1900
March 9 1900
The President, HT LiIley, gave a very interesting talk illustrated by lantern plates of a tour through Dresden, Prague and Saxon Switzerland. Members found it absorbing because Mr Lilley had the knack of finding very interesting corners to photograph and the patience to wait for the light.
A letter of condolence was sent to Captain Lamb, a former President, wounded in South Africa whilst serving with his Regiment.

October 6 1900
Opening meeting of the winter session. There was a larger than usual attendance of members both male and female to listen to Mr Donmore from London. His talk about “Hand camera work” gave many hints on how to go about it and produce a good sharp negative. This seems funny today talking about “hand cameras”, but in those days, the tripod was a must, but we were on the verge of the hand camera.

December 8 1900
HJ Hisset, a member, gave an interesting demonstration on the Sandell Cristol Spool Film Tank.
He successfully developed 12 half-plate films simultaneously although the exposures ranged from half a second to several minutes. He also showed some interior lantern plates of dark corners that required as much as several days exposure.

1901
February 16 1901
Dr Newby had been elected President. The 14th Annual Dinner was held at the George Hotel. In the absence of the President Dr Newby, who was confined to bed, his place was taken by past President HT Lilley.

April 12 1901
A Portsmouth Art Gallery. The Club suggested that the Council should provide an Art Gallery for local clubs to show their work, it was certainly needed. Perhaps in the near future, Portsmouth will be indebted to the Society for a knowledge of Art that it does not now possess.

May 2 1901
More than one person passing the Clubs Headquarters could have been forgiven in thinking that lightning was about, because at intervals the clubs windows would have given that impression to the outside world.
The energetic Secretary FJ Mortimor was giving a practical demonstration on flashlight photography. Every type of flash lamp and patent flash powders was used. Powerful directional flashes were shown using clay pipes!
Mixtures of Perchlorate with Magnesium was shown to have a better actinic value than pure Magnesium. However the most brilliant flash was obtained by burning Magnesium in pure Oxygen.

November 1 1901
Visitors night. The large lecture room was overflowing with friends of members, who watched a fine display of lantern plates and animated pictures, given by one of our most energetic members, Mr LG Dyer who is one of the foremost members in this flourishing club.

A large scale Exhibition was planned for December 3rd to 7th.

November 15 1901
The Society has planned a very interesting programme for the Winter, among the highlights are LG Steele on “With Camera and Ice Axe in the Canadian Rockies”, WG Lewis on “A little known part of the Welsh Coast”, and Colonel R Carrington on an “Amateurs Cruise in Norwegian Waters”.

1902
April 18 1902
Mr Norman Parsons, the well known sea painter is exhibiting a folio of his most recent work at the Camera Club HQs. in Pembroke Road. They were remarkably fine paintings and evoked much comment from the members. They will be on display from the 18th April until 30th April.

December 1 1902
The artistic poster “The Spirit of Photography” Designed by Mr FJ Mortimor, the talented Hon. Sec. of the Southsea Photographic Society, has attracted a great deal of attention on the local hoardings in the last fortnight. It is intended to advertise the Annual Exhibition, held under the auspices of the Southsea Society, which is certainly above average of such shows. The collection of pictures is a very fine one, and the general public should not miss the opportunity of visiting the Pembroke Road rooms whilst it is open. An attractive feature of the Exhibition is a splendid projection of lantern plates which is given free each evening.
In addition to the series of articles on flashlight photography which Mr Mortimor is now writing for Photogram, he is now contributing some interesting articles on Wave photography to the magazine, Photography; illustrating a cluster of giant rocks boldly resisting immense waves. Some of the original wave pictures by Mr Mortimor are on show at the Exhibition. A very large gathering of members and friends assembled to listen to the Mayor, Sir William Dupree, open the Exhibition. The Mayor presented a Gold Medal to the winner of the competition at the Exhibition.

