,
Ross wrote the introduction to a book titled Deer Stalk-
ing and Forests, in 1880. He lived at his family home,
Rossie Castle until 1853, when he purchased the estate
of Netherley in Kincardineshire. In 1834 he married
Justine Henriette Macrae. Their marriage lasted over
fi fty years and produced fi ve sons, Horatio, Edward,
Hercules, Colin and Robert.
One of Ross’s earliest photographs is thought to be a
quarter plate daguerreotype, made in 1847, that depicts
his eldest son and a friend, fi shing. Although it is unusual
for a amateur photographer to tackle the complexities of
the daguerreotype process, eight plates at the Victoria
and Albert Museum attest to Ross’s perseverance and
skill with this technique. Two years later, in 1849, Ross
learned the rudiments of the paper negative process from
a professional photographer from Edinburgh, James
Ross (no relation). Several of his albumen prints (often
measuring 11 × 14 inches) were made from waxed
paper negatives but even by about 1856 Ross was also
using the wet-plate collodion process. A photograph
from about 1858, made by his wife Justine, shows him
preparing a plate in his home studio.
Ross’s primary subjects were his family and other
deer stalking enthusiasts. He also made “trophy” photo-
graphs the spoils of his activities as a deer-stalker as we
can seen in photographs such as Stag in Cart, c. 1858
(Gilman Paper Company Collection). Set against the
rugged landscape of the Scottish Highlands, the fallen
stags are often arranged in a manner meant to produce
the best pictorial effect. The branch-like antlers of the
deer are silhouetted against a blank sky or massive boul-
der in order to highlight their spiky form. He worked
within the English Picturesque tradition, photographing
views of shepherds’ huts, winding streams, waterfalls
and rocky outcrops. Some writers have even suggested
that the frequent use of a screen of trees or rocky crev-
ices is the result of Ross’s expertise as a consummate
hunter. He is also known for his views of Edinburgh and
various estates (and private hospitals) from around the
Scottish countryside.
One of the founders of the Photographic Society of
Scotland in 1856, Ross was the vice-president at the time
of the society’s fi rst exhibition and held that position until- Ross was a forceful advocate for the place of the
amateur photographer within the society. He even went
as far as delineating which fi elds of photography were
suited to amateurs and which should be left to the pro-
fessionals in a paper he read to the February 10th 1857
meeting of the PSS, where he argued that the “proper
fi eld for the Amateur’s labor is in the open air. Portraiture
he should leave in the hands of the professional gentle-
men.” He later defended the position of the amateurs at a
special meeting of the society in 1858, when the profes-
sional members sought to establish a greater presence
on the on the hanging committee. His motion to reject a
proposal that would limit the number of amateurs in the
society was supported by the majority of members.
Although Ross’s work was exhibited frequently dur-
ing his lifetime it is not as well known today. There are
several known albums of his work and his picturesque
views are often compared to the work of his contempo-
raries Roger Fenton and Benjamin Brecknell Turner. As
a gentleman-amateur photographer Ross was typical of
many of photography’s early inventors and experiment-
ers. While his hunting scenes can be seen as the product
of the particular class and generation, they, along with
his landscapes and architectural views, and portraits
of friends and family, form a unique picture of life in
Scotland in the mid-19th century.
Horatio Ross died at Rossie Lodge, Invernesshire, on
the 6th of December, 1886. The Dictionary of National