b.1836 d. Dec 26, 1906
History can sometimes be unkind to those who do not publicise themselves, and this is certainly true in the case of Samuel McKellen, who died penniless and unknown and lies in an unmarked grave in Chorlton. And had it not been for a letter received recently from his grandson, I confess that I would not have known about this pioneer. It says much the Photographic Journal, announcing his death, felt it necessary to comment "The present generation may or may not be aware that Mr. McKellen was the father of the modern camera."
Samual McKellen was a watch and clockmaker, and also had developed a passion for photography, his first camera, in the late 1850s, having been made out of a cigar box and spectacle lens!
The British Journal of Photography for Oct 31, 1884, describes enthusiastically his camera which was displayed at an exhibition by the Photographic Society of Great Britain. It almost did not make the exhibition at all, for the camera, ready for transport, was accidentally sold to a customer without McKellen's knowledge!
Those who screw tripod or pan and tilt heads into cameras have McKellen to
thank for, as it was he who in January 1884 patented the little opening in the
bottom of a camera, into which the tripod screw is inserted.
One novelty was McKellen's detective camera, shaped like an attache case. But
it was his rack and pinion camera that most excited people at the time. Initially
McKellen had no intention to sell cameras but simply wanted to advance photography;
however the huge demand at the time caused him to change his course. According
to the British Journal of Photography, his factory in Manchester developed to
the extent of employing thirty-five skilled workmen.
In the 1880s professional cameras were heavy, so he decided to use his skills to design a light, versatile camera. Writing about his invention, McKellen states:
"..an enthusiastic photographer, I had often realized that the labour and fatigue of a day's tramp with even a half-plate Camera and a dozen of plates, were considerably more than was pleasant, and not infrequently deprived the results obtained of much of their value."
The year 1884 saw McKellen being awarded the Photographic Society's Prize Medal for his camera. In fact, this was a singular honour; in presenting the prize the President of the Society, James Glashier commented:
"The Society has never until now seern its way to giving a medal for apparatus, but your Camera has in it so many new points, is so compact, so easily worked, so light, yet so firm, so simple in its movements, and is such a distinct stride in advance, that they have felt constrained to grant a medal for it. And I congratulate you on what may fairly be called The Camera of the Future."
A contemporary instrument called the "Tourist Portable camera" weighed in at approximately 40 lbs, and its cubic contents were about 2300 inches. By comparison McKellen's weighed only 15lbs, its cubic contents 850 inches.
The letters of congratulation both to the inventor and to the British Journal of Photography were wildly enthusiastic, to the extent that one finds it difficult to understand why he has subsequently become largely forgotten.
Despite the lavish obituary in the Photographic Journal, regrettably McKellen died in poverty because though he was a brilliant inventor, he did not have much of a business sense, and did not pursue his patents.
I am most grateful to McKellen's grandson, John McKellen, for this information, without which I confess I would never have heard of this remarkable man.
© Robert Leggat, 1998.