Reference
X291/77
Title
Glass Plate Negatives by J H Copperwheat (1885-1954)
Date free text
c 1905-1920
Production date
From: 1905 To: 1920
Admin/biog history
John Herbert Copperwheat was born on the 30th December 1885 and was christened at the Wesleyan Methodist chapel, Ampthill on the 7th March 1886. He was the only son of Simeon and Isabella Copperwheat.
John had two sisters, Ethel, born 23rd March 1881 (see X291/77/170, 304-5, 328) and Edith, born 15th August 1883 (see X291/77/41-43, 160, 304-6). In about 1910 Ethel married Arthur Hensman (X291/77/3, 170, 304-5, 328). Arthur Hensman was a wheelwright and engineer of Park Hill, Ampthill. He retired to Holland-on-Sea in 1945 and died on the 22nd July 1946. Ethel survived her husband by barely six months dying in January 1947; both she and her husband were buried in Ampthill. Edith (Cis) remained unmarried and for many years carried on the workroom established by her father. She died in December 1939 (see Beds Times 8th December 1939). The family were staunch supporters of the Wesleyan chapel, Simeon having been a steward and a member of the choir and the Hensman's having been caretakers for some years.
John's father, Simeon Copperwheat (see X291/77/9-11, 173, 304-6) was born in Marston Mortaine in 1858. The son of John and Mary Ann he was baptised in the Bedford Methodist Circuit on the 18th April 1858. At the time of the 1871 census, Simeon was living with his mother and stepfather, James Denton and various Denton and Copperwheat siblings at Lower Shelton. In 1880 Simeon married Isabella Evans (X291/77/53-56, 173, 304-6).
By 1881 Simeon had moved to Ampthill and was a tailor living at Park Hill. In 1883 Simeon is thought to have opened a coffee house in the town centre (see Bedford Mercury 7th April 1883) but in the 1891 census and in the directories for Ampthill from 1892 to 1898 he is listed as a tailor at Arthur Street. In 1902 his business is described as a butcher's outfitter, in the directory for 1903 as a grocers. By 1906 he is listed as a grocer and confectioner at Arthur Street and Woburn Street. Between 1910 and 1914 he ran his confectioner's business from the Market Place. This was presumably 3 Church Street as he appears as a tenant on the deeds from about 1907. Simeon died on the 28th March 1918 (see Beds Times 5th April 1918) and his widow carried on the business until her death in June 1923 at the age of 65 (see Beds Times 15th June and 22nd June 1923). John H Copperwheat then continued the business appearing in the directory for 1924 as a confectioner at 106 Dunstable Street.
Simeon appears to have done quite well for himself as by 1908 he owned a car (see X291/77/409) and applied for planning permission for a new motor shed at the back of 100 Dunstable Street (UDA 14S18). He seems to have owned property in Arthur Street as in 1898 he applied for an addition to the house 8 Arthur Street (UDA 14/S216), a new shopfront to No. 10 Arthur Street (UDA 14/S214) and for the building of a public hall and cottage at No 11 Arthur Street (UDA 14/S173). This public hall was for the Salvation Army (Underwood, A. Home Rule for Ampthill 1974 p57) however by 1910 Simeon submitted plans to remove the wall between the cottage and the hall in order to make them all one (UDA 14/10). In August 1910 the hall was acquired for use as the 'Picturedrome' or 'Picture Hall'. In 1924 another planning application was made for 'converting a building previously a hat factory into a dwelling house' for Mrs Dench and the plan shows the original cottage as then owned by Mr Sugar (UDA 14/104).
John H Copperwheat (X291/77/2, 4-6, 306, 328, 401, 411) presumably assisted his father in his business although at the time of his marriage and at the baptism of his children he was described as a postman. He was obviously a keen amateur photographer using the yard of 3 Church Street as his outdoor studio and the cupboard under the stairs as his darkroom. He used a succession of motorcycles to transport himself around the Ampthill area (see X291/77/410-412).
On the 3rd of November 1915 John married Louisa Palmer from Maulden (X291/77/328). Their daughter, Joan Louise Palmer Copperwheat (X291/77/198-9) was born on the 1st March 1917 and their son, George William Anthony 'Tony' Copperwheat, on the 5th April 1926. Both children were christened on the 2nd December 1932 in Ampthill parish church. Louisa Copperwheat (X291/77/35, 37, 132, 163, 199, 328) was buried on the 15th February 1945 aged 52. It was probably shortly after this that John moved to Holland-on-Sea in Essex where he died on the 28 November 1954. Joan appears to have married a Mr Rawsthorne and is believed to have died in Essex. Tony Copperwheat (see Ampthill News 15th & 22nd March 1977) was believed to be still living at Holland-on-Sea in the late 1970s.
Scope and Content
X291/77 consists of approximately 620 plate glass plate negatives by John H Copperwheat dating from the early 1900s to the early 1920s. They demonstrate the normal output of an amateur photographer being mainly men, women and children taken in a studio or garden setting. These may be of interest from the point of view of props, poses and styles of dress. Some of the portraits have been identified as people from the Gravenhurst area while others were taken at Wrest Park mainly near the Children's cottage and dairy and may include workers from the estate. There are also pictures of a number of prize cattle from the Wrest Park estate. John H Copperwheat is known to have produced postcards of local scenes from about 1910 to 1914 and the glass plates contain a series of views of Silsoe and surrounding villages as well as Ampthill.
Archival history
The plates came to Mr Underwood after he had heard from Mr John Dix that the then owner of 106 Dunstable Street, Mr Frank Pinney, had started to dispose of the plates which must have been left on the premises by John Copperwheat when he retired to Essex.
System of arrangement
Unfortunately there is no known working index and the numbering system used when the collection was received was not original therefore the decision was taken to arrange the plates by subject in the hope that this may make future identification easier. The former references are those used by Andrew Underwood before he deposited the plates with the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives Service.
Reference
Level of description
sub-fonds