Shot by Julia Margaret Cameron...Henry Taylor and the Trend for Beards.

Dearest Emily,

Back at my drawing board, it's been a busy week. Two more ranges designed, and sampling under way, now I'm on to our in-house Dimbola JMC range for the Gift Shop.

So I started on mugs, and was trawling through my collection of amassed 'abilia'- and look what I found- I love this one;

Henry Taylor photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron

February 1864

It has set me a thinking Em. First of all- Mug-shots. JMC's Mugshots to be precise, and this one shall be the first. Henry Taylor, Poet and Dramatist 1800-1888. As a convicted Pogonophile (evidence Grumpa being persuaded to go ferral and grow his own scarf,) I've looked into his beard...
Henry grew this fine example in 1859, because following bronchitis, asthma and a spasmodic episode or two- he became nervous of holding a razor.
Great friends with the Camerons,  the Taylors were here at the Bay most Spring and Autumn for holidays in the late 1850's and early 1860's when Julia bought the two houses that formed Dimbola.
Henry says 'It was a house, indeed to which everybody resorted at pleasure, and in which no man, woman or child was ever known to be unwelcome.
Conventionalities had no place in it; and though Cameron was more of a philosopher than a country gentleman, the house might easily have been mistaken for that of the old English Squire, who is said to have greeted his friends with the announcement, kind though imperious- "This is Liberty Hall, and if everybody does not do as he likes here, by God I'll make him!'. *

Tennyson, another great friend of Julia of course, reputedly grew his beard in 1857, following dentistry that altered his mouth. Adopting a Wide-awake hat, it seemed a bit of a 'look' was starting.

Alfred Tennyson 'The Dirty Monk'

by Julia Margaret Cameron May 1865

So, we have a trend in beards, and wide brimmed hats, further adopted by Watts,Longfellow, Charles' Cameron and Darwin (though he preferred a hat of more Bowler brimmed proportion.) 

Watts, Darwin and Charles Hay Cameron all though Mrs Cameron's Looking Glass.

My poser for us today though Emily, goes right back to my doubts that Julia was not such a novice when she received her Camera from her daughter Julia Norman in Christmas 1863...

Here is what she famously called 'My First Success'. Anne Philpot aged 10 at Freshwater Bay, given to her Father on January 29th 1864.

So, Julia records her first success on the last day of January in 1864, and less than a month later she's up and running, and has evidenced above, photographed Henry Taylor (who by his own admission in his autobiography, was being much photographed at Freshwater in 1860-63.) No, Em, I think we read her success-story a bit wrong. I've said before that I think she was part of a group of photographers (Reijlander, Winfield, Dodgson, Southey and her Brother-in-Law Somers-Cocks) who all in turn experimented with her, taught her, and were her partners in her own photographic crime.

I think instead, that her first success- was to her- her first Artistic Success... A Woman driven to experiment with her own passion to arrest beauty. To look into the soul, to- in fact- take a 'snap-shot' ( a phrase attributed to her great friend and Mentor Sir John Hershel- prime mover in the invention of photography in 1853. )

So, her first success, was actually the beginning of achieving what became her 'style' for the next 10 years. Not the romantic experimentation with the Idylls, but her ground-breaking use of 'The Close-Up'.

I think Em, she was the first photographer to champion this, and I think that's quite important!

Good old Mrs C, she was said to impose her own spirit on all those she met. And she was quoted as having an innate sense of enjoying herself, and making others around her do the same!

Enough for now, lovely to do facetime with you this morning- even if most of it was to the back of your head! 

Your ever-loving Grandmother, GiGi xxx

*Autobiography of Henry Taylor

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE!- Three Forces of Nature.

Dearest Em,

With a soupcon of Venus in Retrograde, some topical discussion about how Women are discriminated about today, and some mid-Victorian cachets, let's look at Women with our 'Some Things Never Change!' eyes...

Your Grand-mother has often been a bit slow on the uptake (like GiGi the character in your little sister's book- not quite 'getting' what it was she was supposed to do!) However- I feel the need to share my ignorance and learning, as the supposed wisdom of age bids us teach our little ones.

