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Sir William Abney: Photographic pioneer paved the way for polaroid prints

Sir William Abney whose photographic work led to the revolutionary development of colour photography and instant Polaroid prints

It was the pioneering work of Derbeian Sir William Abney that led to the revolutionary development of colour photography and instant Polaroid prints. Yet he remains little known by the general public. Here Maxwell Craven gives a resume of his life and how his fascination with the “art-science” was to leave its mark.

There are a remarkable number of people from Derby who have made a great difference to our lives but whose names are not that well known.

They are generally people who have invented things we take for granted, like John Whitehurst’s back boilers and hydraulic ramps.

Such a man was Sir William Abney, whose knighthood was bestowed for his successful career as a senior civil servant, promoting science.

Abney’s father, the Rev Edward Abney, was a younger son of the Abneys of Measham and Willesley Halls – both then in Derbyshire.

Edward (1811-1892) was appointed vicar of St Alkmund’s, Derby, in 1841, and lived in a Regency mansion on Burton Road until 1866, when his son inherited the family estate at Measham.

He then resigned his living and retired there.

William Abney was born at the family home on Burton Road exactly 164 years ago today, on July 24, 1843, the eldest of five children.

His mother was Katherine, a daughter of the younger Jedediah Strutt and a great-niece of the powerful Derby magnate, William Strutt, of St Helen’s House.

Edward was a pioneer in the use of photographs to record topography when the “art-science”, as Richard Keene later called it, was in its infancy.

Edward, always a welcome guest at nearby Markeaton Hall, was introduced to Francis Mundy’s brother-in-law, William Henry Fox-Talbot, of Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire.

Fox-Talbot was not only married to Mundy’s sister, Constance, but was only the second man (the first British person) ever to take and fix a photographic image. He had managed this only two years before the Abneys moved to Derby.

Abney rapidly became enthusiastic about his friend’s new invention and the two of them took to touring the countryside, photographing the scenery and old buildings, using Fox-Talbot’s “Talbotype” method.

One particular photograph is known from these expeditions, of Grangefield, an ancient timber-framed house near Trusley, which must have been demolished very shortly after the two of them passed by. Possibly the imminence of its demise spurred them on, apart from it being picturesque.

Another photograph, a view of Brailsford Rectory, is possibly one of theirs.

By 1850, with the improved calotype process available, Abney was sharing his knowledge with two young enthusiasts, John Alfred Warwick, then a junior signalling manager on the Midland Railway, and Richard Keene, a printer and print seller in Iron Gate.

Within the decade, these two had founded the Derby Photographic Society and, by 1860, were returning the favour and taking Abney’s teenage sons, William and Edward, under the society’s wing.

Warwick also taught the elder Abney lad all he knew about telegraphy, his railway specialism.

In 1861, William Abney was commissioned into the Royal Engineers, serving in India until 1867. Warwick’s friendly instruction had paid off, for, in 1871, he was appointed instructor in telegraphy at the School of Military Engineering, Chatham. There he soon added chemistry and photography to his portfolio.

In 1877, Captain Abney accepted the post of inspector of science schools with the South Kensington Department of Science and Art, founded by Prince Albert, resigning his commission in 1881.

Over the 30 years following, Abney massively strength-ened both the provision and teaching of science in schools, an uphill struggle in those days against the entrenched conservatism of the teaching profession and the dominance of the Classics-based curriculum.

For this signal achievement, he was appointed CB in 1888 and knighted in 1900.

At the same time, he was pursuing his photographic work, partly integrating it with his drive to improve science in schools and in his own time.

He pioneered the improvement of emulsions, leading to the development of “instant” photographs, paving the way for Polaroid prints, as well as the development of printing-out papers and perfecting spectro-photography.

This he so willingly shared that the first colour photograph – the outcome of his experimentation – was not in fact taken by him.

In 1876, he was elected FRS for his photographic and chemical work, received the society’s Count Rumford Medal in 1882 and went on to serve four terms as president of the Royal Photographic Society and one term as president of the Physical Society.

He continued to make regular visits to speak and instruct his old friend, Richard Keene, and the Derby Society en route to oversee the estate at Measham.

He also presided over the Photographic Convention held in Derby in 1884 at the recently-demolished No 1 Degge Street.

He married twice and had three daughters and a son, the latter, Lancelot Abney, inheriting the estate on Sir William’s death at Folkestone in 1920.

So next time you take a colour photograph, or a Polaroid, remember Sir William Abney, whose pioneering work led directly to the perfection of both.

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