Talk to Edinburgh University - Celtic and Scottish Studies

Rock House Studio

Rock House was beside the steps leading up to Calton Hill from Waterloo Place, about 1/4 mile to the east of the East End of Princes Street.
This studio was used by Hill & Adam, calotypists, in 1843-47, then by a succession of other photographers over the next hundred years.

Rock House

Photographers who lived at Rock House
Hill & Adamson	1843-47
David Octavius Hill (Hill & McGlashan)	1861-62
Thomas Annan	1869-70
John Annan	1869-71
Archibald Burns	1871-80
Alexander Adam Inglis See also 'Further Notes'	1881-16
Francis Caird Inglis	1907-40
Alexander Adam Inglis (2)	1941
Francis Caird Inglis & Son	1941-49

Hill & Adamson

Rock House

1843-47

Here are a few of the many calotype photos that have survived from the studio of Hill & Adamson at Rock House.
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Queen Street has a large collection of Hill & Adamson calotypes and has published books about this collection.

D O Hill

Newhaven Fishwives

The Scott Monument

White Horse Close

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Salisbury Place Studio

Kenneth McLeay RSA

Photographic Studio: 1859-63

Kenneth McLeay was a watercolour portrait painter who had photographic studios in Edinburgh from 1859 to 1863. He exhibited his photos in Photographic Exhibitions in Edinburgh between 1856 and 1864.

Kenneth McLeay

by Hill & Adamson

Kenneth McLeay's

Price List

Plain Photographs

1st size - no hands 10s 6d

2nd size - with hands 15s 0d

3rd size - half length £1 1s 0d

4th size - whole length £1 11s 6d

Plain copies of the first 3 sizes - 5/- each

Plain copies of the 4th size - 7/6 each.

Painted Photographs

1st size - tinted £2 2s 0d

1st size - finished £3 13s 6d

2nd size - tinted £2 17s 0d

2nd size - finished £4 19s 0d

3rd size - tinted £3 13s 6d

3rd size - finished £6 6s 0d

4th size - tinted £5 15s 6d

4th size - finished £8 18s 6d

4th size - in uniform or highland dress £10 10s 0d

Miniatures for Bracelets, Lockets, etc. - smallest size £6 6s 0d

NOTE: £1 in 1859 is equivalent to almost £100 in 2010.)

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Princes Street Studios

Photography became well established in Edinburgh from the 1840s onwards. Most of the early photographic studios were in Princes Street.

Edinburgh Studios - 1840 to 1900

Chart - Princes Street Studios - 1840-1900

Princes Street was well suited to photography. There was an open outlook to the south towards Edinburgh Castle, so studios on the upper floors in Princes Street got the good light that was needed for photography in the early days.
Talbot had patented his Calotype photographic process in England, and Daguerre had placed restrictions on the use of his Daguerreotype in England, but photographers in Scotland were free to use either process.
© Reproduced with acknowledgement to National Galleries of Scotland permission.

John Ross

Studios: 1858 to 1900
- These are typical studio portraits taken around 1860. Note the large dresses. In some cases, but not here, the curtains would be used to hide a head-stand set up to prevent the sitter from moving.
© peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

© peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

John Moffat

Studios: 1853 to 1962

Cartes de visite showing medals awarded to him
- John Moffat added illustrations of the medals he had won to the backs of his cartes de visite. This can be helpful in dating his cartes de visite. Fashions can also be helpful in dating photos. Note that the later cards often have rounded corners.
1875-80



© peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
1882-86



© peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
1890-97


© peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
From 1897



© peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
The Cost

See also 'Further Notes'
A typical charge for cartes de visite in the 1860s was about 6 shillings a dozen - equivalent to about £25 a dozen in today's money, in 2010.

