James Hermann Hackelton

A self-portrait by the South London photographer and occasional preacher James Hermann Hackelton (1845-1927).

James Hermann Hackelton was born in Greenwich in 1845. His father William Mathews Hackelton, a wood turner of Trafalgar Road in Greenwich, died aged 47 when James was still only a baby, leaving his wife Sarah, a nurse, to raise their three children. By the time James was 16 he was working as a printer at a photographer’s studio (1861 census). Ten years later he was still living with his family at 42 Adolphus Street in Deptford. He was now a ‘photographic operator’ while his older brother William was a ‘photographic printer.' Their mother Sarah died in 1880 and in 1881 James and William were living in Camberwell at 2 Haddon Villas. William was now a ‘seedsman’ while James described himself as a ‘Photographer’ and ‘Evangelist,' an unusual combination. Their older sister Sarah was their housekeeper. In 1891 James and Sarah were living at 90 Lordship Lane in Camberwell. This year James gave only ‘Photographer’ as his profession. By 1901 they had moved to 18 Bowness Road in Catford. James now described himself as a ‘photographer and occasional preacher.' In 1911 they were still living together, now in Hillingdon Heath near Uxbridge. James, aged 65, was working as a clerk at a brickworks. At the time of his death, aged 81, in 1927, he was still living in the Uxbridge area.

An inked inscription verso reads: 'Yours truly / James H. Hackelton / S.P.C.S.'