Figure 1.-- Here is an amazing period presentation of two English ninth plate daguerreotypes of children doing sums on a chalkboard. They are mounted on period gilt-paper rather than in cases which we have found in America. There is a period inscription on the reverse "Jane Elizabeth Anne Dennis age 7 years 27 May / Edward John Dennis age years 11.... 11th July / James Alexander Dennis aged 9 years 17th May / done at Highgate on the day of Thanksgiving November 15th 1849 / from the town being relieved from Cholera / by E Dennis".

Here is an amazing period presentation of two English ninth plate daguerreotypes of children doing sums on a chalkboard. They are mounted on period gilt-paper rather than in cases which we have found in America. I'm not sure how common this was a way of displaying are archiving dags in England. We have not noted it in America. There is a period inscription on the reverse "Jane Elizabeth Anne Dennis age 7 years 27 May / Edward John Dennis age years 11.... 11th July / James Alexander Dennis aged 9 years 17th May / done at Highgate on the day of Thanksgiving November 15th 1849 / from the town being... relieved from Cholera / by E Dennis". The girl looks to be wearing a dress. I'm less sure what the boys are wearing. It looks to be tunic outfits or perhaps smocks worn with small white collars and bows. The scene with slates looks rather like achool scene, but I believe the portraits were taken at home. I'm not sure if these were the clothes the children would have worn to school. The dags here are unique, engaging and evocative. These beautiful little ninth plates have a dark tonality, as corresponds to their amateur origin. I would read the inscription to mean that E. Dennis, a relative and very likely the children's father, was the photographer who produced them. Front glass has been replaced.

Daguerreotype Portrait

Here is an amazing period presentation of two English ninth plate daguerreotypes. They are mounted on period gilt-paper rather than in cases which we have found in America. I'm not sure how common this was a way of displaying are archiving dags in England. We have not noted it in America. We have found many Americn dags in cases, but we do not yet commonly see European dags. Either cased images or other presentations like this one. We know they were made in Europe. They obviously first appeared in France because Daguerre himself was French. Why we do not see many European dags we are just not sure. Of course our assessment is based primarily on internet sales. Perhaps for some reason dags are not being sold through the interbet in Europe. This is strange because Europeans do sell many photographs.

The Children

There is a period inscription on the reverse which identifies the children. It reads, "Jane Elizabeth Anne Dennis age 7 years 27 May / Edward John Dennis age years 11.... 11th July / James Alexander Dennis aged 9 years 17th May / done at Highgate on the day of Thanksgiving November 15th 1849 / from the town being... relieved from Cholera / by E Dennis".

Location

The incripyion on the back tells us that the portrait was taken at Highgate. Highgate is a London suburb lovated north of the Thames. It is located at the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath. Highgate is divided among three London boroughs (Haringey to the north, Camden to the south and west, and Islington to the south and east). It is today one of the more expensive London suburbs. We are unsure about the character of Highgate in the 1840s. Highgate today has an active conservation society--The Highgate Society. The purpose is to preserve the character of the suburb. Highgate is one of only two London neigborhoods called by Londoners a village. The only other village is Dulwich. A reader writes, "Are you sure that these are English children? There are other Highgates as well. Thanksgiving is more a thing of the U.S." Good point. I saw Highgate and just assumed it was English as London's Highgate is the best known Highgate. But as our reader points out, there are other Hghgates including one in Vermont. This would explain the reference to Thanksgiving.

British Census

A British reader provides us some information from the The 1851 Census. The Census records shows Edward Dennis who was 42 years old and his wife Elizabeth Venter Dennis who was also 42. They had three children: Edward John (age 12), Jane Anne (age 8), and Robert Holmes (age 1). Maria Holmes (age 21) a sister-in-la, was living with them. The fmily was living in Marylebone which is a little way from Highgate. There is no trace of James Alexander, but there is a James Dennis aged 1 in the 1841 census living with Ellen and Michael Dennis aged 20 in the same Parish. The age is right but the status of Ellen and Michael Dennis is not stated. There were a lot of errors in the early census records as they were hand written, and the writing was not always legible. This could account for Jane Elizabeth Dennis being recorded as Jane Anne. Also children were sometimes called by diifferent names than their given name within the family. Our reader concludes, "I am sure the family in the 1851 census is that of the photo. The fate of James Alexander is not apparent. I suppose he could have been a cousin and not a sibling. I can't find him in the deaths."

Figure 2.-- Here is another shot of the same group.

Chronology

Thanks to the inscription, we know precisely when the portrait was taken, November 15, 1849. Note the reference to Colera. That was a major problem at the tome in London and was an important factor in the eventual construction of the London sewees, a major engineering works. I'm less sure about the reference to Thanksgiving. I didn't think that Thanksgiving was celebrated in England.

Scene

The dag portraits show the children doing math sums on a chalkboard. The chalknoards were how children did work at school. This is the earliest portraits we have of them, but we also seen them being used in the early 20th century.

Clothing

The girl looks to be wearing a dress. I'm less sure what the boys are wearing. It looks to be tunic outfits or perhaps smocks worn with small white collars and bows. The scene with slates looks rather like achool scene, but I believe the portraits were taken at home. I'm not sure if these were the clothes the children would have worn to school. The dags here are unique, engaging and evocative. These beautiful little ninth plates have a dark tonality, as corresponds to their amateur origin. I would read the inscription to mean that E. Dennis, a relative and very likely the children's father, was the photographer who produced them.

Hair Parts

Notice the parts here. The girl here has a center part and her brothers have side parts. This is the same convention prevalent in America at the time.

Reader Comment

A British reader writes, "The Daguerreotypes here almost certainly referred to Highgate, London for the following reasons. In the mid-19th century when these portraits were taken, London suffered four cholera outbreaks, one of which had spread from Newcastle. In a nationwide epidemic in 1848-1849, 60,000 died. Despite the evidence, the connection between clean drinking water and health was denied by many reformers. The theory of airborne infection still prevailed, with high-profile figures including Florence Nightingale believing that all diseases came from the atmosphere. Parliament was forced to rise in the summer of 1858. The hot summer had caused excessive smell from the polluted River Thames called the ‘Big Stink’. They approved the institution of a sewer system. A Mr. Bazelgette devised a system of intercepting sewers that carried foul water to new pumping stations and septic tanks to prevent pollution of the Thames. It is considered in this country as the genesis of Public Health."

Created: 12:06 AM 3/24/2007
Last edited: 6:05 PM 2/21/2008