Three Pre-1900 Photographs Found at Timberscombe School, Including a Photograph of Gentlemen by Herbert Henry Hole
Title
Three Pre-1900 Photographs Found at Timberscombe School, Including a Photograph of Gentlemen by Herbert Henry Hole
Subject
Description
The three photographs seen above were rediscovered in 2019 among various papers at Timberscombe School. The only clue to identify the photographs is a faded stamp on the reverse of the bottom photograph that indicates it was taken by Henry Herbert Hole, a professional photographer with a studio on Long Street in Williton by 1860 and in Minehead as early as 1867 (1).
Indeed, as of this writing, there is no conclusive connection between these photographs with Timberscombe School or Timberscombe in general. Yet they were saved for decades, perhaps for some local reason and are presently preserved in the St. Petrock's History Group Archive, with the hope that someday more will be revealed about these photographs.
There may be a connection between the top two photographs, albeit that one is taken in a photographic studio and the other taken outside a foliage- covered and unidentified structure. In that photograph, two women are seated, clutching floral bouquets that have long white ribbons (as do the women in the top picture), with two men standing behind them. Presumably, the four of them, placed in the centre of the group, are the reason everyone else has gathered together.
The clothing, worn in both of these photographs, suggest they were taken in the 1870's or even more likely in the 1880's. Most all of the women wear tightly fitted bodices with high necklines with ruffled lace collars and have form-fitting sleeves, sometimes topped with puffy shoulders, all fashionable during that decade. The Victoria and Albert Museum, in their History of Fashion from 1840 to 1900, describes how in the mid 1880's, there was a brief revival of the bustle, protruding from the small of a woman's back, that was outdated by 1890 (2). Such a bustle seems evident on the seated woman in the top photograph and more so, on the woman with crossed arms, seated on the right end of the second photograph.
And it can be argued that the seated woman at the centre of the top photograph (and perhaps the woman standing to her right) have facial similarities to the women seated in the centre of the second photograph. The young woman standing on the left of the top photograph (perhaps) could in the second photograph, seated to the left of the two central women (separated by a moustachioed gentleman).
Both men in the top photograph and most of the men in the second photograph, wear stiff white shirts with high wing-tipped collars, a style that also changed by the 1890s, replaced by often detachable three-inch tall collars that angled upward to the back of the neck (3)--as seen on all the gentlemen in the bottom photograph.
Indeed the third photograph seems to have been taken about a decade (or more) later than the previous photographs, yet apparently before 1900, the year that Herbert Henry Hole, born in Williton in 1836, died. At the time of his passing, Hole's Long Street, Williton studio was still in operation, as well as one on The Avenue in Minehead (4).
There is a possibility (and it is a supposition) of a more direct connection to Timberscombe in the third photograph. The man, seemingly older than the others in the photograph, seated fourth from the left on the front row, wearing a frock coat and with his arms crossed might be Samuel (Sam) Overmass, who on the 9th of January 1882, became the Headmaster of Timberscombe School, a position he held for 22 years (5). There are two other photographs of him. On SP-208, Overmass is seen as a member of the St. Petrock's Church Choir in 1885 and is photographed as Headmaster, c. 1888, at SP-243. In both, he appears younger and his face is slimmer. The man in those photographs wears his hair and moustache in the same style and length as the more tired looking man in this photograph--where, of course, he is older and may not even be well. Sam Overmass died unexpectedly on the 21st of February 1904, at the age of 48 years. He was buried at St. Petrock's Churchyard (6).
As always, if anyone is able to identify any of the people in these photographs, or has suggestions concerning their locations, please contact the St. Petrock's History Group. (You can do so on this website). It would be greatly appreciated.
Indeed, as of this writing, there is no conclusive connection between these photographs with Timberscombe School or Timberscombe in general. Yet they were saved for decades, perhaps for some local reason and are presently preserved in the St. Petrock's History Group Archive, with the hope that someday more will be revealed about these photographs.
There may be a connection between the top two photographs, albeit that one is taken in a photographic studio and the other taken outside a foliage- covered and unidentified structure. In that photograph, two women are seated, clutching floral bouquets that have long white ribbons (as do the women in the top picture), with two men standing behind them. Presumably, the four of them, placed in the centre of the group, are the reason everyone else has gathered together.
