Volunteer blog – ‘Medal’ & ‘Receipt of bills of sale’

Joanna has been spending some of her lockdown time delving into the history of the business. She has written two blogs: 

Medal – Winter’s Fine Art Exhibitions 

W.W. Winter was descended from a family of East Anglian artists. As a young man he worked alongside his artist father (also a photographer) as a painter of animals (1861 Census). It is evident from many newspaper reports that after he came to Derby and set up the Midland Road studio that the buying and selling of fine art was a major part of his business alongside photography. He also sold artists materials. Also, he had begun to exhibit his photographs and to style himself as an ‘artist in photography’. 

The first exhibition aimed at encouraging art work in all of its various forms was held in 1984 and was open to amateur and professional artists. There were six exhibitions in total the last being in 1890. We have copies of the catalogues for the 1st, 2nd and 6th exhibitions and have a photocopy of the prospectus for the 3rd exhibition. The catalogues list entries in the various classes, names of judges and patrons, and names of those who donated prizes and medals. Entries could be deposited at various places around the UK for despatch to Derby. The exhibitions ran for approximately 4 weeks. Medals were silver or bronze. 

The medal presented to Mrs Harold Nadin in 1886 was given at the 3rd exhibition November 2 – December 13 1886. This was opened by Lord Denman and his wife presented the prizes. The design is based on the ‘buck in the park’ which is part of the Derby coat of arms. The Danes named the town Derby which translated means ‘field of deer’. From the catalogue for the 2nd exhibition held December 2 1885 – January 26 1886 we see Mrs Nadin won a prize for painting on china. In the catalogue for the 6th exhibition May 8 – 31 1890, Mr and Mrs Harold Nadin are listed as patrons and Mr Nadin donated a silver medal.  

In 1891 surplus works of art, art materials and bric-a-brac were sold off. Following building work/alterations  Mr Walter Winter announced the opening of new showrooms displaying examples of Art Photographic Portraiture. 

 

W.W. Winter – receipts and bills of sale. 

The 2x bills of sale dated 1883 and 1884 were issued at the time when the sale of art materials and fine art were a major part of the Winter’s business and at the time when Winter was planning his first fine art exhibition at the studio. Interestingly they are both signed by Henry Mosley, Winter’s chief cashier at the time, who was dismissed in 1886 for irregularities in the accounts. Mosley brought a case against Mr Winter for wrongful dismissal which was reported in the Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal 13 August 1886. Mosley lost the case. 

The Henry Wilmot portrait was bought by George Sutherland, a local schoolteacher and later headmaster of St Andrew’s School near the studio. The availability of these cabinet photographs was advertised in the Derby Daily Telegraph 4 June 1884 as a ‘reduced sized copy of the portrait of Sir Henry Wilmot being prepared by Mr Winter from a large one in the Derby Conservative Club’. Sir Henry Wilmot was awarded a Victoria Cross for bravery at an action in Lucknow during the Indian Mutiny. He was a local politician, alderman and honorary colonel of the local Volunteers of which Walter Winter was also a member. He also opened the 2nd Fine Art exhibition at the studio in December 1885 and donated prize medals at that and subsequent exhibitions. 

Volunteer blog – ‘A Puzzle’

Blog from Joanna –  A  Puzzle 

  I have been occupying myself with an interesting puzzle this last month. Whilst researching some other matter I reached for the Winter’s copy of Kelly’s Directory for Derbyshire for 1891 which I knew to be in the collection at the studio. Directories are a mine of information of the who, where, how and what of an area at the time.  Whilst checking the names I wanted for my research I noticed that on the flyleaf at the back was a list of place names and dates all written in Mr Winter’s hand, a style I recognise from many hours of looking at glass plate negatives!  

  The dates are in chronological order between April and August of 1893. The seven dates in April and May are weekly, 4x Tuesday, 2x Monday and 1x Wednesday. There are no dates in June and July. The August dates are a Tuesday and a Saturday of the same week. Against the dates are a list of towns and villages – Clay Cross April 11,      Winster, South and North Wingfield  April 18.  The places range from Hathersage in the north to Willesley near Ashby De La Zouch in the south. 

