Albert John Mahomet (29 April 1858 – 6 August 1933) was a British photographer, teacher, and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

preacher. Born to a

lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland or other lands east of the Cape of Good Hope who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the mid-20th centur ...

seaman father from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and English mother, He has been described as possibly the first

British Indian British Indians are citizens of the United Kingdom (UK) whose ancestral roots are from India. Currently, the British Indian population exceeds 2 million people in the UK, making them the single largest Ethnic groups in the United Kingdo ...

photographer. Mahomet left documentation of his life and of the life of the poor in London's East End in his book ''From Street Arab to Pastor''.

Early life

Mahomet was born in

Limehouse Limehouse is a district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London. It is east of Charing Cross, on the northern bank of the River Thames. Its proximity to the river has given it a strong maritime character, which it retains throu ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, and grew up in poverty for much of his childhood. After being abandoned by his father (who had died while on a ship returning to India), his family fell into yet deeper poverty. His mother took to drink and was arrested for brawling in the street. Subsequently, he was placed in the Limehouse Workhouse, but was later sent to Norfolk and then Thursford Union Workhouse. Under the Poor Law, the authorities of the child's mother’s place of origin were responsible for them. Mahomet was eventually saved from the workhouse by his uncle, William Jenkerson, and taken to live in Wells. In Wells he worked first as a domestic servant then for a doctor who later dismissed him for trading in the surgery. He then worked for a farmer called Samuel Gooch. Gooch was Superintendent of the Wesleyan Sunday school. It may be that Gooch’s influence contributed to the changing course of Albert’s life in the following years.

Becoming a pastor and photography work

As a young man, Mahomet moved to Lincoln, where he worked for a blacksmith, as well as a Methodist Sunday school teacher, a lay preacher and a temperance campaigner. He went on to tour the country as a preacher, and it was during this period that he met a fellow-evangelist Christian, Paulina Gill, whom he married in December 1881. In around 1890, Mahomet returned to Norfolk and spent about three years acting as pastor to the Yarmouth fishing community. In 1893 he and his wife, Paulina, moved back to Wells, where he continued to preach, but where he became interested in photography. He opened a studio in Wells on Freeman Street and possibly several other places. His output included both portraits and local scenes. His memoir was written in the early part of his time in Wells, but he did not write of his photography work. In later life, Mahomet moved to Leeds where he opened another studio in 1906.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahomet, Albert 1858 births 1933 deaths People from Limehouse Photographers from Norfolk English Methodists People from Wells-next-the-Sea English people of Indian descent British Indian history