I understand from John Lewis and Geoff Welding (take a look at Geoff's web site) that the 'Jerome' high street studios used a similar type of paper negative film to that used by Gratispool. It seems probable that Geoffrey Stead 'borrowed' this cost saving idea when he began his Gratispool company.

Some further information on Jerome Ltd can be found on Peter Stubbs 'EdinPhoto' site. Peter particularly has information about the Edinburgh branch at 79 Leith Street, from 1934 to maybe 1970.

Geoff Welding (see RHS) has recounted how, when he left school in 1959 (aged 16), he worked at the Jerome portrait studio in Liverpool, at 17-19 London Road, staying until the end of 1961. The following account of working for Jerome, and many of the following pictures, are courtesy of Geoff.

Further down the page, the 'Girl on a Table' Jerome shot is one owned by Geoff (though not taken by him). Another picture made available to me by Geoff, and one he actually took while at Jerome, Liverpool, is of the famous UK entertainer Bruce Forsyth (scroll down to view).

"Most Saturdays over 400 people would be photographed. I used an exposure of one or two seconds at f6.3. The 'Jerome' paper negatives could be retouched using a HB pencil and a final print made available in 1½ hours; if it was for a passport, a 40 minutes service could be requested."

"The enlarger was rather like a wardrobe without the doors. The tungsten reflected light source was permanently fixed in the top and the baseboard moved up and down, like an adjustable shelf."

Within a few months of joining Jerome, Geoff became studio photographer when a senior colleague left.

The picture alongside shows the Liverpool branch of Jerome during the early 1950's. Geoff recalls the frontage being painted bright red and wonders if all Jerome studios were this colour ?

The picture is taken from a book entitled "Living Memories of Merseyside", containing photos from the the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. This photograph was taken by Keith G Medley who retired in 1987.

Geoff believes the photograph to have been taken in the early 1950s as trams are shown in the photograph and the very last tram ran in Liverpool in 1957, though they were being phased out years before that.

Across the road from Jerome can be seen the Odeon cinema.

Liverpool Jerome right-hand shop window looking from the road, decorated for Christmas 1961. Geoff comments "as you will see, no expense was spared, or more likely no expense was allocated, for Jerome's Christmas decorations. Just some baubles & some tinsel". The interior of both windows was mainly covered with a bright red flock paper, which could have been wallpaper (by its thickness).

The suggested "Ideal Christmas Gifts" comprise simple Kodak cameras such as the Brownie 127, 44A, Reflex 20 & Starflash. Also camera cases & flashguns. Any size 'spool' developed (notice 'spool' not 'roll') 1s/3d each (6p).

The display photographs would have been customer's prints that had been enlarged or copied. This was done elsewhere (though presumably still within the Jerome organisation). Ordinary prints, as along the bottom of the window, are priced at 6d each (2.5p). The mounted enlargements seem to be priced at 1s/6d and 2s/6d (7.5p & 12.5p). The larger prints were always mounted, the dry mounting press being heated by gas.

Reflected in the window is the Odeon cinema, possibly showing the first James Bond film "Dr No". This film was shown for a long time and always there were queues for performances.

Courtesy of Geoff Welding and the miracles of Google street mapping, we can see the London Road site of the Jerome Studio, Liverpool, as it now exists (post-2000). One half (at least) of the Studio has been demolished, leaving the vacant lot that can be seen left.

Interestingly, the public house next door can be seen to be "The Lord Warden" and Geoff believes this was its name in 1961 when he worked at Jerome. Another correspondent, Robert Humphris (see lower down this page), had thought it was called 'The Clock'.

"I do not remember seeing the manufacture's name on the camera but it was well made, wooden, probably Teak, with a front brass hinged double baseboard and square bellows. The lower base board was attached to the tripod and the rear of the upper base board (hinged at its front edge to the lower baseboard) could be raised by about 35 degrees, so the camera could look down on the subject. This arrangement was mainly used for looking downward on babies who were laid on their backs or stomach on a table top covered with a blanket."

