In 1890, William Wareham, who was now working as a County Court Bailiff in Worthing, married Ada Baker (born 1864, Aldingbourne, West Sussex), the daughter of Ruth and Maurice Baker, a miller and baker of Aldingbourne, a small village near Chichester. In 1890, William Wareham was based in Chapel Road, Worthing, but by 1892 he had moved to the seaside town of Littlehampton, setting himself up as a bookseller and stationer at a shop in Beach Road, Littlehampton.

Local trade directories published in the 1890s list William Wareham as a bookseller and stationer in Beach Road, Littlehampton. Kelly's Directory of Sussex published in 1895 records William Wareham as a bookseller and stationer at No. 5 Beach Road, Littlehampton, but by the end of the decade Wareham's business address is given as 3 & 4 Beach Road, Littlehampton.

Around 1905, William Wareham started to issue his own photographic views of Bognor and the surrounding area in the form of picture postcards. William Wareham was a photographer as well as a publisher of photographic views and so it is likely that most of the images which appeared on his picture postcards were taken with his own camera. A trade directory published in 1915, lists William Wareham as a photographer at 60 Pier Road, Littlehampton. William Wareham is recorded as a photographer at the Pier Road address until 1930.

William Wareham died in Littlehampton in 1933 at the age of 71.

[ABOVE]  A coloured picture postcard produced by William Wareham of the Ornamental Water, situated near the seafront at Littlehampton (c1915)

It appears that John White set himself up as a picture frame maker when he first arrived in Littlehampton in the early 1870s. John White established a photographic studio at 11 River Road, Littlehampton around 1874. According to H. J. F. Thompson, the author of The  Picturemakers, John White was able to finance his photography business from the proceeds of "a monetary award that was made to him for his part in providing information which led to the apprehension of a smuggler". In June 1876, after a couple of years at the River Road studio, John White moved to 32 High Street, Littlehampton, where he was to remain for more than twenty years.

On 20th July 1876, John White married Alice Arnott (born 1855, Shepherd's Bush), the daughter of Mary and Frederick Arnott, a London coachman.

John White was Littlehampton's leading photographer throughout the 1880s and 1890s. At the time of the 1881 census, John White was living at his High Street premises with his London-born, 25 year old wife Alice (born 1855, Shepherds Bush) and their two young children - Arthur Harold White, aged 4, (birth registered in the East Preston District during the 2nd Quarter of 1877) and Lillie Alice White aged 2, (birth registered in the East Preston District during the 3rd Quarter of 1878). The White family's live-in servant, 16 year old Emma Arnott from London, worked as John White's assistant in his photography business. Sadly, Emma Arnott was to die young three years later, when she was only nineteen years of age.

J. WHITE - PORTRAIT & LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHER, 11 RIVER ROAD, LITTLEHAMPTON

Cartes de visite  5/- per dozen ,  Vignettes & Children 7/- per dozen.

All kinds of pictures framed to order. A large stock of pictures and frames always in stock. Re-Gilding in all its branches. Ladies' needlework & drawings tastefully mounted and framed. Mounts cut to any size or shape to order.

Agent for Smith's noted flexible stamps for Shop & Office use.

[ABOVE]  The text of an advertisement for John White's photography studio  and picture framing business at 11 River Road, Littlehampton ( Littlehampton News, 1st April 1876 )

John White's Photographic Studios in Littlehampton

[ABOVE] A portrait of a young man taken at John White's studio at 32 High Street, Littlehampton. (c1885)

[ABOVE]  Detail from the back of a cabinet portrait taken at John White's studio at Gresham House, Beach Road.

[ABOVE]  The trade plate of John White, Art Photographer, 32 High Street, Littlehampton (c1886).

At the time of the 1891 census, John White was still living at 32 High Street, Littlehampton, with his wife and two children. During the 4th Quarter of 1895, Alice White gave birth to a third child, a son named John Percival White. Around this time, John White established a new photographic studio in Beach Road, Littlehampton. Around 1895, John White had a purpose-built daylight studio and darkroom constructed at Gresham House, 7 Beach Road, Littlehampton.

The 1901 census records John White and his family at 7 Beach Road, Littlehampton. John White's eldest son Arthur H. White is entered on the census return as a twenty-four year old photographer. Fifty-one year old John White, is recorded by the census enumerator as a "Photographer (Employer at Home)".

[ABOVE] A picture postcard showing Beach Road, Littlehampton (1905)

By 1903, John White had taken his son, Arthur Harold White (born 1877,Littlehampton) into the business to form the firm of John White & Son. A group photograph (see right) suggests that John White and his son were employing nearly a dozen workers in 1904. In addition to the firm's photography business, John White & Son also operated as art dealers in Littlehampton. Between 1905 and 1915, editions of Kelly's Directory of Sussex record John White & Son as photographers at 7 Beach Road and as "fine art dealers" at 12 Beach Road, Littlehampton. The second shop at No. 12 Beach Road was where John White & Son had their picture- framing business.

John White died in Littlehampton on 1st December 1932 at the age of 82. John White's various businesses were divided between his three children - Arthur White (born 1877), John Percival White (born 1895) and Mrs Lillie Leggett (born 1878). [ Lillie Alice White had married house agent Lawrence Richard Leggett in 1904]. John White's eldest son, Arthur Harold White, took over ownership of the photographic business in Beach Road, Littlehampton. The photography business of J. White & Son continued well into the twentieth century, eventually closing down in 1968.

[ABOVE] The trade plate of John White & Son, Littlehampton (c1905)

[ABOVE] John White with his staff in 1904. The photographer Frank Spry was working for White in 1904, just before he left to establish his own photography business in Littlehampton. One of the younger lads in this group photograph could be Alfred (Alexander) MacDonald, who was killed in action on 24th January 1917, at the age of twenty-six, during the First World War.

[ABOVE] A large format photograph of two young children produced by John White & Son of Littlehampton. (c1905) [Negative No. G 17216]

Baby Portraits by John White & Son

John White & Son were justly proud of their photographic portraits of babies and young children. The publicity on their card mounts declare the firm's speciality as "Babies Portraits by Instantaneous Process". The fast exposure times which followed the introduction of dry plates and instantaneous photography in the late 1870s led to an improvement in the quality of baby portaits.

[ABOVE] The publicity for John White & Son, Photographers of Gresham House, Beach Road, Littlehampton, as printed on the reverse of the carte-de-visite portrait of  the twin babies shown on the right (c1902). [Negative No. G 13577]