DAGUERREOTYPE PORTRAIT STUDIOS IN BRIGHTON
Holding an exclusive licence from Richard Beard, William Constable
had a virtual monopoly in the production of photographic portraits
in Brighton between November 1841 and 1851. In the Census of 1851,
the only other photographer recorded in Brighton was nineteen year
old Thomas B.Leffin, who was presumably an assistant to William
Constable. The 1851 Census describes Constable as "Flour
Manufacturer and Heliographic Artist ", a widower aged 67,
living with two nieces, Caroline and Eliza Constable,
who probably provided assistance in his photographic business. After
William Constable died in December 1861, a Miss Constable continued
to run his studio at 58 King's Road.
Advertisement
for Joseph Meurant's Daguerreotype Room (Brighton Herald
7August 1852)
At least on one occasion, a daguerreotype artist felt confident
enough to challenge Constable's monopoly in the production of daguerreotype
portraits in the town . In the Summer of 1852, a rival to Constable
appeared in the form of a French daguerreotype artist, Joseph
Meurant from Paris. In July 1852, Meurant announced in the
'Brighton Herald' that he had opened a Daguerreotype Room at 131/2
East Street, where he offered to take likenesses for as little as
5 shillings. Meurant remained in Brighton for less than nine months
before moving on to London. [Shortly after Beard's patent on the
daguerreotype expired in 1853, Meurant established a photographic
studio at Newington Butts in South London.]
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Early Photographic Views of Brighton
