Photograph, black and white, showing boxing champion Bombardier Billy Wells posing on the beach with one of his young children, taken by photographer, A H Remington (1886-1965), England, ca. 1935.

Black and white photograph of portrait proportions of the heavy weight boxer, Bombardier Billy Wells posed standing on the beach holding a baby, presumed to be one of his own. In the middle ground there are people sitting on deck chairs, also looking at the camera.

Given by Jill Vanessa Downs

A.H. Remington, father of the donor, was a studio / portrait photographer initially based on the South East coast of England. He set up a photographic business, Remington's photo service, around the 1920s.

He trained as a mechanical engineer. After WWI he took up photography, initially working with glass plate cameras. Later he moved on to use a Leica 'reporter' 35mm. His first business was thought to have been in Greenwich area and he worked as a photographer at the Royal Naval college at Greenwich. The National Maritime museum also hold some of his photographs in their collection.

After this he began to take seaside photographs in Margate, Broadstairs and Brighton areas where these photographs are all thought to have been taken. Later in his career he moved to South Devon and continued his business, Remington's photo service (later a limited company) in Torquay and Paignton until the late 1950s.

Probably taken on the SE Coast of England.

This photograph shows the famous English heavyweight boxer, 'Bombadier Billy Wells' (1889-1967) holding a small baby, thought to be one of his own children. It was taken by the photographer Arthur Herbert Remington who, during the 1920s and 1930s had set up a photographic business on the SE coast of England. This photograph is a part of a larger set of commercial images given to the museum that Remington took of children at the beach.

B.296-2010