 What was this all about! I surmise that the list could refer to journeys undertaken by Mr Winter to photograph something. Could these places be reached in a single day and what was the subject.  I checked the place names in the directory and found that they were all within a short distance of a railway station and they all with one exception (Pilsley) had a church. Inspection of the convenient map in the Directory showed that with planning and changing trains, the journeys could be made by train to include the places named in the group on the given date. The network of main and branch lines belonging to the Midland Railway and Great Northern Railway that criss-crossed Derbyshire at that time was amazing, enabling easy access to  North/South and East/West travel.   However, it was possible that journeys were made by horse and carriage.  

  So, what may have been the reason for going to all these places. There are a large number of prints and glass negatives of the exterior and interior of many churches in the collection and chance remark in some family correspondence revealed that Mr Winter was interested in photographing fonts. I will need to check in the archive and see if there are any prints and negatives of these particular churches and see if the negative numbers relate to the time. 

  Practicalities are that Mr Winter would have to carry a camera, tripod and a leather bag of prepared plates in their wooden holders, all very heavy. Did he take an assistant with him? This and other questions remain to be answered and there is more research to be done by looking at the negatives.  It has been an interesting exercise and I will of course let you know if I find out more!   

Volunteer blog – ‘Returning to the studio’

Another Blog from Joanna as we return to the studio, post lockdown. 

 With lockdown easing some of the volunteers are back at Winter’s on a rota basis, keeping our distance in the members’ room and carrying on with the accessioning and scanning. I think I can say for all of us ‘it is good to be back’. 

  I for one found picking up where we left off a bit daunting as we left very suddenly. We were in the middle of a box of glass plate negatives – mayors of Derby and a series of other unrelated glass negatives of various dates. However, we soon got into it and it was great to find a negative which may explain a print we found last year. The print was of a medal presented to Ada Parnham of the Deaf and Dumb Institute (now known today as the Royal School for the Deaf) by W .W. Winter for a painting on opal at a Spring Exhibition in 1882.  The medal is shown in a frame. Up until now no information about this exhibition had been found. The negative shows a craft exhibition at the Institute, and I wonder if this was an annual event at the time. Ada was 8 years old at the time that she won the medal. News reports of the AGMs of the institute show that Ada won other prizes during her time, for scripture, sewing, freehand drawing and writing. She went on to marry and to have two daughters. She and her husband Frank Bradley lived in the Alfreton area.  

If anyone has any information about Ada, the medal or the exhibition, please get in touch with the studio, we would be pleased to add to this story 

Volunteer blog – ‘A Man of Many Parts 2’

In this weeks blog Joanna talks us through Winter’s ‘other’ career in local politics which spanned 35 years:

Local politics played a big part in Walter Winter’s life. His expanding business gave him an opportunity to meet and serve a wide range of prominent Derby citizens. He was a churchman and like many men of the time and he saw it as part of his duty to do the best for his fellow man and the community in which he lived.

The local newspapers of the time reported in detail all local government issues and it has been possible to build up a chronological picture of Walter Winter’s political career.

In 1875 WWW was elected to the Litchurch Local Board. Litchurch at that time had its own Local Board set up in 1860 as a self-governing body for that area. It later became integrated back into Derby under a Local Government Reform Act. He went on to represent this area on the local board and the Derby Council as a local and independent candidate eight times, six of them unopposed. The newspapers reported his regular attendance at many meetings only missing them because of illness for which he apologised to the ratepayers of Litchurch through the newspapers and thanking them for their kindness and good wishes. As well as full council meetings he attended the estates committee, the special drainage committee and school board meetings. In 1903 he was elected JP (justice of the peace), and in March 1904 his dedication to council work was rewarded when he was elected an alderman in recognition of his many years of service.  He was one of the few to be elected alderman without first serving as mayor. He served on the council right up to his departure to Canada in April 1910.

