Hi Bunkerbarge,
Frank Meadow Sutcliffe was his full name- he is well known in Whitby as many of the descendants still live in Whitby- a couple of books were published about 5/6 years ago that had on the left page the picture as Sutcliffe took them and on the right page the same picture today- some with the Great Great Great granddaughters in and such- a fascinating book for those interested in the history of that particular bit of the northeast- something close to my heart as it's my hometown.
Sutcliffe is regarded generally as one of the first pioneers of photography, not just of still lives- which were his business- but the fact he saw pictures as a way of recording the way of life for hundreds of people- this wasn't recognised by his contemporaries, and it is only in the past few decades that the true value of them has come to light- some are still being discovered to this day- he took hundreds- only the most poignant- and profitable- pictures are in print, many more can be seen in the Whitby museum, or they used to be, I havn't been in for a few years.
My favourite is the harbour and the old wharfe next to the station- now the harbour carpark- looking over the harbour to the abbey- there are pictures with more happening- but from an artists and a historians and a photographical point of view it just has SO much in it! Compare with almost the same picture today- the 90Deg. cobbles near the flower tub marks the old quayside in Sutcliffe's day.
Greg