Arthur Alfred Woodbridge 1873 – 1937
Photographic Business
Arthur Alfred Woodbridge worked as a photographer in Tottenham, London from approximately 1891 to about 1908.
By 1911 he had changed his career and had become a carpenter.
Census
1881 – aged 7, at 12 Newton Road, Tottenham, London N with parents Joseph and Sarah and five siblings – Annie, Emily, Ernest, Joseph and Frederick
1891 – aged 18, living at 1 Newton Road, Tottenham, London N with his parents Joseph and Sarah. He had eight siblings – William, Caroline, Annie, Emily, Ernest, Joseph, Frederick and Florence. Occupation – photographer
1901 – aged 27, at 587 Seven Sisters Road, Tottenham, London, N with wife Lucy and five children – Arthur, Lucy May, Bert, Sidney and Percival. Occupation – photographer
1911 – aged 37, at 37 Linton Cottages, Edmonton, London, with wife Lucy and ten children. Occupation – carpenter
Arthur Alfred Woodbridge was born on the 29th April 1873 at Nelson Road, Harrow in Middlesex. His father, Joseph, was 29 and his mother, Sarah, was 26.
By 1891, when Arthur was 18, the family had moved into north London. They were at 1 Newton Road, Tottenham and he had eight siblings. He eventually had five brothers and six sisters.
At that time Arthur was recorded as a photographer and it appears that he must have been an employee for someone else as there is no record of him having his own studio.
On December 25th 1892 (Christmas Day), at the age of 19, Arthur married Lucy May Bebbington at Hackney Parish Church in London. It’s interesting to note that the address that was given at the time of their marriage, 54 Mare Street, was at that time a photographic studio belonging to Thompson Fisher – maybe Arthur was working there.
Lucy’s father (John Henry Bebbington) and grandfather (John Oliver Bebbington) and great grandfather (John Bebbington) all worked as printers in London and Manchester. John Oliver Bebbington was a letterpress printer of broadside ballads (popular street literature) working in the Ancoats district of Manchester between 1855 and 1861. Many of his broadside ballads are still held at the Bodleian Library at the University of Oxford.
Arthur and Lucy went on to have at least 13 children – Arthur Alfred Woodbridge (1893), Lucy May Woodbridge (1894), Bert Ernest John Woodbridge (1897), Sydney Albert Woodbridge (1899), Percival Baden Woodbridge (1900), Stanley Cecil Woodbridge (1901), Reginald Victor Woodbridge (1903), Clifford Raymond Woodbridge (1905), Harold Vincent Woodbridge (1906), Gladys Victoria Woodbridge (1908), Leslie Seymour Woodbridge (1911), Evelyn Violet Woodbridge (1914) and Leonard Raymond Woodbridge (1915).
By 1900, Arthur had opened his own studio and he styled himself as an ‘Artist and Photographer’. He owned a business called the Dorset Studio at 587 Seven Sisters Road, Tottenham, London N.
In 1901, at the age of 27, he was listed in the census as a photographer and lived in the premises occupied by his studio.
Arthur advertised the Dorset Studio in trade directories from 1900 until 1904 and it is possible that he had the studio after that time but did not advertise it.
By 1908 the studio was owned by a different photographer called Charles Alfred Samuels.
According to the census in 1911, Arthur had changed his career and had become a carpenter which was the family trade for the Woodbridge males dating as far back as 1634 and which is still the case today. Many members of the Woodbridge family, however, still have a keen interest in photography.
Today’s family members were told by their father, Bert Ernest John Woodbridge, that Arthur had to stop working as a photographer because he became ill working with photographic chemicals – a not unusual scenario.
Bert Ernest John Woodbridge, son of Arthur Woodbridge, taken about 1914
Arthur died on the 5th January 1937 in the German Hospital, Hackney, London at the age of 63. The German Hospital was founded for the German speaking community of London in 1845 and was visited by Florence Nightingale.
Family
| Father | Joseph Woodbridge, 1844-1923 |
| Mother | Sarah Ann Woodbridge (nee Martin) 1847-1918 |
| Arthur Alfred | |
| Born | 29th April 1873 Nelson Road, Harrow, Middlesex |
| Baptized | ? |
| Married | December 25th 1892 in London to Lucy May Bebbington |
| Child 1 | Arthur Alfred Woodbridge II, born 1893 |
| Child 2 | Lucy May Woodbridge, born 1894 |
| Child 3 | Bert Ernest John Woodbridge, born 1897 |
| Child 4 | Sydney Albert Woodbridge, born 1899 |
| Child 5 | Percival Baden Woodbridge, born 1900 |
| Child 6 | Stanley Cecil Woodbridge, born 1901 |
| Child 7 | Reginald Victor Woodbridge, born 1903 |
| Child 8 | Clifford Raymond Woodbridge, born 1905 |
| Child 9 | Harold Vincent Woodbridge, born 1906 |
| Child 10 | Gladys Victoria Woodbridge, born 1908 |
| Child 11 | Leslie Seymour Woodbridge, born 1911 |
| Child 12 | Evelyn Violet Woodbridge, born 1914 |
| Child 13 | Leonard Raymond Woodbridge, born 1915 |
| Died | 5th January 1937 Hackney, London |
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Compiled by Ron Cosens © www.cartedevisite.co.uk
Sources
- Rosemary Woodbridge-Smith, Joan McCann and Del Woodbridge (grandchildren of Arthur Woodbridge), family historians, who provided information for the life story above
- Sandy Barrie for trade directory information
- Ron Cosens for images from the Victorian Image Collection
Arthur Alfred Woodbridge – Gallery
 Arthur Alfred Woodbridge carte de visite 1 |
 Arthur Alfred Woodbridge carte de visite 1 (verso) |
Arthur Alfred Woodbridge cabinet 1
Arthur Alfred Woodbridge cabinet 3
Arthur Alfred Woodbridge cabinet 3 (verso)