Henry Neale began his working life as a painter and decorator in his home town of Salisbury in the 1840s. He married Charlotte in 1846, and the first of their ten children, Kate and Arabella, were born in Salisbury in 1849 and 1850. By 1851 the family had moved to Kingston upon Thames in Surrey where the census of 1851 recorded Henry Neale as a plumber, painter and decorator. Two sons were born during the family's time in Kingston upon Thames, and then by 1858 they had re-located to Tunbridge Wells in Kent. Around this time Henry Neale took up photography and from 1859 to about 1860 he was the proprietor of 'The Monarch Photographic Carriage' in Hastings. For more on Victorian beach photographers, including a mention of the Monarch Photographic Carriage, see http://spartacus-educational.com/DSphotosea6F3.htm and http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk/HASTINGSdirMN.htm
Two more sons were born in Tunbridge Wells and Hastings, and by 1861 the growing family had moved again, to Batheaston, Somerset. The 1861 census listed Henry Neale, Photographic Artist and his wife and six children, living in the same house as Henry's brother Frederick, a grocer. The family were prosperous enough to employ a live in house maid. The next record of the travelling photographer and his family is the birth of another son in Dublin, Ireland, in 1862. Another 2 sons were born in Ireland in 1865 and 1867. An on line guide to nineteenth century photographers in Dublin gives Henry Neale's studio address as 43 Grafton Street from 1867 to 1869. (see http://www.irisharchaeology.info/genealogy/photographers.html)
During his time in Dublin, Henry Neale apparently worked for the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, as the detail from the reverse of the Carte de Visite above advertises the prestigious patronage.
In about 1868 -1869 Henry Neale returned to England and lived briefly in Leicester, where another son was born. Soon after this time the family moved again and settled in Southampton for a few years. The carte de visite shown here was probably produced in about 1869-1870, after the studio at 5 Above Bar was occupied by George Edmonds from 1861 to about 1865, and Brown and Wheeler in about 1865 – 1866. By 1869 5 Above Bar was listed as the studio of Henry Sache. On his arrival in Southampton, Henry Neale appears to have worked from the studio at around the same time as Henry Sache began working there.
Entry for Henry Neale in Cox's 1871 Southampton Directory
Henry Neale was listed in the 1871 census as a Photographic Artist at Dean Cottage, 121 Oxford Road, Bevois Mount. Henry's wife Charlotte and seven of their children were listed at the address.
At some time in the late 1870s Henry Neale returned to his roots in Salisbury, and his previous career as a plumber and decorator. The 1881 census recorded Neale as plumber and decorator employing 32 men, including one of his sons, Charles.
In 1883, Henry Neale, former travelling Photographic Artist, died in Salisbury aged 79. His wife Charlotte lived for another 25 years, having raised ten children while travelling the country with her husband. Charlotte died in Salisbury in 1909, aged 84.