I used to paint with five other painters, and I’m the only one of the five left – the others passed away quite some time ago. They called us the ...
Early years
James Speight was born on 25th February 1879, the youngest son of Edward Hall Speight and Louisa Gulliver (m.1861). Edward Hall Speight was originally from Ambleside in Cumbria; he ...
Edward Hall Speight, Photographer
The Speights were a family of talented photographers. Edward Hall Speight (originally a Wesleyan schoolmaster) set up his photography business in Rugby around 1872. All of his ...
To identify exactly what inspires great works of art is an impossible task. However, when presented with the ideal subject artists often flock to paint, draw or sculpt it.
Warwick Castle, ...
In February 2015 a painting, which was picked up at auction, was donated to the Warwickshire County Record Office. It was instantly recognisable as the Priory, Warwick.
The painting is dated ...
Anne was known for her patronage. A particularly heart-wrenching letter for employment from Agnes Harris, begins by listing her artistic credentials. She wrote “I am an artist. I have passed ...
What qualities do you think a Victorian Countess would look for in a maid servant? If one watches television shows such as Downton Abbey, then you might be convinced that ...
James’ story continues with a series of letters he wrote to family and friends during his time on active service in the First World War. These letters were all returned ...
(Continued from part one)
Like oranges, black servants were far from uncommon in wealthy households during the 1600s. Indeed, both King Henry VIII and his daughter Elizabeth I had black people ...
If visiting historic country houses has taught me one thing, it is that you should always carry a torch with you. Delicate fabrics, drawings and materials necessitate low lighting levels; ...
(Continued from part one)
The second Earl was not only a collector of art, but seemed to enjoy participating in the creation of it too. It has been noted that both ...
My visit to Pauls Jaunzem’s sculpture park in Riga, Latvia inspired the exploration of sculptures and monuments in Leamington which were under my nose. For decades I had passed them ...
By the year 1816 the walls of Warwick Castle held one of England’s most ambitious collections of Old Master Portraiture ever assembled. Despite the sale of the Castle in 1978 ...
A general background
My great grandfather was a master photographer based in Rugby, he started the Redding studio in the town which lasted for 100 years. John Frearson writes1 how Redding ...
You may not be aware that Warwick was visited on at least two occasions by one of the most famous painters of the 18th century. Giovanni Antonio Canal (1697-1768) was ...
This extraordinary contraption appears to be a portable photographic darkroom belonging to James Green (on the left). At the time he lived at Goodrick Street in Birmingham and later moved ...
In April 1987, builders were working on 16 Augusta Place and broke through a bricked up wall to a cellar. It was highly unlikely that they expected to find what ...
I’ve recently been perusing the Warwickshire County Record Office postcard collection on the lookout for some interesting images depicting Warwickshire’s past. This particular collection comprises approximately 7,910 postcards of Warwickshire and ...