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Penn, Albert Thomas Watson, 1849-1924 (photographer)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1849 - 1924

Biography

Albert Thomas Watson Penn was born at Street, Wells on 30th March 1849. His first appearance in India appears to have been in around 1875, in which year he was advertising in Thacker's' Directory as a commercial photographer at Ootacamund (also known as Udagamandalam). He lived and had a studio at Cranley Cottage from 1880. In 1911 his business was styled 'Ootacamund Photo Establishment'. Apart from visits to Europe he continued in Ootacamund until circa 1913, in later years also running the Reliance Auction and Commission Agency and the Farrington (or Farington) Hotel. He is not recorded in later directories although he evidently remained in India after his retirement. He died of cerebral apoplexy at Coonor on 19th October 1924 and was buried there the following day in Tiger Hill Cemetery, All Saints Church (Madras burials: IOR/N/2/136 f. 212).

Publications:

Carmichael, Amy Wilson- (1907), 'Overweights of joy', London : Morgan and Scott. [Contains photographs by Penn].

Carmichael, Amy Wilson- (1910), 'Lotus buds'. London: Morgan and Scott. [All but two photographs by Penn].

Sources:

Madras burials: IOR/N/2/136 f.212.

St Catherine's House (index of births).

Thackers directories.

Found in 7 Collections and/or Records:

 Item

A ‘chosen few’, famine of 78/79, [?] Binicunnyalun, near Bangalore, 1878 - 1879

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022DD/4
Scope and Contents

151 x 194 mm. Grouped portrait of emaciated famine victims posed in the doorway of a thatched house. Full accounts of the Indian famines of the 1870s can be found in the Parliamentary Command Papers, Report of the Indian Famine Commission. See in particular Part III, Famine histories (c. 3086 of 1885).

Dates: 1878 - 1879
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

[Aboriginal group, Nilgiris], 1870 - 1879

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022DD/2
Scope and Contents

Image 140 x 175 mm. on paper 152 x 199 mm. Showing three young children (female) grouped beside a barrel. The ethnic group has not been precisely identified, but these may be Kurumba children (compare with photograph reproduced in Edgar Thurston, ‘Castes and tribes of Southern India’ (7 vols, Madras, 1909), vol 7, facing pp. 161, 163).

Dates: 1870 - 1879
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

[Aboriginal group, Nilgiris], 1870 - 1879

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022DD/3
Scope and Contents

Image 118 x 160 mm. on paper 152 x 199 mm. Full length studio portrait of four aboriginal women, two standing and two seated. The women are grouped around a sheaf of wheat, with a woven basket in the foreground. One of the women holds a sickle. The precise ethnic group has not been identified, but is possibly Badaga (see Thurston, ‘Castes and tribes of Southern India’, vol 1 pp. 63-124).

Dates: 1870 - 1879
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

Panorama of Ootacamund [i.e. Udagamandalam] by A.T.W. Penn

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022EE
Scope and Contents A panoramic view of Ootacamund (also known as Udagamandalam) made from four jointed prints, measuring a total of 1074 x 205 mm. The prints are linen backed and contained in boards stamped with the title. The view is taken from Elk Hill looking northwards and encompasses the lake at the west, the centre of the town and the outlying bungalows running to the head of the valley in the east. Points of interest in the view include: Ooty Lake, at this period with its eastern end still...
Dates: 1870 - 1879
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

Photographs of India

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022DD
Scope and Contents A collection of loose prints measuring approximately 150 x 200 mm. Some of the prints are captioned on the reverse. Prints 1-4 are photographs by Albert Thomas Watson Penn and are portraits of people from the Nilgiris and Bangalore. The remaining two prints are miscellaneous items attached to the collection.Albert Thomas Watson Penn was born at Street, Wells on 30th March 1849. His first appearance in India appears to have been in around 1875, in which year he was advertising in...
Dates: 1870 - 1879
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Item

Todas, 1870 - 1879

 Item
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022DD/1
Scope and Contents

Image 119 x 162 mm. on paper 152 x 202 mm. Studio portrait of a Toda family group, the man standing, the wife and daughter seated in front of him.

Dates: 1870 - 1879
Conditions Governing Access: From the Fonds: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
 Fonds

Views in Ootacamund [i.e. Udagamandalam] and the Nilgiris

 Fonds
Reference Code: GBR/0115/RCS/Y3022FF
Scope and Contents

A collection consisting of a panorama (5 joined prints) and loose prints, measuring approximately 280 x 210 mm. The prints are captioned (probably in Penn's hand) on the reverse. Prints 1 and 2 are also rubberstamped 'A.T.W. Penn, Reliance, Ootacamund'. This refers to the Reliance Auction and Commission Agency run by Penn in the early years of the twentieth century.

Dates: 1905
Conditions Governing Access: Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Additional filters:

Type
Archival Object 4
Collection 3
 
Subject
Asia (continent) 6
Nilgiri Hills (hills) 2
Bangalore (inhabited place) 1
Tamil Nadu (state) 1
Udagamandalam (inhabited place) 1