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Sir John Benjamin Stone

Title: Sir

Epithet: MP for East Birmingham & photographer (1838-1914)

Record type: Biographies

Biography: John Benjamin Stone was born in Aston, Birmingham, in 1838 and was educated at King Edward's School, New Street.

He was elected Member of Parliament for East Birmingham in 1895 and held the seat until his retirement in 1910. Notably, Stone took little part in Parliamentary debates due to his extensive travel throughout Britain and abroad.

He was in great demand as a lecturer and began to collect photographs in order to illustrate his lectures and travel books. He soon started to take his own photographs and became one of the first photographers to switch from wet to dry plates, obviating the need to develop the plates on the spot as soon as they had been exposed.

In 1897, Stone founded the National Photographic Record Association, which aimed to record for posterity the country's architectural and historical heritage. Upon its demise in 1910, the photographic collection amounted to several thousand prints, almost half of them by Stone, which were deposited in the British Museum.

Probably Stone's best known photographs are those portraying rustic characters and ancient customs and festivals. His position as an M.P. enabled him to gain access to and photograph a number of Royal and Parliamentary occassions. In 1910 he was appointed as official photographer for the Coronation of George V.

Occupation / profession: politician; photographer

Nationality: English

Gender: Male

Name Variant: Stone, Benjamin

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