Monday, 23 May 2011
William Thomas Whiffin
During my last voluntary stint at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, I took the opportunity of finding out a little more about the photographer behind the Whiffin Photographic collection. There is a small collection of papers (Whiffin 770 (Folder 3) includes a few letters written by Whiffin) from which I gleaned a few biographical details. The man behind these photographs was William Thomas Whiffin (circa 1879-1957), a successful and highly accomplished professional photographer, with studios in the East India Dock Road, King's Cross, Harrow Road and Mare Street in Hackney. Whiffin documented significant events in the East End (he turned his lens on the rise of 'Poplarism' in the early 1920s and the General Strike of 1926) but many of his photographs are of inconsequential scenes which are all the more fascinating because of their ordinariness. In September 1939 Whiffin applied for a permit to document life in Poplar during WW2, and was presumably successful, albeit working under restricted conditions. One particularly poignant handwritten note from a municipal official, dated 14 May 1941, presses Whiffin to attend a makeshift mortuary in Knapps Road to photograph the corpse of an unidentified boy aged 14. My first thought was that the young lad was a victim of the Blitz, but I suppose he could have died in some other way. How ever it was he died, it brought me up short when I read that. I wonder if the authorities ever did identify the child.
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Andrew - you may be interested to know that this was not the first wartime death incident my Great Uncle William Whiffin (1878-1957)dealt with. I was told by my father that William was asked to take photo's at South Hallsville School in Agate Street which was bombed in Sep 1940. The school was being used as a shelter/muster point for people in the Tidal Basin. The bombing resulted in the loss of several hundred lives and it must have been a truly dreadful task for him.
ReplyDeleteGreat Uncle William took over the family studio from his father, also William (1851-1937), who in turn had come to London from Bedford in 1870 to join his Uncle Thomas William Wright's business in East India(Dock)Road. They were originally at no 199 and later in no 237. Thomas Wright was also an early 'aviator' - he is reckoned to have made several hundred balloon ascents!
Hello there
DeleteThank you for your informative comments about your great-uncle William. As you say, his wartime activities must often have been harrowing, and I dare say that the incident at Agate Street must have taken a very heavy emotional toll.
On a happier note, he really was a gifted photographer; my favourite picture (I think by him or an associate) at Tower Hamlets Archives is, I think, quite a famous one - it is of an immense sailing vessel docked so close to the dock wall that its bowsprit thrusts out over the houses on Manchester Road. A rigger is carefully climbing back down the bowsprit, and the whole composition is quite surreal. It may have been posed as it seems unlikely that Whiffen was just passing by, but one can't help but admire the courage of the rigger - 30 feet and more above the road and with no safety net if he put a foot wrong. Thinking about it, I am not sure which would be worse: hanging on for dear life in the East London Docks or out in the Atlantic.
I infer from your email that you have done some family history and have come up with some fascinating stuff; I wish you the best of luck with that in the future.
Kind regards
Andrew Lewis
Andrew - interested to read these exchanges which came up when I Goggled "Whiffin photographer".
DeleteI'm trying to trace a book in which a picture with his name attached appears. The original pic may be in the TH library and Archive and I'll try them, but perhaps it will be with the publisher of the book of course. Robert Humphreys
parlybeergroup@btconnect.com
Dear Robert
DeleteThanks for your comment; there are a lot of people interested in Whiffin, and it's a shame that he didn't leave any personal archives on which someone could base a biography. As well as trying Tower Hamlets you might think about contacting the London Metropolitan Archives; I am not certain about this, but I seem to recall reading that LMA had a collection of his negatives. Whiffin is so well known as a chronicler of East End life that at the very least the staff at LMA may be able to give you a few pointers. Best of luck with your search.
Kind regards
Andrew
Hi Andrew
ReplyDeleteMy father remembers the 'bow sprit' photo well, although we don't have a copy sadly. Funnily enough, I think the merchant navy folk on the other side of my family would have preferred to be up the rigging at sea - the deck may be hard but if you went into the sea you had a chance (albeit slim) of survival. Brick & stone is less forgiving.....Great Uncle William really did have a good instinct for his craft, one of my favourites is of small children running barefoot after a water cart, trying to dabble their toes in leaking water. Another shot of his of Mitre Square is often used with reference to Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders - although taken much later (1920's) the general layout of the square hadn't changed too much since the murder of Catherine Eddowes. Bit dark & brooding.
You are correct in assuming I've been doing the genealogy of my family. Thomas Wright (also originally from Bedford) had retired by the Census of 1891, leaving William Whiffin Snr in charge of the studio, not quite sure when William Jnr joined the business full time. Indeed the other sons, my own grandfather included, were drafted in to help as they can be found listed on Census records as photographic artists or assistants! Just to clarify, William Jnr & his six younger siblings were all born in Poplar. I think William Snr concentrated on the studio work whilst William Jnr found his forte in the surrounds of the East End. I think his work is a wonderful record of East End life.
Sue
Andrew, thanks for your kind comments about my grandfather William Whiffin and his work. You may like to know that I asked Tower Hamlets council if they would consider naming a road after him in the area he worked in. There is now a William Whiffin Square in Bow, so I am very pleased at this recognition. I was also very interested to hear from Sue about her and her father's recollections. Would be good to hear more so if she is able to get in touch, contact me via ellamartin001@hotmail.com.
ReplyDeleteDear Ella
DeleteThanks for posting a comment on my blog. I am delighted to hear that your grandfather has a square named after him in Bow, and I will make a point of visiting. For me, the thing which stands out about his photography is his sympathy for his subjects: he captured their humanity along with their grim struggle for survival which is some trick to pull off. I will email Sue and pass on your details; hopefully she will get in touch.