1903
January 30 1903
Visitors night at the club rooms in Pembroke Road. A packed room of members and friends were there to see the lantern display provided and the presentation of medals awarded at the recent Exhibition. Mr Luther, who is a member gave an excellent series of animated photographs, interspersed with some delightful landscape, figure and architectural photographs. In the interval, the President, HT Lilley apologising for the absence of the Mayor, who had another engagement, presented the medals. He hoped the time was not too far distant when the Society’s efforts as an educational factor, to say the least, would receive municipal recognition in the shape of better accommodation being placed at their disposal for the Annual Exhibitions, which were as big and far reaching as any in England.
The Gold Medal presented by Sir William Dupree for the best average was won by Mr CC Cook, and the silver medal taken in the Members Champion Class was taken by Mr LG Steele. To the Hon.Sec. FJ Mortimor, who had exhibited in the open classes in the competition, with workers from all parts of the World, no fewer than four medals (2 silver and 2 bronze) had been awarded. It was announced that the Mayor had again presented another medal for competition at the next Exhibition; and Gold, Silver and Bronze medals were also offered by the Portsmouth Natural Science Society, for Photographic plates of Historic spots in Hampshire, Sussex and the Isle of Wight.

February 26 1903
Colour Photography by Mr Frank Miall.
Mr Miall gave a most interesting demonstration of the Lumiere process of colour photography before the members of the Southsea Photographic Society in their Club room. Guests had been invited and the room was full. The process is claimed to be not only the simplest and most practicable, but by far the most inexpensive. Three separate negatives are taken on orthochromatic plates through coloured screens. Positives are made on a specially prepared tissue, and the prints developed by the use of HOT water. When dry they are stained by immersion in dye baths, and, being again dried, are placed on top of each other. The blending of the films gives a result which is a reproduction of a transparency as near as possible in natural colours of the object photographed. The colours are “Red-Orange”, “Green” and “Blue-Violet”. Some fifty finished transparencies were shown on a screen by the lecturer. It was obvious from the questions put to Mr Miall that immense interest had been aroused by the process. Mr Miall was thanked by Mr HT Lilley.

March 12 1903
Photomicrography. Mr JA Foster gave a demonstration on this very interesting subject, one that is not usually seen in camera clubs. There was an unusually large audience including a number of the medical profession and friends of members. Mr Foster had a very lighthearted approach to his subject, he explained the workings of the apparatus on show, saying that it was rather expensive at £120. He then projected a large selection of greatly enlarged germs of various diseases. Mr HT Lilley thanked Mr JA Foster for a most interesting and absorbing talk given in a lighthearted manner.

June 13 1903
An Honour is bestowed on the Club Secretary. Mr HT Lilley told members that FJ Mortimor had been invited to talk to the Royal Photographic Society on “Wave Photography”. This was a subject on which he had studied very closely, and becoming a nationwide authority on.

November 12 1903
The 16th Annual Exhibition at the club room was a very successful undertaking, with nearly 1000 prints hung, submitted from workers all over the country. The judges had had quite a task, there being over 2500 prints entered. The judges declared it to be the finest provincial Exhibition that had been seen.

December 18 1903
Photographic Lens Making as practised by Messrs Taylor, Taylor and Hobson, makers of the famous Cooke lenses.
Mr Smith from the firm, using lantern plates, took the club through the various construction processes necessary to produce a first class lens. He showed how the various faults were overcome during the manufacture of the lens, it was quite obvious that very precise methods were required in an optical workshop. There was no room for rule of thumb’ methods.

1904

Mr A Debenham, a member, gave a talk on the “Carbon Process”, a printing medium, which unlike the silver image was permanent. He explained the why’s and wherefore’s of the process then proceeded to demonstrate how to go about producing a print. On the walls of the room were some exceedingly fine examples of the process done by Mr Debenham.

February 19 1904
The Annual General Meeting was held. The Treasurer reported that financially the Club was on a sound basis and provided no crisis arose we could manage very well indeed.
The Secretary reported that the Club had had a successful season with a number of innovations being tried, some of which had proved very promising.