 

Volunteer blog – ‘Winter the Artist’

This weeks blog describes the studio as a hub for art of all types!

More from the newspapers: Winter the Artist

Walter Winter styled himself as an artist in photography. One only has to look at the hand coloured photographic portraits he produced to realise that he was extremely skilled in this field. Walter Winter came from a line of East Anglian artists. His grandfather John Winter was an artist and painter of glass and his father Cornelius and brother Holmes both worked as artists. One wonders what might have been if Walter hadn’t turned to photography.

The 1861 Census has Walter living in Great Yarmouth with his father and described as an ornamental painter. Cornelius is described as an artist and painter of animals and portraits. He is known to have been a photographer being described as such in White’s Directory of Norfolk for 1854. This was not unusual, many artists turned to photography, and early directories listed artist and photographers under the same heading before separating the two in the late 1860s. Walter and his father retained close links when he moved to Derby. From correspondence we know Cornelius visited the town and they passed work to and from each other – photographs for finishing and works of art for sale. The transactions are listed in a small notebook found at the Winter’s premises.

Newspaper articles reveal that Walter dealt in fine art and antiquities, particularly china, holding sales at auction rooms in Derby and Leicester. The business had its own fine art department, and after the premises were remodelled following the fire an annual art exhibitions. Newspapers reported the event and described the exhibits. As well as the traditional oil and watercolour, there were paintings on silvered glass, china and terracotta. Needlework was also a feature. Exhibitors numbering up to 350 professional and amateur artists came from the UK and abroad. Prizes and medals were awarded. A recently discovered print shows the medal awarded in 1892 to an Ada Parnham. One wonders if readers know of any other medals still in existence – if so Winter’s would be delighted to hear about them! The Fine Art Department came to an end in 1896 when Walter Winter announced its closure and the sale of many items. The space was needed to provide a showroom for specimens of Art Photographic Portraiture.

Walter Winter’s early training as an artist is reflected in the superb quality of his photography which came to be acknowledged in the UK and abroad by the number of medals he won. He was as he advertised…..an artist in photography.

Volunteer blog – ‘Development of the Area’

Joanna takes us through the continued urban growth and development of Midland Road, Derby.

This week I am looking at the area on the south side of Midland Road where the W. W. Winter premises are situated. This has been an area of much change since the development of the 1850s. Again maps, both commercial and those produced alongside planning applications have been helpful. Together with Directories of the area it has been possible to build a picture of life in the area over the years.

The development probably in 1854 seems to have started at the London Road end with premises on the corner, now Philatelic Auctions. The Winter’s studio sits between this and a building c.1857 containing two shops and a vehicular entrance leading to a yard. The plots between this and Lower Carrington Street were occupied by yards relating to building supplies and services, to be replaced over the years by shops.

A tramway depot and stables occupied the corner of Lower Carrington Street and Midland Rd for a short time. The 1880 OS map shows the tramlines running into it. This was followed by the Post Office building and a row of shops including John Hopley Dodd’s furniture emporium.  The shops and old PO building were demolished in the 1960s along with the yard used by W. W. Winter’s and replaced with the concrete building seen today.

The W. W. Winter premises date from 1867 the only reference for this being the date in the decoration above the side entrance. More about this next time. 

Volunteer blog – ‘Midland Road’

This weeks post from Joanna gives us an insight to the growth of Derby on what would have originally been the Castlefields estate.

Looking at maps and plans has always been a big part of my research, ‘the where’ aspect helps to fit another piece into the jigsaw of the history of the Winter’s business.

The part of Derby known as Litchurch was originally its own place and mentioned in the Domesday Book. Records show that by 1841 there were only 855 persons recorded. By 1877 this had risen to nearly 70,000 due to the selling of the Castlefields estate, the subsequent development of the area and the coming of the railway. The Litchurch Local Board was set up in 1860. Mr Winter became a member of this, playing an active role in the management of the area. The area was finally integrated into Derby under the Local Government Act of 1877. Mr Winter was then elected to the Council as member for the Litchurch Ward.

