Ashby Swift

1882-1941

Ashby Swift's Riverside Studio in South Street, eventually destroyed by 
a falling tree and now a grassy open space with an ornamental seat.

William Ashby Swift was born in 1882, the son of J T Swift, and he achieved some prominence in the life of the town as a commercial photographer.

He went into business in 1904 when he took over the Riverside Studio, a small detached building on the banks of the Bourne Eau in South Street previously occupied by the photographer Richard Bertolle but renamed it the South Street Studio. He specialised in wedding and family groups, portraits and local scenes, many of which have survived as a reminder of how the town and locality looked during the early years of the 20th century.

Business was brisk and in 1920 he moved to larger premises in West Street after the South Street Studio building was badly damaged by a falling tree during a violent storm.

Swift worked under the professional name of Ashby Swift and an advertising brochure of 1910 described him thus:

ASHBY SWIFT, Photographer, South Street Studio, Bourne. Mr. Swift started business in Bourne six years ago. He has a large assortment of local views, and his portraiture is of the finest. He traverses the country around by motor

As a boy, he was a competent pianist and in July 1898, he passed the junior examinations of the London International Music Society at the age of 15, securing 97 marks out of a maximum of 100. Like his mother in later life, Ashby was a member of the town's Congregational Church where his musical talents were applied to the post of church organist, playing regularly at services as well as weddings and funerals.

During the Great War of 1914-18, he served with the Royal Flying Corps, enlisting in May 1916 and serving until 1920 when he returned to civilian life in Bourne and resumed his duties as organist with an increased salary of £15 per annum, the organ blower also being given an additional remuneration of £1 per annum. In 1934, he carried out the installation of electric lights in both church and schoolroom at a cost of £77.

He died on 14th February 1941 at the age of 59 and is buried in the town cemetery. The town remains indebted to him for the many images of Bourne in past times that survive to this day, including this snow scene showing the South Street Studio before it was demolished in 1920.