Photography as a tool to record social change was not taken seriously when it appeared on the scene in the 19th century and yet it is through this medium that we can see the images of times past and get a glimpse of the way it was. One of the early pioneers of this new art form in Bourne was William Redshaw who concentrated primarily on portrait photographs to please his clientele but also took many pictures of the town that survive to this day to remind us of how much it has changed.

The Redshaw family originated at Heckington in Lincolnshire where in the late 18th century, James Redshaw (the name was then spelled Redeshaw) was a yeoman, saddler and shopkeeper who married Mary Burton and they had nine children. The eldest, John, who was born in 1761, moved to Bourne and married Elizabeth Dewey on 20th July 1789 and began in business as a saddler at premises in North Street. John was one of the first Methodist leaders in Bourne and was a member of the Bourne circuit from its inception in 1808. The Rev Thomas Cocking, in his book The History of Wesleyan Methodism in Grantham and its Vicinity (1836) wrote: "He was a man of strict integrity and industrious habits, had a kind and peaceable disposition and an unassuming manner. John Redshaw's house [in North Street] was the local preacher's home for a number of years and John and his wife made great efforts to ensure their guest's comfort." 

Two young men were brought to God while serving as apprentices to the Redshaws, no doubt due to the influence of their employers upon them. Later in their lives, both were called to the ministry, one of them, James Taylor, was recorded in 1836 as travelling in the Ringwood circuit and the other, John Gillison, served as a missionary in West Africa until his death in 1820.

John Redshaw died in 1834 and the business was taken over by his son, Thomas Redshaw (1793-1874), and then by his son John Redshaw (1823-1895). John married Elizabeth Hardwick and they had four children, among them William Redshaw who was the only one to survive.

The saddlery business that James had founded was eventually taken over by his son Thomas Redshaw and although he was declared bankrupt on 26th December 1843, the business survived and he managed to pay off his debts. By 1851, he was described as a saddler, leather cutter and general dealer, and living at the premises in North Street with his second wife Phoebe and his son John, also a saddler. By 1856, the business had become Thomas Redshaw and Son and when Thomas died in 1874, John took over the saddlery business and his wife Elizabeth opened a fancy goods repository at the same premises which by then extended behind North Street and into Burghley Street.

Their son, William Henry Redshaw, was born on 23rd June 1856 and although he was brought up in the saddlery trade, the occupation did not appeal to him but photography did and in 1874, at the age of 18, he decided to set up his own business, using his father's premises in North Street. Photography was still in its infancy and regarded by most people as little more than a passing phase, but his studios were an immediate success. 

The majority of the photographs taken commercially at this time were portraits and callers to Redshaw's studios would pose against backdrops of fruit, flowers and trees to have their likeness taken before he would retire to his purpose built darkroom in the garden behind the shop to develop and print the results. The most popular form of portraiture at this time was the carte de visite, a small piece of pasteboard, measuring 4in. by 2½in., although there were variations in size, and containing the photograph of the sitter and the trade name of the photographer, usually engraved in an ornamental script. 

There were of course enlargements for the family album but the main purpose of the sitting was usually to produce a number of cartes de visite to be presented by the sitter on special occasions as a memento of a precious encounter. They exuded sentimentality and put the sitter at their best with the most fashionable items from their wardrobe, moustache waxed, bow tie exact, the latest hat properly pinned, hair in fashion with ribbons to match the new dress and children in their Sunday best. An appointment with the photographer was an appointment with vanity and William Redshaw soon learned how to flatter his clients. 

Redshaw also perfected his own photographic dark room for developing and printing his film, a tall, slender structure rather like a Victorian garden privy, but nonetheless effective, with fitted shelves, racks for the bottles of chemicals and slides and sinks for the developing process. Photography was becoming popular as a hobby for those who could afford it and friends asked if he could provide them with a similar structure that could be positioned in the back garden where the husband could pursue his hobby without disturbing the household. 

By 1885, he had founded the firm of W H Redshaw and Son although the original premises had been extended at the rear and into Burghley Street to accommodate the new ventures and when his father, John Redshaw, died in 1895, the saddlery business that had made it all possible had been abandoned. But photography was Redshaw's all consuming passion and as the sales of rustic furniture declined, he concentrated more on this side of the business which by 1913 was his main concern although a fancy goods repository still remained but it was now being run by his second wife, Mrs Jane Redshaw. 

William Redshaw had married twice, first to Mary Ann Amelie Crook and then to Mary Jane Vinter, and had three children by each of his wives. His eldest son was William Harold Redshaw (1888-1971) who began work as a boy with his father as an apprentice photographer but preferred tinkering with cars and eventually left to become a motor mechanic with T W Mays and Sons Ltd, the fellmongers and tanners. He married a local girl, Sarah Ellen Hemsall in 1913 and she died in 1968. Their only son Raymond (1914-1968) was also a motor mechanic.

After retiring from the business in 1930, William continued to pursue his other interests, mainly music, and he played a number of instruments with equal accomplishment including the piano, organ, harp and violin, and in his younger days had formed a drum and fife band that had become well known for its public appearances at concerts and public parades in the district. He was also actively connected with a nigger minstrel group, a troupe of performing artistes playing banjos and singing in the manner of the traditional black minstrels that had become popular during the period but is no longer considered fashionable or acceptable today because of the mores of political correctness. Redshaw also loved growing flowers and vegetables and spent hours in the garden of his home at No 41 George Street, Bourne, and was a frequent prize-winner when he exhibited his produce at local shows.

Apart from his photographs of Bourne, Redshaw was best known during his later years for his remarkable likeness to the celebrated Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) who was his contemporary, being born in the same year. Redshaw, like Shaw, had a striking appearance, almost identical in looks and bearing, tall, always smartly dressed and with a grey beard that added to his distinguished demeanour, and he never disguised his pleasure at being mistaken for the great writer and social reformer which occurred on many occasions.  

Redshaw died at home on Monday 24th May 1943 at the age of 86. His second wife Jane survived him, as did his three sons and three daughters. Unusually, the funeral service was not held in church but at his house in George Street and was conducted by the Rev E S France, the local Methodist minister, and afterwards he was buried in the town cemetery. 

Many of the photographs that he took of the town have been preserved and some of his street scenes captured during the late 19th and early 20th century can be seen in Bourne in Past Times and for this vision of the years that have gone, we can thank William Redshaw.

See also

Examples of William Redshaw's portraiture     Mary Buckberry

A North Street memory    No 49 The North Street Terrace     Bourne Revisisted

Go to:     Main Index    Villages Index