Walton Adams
Walton Adams (1842–1934), also known as Arthur Walton Adams or Arthur Walter Adams, was a professional photographer working at the time when the science and art of photography was developing new techniques in Victorian Britain's "Golden Years". He took photographs of royal family members and politicians.
Also recorded as Arthur Walton Adams
Walton Adams
Walton Adams · Reading Borough Libraries · Public domain
- Born
- 1842
- Died
- 1934
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- photographer
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Walton Adams (1842–1934), also known as Arthur Walton Adams or Arthur Walter Adams, was a professional photographer working at the time when the science and art of photography was developing new techniques in Victorian Britain's "Golden Years". He took photographs of royal family members and politicians.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Walton Adams. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q46103212 · wikipedia · Walton Adams
In this article
Biography
Biography
Adams' was born in 1842 in Hampshire. He died on the 13 June 1934 aged 93, leaving six children. Walton Adams's son Marcus Adams (1875–1959) also became a photographer, including time spent photographing the royal family.
Early career
Early career
The earliest references to Walton Adams's involvement in photography show him to be working in the Southampton studio of Samuel J. Wiseman (1825–1872) as an apprentice in 1861. There he met William Stilliard. In 1869 Adams and Stilliard were in partnership at 9 Bernard Street, Southampton. 'Cartes de Visite' described their business variously as the 'South of England Photographic Institution', 'Artists and Photographers' and 'Artists in Photography'. The business claimed the patronage of Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales and Princess of Wales and the Belgian royal family. In 1882 Adams was in partnership with Robert Scanlan though this business arrangement was dissolved in 1883. Between 1886 and his retirement in 1922, Adams ran his business from a Studio at 27 and 29 Blagrave Street, Reading, a business card for this address is held by the Reading Museum. Photography historian S. K. May on the Southampton Victorian Photographers website speculates that Adams possibly worked with Richard Leach Maddox, the inventor of lightweight gelatin dry plates. Dr. Maddox was a medical practitioner and his interest in the possibilities of photography to aid medical practice brought him into contact with a small network of photographers in Southampton, one of which was Adams. There is a reference to Adams as the co-inventor of this process in the National Portrait Gallery's photographic archives.
Legacy
An unpublished autobiographical account mentions that he photographed "about sixty thousand sitters" during his career and he singles out those whom he considered to be the most illustrious: Queen Victoria and General Charles George Gordon. Thirteen Images attributed to Adams appear in photographic collections of the National Portrait Gallery, Examples of the work undertaken by his son Marcus and grandson Gilbert Adams also appear in the National Portrait Gallery's collections, underscoring Walton's influence. Walton's work can also be seen in the photographic collection held at the Conway Library, Courtauld Institute of Art. This collection is currently in the process of being digitised as part of a wider project 'Courtauld Connects'.
Broad Street, Reading. North side, c. 1903. Two electric trams pass one another, and there are various handcarts and barrows in the street. Nos. 52, 53, 54, 55 and 56 (A. H. Bull, draper); No. 51 (Peacock inn); No. 50 (William McIlroy, boot and shoe warehouse); No. 49 (William Archer, grocer, oil and colour man); Nos. 47 and 48 (A. H. Bull, gentlemen's outfitter); and No. 46 (Dowsett Brothers, bre
Walton Adams · Reading Borough Libraries
Broad Street, Reading, looking eastwards from an upper storey window, c. 1904. A tramcar heads eastwards, and two horse-drawn cabs wait in the middle of the road, by the trolley-pole. North side: No. 17 (W. and R. Fletcher, butchers); No. 14 (Royal Oak Inn); No. 6 (United Counties Bank). South side: Nos. 116 and 117 (Fergusons Ltd., Angel Brewery and Wine and Spirit Stores); Nos. 114 and 115 (Berk
Walton Adams · Reading Borough Libraries
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Walton Adams”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q46103212: Walton Adams
General reference · Wikidata
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority record
General reference
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 18 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Photography
11,392 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Walter VictorPhotographer
- Walter ZadekPhotographer
- Walther BenserPhotographer
- Walther DobbertinPhotographer
- Walton GogginsPhotographer
- Walton NewboldPhotographer
- Waman ThakrePhotographer
- Wanda KoopPhotographer
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Walton Adams?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.