A studio portrait from the Eskriett photo collection by J. W. Hardy c1913.

An original photograph. The sitter is most probably Rose or Elizabeth Ann Eskriett.

The photographer, John William Hardy, was born in Sheffield on 10th February 1876. He was the son of a newsagent. John married Minna in Sheffield in 1905. He was a photographer by then.

By 1911, John William Hardy was working as a photographer in Cleethorpes. Briefly, in 1913, he was also using a studio at 42 Freeman Street, Grimsby like a number of other significant, local photographers from about 1893 until after 1923. After living in Signhills Avenue, Cleethorpes in the early 1920s, the Hardy family moved to 52 St Peter’s Avenue (where the Co-op in now) between 1925 and 1926. J. W. Hardy had a studio on the seafront. He also took outdoor, souvenir photos of holidaymakers walking along the promenade sitting in deckchairs and paddling in the sea.

John William Hardy worked as a busy photographer through many decades. He still had the studio at his home at 52 St Peter’s Avenue when he died on 29th or 30th July 1954. His son, John Keith Hardy, was also working there as a photographer.

Note: This is a rare photograph showing Hardy’s Grimsby and Cleethorpes studio addresses together.