Lilian Ream

{{EngvarB|date=March 2020}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox writer  | name = Lilian Ream | honorific_suffix = | image = | caption = | birth_name = Lilian Pratt | birth_date = 30 June 1877 | birth_place = West Walton, Norfolk, England | death_date = 20 August 1961 | death_place = Eastbourne, England | occupation = photographer | education = | years_active = 1909–1949 | spouse = {{marriage|Sydney Ream|1905}} | children = John and Mary | notableworks = }}

'''Lilian Ream''', {{nee}} '''Pratt''' (30 June 1877 – 20 August 1961) was a photographer in Wisbech, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire. Her studios captured photographic images of Wisbech and the Fens for over 50 years.<ref name=wsociety>{{cite web|url=http://www.wisbech-Society.org.uk|title=Lilian Ream|website=wisbech-society.org.uk|access-date=8 December 2019}}</ref>

== Early years == Lilian Pratt was born in 1877 in West Walton, Norfolk, the youngest child of John Thomas Pratt (born 1837) and Louisa {{nee}} Jones (born 1839), who had married in 1858.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal|last=Rayner|first=David|title=The Lilian Ream Collection|journal=Wisbech Society Annual Report|volume=53|pages=14–17|year=1992}}</ref> A farmer's daughter, she was one of the pupils of the private school at Wisbech Castle run by May Bradley.<ref>{{cite book|title= From Cradle to Grave|author= Colin Wilkinson and Robert Bell|publisher= The Bluecoat Press|year= 2010|isbn= 9-781904-438960}}</ref>

== Photography == [[File:Sutton Bridge Armament Practice Camp late 1920s.png|thumb|Sutton Bridge Armament Practice Camp (late 1920s or early 1930s)]] Aged 17, she became photographic assistant to Alfred Drysdale whose studio was on Lynn Road, Wisbech. She later moved to work for John Kennerell at the Borough Studio in York Row. This studio was taken over by Lawrence Brown. In 1908 Lilian (then the manager) became a partner. The partnership was dissolved by April 1909. Days later she opened her own studio at 4, The Crescent, Wisbech and built a small studio and darkroom in the garden. A craft shop was opened in Market Street and a framing works, "The Burlington Studios", in Alexandra Road.<ref name="auto"/> Her business succeeded and she took over the rival Borough Studio at 7 York Row (now Etcetera).

Her studio claimed to be the oldest and largest in East Anglia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fadingimages.uk/photoRe.asp|title=Lilian Ream|website=fadingimages.uk|access-date=29 December 2019}}</ref> She was the official photographer for the ''Wisbech Standard'' newspaper.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fadingimages.uk/photoRe.asp|title=Lilian Ream|website=fadingimsges.uk|access-date=6 January 2020}}</ref> After her retirement in 1949, Roland took over the studio and it continued until 1971.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lilianream.org.uk|title=Lilian Ream Collection|website=lilianream.org.uk|access-date=8 December 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Lilian Ream: a life in photography|author=Violet Fosbrook-Ream|publisher=Cambridgeshire County Council|year=1992}}</ref>

== Later life == Lilian Pratt married Sydney Ream in 1905. The couple had a son, John Roland F. Ream, born in 1907; and a daughter, Mary L. P. Ream, in 1911. Lilian died aged 84, in Eastbourne on 20 August 1961. Her grave is in the churchyard of All Saints, Walsoken.<ref name=wsociety />

== Legacy == Although many original negatives have been lost, over 100,000 negatives have survived to form the "Lilian Ream Collection". This may be one of the most comprehensive records of its kind in England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lilianream.org.uk|title=Lilian Ream Collection|website=lilianream.org.uk|access-date=14 December 2019}}</ref> The trust produce publications of the images.<ref>{{cite web|title= Samuel Smith|url= http://www.lilianream.org.uk/publications.htm|website= www.lilianream.org.uk|access-date= 16 March 2021}}</ref>

In April 2013 the Wisbech Society erected a blue plaque at 4 The Crescent in her honour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wisbech-Society.co.uk|title=Achievement|website=wisbech-Society.co.uk|access-date=14 December 2019}}</ref> In 2014, a photograph of Ream was included into The Army Children of the First World War collection, established by The Army Children Archive (TACA), a project of the Imperial War Museum.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wisbechstandard.co.uk/news/wisbech-first-world-war-family-portrait-by-lilian-ream-part-of-major-new-the-army-children-archive-collection-1-3649220|title=Wisbech First World War family portrait by Lilian Ream part of major new The Army Children Archive collection|newspaper=Wisbech Standard|date=19 June 2014|access-date=8 December 2019}}</ref>

The Ream studios and other local pioneering photographers such as Samuel (Philosopher) Smith and Geoff Hastings feature on the Cambridgeshire Photographers website.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.fadingimages.uk/photoRe.asp|title= Cambridgeshire Photographers| website= Fading Images| access-date= 25 September 2021}}</ref>

The Wisbech & Fenland Museum mounts exhibitions of photos from the Lilian Ream archive and the 2024 exhibition included equipment used by Roland Ream. Copies of photos can be purchased at the museum.

== References == <references></references>

== Further reading == *{{cite book |author=Andrew C. Ingram |title=Wisbech 1800-1901|publisher= Middleton Press|year= 2002|isbn= 1-901706-931}} *{{cite book |author=Vic Mitchell, Keith Smith & Andrew C. Ingram|title= Branch Line to Upwell|publisher= Middleton Press|year= 1995|isbn= 1-873793-642}} *{{cite book |author=J. Fosbrook Ream|title= Reams of Wisbech|publisher= Cambridgeshire Libraries & Information Service|year= 1987|isbn= 1-870724-05-4}} *{{cite book |author= Violet Fosbrook Ream|title= Lilian Ream: A Life in Photography|publisher= Cambridgeshire County Council|year= 1992}} *{{cite book |title=Wisbech|author= Kim Bowden and David Rayner| publisher= Chalford Publishing Company|year=1996|isbn= 0-7524-0740-6}} *{{cite book |title=Wisbech|author= Kim Bowden and David Rayner| publisher= Tempus Publishing Ltd|year=2002|isbn= 0-7524-0740-6}} *{{cite book|title=From Cradle to Grave in a Fenland Town|author=Colin Wilkinson and Robert Bell|publisher= The Bluecoat Press|year= 2010|isbn= 9-781904-438960}} *{{cite journal|last=Monger|first=Garry|title=Digging Up the Past: Fenland's Photographers|journal=The Fens: Wisbech & Surrounding |date=December 2019|issue=21|page=16}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ream, Lilian}} Category:1877 births Category:1961 deaths Category:English women photographers Category:20th-century British photographers Category:People from Wisbech Category:Photographers from Cambridgeshire Category:20th-century British women photographers Category:People from King's Lynn and West Norfolk (district) Category:20th-century English women Category:20th-century English people