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Scotland (Counties as in 1851-1901) => Scotland => Midlothian => Topic started by: sonofthom on Tuesday 10 January 17 11:17 GMT (UK)
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Has anyone researched the above Edinburgh based photographer and lapidary? I am trying to pin down the date of his birth. I am also interested on whether he continued his career as a lapidary throughout his life, with photography being a rather limited involvement - both his sons went into the jewellery trade. I am also interested in establishing why he named one of his sons Alexander McGlashon Begbie - is there a family reason?.
I am aware that there is some information on the web and a book of photographs was published in 1992. However I am sceptical of some of the "facts" stated in these resources and therefore I am hoping that someone who has done family research might have more accurate information
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You probably have, but just checking you have been in touch with ....
http://lapidary.org.uk/smlc-history/
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I presume you have the 1841 Census?
James Square,
Edinburgh St Cuthbert, Midlothian
William Begbie, 30, Lapidary
Jane Begbie, 25
THOS Begbie, 1
Whellemina Russell, 15, Female Servant
All born Midlothian
William BEGBIE married Jane Elizabeth VERNON, 13 May 1839, Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland
Brides Father was THOMAS Vernon
(Familysearch.Org)
Seems the liked to rehash Family Names.
Thomas V's Brother Harker John (or John Harker) Gilman Begbie named a Daug Jane Elizabeth Vernon Begbie in 1877.
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Most probably have this as well marriage of his parents
William Begbie
Jane Elizabeth Vernon
13 May 1839 Edinburgh Parish
1841 Census address James Square Edinburgh
William Begbie age 30 ( lapidary )
Jane Begbie age 25
Thos Begbie age 1
Rosie
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Sorry Trish had started posting :)
Rosie
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Few tree's on An****y has a birth date of 3 June 1840 although not seeing any record if you do have access ..You could maybe contact them to see where they got the date from
Rosie
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Thanks for the various responses. My suspicion is that the 1840 birth date may have been arrived at by deducting one year from the age 1 given for him in the 1841 census, carried out in June 1841; other documents would suggest an 1841 birth date. I don't now have access to the web site mentioned and I have in the past found many of the trees there to be wildly wrong, with even my own parents appearing in the most unlikely of places!
Part of my interest in Begbie is that I believe that the photographs discovered in 1950 which were attributed to him are in fact by the much more prominent Edinburgh photographer Alexander McGlashon, hence my interest as to why Begbie gave his son these names. I also think it is likely that as his sons were in the jewellery trade that Thomas Begbie himself was in this trade but so far I cannot prove this. It is however clear from contemporary Victorian records that he almost certainly had at best limited success as a photographer.
Any thoughts much appreciated.
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Hello
Was TVB related to the Begbie mentioned in Burns Poem the Ordination? Begbie the innkeeper lived in Kilmarnock.
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Thanks Shipsbroker. As I haven't researched Begbie's ancestors I don't know if there is an Ayrshire connection. Certainly it is not a common name so it is possible, although we do know that his parents were Edinburgh based.
I have trawled through Victorian newspapers trying to find references to Thomas Begbie but have found nothing, other than a Post Ofiice Directory advert in the 1870s for his photographic business. He is an elusive figure.
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hello
Thanks for your reply. I have seen some of TVB's work and early photographs of Edinburgh. They are impressive, interesting and great value to anyone with an interest in old Edinburgh.
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I agree - they are excellent photographs.The problem however is that they are not by Begbie. I actually own original Victorian prints of several of the photographs and they date from the late 1850's, much earlier than the date ascribed to most of these photos by Edinburgh Council; Begbie would have been only about 16 years old then. The photographer's label on these early prints confirm that the photographer was Alexander McGlashon, an established photographer at that time.
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I thought I would respond to this discussion here as I have had no response to the discussion on the British Photographic History website on the same subject. I am the author of Thomas Begbie's Edinburgh: A Mid Victorian Portrait (Edinburgh 1992) and I carried out the research on the photographer as well as printing his glass negatives.
I was not able to discover his birth date on the OPR, even using a fuzzy search and decided that the Census was probably as close as it was possible to get until other evidence presented itself. His age in all later census records corresponds to the 1841 census. He is listed in the 1861 census, aged 20 as a "Photographer", living in lodgings at 121 Rose Street. This is a very confident statement and it could be that Begbie was working with a camera from age 15, supplying negatives for someone like Alexander McGlashon, who had the facilities to print them and the finance to publish them.
Those interested can see my contributions on the BPH site:
http://britishphotohistory.ning.com/profiles/blogs/thomas-begbie-views-of?xg_source=activity
Joe
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Sorry I have been a bit slow in responding to this, but I do not think that one word, "photographer", can be described as a confident statement. It may well be a generic job description inserted by the enumerator in place of a more lengthy description given by the subject. Indeed this is borne out by the description used by Begbie when his first child was born in 1865; in the "profession" column he describes himself as "photographer's assistant". As this document is actually signed by Begbie I think that we can reasonably take this as an accurate statement.
Given that McGlashon was an active and experienced photographer I think it is very unlikely that he would have entrusted expensive equipment and indeed his own reputation (it is McGlashon's name that is on the photographs) to a youngster with no previous photographic experience.