Election of Officers.
President: HT Lilley.
Vice Presidents: A Fisher, LG Bonham-Carrer and HT Hisset.
Treasurer: TS Hayte,
Secretary: FJ Lawton,
Assistant Secretary: G Wood,
Lanternist: EH Purvis,
Council: Dr Phillips, WM Cliffe, SG Black, AA Lawton, AB Casey and G Stanford.

April 22 1904
Mr FJ Mortimor talked to the Club Members on the subject about which he is rapidly becoming the leading expert, “Wave Photography”. He illustrated his talk with lantern plates. Members were told that as it was important to get the line of the Wave correct, this often involved him going right into the water and letting the waves come right over him. This was the only way to get it right on many occasions, he stressed that it was important that the equipment was thoroughly cleaned afterwards and the plates developed straight away.

May 13 1904
“Notes on Architectural Photography” by A Fisher. Mr Fisher showed many examples with some superb prints. He stressed that with this type of photography it is important to have the verticals vertical, so often one sees sloping or tilting verticals which look terrible. For some of the dark interiors you will need very slow plates, which sometimes meant very long exposures in the order of two or three days.

To digress a little.
In the possession of the Club Historian, Bill (Buck) Taylor, 1992, is an Exhibition Catalogue dated 1904. It makes very interesting reading. During this period all exhibits were framed and under glass. Processes included Platinum, Carbon, Ozobrome, Gum-Bichromate, Cellodion and Bromide, all with their own individual style and appearance. All prints were for sale and prices varied from 7/6d (37½p) to £5.00, unfortunately it is not possible to say what percentage of the price charged was for the print and what percentage was for the sometimes very large frames.
Some prices of items which I found interesting for 1/- (5p) per week one could purchase a camera from Messrs Knights in Castle Road. A quarterplate Marion Camera complete, without lens was £12.00. Hypo or Fixer was 2d (1p) per pound or 7lbs for a 1/- (5p). Printing out paper Postcards 2/6d (12½p) per 100, Bromide Postcards 3/6d (l7½p) per 100. Quarter plate glass plates were 9d (4p) and 1/- (5p) per dozen, H & D speeds 100, 200 & 300. Lastly, but no doubt some will think not least, a 4½ gallon Cask of Portsmouth Bitter was 6/9d (34p), Mild or Stout 4/6d (22½p), and a bottle of fine old Scotch Whisky, Highland Blend, just 3/7d (18p).

October 4 1904
Three members assembled to talk about “Developers and Development”.
Mr FS Hoyte whose favourite developer is “Ortol” explained to the members why he liked it.
Mr A Lawton followed with a description of “Adurol”.
Mr G Ash spoke on the properties of Pyro Soda.
The three of them then proceeded to develop some plates each in their own favourite “brew”. The President then asked for any questions from the floor, and it was apparent that a number of  the members had their own ideas as to which developer they preferred. A very lively end to the evening came when the President thanked all three for a very enjoyable nights work.

1905

January 13 1905

President: HT LiIley. A new printing process “Auto-Pastel” was firstly explained, then demonstrated by the Secretary FJ Lawton. The exposed paper is developed in HOT WATER by abrasion with a wide Camelhair brush. As the image appears, the development, may be local or general according to the wishes of the operator. Highlights may be lightened or introduced, unwanted detail suppressed or eliminated. Companion pairs of prints emphasised the tremendous latitude in the personal control. It should be a very useful addition to the processes available to all.

January 27 1905
“Rising to the Occasion” by W.D.Welford
Mr Welford is an old hand, who has been exhibiting for many years, whilst also being a judge of an International Calibre.
The walls of the Club room were lined with prints that had been exhibited all over the world. His talk was very interesting, his theme being that initially all photographers trod the same path, then came a cleavage, when they dispersed into one of the many facets of photography ie. technical, landscape, portraiture etc. Hence the title of his talk, when the divide comes rise to it.

