Frank Spry was a photographer & postcard publisher in Littlehampton from 1907 to 1930s. Born in Devonport, he was working as a photographer in Totnes by 1891 and subsequently moved to Greenwich where he married Rosina Hankin in 1901. She gave birth to their only child, Francis Reginald Spry, in 1902 in Lewisham.

The family moved to Littlehampton around 1904, where Frank worked for the postcard publisher, John White, before setting up on his own in 1907 at 21 Surrey Street. This was renumbered to 25 in 1909, and then to 33 in the 1930s.

Although Frank Spry did many portraits of the locals and published topographical postcards, he is best known for picturing the ships and boats that frequented Littlehampton harbour. No doubt his interest in maritime affairs started in his youth in Devonport, and he is recorded as spending some months on the cruiser HMS Charybdis from Devonport to Chatham in 1897, perhaps as a photographer although this is not stated.

In 1907 a press report identified Spry as ‘Chief Officer of Coastguard’ at Rustington. This gave him plenty of contact with the RNLI and the Harbourmaster, providing access to details of shipping movements and events which would have been useful for planning his photographs, such as vessels’ arrivals and departures. Many of his ship photographs were taken at sea, possibly from the harbour tug Jumna.

Spry clearly understood the business of vessel operations and this is reflected in the quality of his work, almost invariably capturing interesting detail of what is happening. His shipping cards in particular have long been popular with collectors, and an analysis of a hundred or so shows that just 11% were actually posted (the rest presumably kept in collections). A further 32% have comments added on the reverse, often giving informative details about the subject. Many of the cards are identifiable to one individual source, either by the writing or by printed labels, so they are likely to have come from a small number of enthusiasts. This data was compared to two other samples of non-Spry topographical cards of Littlehampton over a similar time period which gave posted items at 37%, suggesting the Spry cards were generally less popular for communication but used solely for collection.

Sources: H.J. Thompson: The Littlehampton Story No.3 - The Picturemakers (1981). Sussex Postcards website.          

Some examples of Spry’s photographs

Early period (1907-1909)

1. The west bank of the river looking north with Harvey's boatyard in the background, with a part of the new Swing bridge just visible. This is an unused card featuring the early 21 Surrey Street address.

A vessel can be seen on the slipway, the hull of an unfinished barge moored in front of it and an early steam yacht is moored to the left. None of the vessels have been identified.

2. A view of the harbour looking south, showing the opened Swing Bridge in the foreground. This is probably before the official Opening in 1908 as a crane is visible on the far left. This was taken at a different date from Example 1 as the vessels do not correspond with those in the previous picture. Again, this card is unused with the same address.

Middle period (1909- 1920s)

3. On board Jumna at sea showing crew and possibly passengers. This is dated between 1909 and 1914 when Jumna left Littlehampton. The address on the back of the unused card is 25 Surrey Street.

4. Sailing vessel Uranus departing Littlehampton with a number of sails already set. She is high out of the water, so empty of cargo. The card was posted in Littlehampton and addressed to Horsham in March 1912.

5. A battle on a greasy pole between two dinghies as part of a local event on the Oyster pond, probably part of the annual Harbour Regatta. This card is unposted featuring the 25 Surrey Street address.

Later period (1920s - 1930s)

6. Motor vessel Southgate 143grt of the Anglo-American Oil Co. Ltd. delivering their products to Littlehampton. She was built in 1925 so this photograph was taken after that date (possibly in 1927, as one visit is recorded that year). The small launch running alongside is probably the harbour pilot boat.

7. Paddle steamer Brighton Belle, apparently returning to offload passengers, has turned around in the harbour and is preparing to moor alongside. This was posted in Littlehampton in 1936 and sent to Horsham. The text mentions the journal Sea Breezes which was about shipping of all types and popular with enthusiasts.

Note the absence of masts in the background as, by this time, few commercial sailing vessels would have been seen.

Many other Spry postcards are featured on this website, particularly in the Littlehampton and Sailing Vessels sections.