Let's take our own Julia Margaret Cameron. There was a Woman, who though under Victorian stricture needed to be seen to be the dutiful Wife, taking second place to the Head of the family, her husband- Charles Hay Cameron. Charles became a semi-invalid during their early years of marriage, and never quite pulled off a Governing post overseas, after he was rather unceremoniously put as a bit of a fall-guy in Macaulay's Indian team. Failing Coffee and Tea plantations in Ceylon didn't help the family's financial picture either. Julia being of near Aristocratic class, needed to cut her cloth to suit this situation, and was often reliant on handouts from a benevolent Cambridge friend of Charles. However- Julia wasn't the sort of Lady to reign in her own benevolence, grand gestures of giving away shawls, food,wallpapers, re-decorating friends rooms (as in the Henry Taylors- who hadn't asked for this kindness!) adopting children, giving away her Piano to the Tennysons etc etc...

By becoming a Photographer (carefully insistent on the title 'Amateur' as it would not 'do' for a Wife to be seen to be taking over the family purse-strings) she succeeded in part in swelling the familys coffers. Added to buying the two houses that make up Dimbola- she also became a Private Guest House Land-lady, though dressed in the guise of helping out all her dear friends. She didn't get any recognition for this rather underground role- and often had to defend her 'hobby' in her copious letterwritings to the Family Benefactor, and detractors of her 'past-time' who criticised her and saw it as the exact opposite of what she was actually surrepticiously achieving. Instead of gaining quiet understanding from anyone except her beloved husband- she was railed at for her extravagance. It must have been a bit of a struggle for her. And when, she had bet on a rather lame horse- ie- she was probably under the impression that Tennyson's Idylls were raking in the cash (it wasn't the case) and her extravagant gesture of photographically illustrating them all- at her own expense- was probably a bridge too far. So when Charles yearned again for Ceylon, she threw in the towel, gathered up her husband, two coffins and a cow- and set off for Ceylon. She was probably rather tired of the fight by then, and at her house in Ceylon today, there are records of her referring to her 'beloved Isle of Wight'. She died there on January 26th 1879. This unconventional, kind and effervescent lady is a constant source of inspiration to me Emily- for all she was, and for her pioneering work...

As is her dear friend- Anne Thackeray Ritchie- she of our tales, and more and more- her lyrically pithy and humorous quotes that are underpinning our 'Freshwater Circle' collection. Anne's background alone- gave her quite a unique view-point on life. Her Father- the esteemed William Makepeace Thackeray (with a Wife in a lunatic asylum, and he being the lone parent) afforded Anne a liberal education, normally reserved only for boys. The erudite circle he mixed in, gave a precocious Anne full reign to observe, be seen and be heard, and to write and draw.
And she did all of these with aplomb. Once William Makepeace had died rather early in his fifties, Anne and her sister Minny were brought by Tennyson to Mrs Camerons, where they became firm friends. Later in her life, Anne was to become a matriarchal figure to the Bloomsbury set- and her influence is well-recorded.
Her writings though are in my opinion rather under-rated, and she is my constant source currently for quotation. Here is one, from 'Toilers and Spinsters and Other Essays 1876...

This one Em, is a design I've done today for a notebook and some cards.

I'm dedicating its' aptness to a dear neighbour of Julia's and ours who lives today. In her 90th year, she know who she is. Currently poorly- this Force of Nature bears out our 'Some Things Never Change' strap-line...
When I moved into the Lane, and was introduced to her- she reminded me in her eclectic home of my own Grandmother Elsie. Elsie beat to her own drum, and many of the features of her surrounding aesthetic were very akin to Elsie's.
Moreover for me- as I have been often criticised for 'doing too much'- this Lady ran a Society, made Jewelry, sold at Craft Fairs and Dimbola, and is a vociferous, pro-active member of the local community.
Never afraid to speak her own mind, she is indefatigable- and beautifully honestly- just 'herself'.
For myself- she gave me the benefit of by watching her- I gained added permission to be myself. She has an inspiring and awesome past. The qualities she has gained from it shine through. She doesn't sing very loudly about her own story. But she is the sort of Woman, you know has learned so much.
She knows who she is, and I send her love and admiration, and get well soon wishes.

