Hills & Saunders

Hills & Saunders was one of the leading Victorian photographic firms, started in 1860 as a partnership between Robert Hills, a hairdresser and wigmaker, and John Henry Saunders (1836–1890). They were social photographers with studios at different times in: London (society), Harrow, Eton, and Rugby, all locations of leading schools, Oxford and Cambridge, and Aldershot & Sandhurst (centres of the British army). They were successful, being appointed as photographers to members of the royal family, including the Prince of Wales and Princess Beatrice, and they were given a Royal Warrant as photographers to Queen Victoria in 1867; many of their photographs are still in the Royal Collection. However, the network of branches did not remain united. The partnership of Robert Hills and John Henry Saunders was dissolved in 1889, although members of both families continued to operate local branches under the same name. Only the two main school branches, at Eton and Harrow, continued well into the 20th Century. Ultimately the Harrow business closed and the photo archive was acquired by the school, but the Eton business survived into the 21st century. In 2019 the historic company was acquired by its Oxfordshire based contemporary, Gillman & Soame, in order to preserve the extensive archives and ensure the future of the prestigious Victorian photographic studio.

Studios
London Studios

1868-1869 - 48 Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, Kensington

1868-1886 - 36 Porchester terrace, Bayswater, Kensington

1893-1895 - 47 Sloane Street, Chelsea

Negatives / records believed destroyed

Studio no longer exists

Harrow Studio

1861 - first recorded date in records

1865 - first advertisement

Closed in the 1980s

Negatives / records still exist - and can be found at Iconic Photographs

Eton Studio 1864-1894

to date.

still going - Hills & Saunders is owned currently by Richard Shymansky ABIPP, AMPA and is now based in Dorney Reach, Maidenhead, but is still the Eton studio.

Negatives / some of the records believed destroyed

Rugby Studio

dates unknown - listed on CDV as a studio

Negatives / records believed destroyed

Studio no longer exists

Oxford Studio

1856-1935

Taken over by Gillman & Soame in Oxford 1931

Negatives / records believed destroyed

Studio no longer exists under original name.

Cambridge Studio

Dates unknown but bankrupt by 1892

Negatives / records believed destroyed

Studio no longer exists

Aldershot Studio

1865-1879

Negatives / records believed destroyed

Studio no longer exists

Sandhurst Studio

Dates unknown

Negatives / records believed destroyed

Studio no longer exists

Yorktown Studio

Dates unknown

Negatives / records believed destroyed

Studio no longer exists

Evidence of the existence of the Aldershot & Yorktown and other studios can be found here: http://whowerethey.wordpress.com/category/photographer/hills-saunders/