The coming of the railway triggered the development of the area. This major railway junction made travel to and from Derby to the north, south, east and west much easier. It also brought about the Railway Village built to house railway workers, and manufacturing industries on a big scale. Streets were laid out and the boom years began. Into this major expansion came Monsieur E. N. Charles. The buildings in Station Road, as Midland Road was then known, were under construction at the time of the 1851 Census but are clearly marked on the 1852 map commissioned by the Board of Health. It is here that M. Charles had his premises. These buildings on the north side of Midland Road today between London Road and Carrington Street are the original buildings. The same 1852 Board of Health map shows no building at all on the south side, the site of the present Winter’s premises, between London Road and the Midland Hotel (opened 1843). It is marked as pasture land in the owned by J. Cuff, manager of the hotel at the time.  Development on this side began with the corner of London Road towards the end of the 1850s.

The premises housing the original studio remained as part of the Winter’s business into the 20th Century. The photograph of the framing room on display in an upstairs room at the present studio is actually the front upstairs room of these premises. The roofline and chimney of the present studio can be seen through the window. The framer is Mr Samuel Wain who worked at W.W. Winter’s from 1889 to 1914. 

 I hope to continue with the story of the development of Midland Road next time.

If Joanna’s research has whet your appetite for more land history there is an interesting article in Country Image Magazine about the history of the Castlefields, now known as Castleward in Derby.

Volunteer blog – ‘Both Sides of the Law’

Read on for some tantalizing findings from Joanna’s research regarding Winter’s business and the law. We can see how research brings history to life!

Having spent a lot of time during the present lockdown sorting out my W. W. Winter notes, I have come across several items of interest. Searching through the newspaper archives always results in finding more than the matter that you are focusing on. Usually I jot down the reference and an outline of the subject to go back to it later. These unrelated notes have now been revisited and filed appropriately.

The Derby Mercury, Derby Daily Telegraph and other provincial newspapers have been an invaluable resource for information about Winter’s, some articles appearing in newspapers as far away as Aberdeen and Cardiff. This week I am writing about the business’s experiences with both sides of the law.

In an 1857 edition of the Nottinghamshire Guardian it was reported that Mr E. N. Charles, W. W. Winter’s predecessor had appeared before the magistrates charged with taking photographs on a Sunday it not being a necessity. The case was dismissed with a caution as it was ‘his man’ who took the photographs not Mr Charles himself.

As reported by the Derby Mercury 2 November 1880 Mr Winter appeared in court charged with breaching the law by erecting a building without notice to the Sanitary Authorities. This building had been a temporary structure for use on Arboretum Day. He was fined 10 shillings (50p) plus costs.

W. W. Winter’s also had its share of shoplifting and fraud.

In the Derby Mercury 26 November 1879 it was reported that a charge was made against a Mr Luger of stealing 6 books and 13 paper bags valued at 13 shillings (65p). The case was sent to trial outcome unknown.

The Derby Daily Telegraph 13 November 1884 reported that three boys had been charged with stealing a mouth organ from Winter’s and 80 cigars from Mr Sander’s shop. They each received 6 strokes of the birch. 

A further incident caused Mr Winter to place a notice in the 9 July 1904 edition of the Derby Daily Telegraph to the effect that Mr W. Anderson was not authorised to collect money in his (W.W.W.) name.

People Power!

As part of heritage Open Days 2019 we did own research on the theme of people power. Heritage Open Days offered the following inspiration:

Using the British Newspaper Archives we were able to delve in to the civic life of W. W. Winter, and share here some of what he got up to outside of the studio!

PEOPLE POWER | Walter William Winter

 On 27th May 1910 after nearly fifty years of working as a photographer in Derby, Walter William Winter travelled on the S. S. Corsican with his wife, Hannah, and two children (Walter Francis and Annie Marjorie) to begin a new life in Canada. Over those fifty years Winter made a name for himself, not only as a photographer, but as an active member of his community. Searching through the various Derby publications from the British Newspaper Archives from 1863 to 1910 gives us some idea of the civic duty and social conscience that wove its way through his life.

