History

Posting pictures of our towns and vill ages By local historian Paul Rendell

Postcards were introduced in Britain in 1870. At this time, they were issued exclusively by the Post Offi ce and were simple plain cards with a pre-printed stamp. It wasn’t until 1894 that the Post Offi ce permitted postcards produced by other printers to be sent through the postal system. Photographs were black and white or of a vignette type with edges which faded away. Only the address could appear on one side of the card with the other side devoted to the picture and space for a message. In many cases the picture covered most of the card, leaving little room for anything else. In 1902 the Post Offi ce changed its rules and permitted pictures to appear on the front of postcards and both the message and address on the reverse. These postcards were produced by a wide variety of publishers, many national companies like Frith, yet some local shops, such as Pillar & Son of Tavistock, published their own cards and other publishers like Horns and Miller from Devonport, Plymouth would send their own photographers out to take images of Plymouth and the edge of Dartmoor including Clearbrook. In Ivybridge in 1905, F. J. Andrews was based at 15 Fore Street as a publisher and they worked with Charles Smallridge, a photographer, also of the same village. From around 1906, Charles Smallridge also developed his own range of postcards of images, mainly of Ivybridge. These postcards not only provided visitors with images of their holidays, but were used as promotion for other people to visit the area. Many cards were kept after they had been posted; lots of Charles Smallridge’s postcards can be found in private collections today, my own included. William James Chapman was born in Exeter, Devon, in 1830. An early diary shows that in 1859 he received

Above from far left: Ford Street, Ivybridge; Princetown by Chapman & Son; Clearbrook by Horns Millers, 1921; Harford Bridge, near Ivybridge by Charles Smallridge, 1905; On the Erme, Ivybridge Published by F J Andrews, Photo by Charles Smallridge, 1905.

7s 6d for ‘photography’. Soon thereafter he started a photographic business in Exeter, but in 1863 he moved with his wife to Town Tree Hill, Dawlish. Together with one of his sons, William Samuel Chapman, he ran William James Chapman & Son, producing group photographs for local people. By about 1902, summer visitors were beginning to discover Dawlish, Torquay, Ivybridge and Dartmoor. Chapman & Son could see future business potential and started producing postcards of the printed vignette type. These provided a cheap and convenient means of personal communication and, in addition, publicised the attractions of Dawlish and Dartmoor to a wide audience. This brought more visitors to Devon, who in turn bought more postcards to send to family and friends. By 1907, postcards were the company’s main business. William Samuel Chapman used to travel through South Devon and across Dartmoor in a pony and trap with his bulky and cumbersome photographic equipment and he recorded many scenes of everyday life that were fast disappearing. During the winter months he would print his most favourite photographs and stockpile them until the summer months. In the spring he would visit his retailers, which were mainly village shops, post offi ces and fancy goods shops. The outlets would normally take dozens rather than hundreds of cards at a time. When the Chapman family fi rst started manufacturing postcards they were printed using sunlight. The half plate 6” x 4¾” glass negatives and the printing paper were placed on a large shelf-like rack and this was leant against the south facing wall outside the printing works. Years later the cards were produced indoors on a bench top with a light shining up through opaque glass. The room in which this took place was dark, except for the light from a dull red, electric bulb. The blank card was placed on the glass negative and the light underneath switched on for a count of three. This was a slow and time-consuming process which later was replaced by a better and quicker way. I would be interested to hear about other publishers of postcards in West Devon. If you know of any publishers, please get in touch. I am also available to give talks about the history of picture postcards to groups. Email paul. dartmoor@gmail.com. All postcards are from the Paul Rendell Collection. n

James the Plumber

THE SMALL JOB PLUMBER No Call Out Charge

All domestic plumbing work undertaken For a reliable experienced plumber ...Call James on 07540 724 112

DARTMOOR GUIDED WALKS

with with

Enjoy a guided walk with local historian Paul Rendell. Theme walks include wildfl owers, history and longer walks. 01837 54727 • paul.dartmoor@gmail.com www.paulrendelldartmoor.co.uk