657
forty years. He edited the Journal’s Photographic Al-
manac for 1861 and 1862. He became a Fellow of the
Chemical Society in 1854.
Optical projection was a particular interest of High-
ley and he is credited as amongst the fi rst to design a
biunial, or double lantern with two projecting lenses
mounted vertically above one another, with a dissolving
tap for the exhibition of dissolving views and he was
an accomplished maker of photographic lantern slides.
He designed a lantern for the projection of photo-mi-
crographs with a paper on the subject being read before
the Society of Arts in January 1863. He manufactured
optical lanterns as part of his business as a manufactur-
ing optician.
Highley wrote on photography from the early 1850s
to the late 1870s after which he seems to have had no
further public involvement photography and his obituary
in the 1902 Almanac stated he had: ‘long since passed
out of the sight and mind of the photographic world.’ He
died in Stutton’s Hospital, Charterhouse, London.
Michael Pritchard
HIKOMA, UENO; See UENO HIKOMA
HILDITCH, GEORGE (1803–1857)
English painter and photographer
An early user of the collodion process and a calotypist,
George Hilditich, came to photography after establish-
ing himself as a painter.
He was born in 1803 in the City of London to Mil-
dred and George Hilditch, a city silk mercer. As a boy,
Hilditch spent the summers in the rural surroundings
of Richmond-upon-Thames, London. It was here that
he became a pupil of the painter Thomas Christopher
Hofl and (1778–1843) of Twickenham. Later he attended
the Royal Academy schools and in 1823 had his fi rst
painting selected for the Royal Academy summer ex-
hibition. He was awarded a gold medal for an original
landscape in oils by the Society of Arts, Manufactures
and Commerce, which actively encouraged fi ne arts
skills in young people. It inspired the fi rst of many
summer painting tours to picturesque destinations in
Britain and later to France, Germany and Italy and he
established himself as a regular exhibitor at the Royal
Academy, the Royal Society of British Artists and the
British Institution.
Hilditch’s love of painting was made possible by the
family silk business, with which he had a high level of
involvement, especially after the death of his father in
- Marriage to Mary Bracebridge and the birth of
their two sons limited travel abroad and he turned his
attention to the landscape of the south coast. The subject
of these paintings in Sussex and Kent were later to be
refl ected in his photographs. He also returned to the
riverside at Richmond.
At the Society of Arts exhibition of 1852, Hilditch
exhibited both photographic landscapes (calotype)
and portraits (collodion). Thirteen photographs were
landscapes or townscapes. Some of his earliest photo-
graphs record scenes in Richmond, conveniently near
to the riverside house of his brother, and several revisit
viewpoints of his paintings. In comparison to his well-
populated riverside oil paintings, his photographs of the
same scenes are eerily empty with an occasional blur
of fi gures in motion.
Photography took over from painting during the lat-
ter years of Hilditch’s life. From1853, there is a notable
decline in the numbers of painting he exhibited. He
was one of the early members of the newly established
Photographic Society of London and his photographs
were shown at the 1854, 1855, 1856 and 1857 exhibi-
tions. The subject matter echoes that of his paintings
near the Thames at Richmond and Twickenham, in the
city of London and in Sussex and Kent. Hilditch died
in Islington, London in 1857. His photographs form the
fi nal phase of his artistic career.
Carolyn BlooreCollections
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Local
Studies Collection (late 19th century prints from
calotype negatives) and Orleans House Gallery (oil
paintings).
Whitt Library, copies of painting (mainly auction house
illustrations).
Bath Royal Literary and Scientifi c Institute, album of
prints from calotype negatives, majority photographs
from the London area and SE England.
Hove Museum and Art Gallery, painting, View of Hove,
c. 1852.
Royal Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa, one unidentifi ed
painting.
Family Collections watercolours.HILL, DAVID OCTAVIUS (1802–1870)
AND ADAMSON, ROBERT (1821–1848)
British photographers
The professional and creative partnership between Da-
vid Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson is one of the most
important artistic collaborations in the history of pho-
tography. In the span of only four years (1843–1847),
the Scottish pair created a large and varied body of work
that includes several enduring masterpieces. Best known
for dramatically moody portraits and group scenes that