Kind regards
Andrew lewis
Hi Andrew
DeleteI saw my cousin's message on this page, we've never met but we are now in touch and swapping family histories - thank's for being the 'middle man', I hope you didn't mind hosting a family reunion!
Kind regards
Sue
Dear Sue
DeleteDid I mind?? I'm made up that this blog has brought you together, and I hope that you both continue your genealogical digging: what ever you find it can only ever enrich your understanding and connection with your family's history.
Kind regards
Andrew
To andrew,
ReplyDeleteI am releated to william whiffin too!
Its so cool that you wrote something about him I allways though our family was boring!
Hello there
DeleteI am glad that you found this blog post on your relative interesting (someone should write a book about him, or collect and publish his photographs).
Very few families really are boring once you start to dig a little. I'd say that most of us engaged in genealogical research have favourite ancestors. Out of my lot my favourite was a bloke called Francis Toutt: he was what was called a 'donkeyman' aboard both sailing and steamships in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century; I gather that a 'donkeyman' looked after a ship's machinery - capstans, winches and so forth aboard a sailer, engines aboard a steamship presumably - but I just liked the term, and the idea of him working at sea. Of course we cannot but help romanticise the seaman's life, but the job was probably dangerous and characterised by little more than acute boredom much of the time! But however it was your relative's photograph of the big sailing ship in London docks remains my favourite.
All the best
Andrew Lewis
Hi Andrew,
DeleteMy interest in Wiffen's Studio is from a family photo (postcard) which was probably taken in 1910.
If any of your previous contacts is interested instarting a collection of William's work I would be happy to donate - albeit only one photo.
Regards
Richard Kimber
Dear Richard
DeleteMany thanks for your comment and interest in this blog. If you are interested in donating the postcard in your possession it seems to me that the most obvious place for it would be Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives where it would be accessible to all with an interest. They certainly have similar material in the collections so it would be an appropriate home. The phone number is 020 7364 1290, and although the Archives are temporarily closed to the public I know that they are taking telephone enquiries and so should be able to offer further guidance.
Kind regards
Andrew Lewis
I was sent this link by a colleague who i had spoken to about my family history. My father was Louis Ernest Whiffin who had two sisters, Vera(Viv) & Ednawhose parents were Ernest Whiffin & Nell. Whilst my father and Aunts have all now passed away i can recall them telling me about the family originally coming from Poplar and the family having a photographic shop on Pentonville Road in Kings Cross. I was told that sometimes they would be called by the police to take photographs at Kings Cross Station if someeone had gone under a train etc. I believe it would have been my Grandfather Ernest Whiffin who was involved with tunning the shop in Pentonville Road but would be ineterested if anyone else knew anymore about my branch of the Whiffin family. I know there are photographs on the Ancestry site of my Grandfather & Grandmother but don't know who posted them.
DeleteHello Barry,
DeleteThanks for your comment. It sounds like you are indeed related to the celebrated W. T. Whiffin, photographer extraordinaire. Your suggestion that the firm were sometimes called by the police to photograph 'incidents' (including crime scenes perhaps) is intriguing: it opens another possible seam of archival material that someone might mine - presumably there would have been paperwork documenting the sort of events you refer to, although if this material has been retained by the police it might still be closed to researchers. As for the photographs on Ancestry I'm afraid that I can't help you there; I don't know who uploaded them.
All the best with your research
Andrew
So interesting to read all the comments.I was looking for a book of William t Whiffins photographs but it seems there isn't one.I was born in Poplar and would be really interested to see his photos.It is also a coincidence that I taught at Hallsville School many years ago straight out of college and was told the awful story of how the school was bombed.Presumably this was what William photographed.
ReplyDeleteHi all those who have contributed to this blog. I am writting in responce to the interst in a book that contains photos of William T Whiffin.
ReplyDeleteA book was written by my father Geoff Richman entitled
"Fly a Flag for Poplar" ISBN 0 9504094 0 5 published 1974
It was part funded by The Greater London Arts Association and
London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The Tower Hamlets History Library has a copy I think.
With in the book the are reproductions of many of his photos. The is one of himself [WT Whiffin] taken during WW1 [page 59] also a Family photo taken in the thirties. This is also an interview with a Miss Whiffin, one of his granddaughters, it does not give her first name. She also talks a little of her great-uncles, the Wrights. The is also the photo of the ship called "Milverton" over hanging Manchester Rd dated 1918. Hope this helps. I now only have one copy of the book left, but the must be many copies somewhere in Poplar or Dagenham as I think 1000 copies were origanly printed. Many of which were sold at the premier of a film of the same name "Fly a Flag for Poplar" that was show at Tower Hamlets town hall and at the London Film Festival in 1974. Hope this helps. julianr.fphc@gmail.com
Hello Andrew, Hello everyone,
ReplyDeleteJust stumbled upon this blog while searching for information on a distant relation being Thomas Wright the photographer and balloonist. The connection being through Thomas's wife Sarah (nee Gray). Although I've seen various sites incorrectly giving her maiden name as Swash !
Very much like to know more about the Wrights and the connection to the Whiffins. The Whiffins definitely sound like they played a big part in the photographic history of the East End. Kai. kai_g@tpg.com.au
I have a family portrait taken at Whiffin's Studio, printed as a Postcard. Address given in 237 East India Dock Road - other sites I've visited shows his address as 199 EIDR . Do you know when he changed prmises or the numbering changed, please ? I'd guess the photo is circa-1910 .
ReplyDeleteAre you aware there is an exhibition of William Whiffin's photographs currently being held at the Tower Hamlets Local History Library? It runs to November 16th 2015. There are 40 photos displayed along with personal artifacts and other photographic items.
ReplyDelete