"The Mahogany tripod was a very Victorian affair. Alongside is shown one of similar appearance (but not identical) from an 1892 photograph. An approx. 8" (200mm) diameter wheel, with a handle, racked the central column up and down and would have been quite at home in a waterworks of the same period! Three curved piano stool type legs ran on casters and consequently a good shove was needed to get the camera and tripod on the move."

The tripod illustrated, apart from not having casters, has its own tilting baseboard, whereas the Jerome camera had two hinged baseboards (see description above) which provided means to tilt the camera downwards. Hence, the Jerome tripod didn't need the tilting top.

A brass clip would slot into the holder making sure it was aligned for the next photograph. The orthochromatic paper 'film' that the plate holder contained (supplied by Kodak when Geoff was working for Jerome) would be 9X4 inches (an estimate) and the paper was much more sensitive to light than Bromide printing paper."

Although Geoff knows that Jerome received Kodak orthochromatic paper 'film' stock during his employment in the 1960s, it is unknown where Jerome sourced their paper film during much of the previous 40 years. Members of the Stead family, whose father founded 'Gratispool', believe Gratispool received its paper 'film' from an organisation called 'Criterion' prior to World War 2, but received supplies from Kodak post-1945.

"The shutter was a sprung flap within the bellows and attached to the top of the camera back. This was operated by an actual bicycle back brake cable attached to a brass release that operated in the same way as a bicycle brake. When you squeezed it together the flap would open towards the top of the bellows and then close quickly with the aid of a spring on releasing."

The 1892 illustration alongside, from the book by Dr Josef Maria Eder, shows a sprung flap shutter operated by a pneumatic bulb release, but the 'shutter' is external to the camera, in front of the lens, not within the camera's bellows.

"The bicycle back brake cable release was attached at the rear end of the camera but was long enough to still allow me to walk in front of the camera and, with my right arm at full stretch, I could get close to the sitter and expose the film. Other Jerome photographers preferred to remain behind the camera when ever possible, but I preferred the 'up close' position, even for passports."

Such an arrangment is illustrated in this 1892 picture from the book by Dr Josef Maria Eder.

"The lens was a Dalmeyer f5.6, with a focal length of 9 or 10 inches. We had ours set at f6.3 and I would give at least a 1sec exposure but preferably longer if I was confident that the sitter would not move or was just about to blink. A long square metal lens hood was attached to the lens by three screws with knurled heads so you could tighten or loosen the screws with your finger tips. I think these excellent dark red lens hoods were especially made for Jerome Studios as I have never seen any since."

Using this equipment I often made 500 to 600 exposures on a Saturday. Fortunately there were many passport photographs required and the customer could be in and out of the studio in under a minute even though they may have queued for an hour. The biggest problem was very young babies. Some must have come straight to Jerome's from the maternity ward (!) and getting them to keep perfectly still for even a second was difficult. However with the aid of a squeaky toy the photograph was eventually taken, though by then four minutes may have have passed. Saturday queues were often around the large waiting room, into the shop and out the door onto London Road, as also occurred at the Market Street branch, Manchester, in the 1960's."

"A squeaky toy was a valuable piece of photographic armory when dealing with young children, and also when photographing dogs. Some of the dogs were quite fierce and accompanied by their well tattooed owners. A double piano stool was set up and the owner, with his dog, would eventually be both sat down. The dog was held from behind by the collar and on many occasions would be barking and trying to stand up on the stool, but his owner's multicoloured arm would be pressing down hard on the dog's back."

"I would approach, brass cable release in one hand and rubber squeaky bear toy in the other, but hidden behind my back. When I was close, I would give the unseen squeaky toy just a small squeeze. The sound from the toy would stop the dog barking as his attention was now on listening to the squeak and wondering where it had suddenly come from. Then I would produce the toy near the dogs face, squeezing it as hard as I could just beforehand. As the rubber toy reformed to its original state, a long high piercing note would be emitted for four or five seconds. The dogs head would lean over to one side and maybe the owners as well, so that both heads would almost charmingly touch. Most importantly, both became motionless and looked towards the still squeaking toy. I would step back out of camera shot and squeeze and hold open the shutter release for a second, or hopefully two. Job done !"

