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| Jacob Schmidt
was born
c. 1831 at Nassau in Prussia, Germany. He emigrated to
England
and
became a naturalised British subject, probably in the late 1840s or
early
1850s, and settled in the busy Humberside port of Goole, where he
married
Esther Powell (born c. 1835 in Goole). Esther had a daughter
Alice,
from before their marriage, and together they had at least three sons,
William, Thomas and Jacob, and two more daughters, Sarah and
Lizzie.
In 1861 or 1862 they moved to Bristol, Gloucestershire, where the
youngest
daughter Lizzie was born. In the 1861 Census, he is shown as
a musician.
Jacob Schmidt is first described as a photographer in the 1871 Census, when they were living at Egerton, Horfield, Gloucestershire. He had a studio at 1 Regent Street West, as indicated in an 1879 Bristol trade directory (Vaughan), and he remained in Bristol until at least April 1881 (Census). Although he was not mentioned in Kelly's 1887 Derbyshire Directory, by 1891 Jacob had moved to Campbell Street in Belper, Derbyshire, and had set up a studio in New Road (Census & Kelly). Jacob Schmidt died at Belper in early 1893. After marrying at Islington in early 1878, Jacob's eldest son William moved to Margate in Kent where he, too, set up as a photographer. The April 1881 Census and an 1882 trade directory (Kelly) both show him living at 1 Whitehead Villas, Margate St John Baptist, although it is not clear whether this was also the location of his studio. William Schmidt remained working as a photographer in Margate until at least 1901, although he moved to 1 Denmark villas before 1891. A series of three cabinet cards, shown below, indicate that William Schmidt was in partnership with a photographer named Goodman, with premises at Fort Hill, Margate, in the 1890s. Jacob's second son, also named Jacob, lived near Bristol and became a lithographic artist, while his youngest son Thomas Walter was a pattern maker and remained in Goole. |
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Unidentified
young man in military
uniform by J. Schmidt of Belper Undated, but probably taken in the mid- to late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Cynthia Maddock Notes: Inscribed on the reverse, "Bonzo." |
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Unidentified
young girl with basket by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the mid- to late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Cynthia Maddock Notes |
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Unidentified
woman by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the mid- to late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & collection of Stephanie Hitchcock Notes |
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Unidentified
young woman by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Size: Mount 62.5 x 103.5 mm Photo 56.5 x 95.5 mm Image ©
& collection of Brett Payne |
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Lucy
Silverwood
(née Fletcher) and son Hugh,
by J. Schmidt of Belper, taken c. 1892 Size: 64mm x 104mm Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood |
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Belper
Grammar School,
by J. Schmidt of Belper, Date unknown Size: 64mm x 106mm Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood |
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Unidentified
boy,
by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper, Date unknown Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Samantha Smith Nothing further is known about this photograph. |
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Unidentified
child by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Notes |
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| Two
unidentified
young women, by J. Schmidt
of
New Road, Belper
Undated, but probably taken in the late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Notes by RS: These two young women are not identified, but both appear in another photograph of Louisa Adshead (1861-1922) and two friends, taken by Norman J. McAuslan in the mid-1880s, and is probably a friend of Louisa's. |
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Unidentified
man by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Notes |
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Louisa
McAuslan née Jones
(1828-1900) by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Notes: Louisa was the wife of David Alexander McAuslan, and the mother of photographer Norman Jones McAuslan (1861-1905) |
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Unidentified
man by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the late 1880s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Notes |
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Unidentified
young clergyman by J. Schmidt of New Road, Belper Undated, but probably taken in the early 1890s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Cynthia Maddock Notes |
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Eliza
Hobday (1845-1938) of Derby,
by J. Schmidt of Belper, Undated, but probably copied in the 1880s from an earlier photo taken in the late 1860s or early 1870s Format: Carte de Visite Image © & courtesy of Rachel Brownell The mount has "J. Schmidt" at bottom left, and "Belper" at bottom right. |
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Elizabeth
Adshead
(1849 - 1917),
possibly in costume for amateur dramatic production, by J. Schmidt of Belper, Date unknown Size: 109mm x 168mm Format: Cabinet Card Hand tinted sepia print, Plain back Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Nothing further is known about this photograph. |
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Three
unkown boys
in sailor outfits,
by J. Schmidt of Belper, Date unknown Format: Cabinet Card Image © & courtesy of Samantha Smith Nothing further is known about this photograph. |
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Unknown
gentleman,
by J. Schmidt of Belper, Date unknown Format: Cabinet Card Image © & courtesy of Samantha Smith Nothing further is known about this photograph. |
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George
Hargreaves
Adshead (1824-1891), taken by J. Schmidt of Belper, Date unknown
Size: 108mm x 168mm Format: Cabinet Card Plain back Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Father-in-law of Norman McAuslan & great-great-grandfather of Robert Silverwood. |
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William
Peter Adshead
in his greenhouse at Derby House, Campbell Street, Belper, taken by J.
Schmidt of Belper, Date unknown
Size: 108mm x 168mm Format: Cabinet Card Plain back Image © & courtesy of Robert Silverwood Manufacturing chemist and Methodist lay preacher and writer. Brother of George Hargreaves Adshead, and father of Elizabeth Adshead. Both the photographer J. Schmidt and W.P. Adshead lived on Campbell Street. |
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| Size: Mount
109 x
169 mm Photo 100 x 144 mm |
Size: Mount 109 x 169 mm Photo 102 x 145.5 mm | Size: Mount 109.5 x 166.5 mm Photo 103 x 148 mm |
| Unidentified
children by Goodman
&
Schmidt of The Fort Studio, Fort Hill, Margate, Undated, but probably
taken in the late 1890s
Format: Cabinet Card Images © & collection of Brett Payne |
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| References
Images kindly provided by Cynthia Maddock, Stephanie Hitchcock, Brett Payne, Rachel Brownell, Samantha Smith and Robert Silverwood 1881 UK Census - online from the LDS church 1891 UK Census - online from Ancestry.com 1901 UK Census index - online from the PRO FreeBMD Anon (1887) Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Kelly & Co., London. Anon (1891) Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland & Nottinghamshire, Kelly & Co., London. University of Leicester's Digital Library of Historical Directories Kelly (1882) Directory of Kent. University of Leicester's Digital Library of Historical Directories Kelly (1891) Directory of Kent, Surrey & Sussex. University of Leicester's Digital Library of Historical Directories The Printer Marion Imp, Paris & London & The Marion Date Code, by Roger Vaughan Bristol Photographers - by Roger Vaughan |
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