A NEW book describing the lives of nearly 800 photographers in Somerset during the first 100 years from the invention of photography includes 12 people from Wellington.

Secure the Shadow – Somerset Photographers 1839 to 1939 has been compiled by Robin Ansell, Allan Collier and Phil Nichols.

The story starts from one of the very first photographs ever taken in England, that being in Taunton, and goes on to look at the early photographers across the county including those in Wellington, Dulverton, Milverton and Wiveliscombe.

Robin Ansell, one of the authors, said: “With the large number of photographers whose lives and careers we’ve studied, there was always likely to be quite a range of characters.

“We’ve found one photographer who claimed to have saved Queen Victoria from assassination; another who died in a tragic accident, falling 15 stories down a lift shaft in a Chicago skyscraper; several whose studios were blown away by gales; many who went bankrupt, with several being imprisoned for debt; and one who was imprisoned for stealing a military cornet, only to become the cornet-playing bandmaster of the 3rd Somerset Rifle Volunteers just three years later.”

The book is available at £12, plus post and packaging, from the publishers, the Somerset & Dorset Family History Society, at their Yeovil offices at Broadway House, Peter Street, Yeovil, Somerset BA20 1PN on 01935-429609) or via its online shop at http://shop.sdfhs.org/publications/somerset-books