William Carr Crofts (1846–1894) was an English architect and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

who was a photographic pioneer.

History

Crofts was born in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

and became an architect. With his cousin,

Wordsworth Donisthorpe __NOTOC__Wordsworth Donisthorpe (24 March 1847 – 30 January 1914) was an English barrister, individualist anarchist and inventor, pioneer of cinematography and chess enthusiast. Life and work Donisthorpe was born in Leeds, on 24 March 1847 ...

, he was one of the founders of the Liberty and Property Defence League in 1882. In 1890 he and Donisthorpe were able to produce a moving picture of London's Trafalgar Square. In 1891 with Donisthorpe he was awarded a patent for a camera capable of producing instantaneous photographs. At the time Crofts was a gentleman living at Westminster Chambers, Victoria Street. Crofts' brother, Ernest Crofts, was a rather successful painter. In fact, at circa 1888 one of Ernest Crofts' paintings titled "Marston Moor" had been exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art in London; it is speculated that the Ernest Crofts painting of the battle scene is what may have truly inspired Donisthorpe and W.C. Crofts to revamp their desires to create the first motion picture. Since Crofts and Donisthorpe were staunch

laissez faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( , from , ) is a type of economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies or regulations). As a system of thought, ''laissez-faire'' ...

supporters they were constantly at odds with the ever-rising socialist movement in England. Especially considering the political group Donisthrope and Crofts helped to found, they were always in political battles with the many socialist groups that were emerging all around them. In 1890, the riots at Trafalgar Square were fueled with socialist contempt over the government and their nemesis corporate England. Crofts and Donisthorpe wished to make their first recording on their newly patented "Kinesigraph" at that very square; the contents of the imaging is notably short but forever prolific. Considering Crofts and Donisthorpe's political positions and passions, it's reasonable to believe that they both were motivated to bring motion pictures to the world for if not entertainment value than most certainly for educational and political purposes. During Crofts and Donisthorpe's days with the "Liberty and Property Defense league" they had certainly used images from their latest photographic inventions to help illustrate political points and images at these league meetings.Industry, Liberty, and a Vision: Wordsworth Donisthorpe's Kinesigraph; Stephen Herbert; Mo Heard; London; Projection Box; 1998

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crofts, William Carr 1846 births 1894 deaths 19th-century English architects Photographers from Yorkshire Architects from Bradford 19th-century English photographers 19th-century English lawyers 19th-century English businesspeople