Early Years

In 1860, as a teenager in Great Yarmouth, a young Walter joined the Volunteer 2nd Norfolks.

On 12 May 1859 the Secretary of State for War, Jonathan Peel issued a circular letter to lieutenants of counties in England, Wales and Scotland, authorising the formation of volunteer rifle corps (VRC, a.k.a. corps of rifle volunteers and rifle volunteer corps), and of artillery corps in defended coastal towns.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Force

 The 1st Norfolk Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVC) was formed at Great Yarmouth on 29 September 1859, with further batteries being added on 23 February and 4 June 1860, and 26 December 1862.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_Norfolk_Artillery_Volunteers

An obituary also mentions that he became a special constable during the Fenian Rising and other newspaper articles suggest he was interested in the volunteer rifle corps in Derby. These interests give way, however, to a civilian approach.

A Citizen of Derby

By 1863 Winter had been in Derby for around a year. While he appears on the 1861 census in Great Yarmouth, he is soon mentioned in an announcement in a Derby newspaper dated April 6 1863:

Madame Charles in respectfully returning her sincere thanks to the Nobility, Gentry, and Clergy of Derby and its vicinity, for the kind patronage and long support bestowed upon her late Husband, begs to announce that she has happily secured the further services of Mr W. W. Winter, who has so very successfully practised as Artist to Mons. Charles, and with whose Professional assistance it is her intention to carry on the Photographic Business as heretofore, when she hopes to merit a continuance of their kind support.

We can only speculate as to what brought him to Derby – although the burgeoning Midland Railway must have created a hub of opportunities – but he settled quickly into life here. His job working for Monsieur Charles on Midland Road, Derby, landed him right at the centre of an intense period of growth for the local area.

 [The Midland Railway] was formed on 10 May 1844 by the merger of the Midland Counties Railway, the North Midland Railway, and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway, the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway joined two years later. These met at the Tri-Junct station at Derby, where the MR established its locomotive and later its carriage and wagon works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midland_Railway

Such was the rapid expansion of the population around The Midland Railway that the township of Litchurch was formed in 1860 (not to be confused with the current Litchurch Ward area of Derby), and Litchurch became a civil parish in 1866.

Being so close to the station and rail works, E. N. Charles’ choice of site had set the young Winter up to be right at the centre of this burgeoning population of rail workers.

Throughout his career, Winter attended public events with his camera. In 1865 he photographed the Florence Nightingale Lifeboat. The lifeboat was paid for by the people of Derby and gifted to Sunderland. Copies of the photograph were presented to Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.

In 1872, The Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra visited Derby, arriving by Royal Train at the Midland Road train station. Their procession would have taken them directly past Winter’s studio on Midland Road and he is recorded as paying a subscription towards the decoration of the town for the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to the sum of 10s6d.

The visit drew large crowds and the subscription was an opportunity for Winter to both support the town and raise his profile. By 1875 adverts appeared in a Derby newspaper describing the studio as ‘The Alexandra Rooms’, suggesting that Winter had begun taking photographs of or for the royal family by this time. It could, however, have been a clever marketing tool – Princess Alexandra was a keen amateur photographer herself; but we know from our photographic records that Winter was definitely selected to take royal photography, including royal groups at Chatsworth. By 1883 he was advertising his business as ‘Patronised by Her Majesty the Queen’.

Local Board Representative

By April 1875 Walter William Winter had been voted on to the Litchurch Local Board as the representative for Park Ward.

Today the legacy of Litchurch exists only in street names and a street sign on the corner of Normanton Road and Grove Street. The current ward is unrelated to the township. The area was reabsorbed into the borough of Derby in the late 1870’s, and later further erased when much of its housing was destroyed to make way for the expansion of the Derby Royal Infirmary in the 1970s.

