|
|
William Henry Fox
Talbot
(b Melbury, Dorset, 11 Feb 1800; d Lacock
Abbey, Wilts, 17 Sept 1877).
English photographer, inventor
and scientist. He was educated at Harrow School and the
University of Cambridge and was an outstanding scholar and a
formidable mathematician. His scientific interest in nature
and natural phenomena, including botany and horticulture,
was complemented by studies of Assyriology, etymology and
the Classics. Talbot published well over 50 scientific
papers and took out 12 English patents; he became a Fellow
of the Royal Astronomical Society at the age of 22 and a
Fellow of the Royal Society when he was only 31. Although a
gentleman, he was neither a great landowner nor
exceptionally rich by the standards of the day. He took over
the ancestral home, Lacock Abbey, Wilts, in 1826 and married
Constance Mundy in 1832; they had three daughters and a son.
Talbot briefly became MP for Chippenham, but he did not
pursue a Parliamentary career. He was a shy and reticent
man, but he was not the cold, grasping figure portrayed by
some historians. He was greatly admired by those who knew
him well, and he was loved and respected by family and
friends.
|

|
Flowers, Leaves, and Stem.
c. 1838
|

|
Solar Photo-Micrograph,
Transverse Section Stem. 1839
|

|
The Game Keeper. c. 1843
|

|
Cloisters, Lacock Abbey.
1843
|

|
Courtyard Scene. c. 1844
|

|
Pantheon. 1843
|

|
Lace. c. 1844
|

|
The Open Door, 1843
|

|
Ships at Low Tide. c. 1844
|

|
Nicolaas Henneman,
Asleep. c. 1844-45
|

|
The Ladder. 1845
|

|
Henrietta Horatia Maria
Feilding. c. 1845
|
|

|
The Haystack. 1844-45
|
|