Left is a very young Bruce Forsyth, as photographed by Geoff Welding in the Jerome Studios, Liverpool, believed to be 1961. Geoff recalls Bruce coming into Jerome's in a bit of a rush as he had just discovered that his passport had expired and he was about to leave for America. Miss Clancy, the Jerome Studio manageress, brought him to the front of the waiting queue and told Geoff to "photograph Mr Forsyth next". The film was rushed through to the darkroom and 'all the stops were pulled out', including negative retouching, to have the picture ready in less than 30 minutes. "I do not think he was particularly pleased with the photograph as I heard him make some remark about it, but at least he had it and could take it to India Buildings in Liverpool and collect a new passport".

Bruce Forsyth was born Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson in Edmonton, North London, on 22 February 1928. He made his television debut in 1939, singing and dancing on a talent show. He aspired to be a 'song-and-dance man' and began his professional career aged 14. The next sixteen years were spent perfecting his routines until, in 1958, he was thrust into the limelight as host of the ITV variety show 'Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium'. He served as host between September 1958 and September 1960, and from September to December 1961. These appearances made Bruce a household name. The 1960s saw Bruce largely concentrate on his stage career, though he did appear in a sporadic run of comedy specials made for various ITV companies, under the title of 'The Bruce Forsyth Show'. In 1971 his fame was sealed when he became compere of the Generation Game (BBC, 1971-77), which became a UK phenomenon and attracted audiences by the million.

The picture alongside is of Anthony (Tony) Beyga taken at the Jerome studio in Liverpool around 1958. Tony emailed to express his sadness that so little remains from that time and how so many of the photos will have been lost forever.

Notice the Jerome 'handwritten' (probably photographically printed) logo name in the bottom picture margin.

Another baby portrait from the Jerome studio in Liverpool. This handsom chappie is John King, as he was in 1955. The chair looks to be the same one that Tony Beyga was sat on for his picture, 3 years later (notice the shell shape behind the cushions).

Interestingly, he tells me his mother worked in Jackson's the tailors, next door to the Odeon cinema, just over the road from Jerome (see street view near the top of this page).

Left can be seen an e-bay purchase by Geoff of a Jerome Studio sepia toned picture of a woman named Nellie. It came from the Scottish Borders, taken sometime in 1931.

On the back of the photograph is written "With love from Nellie" and below that "Feb 1931" all in fine pen handwriting. The Jerome branches logo is there (scroll down to see a picture of this logo, left hand side of the screen) but there is no date stamp, which is a little surprising.

On the subject of colour photography, Geoff recalls that 'true' colour photography (i.e. the use of negative colour film rather 'toning' prints, as the sepia version to the left,or hand colouring black & white photographs) arrived at the Jerome studios in the early 1960s, requiring the installation of new, more powerful, lights. A 1500watt and two 1000w bulbs were housed in square metal enclosures painted mid-blue with tracing paper covering the aperture. The 1500w would be screwed to the right or left wall then a 1000w was placed centrally, above the subject. The second 1000w was placed on the opposite side wall to the 1500w. The only light that could be moved was a condenser spotlight which is believed was an old 750w. After the introduction of the new lights, the lighting was slightly flatter than before.

But fewer than half a dozen customers selected this, comparatively expensive, service in a whole week. Geoff believes the cost was 12s/6d (62.5p) for an enlarged print. This cost equates to about £10 on a retail price index comparison or £21 on a comparison based upon average earnings (comparing 1962 with 2006). The colour prints were processed by a separate organisation, away from the studio.

