Devonshire Photographers - Part 4Henry Davey was born at Tiverton, Devon in 1838, son of a carpenter/builder James Davey (1816-1903) and his wife Jane née Hill (c1809-1885). The family moved to St Thomas Exeter in the late 1840s. Henry appears to never have married, and lived until at least 1917. I have compiled the following provisional family outline using census records (1851, 1871-1901) and the FreeBMD database.
James DAVEY b. c.1816 Watchet SOM d. 1903 Exeter DEV m: 13 Feb 1837 Tiverton SOM
Jane HILL b. c.1809 Spreyton DEV (dau of Samuel & Betty HILL) d. 1885 Exeter DEV
|- Elizabeth DAVEY b. 1837
|-
Henry DAVEY b. 1838 Tiverton DEV
|- James Walter DAVEY b. 1842 Tiverton DEV m: 1869 Axbridge DEV Mary DAWTON b. c.1848 Newton Abbott DEV
|- Clermont W. DAVEY b. c.1869 Exeter DEV
|- Fanny DAVEY b. 1844 Tiverton DEV m: William George SMITH b. 1846 Creech St Michael SOM
...|- Edith Fanny SMITH b. c.1868 Exeter DEV
|- Samuel DAVEY b. 1846 Cullompton DEV
|- Edwin DAVEY b. 1849 St Thomas Exeter DEV
|- Emma DAVEY b. 1850 St Thomas Exeter DEV
|- John DAVEY b. 1852 St Thomas Exeter DEV
Can anyone add to the material shown here, please? In particular, I'm looking for:-
- A record of Henry BRICE's birth or baptism at Tiverton
- An 1861 Census entry for Henry DAVEY, probably in Exeter
I am not related to the above family, but would be interested to hear from any researchers who do have a connection, please, particularly if they are able to shed any light on Henry Davey's life and career as a photographer.
Henry probably started working as a photographer in the early 1860s. By the late 1870s he had premises at 135a Fore Street Hill, Exeter, and in April 1871 he was living at the studio. An assistant
Elizabeth ISAACS (c1816-1877), a widow, was also living there. His younger brother
John DAVEY (1852-), living with his parents at 4 North Street (Iron Bridge), St David Exeter, was shown as a photographer in the census of that year, and was possibly assisting Henry. In the early to mid-1870s Henry opened new premises at the family home at 4 North/Iron Bridge, which he initially called the Albert Studio.
By 1881, Henry had moved to 4 Iron Bridge, while the Fore Street Hill premises appears to have closed. The studio continued to operate at this address until at least 1914. His sister
Emma DAVEY (1850-) and nephew
Ernest DAVEY (c1873-) were both assisting in the shop in April 1891 and 1901, while a niece
Mabel DAVEY (c1879-) was working there in 1901. For a brief period in the mid-1890s, Henry Davey also operated a cycle agency next door to the studio, at 3 Iron Bridge.
I am also looking for any
trade directory entries for Henry Davey in the period 1858 to 1878, please, to help narrow down the dates which he spent at various addresses and was working as a photographer in Exeter. Also if anyone has old family photos taken at the Davey studio, I would be very grateful for scanned images, to help with dating purposes. I am compiling profiles along the same lines as the ones I have created for
Derbyshire Photographers, and any contributions will be of great help. Thank you very much.
Regards and best wishes,
Brett Payne
Tauranga, New Zealand