Litchurch covered a triangular area south from the railway junction. We can clearly see its boundaries from the street addresses given in “Poll Book for the Southern Division of the County of Derby, Shewing how Each Person Voted at the Contested Election, July 22, 1865.”

Highlighted – street names recorded as part of Litchurch in 1865

There were three wards of Litchurch (Arboretum Ward, Litchurch Ward, and Park Ward) and we speculate that Park Ward covered the area of Winter’s business on Midland Road (off which branches Park Road).

LITCHURCH, a village and a township in Derby-St. Peter parish, Derbyshire. The village stands on the S border of the township, 1½ mile ESE of Derby; is a new and rapidly increasing place; and has several large ironworks and foundries. The township is all suburban to Derby; contains the town’s railway station, and its arboretum; and has acquired great recent increase of population, in connexion with the railway traffic, and from other causes. Real property, £1,013,340; of which £996,643, are on the Midland railway. Pop. in 1851,1,720; in 1861, 6,560. Houses, 1,350. The Derby workhouse is here; and, at the census of 1861, had 222 inmates.

John Marius Wilson’s Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales 1870-72

In 1876 Winter was recorded as attending the Litchurch Board of Health monthly meeting and he continued to have links with local health services; an 1892 newspaper article lists him as a ‘house visitor’ for the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. A house visitor was involved with the management and government of the hospital. He also made financial donations to the hospital.

Borough Council

In 1883, following two years serving as Mayor of Derby, Sir Abraham Woodiwiss was elevated to the Aldermanic Bench leaving a vacant seat on Litchurch Ward (by this time part of Derby). The local newspaper reveals that there was some posturing over who should stand for the seat between F. Strutt and W. W. Winter but eventually Winter, having had the previous experience on the Litchurch Local Board, stood unopposed.

Winter retained his position on the council until 1903 when he himself was elevated to the Aldermanic Bench. Three years later, in 1906, he also became a magistrate for Derby.

In 1884 the Derby Daily Telegraph listed nominations for the forthcoming election for the Board of Guardians for the Derby Union. The Boards administered workhouses and were elected by owners and occupiers of land liable to pay the poor rate (a tax used to provide poor relief). Under the heading ‘Township of Litchurch’, there is a listing for ‘W. W. Winter, Arboretum Street, photographer’. Arboretum Street was in fact the site of the workhouse at the time, which can still be seen today as the workhouse building was taken over by Royal Crown Derby Porcelain works.

Church Life

By 1878 Winter’s continuing work with the church is documented in his membership of two associations: Secretary of The Working Mens Branch of the Derby Auxiliary of The Church Association; and member of Trinity Church Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA).

Trinity Church featured heavily in Winter’s life and he conducted Bible classes, carried out the role of churchwarden, and was a member of the Trinitarian Bible Society. Other newspaper references list him as chairing lectures for the Protestant Alliance outside of Derby.

In his role as Alderman, he advocates for the suspension of trams on Sundays (although retaining the same wages for tram drivers). A newspaper obituary also records him declining an invitation to photograph King Edward VII at Chatsworth on a Sunday.

Businessman

Our legacy from Walter William Winter is in his photographs and studio but his business ventures stretched further.

Alongside photography and picture framing he also sold fancy goods and held substantial art exhibitions and auctions, and seems to also have owned or let rooms to a café. It was possible to learn the trade alongside him – his staff wages books show that a few of his staff gained promotions with increased wages, and others went on to practice through their own businesses. There are many adverts in the local press in 1887 for Frederick J. Boyes photographer (late with W. W. Winter) on Osmaston Street where Boyes is clearly trading on Winter’s reputation.

There was a charming article in the Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal on 6 June 1884 which described a ‘Trip to Dovedale of Mr W. W. Winter’s Firm.’ The staff plus a few friends made up a group of forty three! They travelled into the Peak District by horse drawn carriages. The party stopped for lunch at the Peveril of the Peak Hotel. Winter was reported as congratulating his staff on their assiduity which had culminated in being awarded a medal and first-class diploma for the excellence of their work. He went on to win over sixty medals for his photography (some internationally) and it is nice to think that the achievement was shared amongst his staff.

