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Richard Beard

(1801-1885), Photographer

Artist associated with 8 portraits
Richard Beard was born in Devon, the son of a grocer in Newton Abbot. He moved to London in 1833 and profitably established himself in the coal trade until 1843. Beard set up in photography as a business speculation. He purchased a licence to use the daguerreotype process in 1841, and opened the world's first photographic studio. It was set up in a glasshouse on the roof of London's Royal Polytechnic Institution to provide all-round lighting, which was necessary to the daguerreotype process. There were huge profits from his studios in London and Liverpool and from the sale of licences to take daguerreotypes, but Beard was ruined by his many legal actions against rivals, and went bankrupt in 1850.

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Jabez Hogg, possibly by Jabez Hogg, or by Richard Beard - NPG P2092Jabez Hogg
possibly by Jabez Hogg, or by Richard Beard
NPG P2092
An unknown man, by Jabez Hogg, or by John Frederick Goddard, for Richard Beard - NPG x199100An unknown man
by Jabez Hogg, or by John Frederick Goddard, for Richard Beard
NPG x199100
Unknown woman, by Jabez Hogg, or by John Frederick Goddard, for Richard Beard - NPG x199101Unknown woman
by Jabez Hogg, or by John Frederick Goddard, for Richard Beard
NPG x199101
Douglas William Jerrold, by John Sartain, after a photograph by Richard Beard - NPG D3171Douglas William Jerrold
by John Sartain, after a photograph by Richard Beard
NPG D3171
Douglas William Jerrold, by John Sartain, after a photograph by Richard Beard - NPG D3172Douglas William Jerrold
by John Sartain, after a photograph by Richard Beard
NPG D3172
Henry Mackenzie, after Richard Beard - NPG D5169Henry Mackenzie
after Richard Beard
NPG D5169
Henry Mayhew, after a daguerreotype by Richard Beard - NPG D5237Henry Mayhew
after a daguerreotype by Richard Beard
NPG D5237
Henry Mayhew, after a daguerreotype by Richard Beard - NPG D5238Henry Mayhew
after a daguerreotype by Richard Beard
NPG D5238

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