The clothing, worn in both of these photographs, suggest they were taken in the 1870's or even more likely in the 1880's. Most all of the women wear tightly fitted bodices with high necklines with ruffled lace collars and have form-fitting sleeves, sometimes topped with puffy shoulders, all fashionable during that decade. The Victoria and Albert Museum, in their History of Fashion from 1840 to 1900, describes how in the mid 1880's, there was a brief revival of the bustle, protruding from the small of a woman's back, that was outdated by 1890 (2). Such a bustle seems evident on the seated woman in the top photograph and more so, on the woman with crossed arms, seated on the right end of the second photograph.
And it can be argued that the seated woman at the centre of the top photograph (and perhaps the woman standing to her right) have facial similarities to the women seated in the centre of the second photograph. The young woman standing on the left of the top photograph (perhaps) could in the second photograph, seated to the left of the two central women (separated by a moustachioed gentleman).
Both men in the top photograph and most of the men in the second photograph, wear stiff white shirts with high wing-tipped collars, a style that also changed by the 1890s, replaced by often detachable three-inch tall collars that angled upward to the back of the neck (3)--as seen on all the gentlemen in the bottom photograph.
Indeed the third photograph seems to have been taken about a decade (or more) later than the previous photographs, yet apparently before 1900, the year that Herbert Henry Hole, born in Williton in 1836, died. At the time of his passing, Hole's Long Street, Williton studio was still in operation, as well as one on The Avenue in Minehead (4).
There is a possibility (and it is a supposition) of a more direct connection to Timberscombe in the third photograph. The man, seemingly older than the others in the photograph, seated fourth from the left on the front row, wearing a frock coat and with his arms crossed might be Samuel (Sam) Overmass, who on the 9th of January 1882, became the Headmaster of Timberscombe School, a position he held for 22 years (5). There are two other photographs of him. On SP-208, Overmass is seen as a member of the St. Petrock's Church Choir in 1885 and is photographed as Headmaster, c. 1888, at SP-243. In both, he appears younger and his face is slimmer. The man in those photographs wears his hair and moustache in the same style and length as the more tired looking man in this photograph--where, of course, he is older and may not even be well. Sam Overmass died unexpectedly on the 21st of February 1904, at the age of 48 years. He was buried at St. Petrock's Churchyard (6).
As always, if anyone is able to identify any of the people in these photographs, or has suggestions concerning their locations, please contact the St. Petrock's History Group. (You can do so on this website). It would be greatly appreciated.
Creator
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Henry Herbert Hole
Anonymous /
Henry Herbert Hole
Source
Date
likely 1880s
likely 1880s
likely 1890s
likely 1880s
likely 1890s
Contributor
Language
English
Identifier
three photographs found at Timberscombe School, including five unknown people in a photography studio, c.1880s, a gathering of unknown people at an unknown event, c. 1880s and a Herbert Henry Hole photograph of unknown gentlemen gathered together for the photograph
Acquisition Date
2019
Acquisition Method
Gift
Category
PEOPLE: Unknown / possibly Timberscombe
Condition
The top photograph is damaged on its right half
Good
Good
Good
Good
Condition Notes
entered by Tom Sperling
Condition Date
2022
Dimension Type
W X L
Dimension Units
cm
Dimension Value
to be entered
Institution Name
St. Petrock's History Group
Notes
(1) "Secure the shadow: Somerset Photographers 1839-1939", Robin Ansell, Alan Collier and Phil Nichols, The Somerset & Dorset Family History Society, 2018 (2) Victoria and Albert Museum, History of Fashion 1840-1900, vam.ac.uk and Family Search Blog, Fashion in the 1880s: How Men, Women and Children Dressed, by Alison Ensign, February 3 2022, familysearch.org (3) Clothes Make the (Victorian) Man-GBACG Finery, gbacg.finery (4) "Secure the shadow: Somerset Photographers 1839-1939" (5) Timberscombe School LOG BOOK, 8 March 1872-31 August 1892, page 274 (6) UK and Ireland, Find A Grave Index, 1300s-Current
Storage Location
St. Petrock's History Group Archive
Storage Date
2022
Storage Notes
St. Petrock's History Group PHOTOGRAPHS
Item Reference
SP-242
Technique
Copies
Citation
Anonymous /
Anonymous /
Henry Herbert Hole
, “Three Pre-1900 Photographs Found at Timberscombe School, Including a Photograph of Gentlemen by Herbert Henry Hole,” St. Petrock's History Group, accessed May 16, 2024, https://stpetrockshistorygroup.omeka.net/items/show/3514.
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