Charles Herbert Taylor Marshall, known as Herbert, was born in London in 1878. When he was 14, his father died and his mother Louisa moved the family to Waterlooville where she took up the position of Postmistress at Stakes Hill Road Post Office (Hill, 2015). When he left school, Herbert was apprenticed to Richard Gurnell the chemist at 77 London Road (Jones, A History of Waterlooville, 2015 Vol 2). It is likely that Herbert was introduced to photography there. In the early 20th century, producing photographic film and developing prints required expert knowledge of chemistry and access to a laboratory. Many chemists were early pioneers of photography.
In 1901, when Herbert was 22, he rented a property behind the chemist shop and set up his own photographic studio specialising in portrait and wedding photography. Herbert was one of the first people in the area to purchase a motorcycle, a Triumph, and he was often seen riding around the town and surrounding areas taking photographs which he sold as postcards (Jones, The Early Years of Waterlooville 180-1910 and A History of the Forest of Bere, 2015 Vol 1). Herbert’s photographs now form an important historical archive because they document the development of the town. They record changes over time, and capture key events, working histories and social stories.
The construction of the Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway in 1903 was just one of the major historical events recorded. The images were captured on celluloid film, a medium Herbert pioneered (Jones, A History of Waterlooville, 2015 Vol 3). Herbert made his own enlargers and printers, refining them to develop in daylight, gaslight and finally, electric light (Portsmouth Evening News, 1958). In WW1 and WW2, enlisting soldiers were required to have portrait photographs taken for identity purposes, and many men visited Herbert’s studio, where he was assisted by his daughter Alison. The photos Herbert took during a visit to the Osmond and Osmond factory in Stakes Hill Road in 1958 are a valuable record of working and social history, with images of men weaving hampers and dog and cat baskets, and women working in the leather goods section (Jones, A History of Waterlooville, 2015 Vol 3).
In 1915, Herbert married Ethel Rundle who worked in the Post Office with his mother (Hill, 2015). Herbert’s candid photos of Ethel, taken in their home next to the post office in 1916, are a rare capture of domestic life in this era and form part of the archive (Hampshire Cultural Trust, 2018). During WW1, Herbert served with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. He joined as an Ordinary Seaman and left an Acting Petty Officer (The National Archives, 2024).
In 1937, Herbert moved his studio and opened a gallery at number 250 London Road (Wessex Heritage Trust, 2024), where he continued to work until his retirement in 1955, aged 75. A career of 54 years as the only professional photographer in Waterlooville. (Portsmouth Evening News, 1958). After Herbert died in 1958, his daughter Alison continued to run the business. Herbert’s negatives were donated to the Hampshire County Museum and are now held by the Hampshire Cultural Trust, and a room in Waterlooville Library is named the Marshall Room in his honour.
Bibliography
Hampshire Cultural Trust. (2018, 11 22). Hampshire in Old Photographs. Retrieved from Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=2474637842553658&set=pcb.2474647289219380
Hill, M. (2015). The Postal History of Waterlooville. Retrieved from https://ia601002.us.archive.org/24/items/ThePostalHistoryOfWaterlooville/052ThePostalHistoryOfWaterlooville....pdf
Jones. (2015 Vol 1). Retrieved from The Early Years of Waterlooville 180-1910 and A History of the Forest of Bere: https://archive.org/details/TheEarlyYearsOfWaterlooville1810-1910AndAHistoryOfTheForestOfBere/page/n7/mode/2up
Jones. (2015 Vol 2). Retrieved from A History of Waterlooville: https://ia803103.us.archive.org/31/items/AHistoryOfWaterloovilleVol.21911-1951/056AHistoryOfWaterloovilleVol.2.pdf
Jones. (2015 Vol 3). Retrieved from A History of Waterlooville: https://dn790000.ca.archive.org/0/items/AHistoryOfWaterloovilleVol.3/057AHistoryOfWaterloovilleVol.3.pdf
Portsmouth Evening News. (1958, 01 11).
The National Archives. (2024). Retrieved from ADM-337-42-297.
Wessex Heritage Trust. (2024). Retrieved from https://studylib.net/doc/7047994/waterlooville-timeline---wessex-heritagetrust?form=MG0AV3