February 18 1905
The occasion of the AGM. The retiring President said that it had been another successful year, although nothing spectacular had happened, just steady progress. There had been a slight increase in membership. The Treasurer told members that the balance sheet showed that the Club was on a reasonably sound footing, and that with care, we could manage very well during the coming year.
Re-elected for another term of office were:-
The President: HT Lilley
The Treasurer: FS Hoyte
The Secretary: FJ Lawton
Vice Presidents: Messrs Bonham­-Carter, Black, Barrell. Cliffe, Dawe, Fisher. Hissett, Whitefield and Dr Phillips. Assistant Secretary: AB Casey
Council: Messrs Homan, AA Lawton, Cooley-Martin, Stanford, Wood and Colonel Johnstone.

April 14 1905
The well known Naturalist G.Pike with “In Birdland with a Camera”.
Adventures to the Welsh Hills, Norfolk Broads, Bass Rock and the Farne Isles were the subject of this lecture. The beautiful slides which illustrated this talk, many produced in colour by the Photographic/Gave process, gave emphatic evidence of the care, patience and love of his subject. It was very difficult to pick out any outstanding pictures as the standard was so high. The President announced that the arrangements were well in hand for a December Exhibition.

December 1 1905
A packed house assembled to see some of the pictures and slides of the Societies tour of Normandy. Colonel Johnstone and Messrs AB Casey, FS Boyte, AA Lawton and AW Ward, between them had covered every conceivable subject. It was hoped that more pictures could be seen at a later date from other members.
It was also agreed that it had been a splendid trip and hoped to repeat it next year.

December 19 1905
Photographic Prize Night
The Ex Mayoress, Mrs JE Pink attended to award the medals and plaques won by the entrants. There was a special plaque presented by the Southsea, Southampton and Hove Societies, which was won by Mr Anderson of Barnes, Surrey.

1906
January 19 1906
Mr JH Avery talked on “Bromide Printing”.
He showed a number of samples of his own work, which were extremely fine. He told members that perfect prints were possible if only the amateur photographer stuck to simple methods, be methodical and avoid the slap dash work that is seen all too often. Mr Avery is a Photographic Tutor, who amongst his other scholars had the Sultan of Morocco. The Sultan himself is well acquainted with the photographic process, including the three colour process, making the half tone blocks himself.

March 19 1906
An extremely interesting evening in which members had submitted lantern plates covering a very wide range of subjects. The object was to select sets for entry into a competition being run by the Royal Photographic Society. The Judges were HT Lilley and A Debenham. If the panel submitted by the Club is selected by the RPS, the panel would be seen by many clubs all over the country, as the final selection of the RPS will go on a countrywide tour.

April 6 1906
All 150 Lantern Plates from the Amateur Photographer’s Annual competition with critical notes from the judges had been obtained for showing to the members. This proved to be an extremely lively evening with members adding their own remarks. The President told members that included in the summer programme was a visit to Belgium, with the special object of obtaining Architectural studies for the forthcoming exhibition. There would be a special section in the exhibition for which there was a plaque and silver medals donated by members.

April 13 1906
A Debenham talked to the Club about Lenses and their selection for special work. He avoided too many technicalities. Talking in a very lucid manner, he dealt with the subject under three headings.
First, the Pinhole camera (NO LENS), example shown was a portrait, exposure 25 seconds.
Next, he traced the history of the lens, from the first lens designed for photographic work right up to the beautiful anastigmats of the present day.
Finally, he referred to the wide angle for confined areas and tele-photos for distant work.

April 19 1906
One of the Club ‘Masters’ in technique, S Dawe, gave a demonstration in making an enlarged negative. He showed the production of a 15” x 12” negative using parts of five negatives. Dawe explained that it was essential that very careful planning was carried out before hand to know where the various “BITS” were to go, so that a composite negative could be produced. The negative was then photographed down to a more usual size. Mr Canning, the President told members that the Club was extremely lucky to have members of Mr Dawes Calibre who were willing to impart their knowledge.

