Cecil Victor Shadbolt (1859 – 8 July 1892) was a British photographer, who pioneered

aerial photography Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other flight, airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wi ...

from flying balloons.

Life

Shadbolt was born in 1859, the son of the

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dealer and photographer George Shadbolt. He showed photographs of Welsh landscapes at the 1877 Photographic Society exhibition. His first balloon ascent was in May 1882, at

Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...

. He made his own device for attaching a camera to the basket below a balloon, allowing him to take pictures looking directly downwards. One of his images, taken from over

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about northeast of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the largest concentration of orthodox Ashken ...

, is the earliest extant aerial photograph taken in the British Isles. A print of the same image, ''An Instantaneous Map Photograph taken from the Car of a Balloon, 2,000 feet high'', was shown at the 1882 Photographic Society exhibition. Shadbolt gave public lectures, using

magic lantern The magic lantern, also known by its Latin name , is an early type of image projector that uses pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates (usually made of glass), one or more lens (optics), lenses, and a light source. ...

slides, with the title ''Balloons and Ballooning, Upward and Onwards''. He was secretary of the West Kent Sunday School Union from 1886.

Death

On 29 June 1892, he took a flight in a

gas balloon A gas balloon is a balloon that rises and floats in the air because it is filled with a gas lighter than air (such as helium or hydrogen). When not in flight, it is tethered to prevent it from flying away and is sealed at the bottom to prevent t ...

owned by (or which he co-owned with; sources vary) his friend 'Captain' William D. Dale, at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. The balloon ripped during the initial ascent, at around , and though those aboard dropped ballast, the basket crashed to the ground, immediately killing Dale. Shadbolt and the other passengers were taken to Norwood Cottage Hospital, but Shadbolt died on 8 July, aged 33. He was buried, alongside members of his family, in grave 1,932, square 113, at

West Norwood Cemetery West Norwood Cemetery is a rural cemetery in West Norwood in London, England. It was also known as the South Metropolitan Cemetery. One of the first private landscaped cemeteries in London, it is one of the " Magnificent Seven" cemeteries of ...

. His father was later buried in the adjacent plot. An inquest at the hospital, on 12 July 1892, under

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

, Mr Jackson, returned verdicts of accidental death.

Shadbolt Collection

The Shadbolt Collection of 76 glass lantern slides taken between 1882 and 1892 is held by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

, The slides were found at a

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and subsequently purchased at auction by Historic England in 2015.

Publications

* – includes 24

photogravure Photogravure (in French ''héliogravure'') is a process for printing photographs, also sometimes used for reproductive intaglio printmaking. It is a photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is grained (adding a pattern to the plate) and ...

s by Shadbolt **An 1894 edition was subtitled "With a Portrait and Brief Memoir of the Late Cecil V. Shadbolt".

Life

Death

Shadbolt Collection

Publications

References

Further reading