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George Davidson
and
Thomas
Davidson
1798-1878
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George Davidson |
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Pioneer Photographer
I have discovered information about Thomas Davidson from the early
trade directories, press and photographic journals, but I still have to
investigate the life and work of George Davidson.
C S Minto, Edinburgh City Librarian, reported in his lecture to
Edinburgh Photographic Society in the 1950s that Thomas Davidson had taken
over the family optician business from George Davidson in 1841, and that
George Davidson was, himself, a daguerreotypist. |
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John Nicol's recollections of Thomas
Davidson |
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Pioneer Photographer
John
Nicol, a regular speaker at EPS meetings, gave an interesting review of
the life of Thomas Davidson [1798-1878] in an article he wrote in the year
following Davidson’s death.
Speaking of the pioneers of photography, Nicol said:
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“As
year by year we are coming nearer and nearer to the last link. It is a
pity that anyone who played an important part in laying the foundation on
which so grand a structure has been reared, should be allowed to pass away
without an attempt being made to keep his memory green, and to associate
his name with the trials and troubles then overcome.” |
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Before Photography
Thomas
Davidson was born in Northumberland and trained as a weaver.
As an amateur optician and instrument maker, he made lathes,
telescopes, flutes and a violin.
He moved in the 1820s to East Anglia, where he continued his weaving
business, joined the herring fishermen and ran an instrument repair
business.
In
1836, he moved to Edinburgh, working first for John Davis, mathematical
and philosophical instrument maker and optician, then based at 64 Princes
Street, the same address as James Howie’s
premises from 1832 to 1840.
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Camers and Lenses
In 1839,
following Daguerre’s announcement of his photographic process, Davidson
set up his own business in Edinburgh, making camera and lenses.
In
1840 he was
offering 8½ ins x 6½
ins cameras which “commanded
a ready sale at good prices”.
He
later made a camera for Hill
& Adamson, using a concave mirror for a lens, and capable of
producing slides 16 ins x 13 ins. His cameras were admired by
Talbot and his circle.
Davidson
went on to make lenses for the prominent photographers of Edinburgh:
- James Howie,
- Hill &
Adamson,
- Ross & Thomson,
- James Good Tunny
- others
It was W Davidson’s improved lens that James
Howie used in his roof-top studio in late 1841.
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Silver Medal
Thomas
Davidson was awarded a Silver Medal by the Royal Scottish Society of Arts
for his paper delivered on 23 Nov 1840:
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“Description of the Process of Daguerreotype and Remarks on the
Action of Light in that Process, both in respect of Landscapes and
Miniature Portraits”. |
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Thomas Davidson
Entries in the Trade Directories
and
Advertisement
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Thomas Davidson first appeared in the Edinburgh & Leith Trade
Directories in 1841. He was listed as:
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1841
1842
1843
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Thomas Davidson, Optician, 12 Royal Exchange |
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1844 |
Thomas Davidson, Working Optician, 63 Princes Street |
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1845
1846
1847 |
[not
listed in the Post Office Directories] |
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1848 |
Thomas & W Davidson, Opticians &c., 29 Haddington Place |
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1849 |
Thomas Davidson & Co, Opticians &c., 29 Haddington Place |
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1850
1851 |
Thomas Davidson & Co, Opticians &c., 187, High Street |
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1852
1853 |
Thomas Davidson & Co, Opticians, 4 Infirmary Street |
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1854
and later years |
[not
listed in the Post Office Directories] |
In
1844, Thomas Davidson placed an advert, promoting the business he had
established in his new premises at 63 Princes Street:
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“Working
Optician, Mathematical and Philosophical Instrument Maker respectfully
intimates that he has opened the above premises with an entirely new
stock, including every description of theodolites and levels, single
compasses, achromatic and reflecting microscopes, spectacles, eye glasses,
…
Daguerreotype
and Calotype Apparatus with latest improvements.”
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In 1848, the daguerreotype part of Thomson's business was taken over by
John Thomson of the Ross & Thomson partnership.
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Thomas Davidson - Never made a fortune!
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Unfortunately,
despite his inventive skills, Thomas Davidson appears not to have been a
successful businessman. John
Nicol reported that Davidson was well known to
the Edinburgh photographers of the 1840s and 1850s, but by the time of his
death in 1878, he was a poor man, unrecognised in his retirement by the
current generation of photographers
[BJP: 1879, p391] |
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