Page 12 Jennings, Payne  (British, 1843-1926)

This very beautiful volume contains an account of the pleasure garden which Lady Warwick has laid out with so much thought and care around her Essex home at Easton. The twenty six photogravure illustrations are from photographs by Payne Jennings printed by the Swan Electric Engraving co. Jennings has been overshadowed in the history (and marketplace) of photography by his contemporaries G. Christoper Davies and especially P. H. Emerson. But he was a good photographer and very successful as is evident in this book of beautiful photogravures. No praise can be too high for the illustrations in this book, which are from photographs specially taken for the work by Mr. Payne Jennings. All the most artistic points in the gardens, and several views of the interior of the house adorn the book. [1]

John Payne Jennings was a photographer of the late Victorian era, a long-time resident of Ashtead. He arrived in Ashtead about 1890. He took many panoramic and scenic views of various parts of England for use by railway companies in encouraging tourism, and was expert in producing coloured versions for exhibiting in railway carriages and stations. He also produced photographs to accompany the works of famous poets such as The Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1889). The Ashtead base for this commercial activity was the Greville Works where he built his own studio. He became a considerable owner of property and land, including the entire Greville Park Estate. He was still living in Gayton House, in the Estate, at the time of his death at age 83 in 1926.

References

[1] The Essex Review. E. Durrant, v. 8 1899