In 1833, when Samuel was 10 years old, he and his 12-year-old brother were found guilty of stealing a jacket, a waistcoat and 48 brass hinges from a house in Paddington, London. They were sentenced to seven years in a penal colony and, in 1835, they were transported to Australia1. Having served their time they were granted Certificates of Freedom and, by the late 1840s, Samuel advertised his Daguerreotype Establishment in Adelaide. In 1849 he attracted editorial promotion in the local press2 and soon afterwards advertised hand-coloured Daguerreotypes, possibly being the first to offer this service in southern Australia.
He returned to England in the early 1850s and continued as an itinerant Daguerreotypist. In addition to working in Norfolk towns, he is known to have had studios in Peterborough, Bury St. Edmunds, Lincoln, Boston, Louth, Stockton-on-Tees, Preston and Llandudno. In 1854 he was in Thetford, Norfolk and again succeeded in getting editorial promotion in the local press. Under the ‘Thetford’ heading in the Norfolk News dated 28th July 1854 this notice appeared:
We have had the pleasure of witnessing in this town, the productions of Mr. Oglesby, after Daguerre’s process of portraits, views, still life, &c., and must admit that we never yet fell in with any specimens excelling them, and very few indeed to be considered equal to them. There is an ease of position in the figures, and a pleasing expression of countenance, totally differing from the heavy overcast expressions which generally accompanies works of this kind. Some of the subjects, prepared of course for the purpose, under the power of the stereoscope are complete marvels, and the mind can scarcely comprehend any plain surface could be so acted upon by light, as to represent by means of this instrument miniature solids of the things poutrayed [sic]. Mr. Oglesby has, we understand, been long practising his art in Australia, and with much success.’
He soon moved on to Norwich and advertised in the Norfolk News on 12th August 1854.
We have at all times great pleasure in referring our readers to successful achievements in the fine arts, especially in those departments in which the public are likely to be generally interested. Portrait-taking by Photography, is, we believe, one of these branches, for a good likeness of a relative or friend is a precious treasure. Mr Oglesby, whose rooms have been open now for some months near the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, is practising the art with great success, and may, we are induced to think from the specimens we have seen, be safely relied upon for a faithful and life like production.’
It seems clear that Oglesby was a talented photographer but, as yet, the author has not seen examples made by him in Norfolk.
Sources and Notes