But eventually, as the 1960s progresssed, the cost of colour photography would have decreased (in real terms) and inevitably become more commonplace. By the end of the 1960s it might well have become the 'norm' at Jerome Studios.

Amanda, on her blog page, writes:
"This picture has been used on a scrapbook page so it's not a great scan, but there is a story behind it. I telephoned my mum and she can't remember exactly when it was taken, but she thinks I was around three years old (so 1969-ish) and it was done at Jerome Studios in Manchester. Apparently, I am clutching that little doll with the big hair because, on the way to the studio, I had fallen over and smacked my mouth on the kerb so my dad bought the doll to shut me up. I am wearing a stylish pink number in man made fibres with co-ordinating trim created by my mum too!"

As well as working at Jerome, Liverpool, Geoff Welding also spent some time (during the early 1960s) at the Jerome Studio in Manchester, as a relief photographer during the staff's summer holidays. "It was even busier than the one in Liverpool". It was located in a basement. "The shop entrance was close to the junction of Market St and Fountain St, about 20 yards or so from the junction. At the top of the descending stairs there was a small display of framed sample photographs."

Geoff can't recall exactly, but presumes the Jerome sign would have been above the entrance and then the stairs would have led down to a shop counter, with the studio beyond. "There was a small waiting room between the two. Customers would be queuing on these stairs on Saturdays and at the same time others would be leaving or collecting photographs. So the width of the stairs had to accommodate the comings and goings and might have been 6feet wide."

On the subject of Amanda's colour print (above, left), Geoff says "I was surprised to see that the background was just a plain off-white, as the usual background looked quite good in colour. The plain white background was on casters and would be pulled into place behind the sitter for Visas and passports, but not much else when I was at Jerome's."

Robert Humphris e-mailed to say that he remembers the Jerome studio at Liverpool, on London Road. Robert was photographed there with his gran and a family friend around 1940 (see picture, left). He says "The tale was that I was in London Road with my gran when there was a dogfight between a German plane and one of ours and we went into the Studio for safety and this photo was taken."

Robert believed the building to the RHS of the Jerome Studio in Liverpool (see picture near the top of this page, left hand side) was 'The Clock' public house, "where I had many a happy night when I lived in Liverpool as a teenager", but it seems it was 'The Lord Warden' (see recent street-scene colour picture near the top of this page).

The photograph far left shows Mabel Hunter (taken believed c1955) who worked at the Jerome Studio in High Street West, Sunderland post-1935 until 1959. She did negative retouching and hand-coloured black & white photographs using Velox water colours. For more about hand colouring photographs, see my web page here.

Information about Mabel has come to me from her grand-daughter Patricia (Patsy) Beech, who tells me Mabel's photograph (hand coloured, almost certainly by Mabel herself) is still kept within the original blue folder it came in (left). Patsy says "It must be really good quality to have lasted so long in such good condition; it still shines with a pearl effect".

Patsy has a collection of photographs that belonged to her grandmother who sadly died, aged 100, in 1999. Some of these show the Jerome Staff at Sunderland. Do take a look and if you recognise anyone, please get in touch, as Patsy would love to hear from you.

Vic Coughtrey has emailed with the three pictures shown left, which can also be seen at:
http://www.coughtrey.me.uk/Mother.htm
http://www.coughtrey.me.uk/Great-Grandma.htm
http://www.coughtrey.me.uk/Tony_Ansett.htm

Vic tells me that his mother, Grace (far left) worked at Jerome's in Powis Street, Woolwich, S.E.London, from the late 1920s through to the early 1930s. The photo' of her was taken at the Woolwich Studio in 1929 when she was aged 19. Grace (surname Ansett at the time) was a 'colourist'. "Of the many jobs my mother had in her life, she always said this was her favourite".

Grace hand coloured black & white photographs, the same job as Mabel Hunter (see above). The 1931 picture of Vic's cousin, Tony Ansett was coloured by Grace. The middle picture is of Grace's grandmother, Rosa Hayward, in August 1930, aged 76, also at the Woolwich Studio.

