Silas Eastham 1824

Silas Eastham was born in Mellor, near Blackburn, Lancashire in about 1824. Eastham became a painter of miniatures before branching into the new technology of photography. In 1845, only months after the first daguerreotypes were printed in France, Eastham went into partnership with Robert Holt in Preston, opening a daguerreotype gallery. He is likely to be the city’s first photographer. Eastham’s partnership with Holt soon dissolved, but he continued working in Preston and Blackburn for a short time. He may have been joined by his elder brother, John Eastham, who also worked as a photographer in the North West.

Eastham’s marriage records from 1850 identified him as an artist living in Blackpool. By 1852, he is known to have been operating a photographic business in central Manchester with his brother John. This business has addresses at 22 St Ann’s Square and (perhaps later), 7 Market Street, until at least 1868. Silas Eastham is recorded as having premises at 217 Lord St, Southport, Lancashire from 1868 – 1884, when he transferred the business to his son-in-law, James Yoxall. Silas Eastham seems to have remained active, however, with the last known mention of his work dating to 1890.