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Biography
Driffi eld, Vero Charles 1848–1915
Engineer and amateur photographer
Vero Charles Driffi eld was born in Prescot, Lancashire,
England on 7th May 1848. His childhood was spent
in London, prior to education at Liverpool Collegiate
Institution, Sandbach Grammar School, and a private
school in Southport, Lancashire. Driffi eld’s interest in
photography began in 1863, and at the age of 17, he
enjoyed six months’ work experience in the Southport
studio of Henry Sampson, where he received grounding
in the wet-plate process and emulsion making.
Following an apprenticeship, Driffi eld joined Gaskell
Deacon and Company of Widnes, Cheshire, as works’
engineer in 1871. During a lifetime in the alkali in-
dustry, he worked on manufacturing processes. When
the company amalgamated as part of the United Alkali
Company in 1890, the new board appointed Driffi eld
works’ manager, until he retired in September 1915. He
died at home six weeks later.
In 1877, Driffi eld married Ethel Bowles Fripp, who
died whilst giving birth to a daughter the following year.
His daughter, May, survived and was the subject for
many attractive portraits and experimental photographs
by her father for the next thirty years.
At Gaskell Deacon and Company, Driffi eld met Dr
Ferdinand Hurter, and the two men collaborated in pho-
tographic research until Hurter’s death in 1898.
Hurter, Dr. Ferdinand 1844–1898
Industrial chemist and part-time photographic
investigator
Ferdinand Hurter was born in Schaffhausen, Switzer-
land, in March 1844 and educated at the Gymnasium. At
the age of 19, he worked for a silk dyer and successfully
completed a course in chemistry at Zurich Polytechnic.
In 1865, his tutor arranged for him to read at Heidelberg
University and under a system of continuous assessment,
he studied modules of meteorology, stoichiometry, cli-
matology, analytical and organic chemistry.
In 1865, he graduated with the highest honours and
came to Manchester. Henry Deacon of Gaskell Deacon
and Company engaged him as a personal assistant, but
promotion to works’ chemist soon followed. When the
company amalgamated to form the United Alkali Com-
pany in 1890, the board of directors appointed Hurter as
Chief Scientist, with a commission to create a central
research laboratory.
Until his sudden death in 1898, he worked on
improvements to many processes to meet a need for
effi ciencies within the alkali industry. He was a founder-
member of The Society of Chemical Industry, and served
on committee for many years as well as contributing
important lectures.
In 1871, he married Hannah Garnett, and had four
children. In his leisure time, he undertook photographic
research in conjunction with his colleague, Vero Charles
Driffi eld.
See also: British Journal of Photography; and
Photographic Exchange Club and Photographic
Society Club, London.
Further Reading
Callender, R. M., The Photographic Researches of Hurter and
Driffi eld, Journal of Photographic Science, Vol 27, 1979,
174–180.
Callender, R. M., English Engineer meets Swiss Chemist, Brit-
ish Journal of Photography, 25 December 1981, 1324–1327,
1332.
Callender, R. M., The Actinograph Exposure Calculator 1888-
1898, Photographica World, Autumn 2000, 9–16.
Ferguson, William Bates, (Ed.), The Photographic Researches
of Ferdinand Hurter & Vero C. Driffi eld, London : The Royal
Photographic Society, 1920.
Hurter and Driffi eld Centenary Colloquium Proceedings, Journal
of Photographic Science, vol. 39, no. 2, 1991, 42–106.
The Driffi eld Bequest, The RPS Collection, The National Mu-
seum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford, West
Yorkshire, England.
HURTER, FERDINAND AND DRIFFIELD, VERO CHARLES
