Social Victorians/People/Lauder

Also Known As

 * Family name: Lauder
 * James Lafayette, pseudonym
 * Lafayette Studio
 * VIAF ID: 14147118250326341640 (Personal)

Demographics

 * Nationality: Irish

Residences

 * 36 The Avenue, Gipsy Hill SE, Dublin
 * 4 Marlborough Gate (1919–1923)

Family

 * Edmund Stanley Lauder (1828 – 29 November 1891)
 * Sarah Harding Stack (1828–1913)
 * James Stack Lauder (1853 – 20 August 1923 )
 * Lydis Harding Lauder (1857 – 23 February 1920)
 * George Marsh Lauder (5 November 1857 – 14 December 1922 )
 * Edmund Stanley Lauder (1859 – 17 May 1895 )
 * Robert Enwraight Lauder (1861 – 19 January 1938)
 * Sarah Harding Lauder (1865 – 15 September 1924 )
 * William Harding Lauder (11 May 1866 – 1918)
 * Harriet Barry Lauder (1868–1933)
 * Thomas Campion Lauder (8 June 1873 – 7 December 1943 )


 * James Stack Lauder (1853 – 20 August 1923)
 * Annie (Anne Pierette) Dinette (c. 1871 – 6 March 1962 )
 * Doris Lauder (1888 – )
 * Eric Lauder (c. 1888 – )
 * James Lafayette Lauder (c. 1890 – )
 * Winifred Stanley Lauder (c. 1890 – 1981)
 * Elizabeth Lauder (c. 1892 – )
 * Gordon Lauder (c. 1895 – )
 * Haold Victor Lauder (c. 1898 – )
 * Robert Harold Thomas Victor (baptized 13 September 1901 – )

Organizations

 * Managing Director, Lafayette, Ltd. (1898 to 1923)
 * Managing Director, Lafayette, Ltd. (1898 to 1923)

Timeline
1880, Lafayette was founded and a studio opened in Dublin.

1885, Alexandra, Princess of Wales received an honorary doctorate in music from the Royal University of Ireland and sat for a portrait by James Stack Lauder in her doctoral robes.

1887 March 6, Lauder received a royal warrant, the first Irish recipient of such a warrant, which allowed him to use "Photographer to Her Majesty at Dublin" and "Photographer Royal" in his advertising.

1887, second quarter, James Stack Lauder and Anne Pierette Dinette married.

1897 July 3, Lauder attended the Duchess of Devonshire's fancy-dress ball at Devonshire House at the Duke's invitation, to take portrait photographs of the guests.

1890, Lafayette studio opened in Glasgow.

1892, Lafayette studio opened in Manchester.

1897, Lafayette studio opened on Bond Street in London.

1898, Lafayette studios were incorporated and shares sold on the Stock Exchange.

1911 April 2, Sunday, the 1911 England Census lists the following people at 35 The Avenue, Gipsy Hill, SE, Dublin: James Stack Lauder, Annie Stack Lauder, Eric Lauder, James Lafayette Lauder, Winifred Stanley Lauder, Elizabeth Lauder, Gordon Lauder, and Haold [sic] Victor Lauder, as well as 5 female servants: Kate Ward (30 years old, Governess), Helen Hull (47, Cook Domestic), E. Ethel White (22, Parlourmaid Domestic), E. Adeline Drew (23, Housemaid Domestic), Violet Cook (14, Kitchenmaid Domestic).

The Photographs at the Duchess of Devonshire's 2 July 1897 Fancy-dress Ball
The Duke of Devonshire invited James Stack Lauder "to set up a tent in the garden behind the house to photograph the guests in costume during the Ball," and his firm Lafayette photographed many of the guests at the ball. Russell Harris says,"In an interview with St James's Budget the following year Mr. Lafayette, acknowledging that he had been kept very busy since he opened a studio in London, described how he photographed the guests at the Devonshire House Ball: 'I created a temporary studio in the garden, with a powerful installation of electric light; and though it may sound immodest to say so, the appearance of 'a gay photographer' at such a function was considered highly original, and was openly spoken of as a feature of the historic occasion.'"Lafayette brought equipment, backdrops and furnishings to provide settings for the portraits. Harris says,"in order to capture the sense of event and location, the studio prepared a new backdrop (a painted canvas stretched on a wooden frame) which represented the lawn and gardens of Devonshire House complete with statuary. In the event of guests desiring a different background, the studio also transported its baronial hall and country estate backdrops as well as some studio balustrade, a piece of wall and a Turkish carpet."A number of portrait-style photographs exist from this event, some apparently taken in Lafayette's studio as well as at the event itself. Also, not all the photographs were made by Lafayette: some people used other photographers to make a record of themselves in their costumes.

An "album" of some of these photographs — including portraits taken by other photographers — were collected and given to the Duchess of Devonshire as a gift in 1899, about two years after the ball.

Questions and Notes

 * 1) The family tree of Edmund Stanley Lauder and Sarah Harding Stack comes from the work of "kpeach1," a user on Ancestry, rather than directly from primary sources, but the tree seems reasonably although not perfectly well documented.