Richard Beard (photographer) facts for kids
Richard Beard (born December 22, 1801 – died June 7, 1885) was an English businessman and photographer. He was very good at protecting his photography business using legal actions over his special photography patents. He also played a big part in making professional photography popular in the United Kingdom.
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Early Life and Business Skills
Richard Beard was born in a place called East Stonehouse, Devon. His father was a grocer, which means he owned a food shop. Richard joined the family business and helped it grow a lot.
In the early 1830s, Beard moved to London. He invested in a coal business and made it much bigger. He was a very skilled entrepreneur, which is someone who starts and manages businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit. He even got a special patent in 1839 for a new way to print colors on fabric.
How Richard Beard Got into Photography
In 1839, people were very excited about the first ways to take pictures, invented by Louis Daguerre and William Fox Talbot. Richard Beard saw a great business chance in this new technology.
He met an American named William S. Johnson, who was selling a special camera. The camera wasn't very good at first. But Beard understood that photography could be a huge business. He made a deal with Johnson and got a patent for the camera. A patent is a special right given to an inventor to stop others from making, using, or selling their invention for a period of time.
Beard also learned from John Frederick Goddard that adding a chemical called bromine to the silver plates used for photos made them much more sensitive to light. This meant pictures could be taken much faster!
Opening England's First Photo Studio
In 1841, with help from William S. Johnson, Richard Beard opened England's very first professional photography studio. It was located at The Polytechnic, Regent Street in London.
He bought the exclusive right to use the Daguerreotype process in England and Wales. This meant he had a monopoly, or complete control, over this type of photography in those areas. He spent a lot of money, about £20,000, to open many photo studios in London. He also sold licenses to other people to open studios in other parts of the country. Goddard, who helped with the chemical discovery, was his technical helper.
Even though Beard was called a "photographic artist" and showed his work at a big event called The Great Exhibition in 1851, he didn't take many pictures himself. Most of the old photos linked to him were actually taken by others. He was more of a businessman than a photographer.
Legal Challenges and Later Life
Richard Beard was very serious about protecting his business. He was involved in many legal actions, which are lawsuits or court cases. He even had a famous case called Beard v. Egerton. These many lawsuits seemed to make him tired of fighting in court.
In 1849, he was declared bankrupt. This means he couldn't pay all his debts. However, it seems this was more of a business move, and he wasn't poor. His son, Richard, slowly took over the family business.
Beard's interest in photography faded over time. By 1861, he was back to being a "coal merchant." For a short time in the 1860s, he also worked as a "medical galvanist," which involved using electricity for medical treatments.
Richard Beard passed away in Hampstead and was buried in Hampstead Cemetery.
Images for kids
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1841 Daguerreotype of Wendell Phillips by Richard Beard
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Erebus officers from the John Franklin expedition, sketches from daguerreotypes by Richard Beard (1845).
