Birt Acres was born of British parents on July 23, 1854
in Richmond, Virginia and grew up on their cotton and tobacco plantation.
At the age of 10, he became orphaned when General Sherman murdered his parents
and burned down his home. His aunt sent him to Paris to get an education
where he was exposed to photography.
Upon his return to Virginia, the westward
movement was in full swing, so Birt bought a horse and gun and left to explore
the west. He worked his way to Alaska, learning 2 different Sioux languages
in the process. Once in Alaska, he worked and earned enough money that he
decided to go to England where his parents were born.
In London, Birt was re-introduced to photography
in which he was fascinated and Birt became a portrait photographer. He studied
all aspects of photography and became a recognized expert.
He was constantly looking at ways to improve
the camera and the development of the photographs and in 1889, patented
a new apparatus for washing prints.
In 1890, Birt married Annie Cash and moved
into her parents home. He continued experimenting and in 1991 patented a
printing process for stereoscopic photographs.
In 1892, he became manager of Elliott
and Sons Ltd., who manufactured the famous Barnet Dry Plates,
and moved into the manager's house next to the factory at Clovelly
Cottage. Here he continued to experiment, and in 1893, he patented
a hopper feed installation for rapidly projecting slides in
a biunial lantern to create the illusion of movement. He also
experimented with celluloid film in a 70mm size.
Birt was approached by R.
W. Paul, a local engineer who had just manufactured reproductions
of Edison's Kinetoscope for some of his clients, and was in
need of a camera to produce films for Paul's version of the
Kinetoscope. The Kinetoscope utilized 35mm film, so Birt created
a variation of Etienne-Jules Marey’s Chronophotographe
and used 35mm sprocketted film which worked with the Kinetoscope
design.
In February 1895, Birt shot his first film with his
camera just outside of his house showing his wife Annie and
their son Sidney, which has been called the Incident Outside
Clovelly Cottage.
Paul
and Birt entered into a 10 year agreement to produce films for
a fast growing customer base in the London area. Birt
immediately started making documentaries including The Henley
Royal Regatta of 1895 and the University Boat Race
of 1895. Shown on the left is Birt filming the Epsom Derby
in 1895.
He was contacted by Ludwig Stollwerck
of Cologne, Germany, who was exhibiting Edison's Kinetoscopes
in Germany and other countries, who needed a regular supply
of film subjects. Birt made numerous trips to Germany filming
such events as the Opening of the Kiel Canal, Kaiser Wilhelm
reviewing his troops and the Rough Sea at Dover. These were
the first films to be made in Germany. Stollwerck was not happy
with the arrangement with Acres and in March 1896, contracted
with the Lumiere Bros and distributed Lumiere films in Germany.
In order to avoid a conflict of interests, Birt left
Elliott and Sons and established his own company, The Northern Photographic
Works, at 45 Salisbury Road in London. Northern Photographic Works became
one of the first manufacturers specializing in the wholesale production
of 35mm raw film stock.
Unfortunately, the agreement between Paul
and Birt lasted only 6 weeks. Paul apparently became upset when
he realised that the patent was issued in Birt's name only and
not in both their names. They soon parted ways and it is reported
that a feud between them lasted for years afterward.
BUT HERE'S AN ODDITY.....It's reported
that Paul wrote to Edison in an attempt to supply Edison's users
of his Kinetoscope with films and sent him numerous samples.
Edison refused but kept the samples and used 2 of the samples
that Paul sent at Edison's famous first film show of April 1896
in Koster & Bial's Music Hall. ONE of the films shown was
Birt's Rough Sea at Dover which would have been shot
AFTER the split between Paul and Birt.
On January 10th, 1896, Birt showed his projected films
to the Lyonsdown Amateur Photographic Association in Barnet Oil. On January
14th, almost at the same time as the Lumieres gave their first film show
in London, Birt gave a public show before a meeting of the Royal Photographic
Society, of which he was a member.
Birt manufactured hundreds of films for the Kinetoscopes
for use in England, Germany and throughout Europe. He trained
his brother-in-law (Annie's brother), Edward Cash and sent him
to India and abroad shooting films.
In need of larger facilities, Birt moved his company
to Whetstone and changed the name of his company to Whetstone Photographic
Works Ltd.
Birt continued his experimentation and created and
patented numerous advancements such as:
In 1896, Birt patented The Kineopticon,
an improved apparatus for projecting 35mm film.
He was commissioned by Stollwerck Bros in Germany
to design a viewing machine, the Electroscope, which had a
built-in screen and was able to project two films alternately
upon successive coins being inserted. This allowed films to
be seen by a group of people.
In 1898, Birt patented an apparatus for taking and
projecting films for the home enthusiast. This was the Birtac HOME MOVIE
CAMERA for daylight loading. This was designed specifically to place animated
photography within the reach of everyone and used 35mm film split lengthways.
Unfortunately, within weeks of the Birtac's launch, another 17.5mm camera/projector,
the Biokam, was announced by the Warwick
Trading Company and was sold at half the price of the Britac which
quickly eliminated the market.
Birt stopped making films in 1900 and concentrated
on his experiments and wholesale raw film supply. Unfortunately with such
rapid advancements in the film industry, competition and industry change
caught up with him and he had to declare bancruptcy in 1909.
Birt Acres died in 1918, having been one of the TRUE
pioneers of the film industry.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
An interesting glimpse can be seen of the industry by a speech
that Birt Acres gave to the Royal Photographic Society on February
28, 1899 when he was presenting his new 'Britac' Home Camera
to the Society. Here is the Birt
Acres Speech and their notes that were published.
For more information about about Birt Acres, Alan
Acres, grandson of Birt has put up an excellent website
| Alan Acres is currently
researching and writing a biography about his grandfather.
The Birt Acres Archives,
Alan B. Acres, 39 Deepdene Avenue, Rayleigh, Essex SS6 9LF, United
Kingdom.
E-mail: Alanacres@aol.com |
