Carte-de-Visite Portrait of the Fisk Jubilee Singers in Hull during their First European Tour, 1873–1874.
Hull and Nuneaton: W. J. Wellsted & Son, c. 1873–1874. Carte de visite portrait measuring 2 ½ x 4 inches. Albumen photograph on original mount with Wellsted’s printed royal arms and “By Special Invitation” crest, advertising the firm as “Photographers of the Prince & Princess of Wales,” with addresses at 3 Paragon St., Hull and Church Lane, Nuneaton. Excellent. Item #List3618
A scarce provincial English studio portrait of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, taken during their early British tours, when they visited Hull in 1873 and 1874. A closely related photograph from the same Hull sitting is preserved at Hull Museums; that example includes the troupe’s manager, George White, along with an unidentified woman. The present image represents a variant from the same series, consistent with multiple negatives or slightly altered arrangements made for local sale to concert attendees.
The photograph aligns with the group’s well-documented appearances in Hull during their first English tour. They arrived on Friday, August 1st, 1873, and performed that evening at Hope Street Congregational Church, where contemporary accounts describe the building as filled to capacity. The concert reportedly raised over fifty pounds, with a second performance following on Sunday afternoon. During this same visit, the group was heard singing outdoors near King William’s monument, bringing their repertoire beyond the church interior and into the civic heart of the town. They returned to Hull on December 5th, 1873, this time appearing at Hengler’s Circus, a larger public venue. George White, the group’s manager, later remarked that Hull was a place where they had earned funds “beyond their expenses.”[1] On the Sunday of that December visit, seven female members and one male singer, accompanied by White, attended a gathering of roughly three thousand schoolchildren at the Artillery Barracks, where a collection of just over £17 was taken for the Jubilee fund. The following day they visited Wilberforce House at the invitation of merchant Thomas Massam, singing in the birthplace room of William Wilberforce and performing both “John Brown’s Body” and “God Save the Queen,” linking their American antislavery origins with Britain’s own abolitionist legacy.
At some point in their visits, the group was photographed at the W.J. Wellstead studio, with the images likely produced to sell during their performances. Besides the variant copy at the Hull Museum, we find no other examples of this image.
[1] “The Fisk Jubilee Singers in Hull and East Yorkshire,” African Stories in Hull and East Yorkshire, https://www.africansinyorkshireproject.com/fisk-jubilee-singers-part-one.html, accessed March 5, 2026.
Price: $800.00