Collection: The Bedford Lemere Collection

Date:: 1723 - 1986

Reference:: HBL01

Type:: Collection containing Photographic, Electronic, Textual and Miscellaneous material

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Description

Photographic company led by Bedford senior (1839 - 1911) and Henry (1864 - 1944).

Bedford Lemere & Company was one of the foremost architectural photographic firms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The business was established by Bedford Lemere (1839-1911) in the 1860s. His son Henry Bedford Lemere (1864-1944) joined the company in 1881 and was the principal photographer during the company’s heyday.

The collection has significant coverage of commercial and residential buildings; factories; country houses; ecclesiastical buildings; municipal buildings; ship interiors etc. Coverage is national, but with an emphasis on London. Clients included home and business owners; decorators; builders; architects; estate agents and anyone else who required architectural photography. Many of the commissions comprise a full record of newly constructed or newly refurbished properties, including interior and exterior views. The company was eventually acquired by Archie Handford Ltd. in 1967.

The collection is made up of 15 groups of material: HBL01/01 - Series of photographic negatives and prints HBL01/02 - Series of albums of photographs HBL01/03 – Daybooks HBL01/04 - Series of folders of photographs HBL01/05 - Business records and other documentation of Bedford Lemere & Co. Ltd HBL01/06 - Unnumbered prints in the Bedford Lemere Collection HBL01/07 - Wallet of prints of Westminster Abbey by Bedford Lemere HBL01/08 - Negatives of Lloyds Bank, Blackheath Village, London HBL01/09 - Digitally enhanced images from the Bedford Lemere collection HBL01/10 - Copy negatives of images from the Bedford Lemere collection HBL01/11 - Whole plates from the Bedford Lemere collection HBL01/12 – Bedford Lemere Medal HBL01/13 - Negatives attributed to Bedford Lemere and Company HBL01/14 - Series of negatives and prints by Bedford Lemere and Company, commissioned by the London Board of Works HBL01/15 - Bedford Lemere Lantern Slides

Archival History

Received Via : Approximately 50% of albums purchased c1955 onwards Approximately 50% purchased later from V T Samson Denham Album purchased 1996 Additional prints purchased via Janette Ray, 1997 Provenance : Albums of prints from the famous architectural photographic practice. Material is additional to 21000 negatives contained in RCHME Negatives, though some of the prints are primary archive in cases where relevant BL negatives are either missing or destroyed. Miscellaneous documentary material acquired August 2002.

5 prints removed from Red Box collection 2005.

Content

This Collection is divided into 15 Child Series

This Collection contains the following materials:

Photograph (Albumen Print): 7,866

Photograph (Developing Out Paper Print): 31

Photograph (Gelatine Print): 375

Photograph (Negative): 21,966

Photograph (Platinum Print): 221

Photograph (Print): 2,553

Photograph (Printing Out Paper Print): 5

Photograph (Transparency): 25

Photograph Album: 66

Photograph (Digital): 24,871

Book/Volume: 6

Daybook: 15

File: 36

Report: 2

Object: 4

Rights

Source: Historic England Archive