02/11/1850 –07/01/1917
Carver, gilder and photographer.
Relatives
Research:
WILLIAM BUCK DICKMAN; 1850-1917
William was the oldest of two children, both sons, born to Hannah and William Dickman. Hannah and William married on the 22nd January 1850 at St Mary’s Church, Marylebone and William Buck was born later that year in the last quarter of 1850. The marriage only lasted eight years as William senior died in 1858.
At the time of the 1851 census Hannah and William were living in Marylebone, London. William Buck was then only 4 months old. William senior was a pork butcher. His brother, Edward, was living with them and working as a journeyman, presumably working alongside his brother in the pork butchery business. The couple also employed a servant who lived with them.
On 10th January 1856 Hannah gave birth to her second child, Charles. Charles was born in Berkhamsted and the 1861 census reveals that Hannah and Charles were then living in Berkhamsted High Street with William Hazell and his brother Richard. William and Richard Hazell were cousins of Hannah. Charles’ birth in Berkhamsted in 1856 suggests Hannah may have moved to the town by that date, but when William senior died in 1858, he died in London, not Berkhamsted. The information available is not clear as to the circumstances in which annah moved to Berkhamsted and in partuHannah Hannah HHhnnnHannah moved to Berkhamsted and in particular whether William senior accompanied her or remained in London.
In 1861 William Buck was 10 years of age and was one of four young boys all of similar age boarding at 16 Lansdowne Terrace in London, the home of one Annie Benshaw. William and the other boys are all noted as being scholars and must have been boarding in Lambeth whilst attending school nearby.
In 1854 the Reverend Robert Gregory founded the Lambeth School of Art. (Now the City and Guilds of London Art School.) It began as a night school in rooms occupied during the day by a National School. The school flourished and became a leader in the provision of instruction in applied art and design to working artisans, many of whom were employed by local manufacturing firms. Did William study at the School of Art? Although there is no direct evidence that he did so, given that he was lodging in Lambeth and later took up work as carver and gilder, it may not be too fanciful to speculate that he learned the skills necessary for such a career at the school and in 1871 we find William living in Chichester and apprenticed to Ephraim Faulkner, a carver and gilder.
Ephraim Faulkner was a carver & gilder by trade and ran an Artists’ Repository and Cheap Stationery Warehouse at 59 East Street, Chichester, in the early 1860s. Faulkner’s Artists’ Repository contained a “Picture Frame and Gilding Department”, where he carried out his main occupation. In addition to note paper, envelopes, and “stationery of every description“, Faulkner also stocked leather bound photographic albums that held the increasingly popular carte-de-visite portrait photographs. He was also a noted photographer in Chichester. In the 1866 edition of the Post Office Directory of Sussex, Ephraim Faulkner’s business activities are detailed as “artists’ repository, stationer, bookseller, photographic studio, and carver & gilder“. Intriguingly, although Ephraim was working in Chichester, he had in fact been born in Berkhamsted about 1835. Given the Dickman family’s connection with Berkhamsted through their cousins, William and Richard Hazell, one cannot but wonder if there was also some connection with Ephraim Faulkner which led William to be apprenticed to him.
Ten years later in 1881, William too had settled in Berkhamsted. He was living in Victoria Road, Berkhamsted and applying the skills he had learned on his own account as “carver and gilder – master.” When William’s mother Hannah died in 1894 her will included a gift of four houses she owned in Victoria Road. William was probably k living in one of those properties. Living with him was his wife, Sarah Ann, whom he had married on 30th October 1878 and their first child, Ethel who was then one year old. Sarah was to give birth to four more children: Charles, born in 1882; Hubert Henry, born in 1884; Ernest Victor born in 1887; Bessie Mabel born in 1898. William had the means to be able to employ a domestic servant.
By the time of the next census in 1891, William and Sarah had moved and were living in Berkhamsted High Street, next to Linden House in which William’s mother, Hannah, was then living. Hannah died in 1894 and William must have moved into Linden House following her death, as that is the address at which we find him living in 1901. Indeed, William was to remain living at Linden House until his death in 1917.
William’s occupation was no longer that of carver and gilder in the 1891 census, but instead he gave his occupation as “photographer,” a trade in which Ephraim Faulkner had also been involved. He also gave magic lantern shows in the town. The magic lantern was an early type of projector that used pictures—paintings, prints, or photographs—on transparent plates, which were projected onto a screen or wall. The Bucks Herald carried the following reports in the 1890’s
“…a good congregation assembled to witness an entertainment given on mission work in South Africa by the Rev. F. Shergold. Mr W B Dickman exhibited views of the place with his magic lantern, which were thoroughly enjoyed by those present.”
“…there was a large gathering to hear the Rev. F. C. Hughes on the ‘The Pilgrim Fathers and the Men of the Mayflower’, illustrated by lantern views shown by Mr W B Dickman.”
“LANTERN EXHIBITION. – Mr W B Dickman gave a magic lantern entertainment to the members of the Working Men’s Liberal Club on Monday
William’s involvement with the Working Men’s Liberal Club went beyond entertaining the members with his magic lantern. He was actively involved and for many years he was secretary to the club. William was also described as a good friend to the inmates of the workhouse as the following article, again from the Bucks Herald, explains:
“As usual on Christmas Day the inmates, sixty-six in number, were treated to a good dinner of beef and plum pudding by the kindness of the guardians, and under the direction of Mr. and Mrs. Jesty, the master and matron. Mrs. Dudley Ryder again sent tea and sugar, oranges, and Christmas cards. The Rev. A. Johnson, one of the guardians, sent 6lbs. of tea and 2lbs. of tobacco; …. Mr. Dickman (another old friend of the inmates), a quantity of oranges, fruits, &c…”
He was also an amateur singer, recorded at a Mechanics Institute entertainment the song singing the song “Hearts of Oak.”
William is described in the 1901 census as living on his own means. On her death in 1894, his mother Hannah left him the house in which he was then living and the income for life from property she left in trust. In the 1911 census William is described as a retired photographer. He died on 17th January 1917 leaving an estate worth £217 18s 8d.
Before leaving William, we should say something about the house in which he, and his mother before him, lived in Berkhamsted High Street, Linden House. The property still stands today and now H. H. Dickman Chemist Shop, although the name Linden House can still be seen carved in the stone arch above the door. It is now a listed building with it’s 1920’s shop front and fittings still intact. H.H. Dickman was William’s third child, Hubert Henry Dickman. In the 1901 census both Henry and his older brother Charles were working as photo mechanical printers, but that line of work did not appeal to Hubert as we find in 1911 he had given up that occupation to become a pharmaceutical student. He was evidently successful in his studies and became a chemist.
Percy Birtchnall, writing as Beorcham in 1968 observed; “Dickmans the Chemist have one of the longest records of continuous family service; for some years the business was carried on at what is now Potters Pride and during World War I, a move was made to the present shop, formerly a private house which was built by Mr W Dickman in Victorian times.” Hastie, “Berkhamsted, An Illustrated History” says that Linden House originally had “a small garden facing on to the High Street” and became a shop premises in 1914. The website for H. H. Dickman however notes that the property was converted to a shop in 1924, after William had died. Whenever it was converted, it is today a fine landmark on Berkhamsted’s High Street.
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