Francis Meadow (Frank) Sutcliffe (6 October 1853 – 31 May 1941) was an English pioneering photographic artist whose work presented an enduring record of life in the seaside town of

Whitby Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is on the Yorkshire Coast at the mouth of the River Esk, North Yorkshire, River Esk and has a maritime, mineral and tourist economy. From the Middle Ages, Whitby ...

, England, and surrounding areas, in the late

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

and early 20th century. His documentation of the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

and

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

periods in Whitby led him to be labelled as the "pictorial Boswell of Whitby.'

Early life

He was born in

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, to the painter Thomas Sutcliffe and Sarah Lorentia Button. Frank was the eldest of eight children, and as a child, he slept in his father's studio. He had an elementary education at a dame school before moving into the new technology of photography. His father moved the family to Whitby in 1870 with the hope of commissions, but he died a year later when Francis was 18, leaving him as head of the family.

Career

He made a living as a portrait photographer, working first in

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

, Kent, and then for the rest of his life in

, living in Broomfield Terrace in Whitby before moving to

Sleights Sleights ( ) is a village in North Yorkshire, England. Located in the Esk Valley in the postal region of Whitby, the village is part of the civil parish of Eskdaleside cum Ugglebarnby. Sleights lies along the steep main A169 road that runs nor ...

, Yorkshire. His father had brought him into contact with prominent figures in the world of art such as

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

, and he resented having to ''prostitute'' his art taking photographs of holiday-makers. His business in ''Skinner Street'', a converted jet grinding and polishing works, rooted him to Whitby and the Eskdale valley but, by photographing the ordinary people that he knew well, he built up a most complete and revealing picture of a late Victorian town, and the people who lived and worked there. His most famous photograph was taken in 1886; '' Water Rats'' caused a little comment at the time as it featured naked children playing in a boat, but the image is not erotic. Sutcliffe was using the conventions of the academic nude to show how photography can approach art. He was, however, excommunicated by his local clergy for displaying it, as they thought it would 'corrupt' the opposite sex.

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

(then the Prince of Wales) later purchased a copy of the picture. He was a prolific writer on photographic subjects, contributed to several periodicals, and wrote a regular column in the ''Yorkshire Weekly Post''. His work is in the collection of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society and in other national collections. Sutcliffe was a founder member of the Linked Ring Brotherhood (a society that existed to promote photography as an art form), and was made an Honorary Fellow of the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is the world's oldest photographic society having been in continuous existence since 1853. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as th ...

in 1941. At the age of 70, he became the curator of the Whitby Gallery and Museum, he held this post until his death in 1941 at the age of 87.

Personal life

He married Eliza Weatherill Duck, the daughter of a local bootmaker, on 1 January 1875 and had a son and four daughters at his home at High Stakesby Cottages, Ruswarp parish, Whitby. He died at his house Hvid(e)t Huus, Carr Lane, Briggswath, Sleights, aged 87, on 31 May 1941 and was buried in Aislaby churchyard.

Gallery

File:Sutcliff27.jpg, ''Portrait of Polly Swallow'', 1889 File:Sutcliffe21.jpg, Girl on the shore, 1889 File:Sutcliffe, Frank Meadow (5226243308).jpg, ''Three happy boys'', 1889 File:Sutcliff30.jpg, ''Fisher girl'', 1890 File:Sutcliffe10.jpg, ''Whitby'', 1890 File:Francis Sutcliffe - Three Naked Boys Around a Coble.jpg, ''Three Naked Boys Around a Coble'', 1880s File:Sutcliff36.jpg, ''Whitby winter'' File:Sutcliffe14.jpg, ''Whitby'', 1890 File:Sutcliff41.jpg, ''Farmers Whitby / Dinner Time'', c. 1889-91 File:Sutcliffe11.jpg, ''Whitby'', 1890 File:Sutcliff38.jpg, ''Farmer people Whitby'' File:Waterrats by Francis Sutcliffe 2.jpg, ''Waterrats'', (''Sea Urchins''), 1886 File:Sutcliff24.jpg, ''Women'', c.1890 File:Sutcliff23.jpg, ''Women'', c.1890 File:Sutcliff35.jpg, Fisher people, c. 1898

References

Sources

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External links

Sutcliffe GalleryNational Museum of Photography, Film & Television gallery of his works
300+ photographs {{DEFAULTSORT:Sutcliffe, Francis Fine art photographers British portrait photographers 1863 births 1941 deaths People from Headingley People from Sleights People excommunicated by the Church of England 19th-century English photographers Photographers from Yorkshire