Description:This photograph was taken by William Blake (later of Longton) in the back garden of a stationer's shop and photographic studio in Chapel Lane, Formby, Lancashire. The shop and studio were run by Samuel Bevan Reynolds.
William Blake and his mother lived nearby and Blake was almost certainly taught photography by the Reynolds family. This picture, of two members of the Reynolds family, was probably one of the earliest pictures he took.
Blake moved to Longton in 1900 and opened a stationer's shop on Stafford Street (now the Strand).