The Jerome Logo (left) was scanned from the back of one of my family's 1930s postcard print, and states 'Branches Everywhere'.

Peter Stubbs 'EdinPhoto' site shows similar from the 1920s.

To the right is a another scan from Vic Coughtrey, which shows the reverse of the print of his great grandmother (see centre photo' above). It's dated August 8th 1930.

On the subject of how long ago Jerome Studios came into existence, and who might have been the personalities behind the venture (apart from, presumably, a Mr Jerome), Geoff Welding has sent me the scan alongside of the reverse of a studio photograph in his collection. As can be read at the top of the postcard (or the left hand side when held horizontally) the picture on the reverse was taken at Gale's Studios Ltd; 'Branches everywhere'.

Jerome Studios used this same text logo (see above, left) along with their entwined branches logo (certainly by the 1920s).

The use of the Jerome text logo 'Branches everywhere' seems too much a coincidence and Geoff believes there was some connection between Gale & Jerome, but the Gale Studios had ceased to exist by 1960.

Interestingly, on Peter Stubb's site, there is information from Nigel Price of Oxford, saying that his grandfather, Colonel Bertram Gale was a shareholder / investor in Jerome Studios and may have had some directorship involvement. Peter Stubbs reports that Colonel Gale was "one of the Directors and possibly Chairman of Jerome in the late 1940s and early 1950s". Colonel Gale's step-daughter, Nancye Freeman, was photographed at Jerome's between 1915 and 1920.

The photograph of Nancye Freeman suggests that at least the Jerome Studio in London was in existence prior to 1920.

Peter Stubbs has recently posted the following connections between Col. Bertram Gale (and Gale's Studios) with Jerome's Studios. Peter acknowledges the studio addresses below have been taken from Gilian Jones' book: "Lancashire Professional Photographers, 1840-1940." ISBN 0 9523011 5 6

Both companies had studios in Liverpool and Manchester, in some cases sharing the same address:
LIVERPOOL
- Gale's: 1916-24: 17+29, London Road
- Jerome's: 1920-37: 17 London Road
- Jerome's: 1938-40+: 17 / 19 London Road

MANCHESTER
- Gale's: 1916-27: 54 Market Street
- Gale's: 1928-31: 52a Market Street
- Jerome's: 1930-31: 131 Market Street
- Jerome's: 1932-37: 52a Market Street
- Jerome's: 1938-39: 54 / 56 Market Street
- Gale's: 1922-25: 45 + 49 Oxford Road
- Jerome's: 1922-25: 45 / 47 Oxford Road

An interesting email has come from Jude Anstice telling me how her grandfather, (John) Jack Milne, worked for Jerome Studios in London from around 1930 and later in Newport, South Wales. Jack was originally from Jarrow but spent time in Australia from the age of 14 (in 1924) until he was aged 18 (in 1928). When he returned to the UK, he lived in London and worked in a Gentleman's Club for a while, which is where he met his wife to be, Jude's future grandma. Jack began working for Jerome around 1930, maybe 1932, at The Strand branch, London. He worked both as a darkroom technician as well as a photographer, taking people's portraits.

Jude says "My grandfather (affectionately known as 'bamb') was a beautiful man and good with the story telling". He would tell Jude about the laughs he had and the work he used to do; he knew all the photographic chemicals - not just the liquids, but also all the powder compounds. "I was always impressed with this knowledge since I never learned such detail even when doing a (photographic) degree!" Jack used to experiment with the lights when the studio was having a slow day. There was a skylight window which was also used on occasions to give a more realistic lighting effect in combination with the artificial lights. Jude says she always thought her grandfather looked like Humphrey Bogart, the actor (see small picture, left), as she has photographs showing her grandfather wearing a trilby hat and with a cigarette between his fingers. Jack told Jude how he and his colleagues often tried to imitate Hollywood portraits, as many people asked for that sort of image.