Just sayin' Em, that some things are constant, and as true today as they have always been. I wish for you and Annabel to get to live long, happy and fulsome lives, and always keep enquiring minds, a sense of modesty, but never ever be anything else than true to yourselves.

And if that's a struggle- never mind! You'll learn from each struggle if you are open to it.

Lesson over...

Your ever-loving Grandmother, GiGi xxxx

Out of the 'Looking Glass' closet...

 Mr and Mrs Cameron.

Dearest Emily,

On today's post, let's start introducing the Characters. Above you will see Julia Margaret and Charles Hay. As you know, Julia lived at Dimbola Lodge and was a pioneering Victorian photographer. She first picked up a camera ( as legend goes ) when her daughter gave her one as a present, aged 48. Husband Charles had departed to check on his ailing Coffee plantations, and various children were being sent off to school.

Julia began what was to be her lifelong obsession at a time when few had mastered the process. Lord Somers ( her brother-in-law ) was respected for his efforts though he was to persue a parliamentary route. Oscar Reijlander and David Wylkie Winfield assisted Julia's practical learning of her craft- and her first supervised session was with Reginald Southey and Charles Dodgson in 1857 when they photographed the Tennyson boys. This particular photographic session was to lead to Dodgson feeling aggreived and insulted, but that I'll go into more in the book Emily. The purpose of this post is to start to show you who is who in 'Alice Through the Looking Glass'.

Julia was described as an energetic, eccentric, excitable and slightly comic. She had an 'unusual power of enjoying herself and making others do the same' Physically she was described as 'short and stout' with a loud low and husky voice. She was known for rushing around, running after people, hat-less and with shawls training. Her attitude to photography was to go at it like a 'bull in a china shop' in complete contrast to Dodgsons fastidious bachelor ways, creating pin-sharp images. Julia was not one to take criticism lying down, or to hold a grudge. She famously argued with Ruskin, and thumped him on the back, then ran after him red-bonnet flailing to continue the discussion. They later returned arm-in-arm.

Dodgson certainly did not care for her style of photography, though he did allow her to photograph him. She was always referred to as wearing long trailing shawls, held together by cameos.

In 'Through the Looking Glass' we meet the White Queen ( who at the end of the book morphs into both the Red and White Queen, which is explained later as the cat playing two parts ) she is introduced thus:-

'She caught the shawl as she spoke....in another moment the White Queen came running wildly through the wood....it would have been better, as it seemed to Alice if she had got someone else to dress her,she was so dreadfully untidy.."It can't go straight if you pin it to one side"..."dear me, what a state your hair is in"...'

And the Red Queen:-

'it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place...."Speak in French when you ca'n't think of the English for the thing- turn out your toes as you walk- and remember who you are!"

Julia and her sisters were remarked upon as frequently lapsing into French in their conversations. 

John Tenniel, who had 'reluctantly agreed' to illustrate 'Looking Glass' said of himself that he only had to see a picture or person once in order to draw their cariacature.

Charles Hay Cameron ( described by Tennyson as 'A philosopher with his beard dipped in moonlight' ) was a semi-invalid by the time the Cameron's came to Freshwater. He spent most of his time either reading in the garden ( in his purple dressing gown ) or huddled up in blankets in a chair. The rest of the time he spent sleeping ( probably due to the effect of opiates that numbed his pains. ) A recluse, and Julia was known to bring people up to his bedroom and show them the sleeping Charles declaring " Behold, is that not the most beautiful old man you have ever seen?"

"It's only the red king snoring" said Tweedledee "Come and look at him...Isn't he a lovely sight"

And so my dear Emily, we begin to re-introduce the characters and who they were. More on Tweedledee, Tweedledum, and 'The Walrus and the Carpenter' next time.

Lots and lots of love,

GiGi xxx

( sources for reference include Colin Ford and Graham Ovenden and are credited fully in the manuscript of the book )