May 6 1906
Carbon Printing” by F.J.Sredman.
Mr Stedman explained that the process had been simplified and brought to perfection by the experiments of a Mr Swan. He demonstrated the ease with which delicate pictures could be produced by washing in cold water! The evening was enhanced by instructive comments from Messrs Debenham, Dawes and Ward.

October 11 1906
Mr F Slater FRPS with “Theory and Practice of Time Development”.
He explained to the Club very explicitly that all plates and films, whether under, correctly or over exposed, there was only one time and temperature for them, and that the best results regardless of exposure were obtained by time and temperature. From the comments of the Club, it was obvious that although the majority of the members agreed with Mr Slater, a number of the old die hards, did not!

1907
January 12 1907
The date of the Annual General Meeting. Mr Canning, The President, reported that he had had a very enjoyable year in office.
The following members were elected to office for the coming season:­
President: Mr A Debenham
Vice Presidents: Messrs L Bonham-Carter, HA Canning, WM Cliffe and A Fisher
Secretary: G Wood
Treasurer: C Whitehead
The Lanternist was JC Thompson
Council: WH Barrell, Dr Beddow, SO Black, S Dawe, WH Dugan, FT Hoyte, AA Lawton, J Cromwell, L Prior and GS Young.

January 26 1907
A packed clubroom of members and friends gathered to hear Mr SG Kimber give a talk on the history and beauties of Winchester Cathedral.
Mr Kimber, who is the presiding ‘Genius’ of the Southampton Camera Club, has won many distinctions as a specialist on the Architectural branch of photography, illustrated his talk with a selection of lantern plates. The evening was voted a superb success, probably one of the best so far.

October 30 1907
A special General Meeting has been called.
This must have been the year of divided opinions, it was fairly obvious that a fair old rumpus ensued during this evening, although of course I have no idea of the why’s and wherefore’s, only that it happened. The special meeting was called to consider a scheme of re-organisation submitted by a large section of the members, this was apparently because of their dissatisfaction with the present set-up. I do think it is worth recording in full.
There was a full attendance, and the scheme submitted, with a few minor alterations was carried unanimously. It was proposed by Colonel Johnstone, seconded by Mr FWJ Lawton and supported by Messrs WH Barrell and S Dawe, that, “The Club be renamed the Portsmouth Camera Club with a reduced annual subscription. The meetings will be held at the same Headquarters in Pembroke Road, Portsmouth, and that all the photographic apparatus, pictures, furniture and effects will automatically become the property of the re-organised Club” One can only envisage what led up to it all, I bet it was interesting. What wouldn’t I give to have been a fly on the wall? Apparently the subscription was reduced to 7/6 (371/2p) per annum with a 1/- (5p) entrance fee. I don’t know whether this was because the club was so prosperous or the reverse in order to attract new members. The same officers carried on running the club. This change was to be put into effect at the next AGM in 1908.
The club continued to run two Exhibitions, a summer one for the members and an autumn open one which attracted the leading workers of the day.

1908

A copy of an entry from the Portsmouth News on January 17 1908.
The renaissance of the old Southsea Photographic Society as the Portsmouth Camera Club was firmly established at the AGM of the members, held at 5 Pembroke Road. Mr A Debenham occupied the chair, and the business dealt with included most satisfactory Secretary’s and Treasurer’s reports ably presented by Mr Gilbert Wood, the retiring Hon.Sec. The Officers elected for the ensuing year are;
President: Colonel Johnstone CB
Vice President: Mr WH Barrell
Treasurer: Mr J Cromwell-Prior
Secretary: Mr FJ Lawton (Gosport)
Assistant Secretary: Mr WH Dugan
Council: Messrs AB Casey, S Dawe and JC Thompson. With a greatly reduced and now merely a nominal subscription, the Officers of the Club are confident of attracting a much larger membership. As the organisation is the only one of its kind in the district, local camera workers will find its utility unquestionable under the present regime. A revised winter programme is in the process of preparation. Great expense has been incurred in bringing the club rooms up to date, and in this respect, comparison can be favourably sustained with any other photographic society in the Kingdom with a similar subscription level.