Jack Milne moved to Newport, South Wales, with his wife and children (Jude's mum and her sisters) when many children were being evacuated from London in 1939, at the start of WW2. Jack worked for Jerome in Newport for a time, until 1940, but then joined the armed forces. After the war he was offered a job again with Jerome at Newport, South Wales, but being a true gentleman did not want to take the job away from the young woman who would have lost hers if he had taken up the offer, so he ended-up driving a 'bus for a while. Photography however was always something Jack loved and he was fascinated when Jude ultimately took it up as her profession.

Altie Bacon (see his 129 roll film web site) recalls, around 1950, buying 129 roll film for his Ensign E29 blue box camera and later a Krauss Rollette, from Jerome's in Manchester and in Derby. He tells me they also had a branch at Southend-on-Sea. Although their main business was a Portrait Studio, they processed films as a subsidiary activity. This site reports "According to Maxwell Craven (Keene's Derby, 1993, Breedon Books, Derby, pp. 200-202), Jerome Limited had premises at 26 Victoria Street, Derby, between 1929 and 1949. Kelly's 1932 trade directory gives the address as 33 Victoria Street".

Pat Bishop has e-mailed with information about the Jerome Studio in Leicester. "During the war I was the assistant to the photographer (who's name escapes me) but Miss Bradley was the manageress of the studio. The photographer broke her hand and I was trained and took over photography after being assessed by some people from London/Head office. I was only 16/17 years of age at the time. I remember taking passport photos of German POW's and wounded Italians. I also completed all the normal photography of children and families until the return of the original photographer from the war." Pat believes Jerome in Leicester was on Granby St or maybe London Rd. Gerald Springthorpe confirms it was on Granby St, "or at least it was when my Mother took me to have my photograph taken in the early 1950's. It was opposite the 'Picture House' cinema, between Halford Street and Rutland Street."

There was another Jerome Studio in Newcastle, at 119, Northumberland Street, confirmed by this website.

Robert Best remembers having his "passport photo for my university union card taken at Jerome Newcastle, Northumberland Street, in 1966, which was very well known at the time".

This link shows a passport photograph taken by the Grainger Street, Newcastle, Jerome studio on the 24th March 1964. To view, scroll downwards to the entry dated Photobooth Friday, January 26th, 2007. Geoff Welding, who found this link, comments that "the front cover on the passport folders were plain in 1960" rather than the mottled red cover which can be seen on the link page. The Jerome portraiture 'bag' (upper left) donated by Geoff Welding, was in use during the early 1960s. It measures 7½"x5½" (190mmx140mm), easily large enough for a half plate print (6½"x4¾"). though more likely used for several small passport prints contained in a card folder, as in the link at the start of this paragraph.

The National Media Museum has web pages which refer to a Jerome Studio in Bradford during the 1930s and shows photographs (one & two) taken there in 1938.

Below is a Jerome 3-fold photograph display folder with an embossed 'bird flying over scenery' cover design. Although only made from stout card, the folder looks very elegant. It is sized to take a postcard sized print, some 3½"x5½". The bird and scenery seem to be hand coloured and this may have been an 'extra' for the more discerning customer, possibly supplied in the 1920s or 1930s.

The handsome young man in the green Jerome folder opposite was photographed at an unknown Jerome Studio on 3rd February 1937.

The name Jerome can be seen to the lower right of the photograph and the photograph itself has 'Jerome' printed on its reverse, together with the stamped date.

The green front cover carries the curious regal design, as shown below.

The Jerome studio in Wolverhampton, was in Dudley Street, near the junction with Queen's Street and opposite H Samual, Jewellers (now Ernest Jones, Jewellers). In the mid-1930s the studio was on the first floor of the Dolcis shoe shop and was accessed via an external flight of stairs. There was another studio of the Jerome type in Wolverhampton in the 1930s, located on the Dudley Road (not Dudley Street as above), called Studio Banerjee.

