This article was first posted on the old site on 29 June 2009 …
Today this photograph is exactly 150 years old. Taken 29 June 1859, it shows a then 12-year-old Edmund Barron Hartley.
About Edmund Barron Hartley
Edmund was born 6 May 1847 in Ivybridge, Devon On 5 June 1879 Surgeon Major Hartley was serving in southern Africa and rescued and treated several soldiers whilst under heavy enemy fire, his acts of extreme bravery earning him the coveted Victoria Cross. He died 20 March 1919 in Ash, Surrey and is buried in Brookwood Cemetery, Woking. His Victoria Cross is held by the Army Medical Services Museum, Aldershot.
About the photograph
The photograph was taken by the London Photographic Company, who at the time had studios in London, Exeter, Torquay & Plymouth (at the time the photograph was taken Hartley would likely still have been living in Ivybridge, Devon). It is extremely rare to find an early photograph such as this that is accurately named and dated. It was ‘discovered’ on eBay, purchased for the bargain price of about £20, researched and identified, and is now a treasured piece in my personal collection. Whilst it must have some monetary value (and certainly more than £20) its historic value far outweighs that.