March 12 1908
Willy Kay from the Southampton Camera Club, gave a talk on “Mounting by adhesive mounting tissue. Whilst demonstrating the procedure, he said that “to his mind there was no doubt that this method was superior to any other”. One point that he made was the importance of getting the mount colour to complement but not overshadow the picture.

March 26 1908
Gloucester and its Cathedral by Dr CampbelL
Dr Campbell is a member of the Gloucester Photographic Society, a Past President and a very enthusiastic photographer. He enjoyed facilities enabling him to obtain special knowledge of the Cathedral and its surrounds, which coupled with some delightful lantern plates and his delivery made for a very interesting evening indeed.

April 24 1908
The Secretary talked to members about the latest weapon in the photographers armoury, vis, “Ozobrome”, Carbon printing without light. Mr Lawton claimed that the process enabled the busy man whose leisure hours in daylight were limited, to produce carbon prints, any size or colour whenever he wished so to do.

December 4 1908
Landscape Photography by Mr L Manners from Brighton.
Mr Manners proved to be a very serious able
photographer, he showed some very nice examples of his work also one or two sets showing the differences between using different films and lenses.
Among the hints given were using the right camera for the job, correct lens, a rigid support and most important of all, the correct plate and colour screen to obtain a true rendering of greens and yellow.

December 17 1908
Old Portsmouth was the theme of the genial Vice President. WH Barrell.
Mr Barrell is well known in the High Street, having a large printing works situated there. A full club room of friends and members listened as Mr Barrell talked about the many aspects of the oldest part of the town. He illustrated his talk with some really superb lantern plates. It was obvious that great care had been taken with the lighting, all was dealt with in Mr Barrells very droll and amusing manner. Mr Lawton in thanking him, said that Mr Barrell must have dashed out from his printing works when the light was correct for a particular subject. -

1909
January 12 1909
At the AGM the members expressed themselves well pleased with the re-organisation last year, despite doubts, after paying all expenses, not withstanding the reduced “subs”, the club had a small surplus in the “kitty”.
Elected to Office for the ensuing year were,
President: Mr WH Barrell
Vice President: Mr AB Casey
Treasurer: WH Dugan
The working committee was Messrs S Dawe, FJ Lawton and JC Prior.

April 14 1909
Mr A Debenham with a talk on the hand camera and its work.
Mr Debenham dealt very lucidly with the many varieties of hand cameras that were available to the amateur photographer, pointing out the various advantages towards one and t’other. this was followed by a showing of lantern plates covering the subjects that could be taken with a hand camera.
A special mention was made of stereo, linked to the new autochrome process, which was reckoned to be the best yet.

September 9 1909
The last of the summer outings was led by Mr L Tanner, to Horndean Woods. The woods at this time of the year are delightful, although on this particular occasion, it rained! That still did not stop the cameras from being used to great effect. Members strolled around taking photographs for about an hour, before eventually, retiring to a local tavern for a supper and a couple of drinks to keep out the wet. Of the 25 members present, all agreed that the summer had been most enjoyable and well worthwhile.

October 6 1909
This was the opening day of the 22nd Annual Exhibition. There were 600 photographs hung out of over 2000 entered from all over the country, with one or two from abroad. The Exhibition was opened by the Lady Mayor J Baggs, at the Bijou Theatre on South Parade Pier, Southsea. According to the judge this was one of the finest showings of photographs seen outside London, and should be justly proud.

October 22 1909
One od the clubs leading pictorialists and darkroom workers, S Dawe, talked on the enlarged negative. He combined three negatives to demonstrate how easy it was, one was for the foreground, the second for the middle and the third for the sky.
He demonstrated the way to go about it, using the three negatives of, foreground of Hayling Island, middle from Skye and the sky from Scotland. After the enlarged negative had been made and retouched it was copied down to the workers usual size.
The President in thanking Mr Dawe, said that it had been an eye-opener as to what could be obtained by care and experience.