Tom Nokes – Photographer extraordinaire

The photographs in my article in August were taken by the Norwich photographer, Tom Nokes, who chronicled much of life in the villages of South Norfolk from around 1891 until 1926. Living in Norwich, Tom travelled around the villages of South Norfolk by bicycle and then developed his photos in a shed at the end of his garden! Those photos demonstrate his remarkable artistic flair and, in many cases, they capture perfectly much of village life in the early 1900s.

Many of the photos that Nokes took were sold locally as postcards and these are now highly sought after by collectors. However, outside the postcard fraternity, Nokes is largely forgotten. Born into a very poor and fractured family in Norwich in 1869, he died almost penniless in 1943. The life and work of Tom Nokes was beautifully recorded in a book "Discovering Old Norfolk – The Road to the Past", written by Susan Wright and published in 2011. Whilst the book is now out of print, copies are held by a number of local libraries and it's well worth a read.

Tom's photos include many local villages, including Ashwellthorpe, Bracon Ash, Costessey, East Carleton, Fundenhall, Hethersett, Keswick, Ketteringham, Mulbarton, Swardeston, and Wreningham. Frustratingly there are almost none taken in Forncett but we have now found three, all relating to the Thurston family who lived initially at Bayes Farm in Forncett St. Mary and later at Church Farm on Low Road in Forncett St. Peter. They were among many family photos belonging to Marjorie Thurston who lived at Church Farm from around 1920 until she passed away (age nearly 91) in 1990.

The first photo shows the Thurston family at Bayes Farm in 1900.

The woman on the far left is not identified but the family group are (L-R) Edith, John Warren, Marjorie and John Thurston. The photo would have been taken by Nokes on a portable plate camera as a commission for John Thurston. The original was then printed and mounted by Nokes and delivered back to John Thurston.

A few years later (around 1905) John Thurston commissioned Nokes again to take a photo (below) of him and his son in a rowing boat on the river Tas. As with much of Nokes' work, his trademark signature appears in the bottom corner of the card.

Once again, the photo is beautifully posed and it also shows the Tas in a much better condition than it is today! The image was made into postcards for the Thurston family and one of these was sent to John Warren while he was travelling in Canada around 1910. This is the last photo that we have of John Warren Thurston who very sadly died on 7th May 1915 when he was returning from the USA onboard the Lusitania when she was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland.

The final photo was probably taken around 1914 and shows Marjorie Thurston with what looks like a new bicycle. The location of this photo is not known but, given the date, it was probably also taken at Bayes Farm and commissioned by Marjorie's father, John. 

These three photos exemplify the undoubted talent of Tom Nokes and, in due course, I will write a much more detailed account of Tom's life for the website.

With special thanks to Debbie Sutton for permission to reproduce these photos.