It's uncertain where the Wolverhampton 'Jerome Studio' fitted into the Jerome group structure. It seems Wolverhampton had management authority over some other Jerome Studios, but Pat Bishop, talking about the Jerome Studio in Leicester (see above) refers to Head Office being in London. Possibly Wolverhampton was a Regional Head Office, while the actual Head Office was in London (?).

My mother has told me how, in the mid-1930s, at a time when owning a camera was still expensive for the ordinary working family, she and other family members, on special occasions, would visit the Jerome studio in Wolverhampton and pay 10d (4p) for a postcard print, which would be available within about 30mins of their 'sitting' (though waiting beforehand in a queue was not uncommon). The 10d (4p) cost of a 'sitting' and resulting postcard print was not insignificant at that time. Before getting married my mother worked in a factory and was paid just £2 per week. When she got married she gave up her job (customary at that time) and my father (to be) was paid just £3.20d (£3.08p) per week, though my mother recalls income tax was very low at that time, just 6d (2.5p) in the £1 (?).

Some of my family pictures survive and are of good quality. To the left is my father and mother around the time of their marriage in 1936.

They are dressed in their Sunday best, standing or sitting by some studio prop. The print of my mother (RHS) has been delicately hand coloured.

The 'misty effect' background is typical of the type used by (seemingly) all the Jerome Studios.

A Spring 1941 photograph showing my eldest sister and the brother I never knew - Ronald Arthur, known as Ronnie - who died aged 22months, 3 years before I was born.

This picture is a mounted enlargement. The picture measures 9" by 6.5" and is mounted on card, as shown left, with the name JEROME on the lower right hand corner of the outer mount.

All these family photographs would have been taken at the Wolverrhampton Jerome Studio.

It seems that by the early 1960s, the large, newly emerging, photographic retail chains were taking an interest. 'The Times' newspaper archive includes several references to Jerome 1962-1970.

The Times, Friday, Sep 07, 1962; pg. 18; Issue 55490; col F
NOW DIXON'S BID FOR ASCOTTS STUDIOS
Dixon's Photographic. Ltd., which have just dropped out of the bidding for the Jerome photography business, are to buy a chain of 12 photographic studios in the London district owned by Ascotts, a subsidiary of Mellins, Ltd. (formerly Mellins Food). Purchase price works out at nearly £300,000. Dixon's have agreed with Mellins to make an offer for all the 450,000 ordinary Ss. stock units of Ascotts on the basis of four 2s. shares of Dixon's and 30s. cash for every nine Ascott units-equivalent to nearly 11s. a unit for Ascott. Mellins will accept the offer in respect of their 98.5 per cent holding, and are selling to Dixon's the £50.000 of 7 per cent preference capital of Ascotts for 150.000 Dixon's ordinary and £37.500 cash.

The Times, Monday, Nov 18, 1963; pg. 16; Issue 55861; col F
BENNETT CAMERAS
A five-point interim rise to 15 per cent is declared by Bennett Cameras, but last year's dividend was on smaller capital. The reorganization following the amalgamation of Jerome Studios with the Bennett retail group has now been completed. The 18 new branches are trading satisfactorily. Negotiations are well advanced for the acquisition of several new units, it is stated. Turnover of Jerome Studios is above the comparative figures for 1962.

The Times, Wednesday, Dec 18, 1963; pg. 18; Issue 55887; col A
BENNETT CAMERAS.
Following the reorganization of Jerome Studios with Bennett Cameras the two factories at Slough have become redundant. The freehold of the factory has been sold for £41,500 and negotiations are well advanced for letting the leasehold factory.

The Times, Saturday, Oct 03, 1970; pg. 8; Issue 57987; col E
Jerome (photographic studios).- Directors requested Stock Exchange to suspend quotation for ordinary shares until full report of reorganization of Lynwood Group of Companies, of which Jerome is a member, can be published. Directors consider that it would not be in the interest of shareholders for dealings to continue.