Bramley's arrival date from England and the start of his postcard production is not known by the author, but it has been verified that he produced Guernsey postcards in 1908.
Through the years, Thomas Bramley marketed his postcards under many names and the different titled gallery sections here reflect this fact.
The Thomas Bramley images shown here are only a small representation of what is archivally held digitally by the author.
Conflicting dates for the end of production given online, have been given as 1927 to the 1930's, but It has been suggested to the author that way over 900 images were published from 1908 - 1928. This could be a conservative figure - Further research is required.
He operated from 71 Mount Durand and then went to Hiawatha, St Julian's Avenue; a property that has now been demolished.
A date of arrival at 'Hiawatha' is also not known, but a date of 22nd March 1916 on a postcard the author has seen says he is based at 'Avenue St Julian Guernsey' - a date of 1914 giving the Mount Durand address has also been seen, so the date of move is between 1914 and March 1916.
Bramley postcards are now scarce now and very collectible. Due to the this, prices are high. The author personally owns very few images due to arriving late on the scene and not willing to pay the prices!
Shown on this website is only a sample of the images from Thomas Bramley's vast output. A considerable number have been scanned for the Deane Photographic Archive but for time reasons only, they have not have been placed online. I am indebted to Winkle De La Mare for letting me have access to his photo collection for scanning for most of these images.
Bramley's photographs of Alderney were previously thought to have been only taken after 1918, but new information has intimated that he may have been taking images as early as 1910/12 and after the war until the late 20s or even early 30s.
The author has now determined that he has in his collection some glass negative plates of Alderney that have been taken by Bramley - sometimes there are several different views of the same scene. It has to be remembered that most professional photographers take more than one shot in a particular location, and in those days, it is only after the film has been developed and studied that the best image of the batch will be used for production. It is therefore not inconceivable to say that similar shots to the published postcards exist that did not make it to the production stage.
Mike Deane
A great shot of the bottom of Victoria Street.
Bramley No 52
This image and other shown in this gallery may have been taken as early as 1910/12, as new information supplied by Peter J. Davies details below:-
The persons standing outside the shop doorway cannot be definitely be identified at the time of writing," but I can say that the shop was owned by my great, great uncle John William Parmentier born 11/8/1873. (My mother was a Parmentier.) My guess is that the photo would be about 1910 when JW would have been 33. He could be the young man standing in the entry way. He married Martha Louise Jerrett (1876-1940) in about 1897. I visited the store in 1950 when it was run by his son, William John Parmentier (born 31/7/1898) together with his mother. WJP never married, so had no children, and died in 1962 in Guernsey, so I presume that the store passed out of the Parmentier family.
From a genealogy report, which may or may not be of interest:
JOHN WILLIAM5 PARMENTIER (William Le Parmentier, Nicolas3, Etienne2 Le Parmentier, Guillaume
William1 Le Parmentier) was born on August 11, 1873 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands69.
He died on June 09, 1941 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland70. He married Martha Louisa Jerrett
(daughter of Mark Jerrett and Louisa Sage) about 1897 in Unknown She was born on December
24, 1876 in St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands. She died on February 26, 1960 in St. Anne,
Alderney, Channel Islands.
More About John William Parmentier:
Christening: August 31, 1873 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands159
Census 1881: April 03, 1881 in Scholar, living at Val Road, St. Anne, Guernsey, Channel Islands
Census 1891: March 31, 1891 in Drapers Assistant, living at Val Road, St. Ann's, Alderney,
Channel Islands
Census 1901: March 31, 1901 in Grocer Shopkeeper, living at Victoria Street, St. Anne's,
Alderney, Channel Islands
Occupation: 1903 in Grocer
Census 1911: April 02, 1911 in Grocer, living at 2 & 3 Victoria Street, St. Anne's, Alderney,
Channel Islands
Kellys Directory 1927: 1927 in Grocer, confectioner, toys, china & hardware dealer, Victoria Street, Alderney
John William Parmentier and Martha Louisa Jerrett had the following children:
WILLIAM JOHN PARMENTIER (son of John William Parmentier and Martha Louisa Jerrett) was born on July 31, 1898 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands. He died about 1965 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands.
More About William John Parmentier:
Christening: August 18, 1898 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands
Census 1901: March 31, 1901 in Living at Victoria Street, St. Anne's, Alderney,
Channel Islands
Census 1911: April 02, 1911 in School, living at 2 & 3 Victoria Street, St. Anne,Alderney, Channel Islands
WW1: August 01, 1918 in # 7637 - 2nd Battalion, Royal Garrison Regiment
Burial: Abt. 1965 in St. Anne's Churchyard, St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands
Sex: Male
MAY ELIZABETH PARMENTIER (daughter of John William Parmentier and Martha Louisa Jerrett) was born on January 28, 1903 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands. She died about 1950 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands. She married Nicholas James Allen (son of Nicholas James Allen and Annie Florence Pezet) on July 16, 1935 in St. Anne's Church, St. Anne, Alderney, Channel Islands He was born on December 04, 1904 in St. Anne, Alderney, Channel lslands. He died on October 12th 1972.
Photographer: TA Bramley