In 1893 there was a review of the Derby Photographic Society Exhibition (at the School of Art) in the Derby Mercury. There were 366 photographs on view and the paper reported:

Mr W. W. Winter was very prominent with some capital portraits—platinotypes—including “Maggie,” “Jackey the Sweep,” “Kathleen,” “Mabel,” “Old and Rare,” &c. All of them showed a wonderful attention to detail, and were splendidly finished.

He maintains a royal connection and on 19 January 1900 his Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal advert includes the following:

Mr Winter has the pleasure of announcing his having been honoured with special sittings by Her Royal highness the Duchess of York.

In 1904 Winter was the president for the Derby Chamber of Trade. A note in the Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal stated it was, “In no sense […] a rival to the Chamber of Commerce. The duties of the two bodies are quite distinct, but at the same time, […] there are matters in which the two bodies can work together. […] The president (Mr. Ald. Winter) referred to the question of municipal telephones, and pointed out the importance upon advocating at every possible occasion the adoption of such as scheme.” In light of this it is interesting to note that the original phone number for W. W. Winter was 24.

Retirement

By 1910 Winter was 67 years of age but still had two teenage children. It is not clear what brought about his final decision to retire but there were mentions of his son’s health so perhaps this was the catalyst for the move. He sold his business to Messrs. Sheppard and King. In April 1910 there was a flurry of Derby newspaper articles reporting on new appointments to replace Winter on various committees including the borough development committee, the estates committee, the special drainage committee, and as manager of Canal Street School on the education committee.

He was thanked heartily for his civic service, and also by his church who threw him a farewell party

Canada

The shipping manifest lists W. W. Winter as ‘Farmer’, and he and his family probably worked a plot of land alongside more established earlier pioneer families in Happy Valley, Metchosin (British Columbia).

His lasting dedication was to his faith and he built Trinity Mission Hall in Metchosin and became ordained in to the ministry of the Reformed Episcopal Church.

 

The Gospel Magazine – March 1925

A Surprise Visit!

We had a fabulous Heritage Open Days weekend – it is such a pleasure introducing people to the history of Winters, and learning about your own experiences of having photographs taken in the studio. This year though, we had the most brilliant surprise – a visit from a great-grandchild of W W Winter himself! Sam popped over from the other side of the world and spent a few days here with us at the studio. He was kind enough to send us the following tribute after his departure…

The Magic of Winters

There are times in the journey of life when it seems that we are on a river that flows gently and sweetly through a land of forest and undulating grasslands. But rivers, as does life, have times of chaos, danger, heartache and pain before the current sweeps through into areas of peace, areas of rest – sections of a river where we can ease onto a grassy bank and recover and reflect on the journey that we have just undertaken. Some of those places have a certain magic about them. A peace that soothes the wounds of life and gives glimpses of a heritage that is both greater than you, and yet is you.

My past nine months have been filled with heartache, unfulfilled hopes and deep loss. On impulse, I directed myself from Australia to W.W. Winters Ltd in Derby. A place, I hoped, would help me find peace and purpose in my life; because for me, Winters Ltd was not only a journey into my past, but thanks to the beautiful people that make up Winters Ltd today, an anchor for my future.

There is a magic to Winters, and I cannot say for sure that it is sourced from the people who are Winters now, or whether it is the amazing building itself which is filled with history, lost rooms and unexplained and non-aligned joining’s and filled in archways. Or, perhaps, it lies in the 152 years of images that line the rooms and corridors and speak of a time long past yet also of today.

I have no sense of loss whatsoever from my great-grandfather W.W. Winter selling the business in 1910 to Messer’s Shepherd and King. Rather I am filled with appreciation for the current owners and staff both for their skill in photography and running the business, and for their passion in realising W.W. Winters as an integral part of not just Derby’s, but England’s history.

There is a magic to Winter’s – and I am blessed because of it.

Thank you.

Sam