Cecil Shadbolt | |
---|---|
Born | 1859 |
Died | 8 July 1892 (aged 33) |
Occupation | Photographer |
Parent(s) |
Cecil Victor Shadbolt (1859 – 8 July 1892) was a British photographer, who pioneered aerial photography from flying balloons.
Shadbolt was born in 1859, the son of the mahogany dealer and photographer George Shadbolt.[1][2]
He showed photographs of Welsh landscapes at the 1877 Photographic Society exhibition.[2]
His first balloon ascent was in May 1882, at Alexandra Palace.[1] He made his own device for attaching a camera to the basket below a balloon, allowing him to take pictures looking directly downwards.[1] One of his images, taken from 2,000 feet (610 m) over Stamford Hill, is the earliest extant aerial photograph taken in the British Isles.[1] A print of the same image, An Instantaneous Map Photograph taken from the Car of a Balloon, 2,000 feet high, was shown at the 1882 Photographic Society exhibition.[2]
Shadbolt gave public lectures, using magic lantern slides, with the title Balloons and Ballooning, Upward and Onwards.[3]
He was secretary of the West Kent Sunday School Union from 1886.[2]
On 29 June 1892, he took a flight in a gas balloon owned by (or which he co-owned with; sources vary) his friend 'Captain' William D. Dale, at Crystal Palace.[1] The balloon ripped during the initial ascent, at around 600 feet (180 m),[2] and though those aboard dropped ballast, the basket crashed to the ground, immediately killing Dale.[1] Shadbolt and the other passengers were taken to Norwood Cottage Hospital,[2] but Shadbolt died on 8 July,[3] aged 33.[1] He was buried, alongside members of his family, in grave 1,932, square 113, at West Norwood Cemetery.[2] His father was later buried in the adjacent plot.[2]
An inquest at the hospital, on 12 July 1892, under coroner, Mr Jackson, returned verdicts of accidental death.[2]
The Shadbolt Collection of 76 glass lantern slides taken between 1882 and 1892 is held by Historic England,[1] The slides were found at a car boot sale and subsequently purchased at auction by Historic England in 2015.[1][4]