IOW Photographers - Merwood
| Photographer | Hubert Kenneth 'Ken' Merwood | |
| Active Period | 1922 - 1956+ | |
| Lifespan | Born: 1904 IOW | Died: 1992 IOW |
| Studio Addresses | 1 Maida Villas, Camp Road, Freshwater | |
| Associates | Herbert Sidney Marfleet | |
| Established | c1937 | |
| Trade History |
1939 Kelly's Directory of
Hampshire & IOW (page 1057)
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| Awards | ||
| Photographic Evidence Found |
None found to date | |
| Examples of Photographs, Trade Cards, Adverts, etc |
None found to date |
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| Family History | Hubert Kenneth Merwood
(always known as Ken) was born
in 1904 on the Island, probably at Freshwater as that is where his parents
lived and his birth was recorded in
the Calbourne Births Register. He was the youngest son of painter and house decorator
Henry George Merwood from Freshwater and his wife Annie (nee Prosser) from
Ryde. Hubert Kenneth was baptised on 20 Dec 1905 at the Wesleyan Methodist
Chapel in Freshwater - at the same time as three of his older siblings. In 1922, Ken found employment with the photographer Herbert Sidney Marfleet who lived at the Broadway, Totland Bay. Ken quickly became a very skilful photographer with a good eye for composition, and he accompanied Herbert on photographic expeditions. In 1926 Herbert's niece, Margery Edmunds, started working for her uncle and a romance blossomed between Ken and Margery with the result that they were married in 1937. A few weeks before the wedding, Ken's mother Annie died (his father George having died in 1918). After the wedding, Ken left Herbert to start his own photographic business in Freshwater. The 1933 and 1947 Electoral Registers show that Ken Merwood then lived at 1 Maida Villas, Camp Road, Freshwater. Next door, at 2 Maida Villas, lived the Foss family. Keir Foss, who was born and grew up in the house, says that his mother (now aged 101 in 2008) recollects that Ken was living there with his mother when she moved into the house in 1926 and was already operating as a photographer. She recalls that Ken built a workshop and dark room in the rear garden, and was still working from that site when she moved house in 1956. Ken Merwood died in 1992 at the age of 87, and his wife Margery three years later at the age of 86. My thanks to
Keir Foss and his mother for
contributing the anecdotal information. |
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| Further Notes | ||