Born in London in 1874, Samuel Alfred Henry Wykes, known as Henry Wykes, arrived in Exeter in 1914 acquiring No.1 Exe Bridge Photographic Studio. He advertised himself as a ‘Photographer and Artist’ and the studio became a hub for society portraits and commercial work. His reputation and social standing grew through commissions from prominent families and even royal connections, including the Duke and Duchess of York.

Across his career, spanning decades and several photographic premises across Exeter, Wykes was defined by his technical skill, producing thousands of glass plate negatives and prints. His photographs chart the rapid urban development of the city through the 1920s and 1930s and the wartime carnage wrought by the devasting ‘Baedeker’ raids in the 1940s. The collection is also a uniquely personal twentieth century record of the residents of Exeter with thousands of images of individual and family portraits.