Parisian Photo Co

Studio: 1887 - 1914

Cabinet Prints
- These photos all have backdrops, suggesting grander or more exotic surroundings than the sitter might have been accustomed to. But they are obviously studio shots. e.g. where the photographer has made no attempt to hide join of the backdrop and the flooring.
- A couple of the people in the photos are in uniform. Did these uniforms belong to the studio? I suspect the answer is 'Yes' - at least in the case of the Fire Officer's uniform.
© For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

© For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

© For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

In Fire Officer's uniform

© Reproduced with acknowledgement to Bryan Gourlay, Biggar, Lanarkshire, Scotland

© For permission to reproduce, please contact peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk

Here is how the previous photograph above was taken:
Parisian Photo Co - 75 Princes Street - Studio Interior

© Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services
Harper & Smellie

Leith Walk (1899-1908)

and Princes Street (1902-1906)
- The cabinet prints below suggest that their studio in Leith Walk had a backdrop and a single chair. You could either stand beside it or sit on it!
William Crooke

1883 -1929
- William Crook was one of Edinburgh's most prominent photographers. He won many awards for his photography.
- He had studios in Princes Street from 1883 until 1929, with rather more furniture than Harper & Smellie had above.
- The studio must have looked impressive, with its outlook to the south across Princes Street Gardens to Edinburgh Castle.
Princes Street Studio - 1911

© Reproduced by courtesy of Edinburgh City Libraries and Information Services.
E R Yerbury
The Yerbury family had studios
in Edinburgh 1869 - 2003
- Several generations of the Yerbury family have had studios in Edinburgh:
- - beginning with E R Yerbury who had a studio at the corner of Princes Street and Hanover Street in the 1860s
- - ending with Trevor Yerbury who had a studio in East Claremont Street and specialised in wedding photography. His studio remained in business until 2003.
- Here are some photos of the Yerbury family:
Three Generations

LEFT:           Edward Reuben Yerbury [b.1843]

CENTRE:      Edward Roper Yerbury    [b.1915]

RIGHT:      Edward Reuben Yerbury     [b.1881]

© Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

Edward Reuben Yerbury

b.1843

© Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury Family.

Edward Reuben Yerbury

b.1881

© Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.

Edward Roper Yerbury

1915 - 1949

Aged about three

Photographed by his father

© Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.

Edward Roper Yerbury

1915 - 1949

'The Sky Pilot'

© Reproduced by courtesy of Trevor E R Yerbury, Edinburgh

Trevor Yerbury

1951 -

© Reproduced by courtesy of Trevor Yerbury.   Click here for link to web site.
- Yerbury photographers took over the businesses of several prominent Edinburgh photographers:
- William Crooke (1930)
- JCH Balmain (1958)
- Andrew Swan Watson (1958)
- John Moffat (1962)
- Here are some early images from the Yerbury collection, taken in and around Edinburgh. The first was taken around 1850. I believe that most of the others would have been taken by Balmain:
  
  Cramond
  
  © Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family. Click here for link to web site.
  
  Cramond
  
  © Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family. Click here for link to web site.
St Giles   - High Street, Edinburgh

© Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

East End of Princes Street

© Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury Family.   Click here for link to web site.

Elephant Parade, North Bridge

© Reproduced by courtesy of the Yerbury family.   Click here for link to web site.

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Thomas Vernon Begbie

Thomas Vernon Begbie took many photos of streets and views around Edinburgh that others ignored.
In 1950, his collection of 451 glass plate negatives of Edinburgh was found in an attic and rescued. Here are a few of them

Waverley Bridge

Demolition to enable Cockburn Street to be built

Leith Inner Harbour

Leith Shore

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Norward Inglis

Norward Inglis took still photos then, latterly, movies. Most of his still photos were taken around the 1950s, about a century after Begbie's photos above.

Norward Inglis

© Copyright: Norward Inglis and peter.stubbs@edinphoto.org.uk
- Norward's photos are high quality. They capture a lot of detail. Some are taken from unusual, high, positions. Here are a few:

Edinburgh Castle

George Street

Edinburgh Military Tattoo - 1950 - The second year of the Tattoo

Holyrood Palace Gates

Looking down on Dumbiedykes from Salisbury Crags

Photos of Dumbiedykes have attracted a lot of interest amongst people who lived there before the houses were demolished in the 1960s.
Here are a few more views of the area. These are not taken by Norward Inglis:

The Scotchie, Dumbiedykes - 1959

Looking down on Dumbiedykes from Salisbury Crags

Three workers from William Waugh Ltd, Metal Merchants - Late-1950s

Top of Arthur Street - 1959

Run-away Coal Lorry at the foot of Arthur Street - 1950s

Photographers

who lived at Rock House

Parisian Photo Co - 75 Princes Street - Studio Interior

Three Generations