{{Short description|British photographer (1859–1892)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Use British English|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox person/Wikidata | image = Cecil Shadbolt collection - 23 - Cecil Shadbolt (left) and 'Captain' William Dale (right) posed in the basket of a gas balloon. Shadbolt's camera can be seen, attached to the side of the basket.jpg | caption = Cecil Shadbolt (left) and 'Captain' William Dale (right) posed in the basket of a gas balloon. Shadbolt's camera can be seen, attached to the side of the basket. | fetchwikidata=ALL | dateformat = dmy | death_date = 8 July 1892 (aged 33) }}
'''Cecil Victor Shadbolt''' (1859 – 8 July 1892) was a British photographer, who pioneered [[aerial photography]] from [[Balloon (aeronautics)|flying balloons]].
== Life ==
Shadbolt was born in 1859, the son of the [[mahogany]] dealer and photographer [[George Shadbolt]].<ref name="HE">{{cite web |title=The Shadbolt Collection |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/archive/new/shadbolt-collection/ |publisher= |accessdate=27 April 2020 }}</ref><ref name="Fenn">{{cite journal |last1=Colin |first1=Fenn |title=George & Cecil Shadbolt – Pioneer Photographers |journal=Friends of West Norwood. Newsletter |date=2016 |issue=86 |pages=6–8 |url=https://www.fownc.org/pdf/newsletter86.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=February 2026 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref>
He showed photographs of Welsh landscapes at the 1877 [[Royal Photographic Society|Photographic Society]] exhibition.<ref name="Fenn" />
[[File:Cecil Shadbolt collection - 54 - An aerial view showing Stonebridge Road, Stamford Hill, and Seven Sisters Curve, part of the Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway, taken from 2000ft.jpg|thumb|Aerial view showing Stonebridge Road, Stamford Hill, and Seven Sisters Curve, part of the [[Tottenham and Hampstead Junction Railway]], taken from 2000ft. Taken on 29 May 1882, this is the earliest extant aerial photograph taken in the British Isles.]]
His first balloon ascent was in <!--source says 31 May, but there is an image from 29 May--> May 1882, at [[Alexandra Palace]].<ref name="HE" /> He made his own device for attaching a camera to the basket below a balloon, allowing him to take pictures looking directly downwards.<ref name="HE" /> One of his images, taken from {{convert|2000|ft|m}} over [[Stamford Hill]], is the earliest extant aerial photograph taken in the British Isles.<ref name="HE" /> A print of the same image, ''An Instantaneous Map Photograph taken from the Car of a Balloon, 2,000 feet high'', was shown at the 1882 Photographic Society exhibition.<ref name="Fenn" />
Shadbolt gave public lectures, using [[magic lantern]] slides, with the title ''Balloons and Ballooning, Upward and Onwards''.<ref name="HE-023">{{cite web |title=Cecil Shadbolt (left) and 'Captain' William Dale (right)... |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/photos/item/CVS01/01/023 |publisher=Historic England |accessdate=27 April 2020 }}</ref>
He was secretary of the West Kent Sunday School Union from 1886.<ref name="Fenn" />
== Death ==
On 29 June 1892, he took a flight in a [[gas balloon]] owned by (or which he co-owned with; sources vary) his friend 'Captain' William D. Dale, at [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]].<ref name="HE" /> The balloon ripped during the initial ascent, at around {{convert|600|ft|m}},<ref name="Fenn" /> and though those aboard dropped ballast, the basket crashed to the ground, immediately killing Dale.<ref name="HE" /> Shadbolt and the other passengers were taken to Norwood Cottage Hospital,<ref name="Fenn" /> but Shadbolt died on 8 July,<ref name="HE-023" /> aged 33.<ref name="HE" /> He was buried, alongside members of his family, in grave 1,932, square 113, at [[West Norwood Cemetery]].<ref name="Fenn" /> His father was later buried in the adjacent plot.<ref name="Fenn" />
An inquest at the hospital, on 12 July 1892, under [[coroner]], Mr Jackson, returned verdicts of accidental death.<ref name="Fenn" />
== Shadbolt Collection ==
'''The Shadbolt Collection''' of 76 glass lantern slides taken between 1882 and 1892 is held by [[Historic England]],<ref name="HE" /> The slides were found at a [[car boot sale]] and subsequently purchased at auction by Historic England in 2015.<ref name="HE" /><ref name="BBC-34428872">{{cite web |title='Earliest' aerial photos auctioned |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-34428872 |website=BBC News |publisher=[[BBC News]] |accessdate=27 April 2020 |date=8 October 2015}}</ref>
== Publications ==
* {{cite book |title=Walks in Palestine |date=1888 |publisher=[[Religious Tract Society]] |first1=Henry Andrew |last1=Harper}} – includes 24 [[photogravure]]s by Shadbolt<ref name="Fenn" /><ref name="RCT">{{cite web |title=Henry Andrew Harper (1835–1900) – Walks in Palestine |url=https://www.rct.uk/collection/1006060/walks-in-palestine |publisher=[[Royal Collection Trust]] |accessdate=27 April 2020 }}</ref> **An 1894 edition was subtitled "With a Portrait and Brief Memoir of the Late Cecil V. Shadbolt".
== References == {{Reflist}}
=== Further reading ===
* report, ''[[Illustrated London News]]'', 9 July 1892 * report, ''Blackheath Gazette'', 15 July 1892 {{Aviation accidents and incidents before 1920}} {{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom before 1920}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Shadbolt, Cecil}}
[[Category:1859 births]] [[Category:1892 deaths]] [[Category:Accidental deaths from falls in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Accidental deaths in London]] [[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1892]] [[Category:Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in England]] [[Category:19th-century British photographers]] [[Category:Photographers from London]] [[Category:Magic lanterns]]