Who was Ramon Kitchin?
Ramon Arthur Kitchin was born at Peterborough on 14, February
1929, the second son and youngest child of Bertram Arthur &
Rose Isabel Kitchin (they also had a son Vernon and daughter Olga).
Bertram's father, Thomas Kitchin came to Peterborough as a teenager
in the mid 1870s and married here in 1878. Thomas had a variety of
jobs: confectioner, County Court Bailiff, waiter, etc., but almost
certainly died before 1922. Bertie Kitchin, Ramon's father,
originally worked at The Waggon & Horses in Bridge St., but
then set up business as a confectioner c1913 with his younger
brother Ernest. At first they had two small shops in Broadway, one
on each side of the Broadway Cinema, and Rose had to manage these
during the brothers' war service, 1914-18. After the War they
opened another shop in Westgate and also had one for a short time
at St. John's Street in Stamford. All, however, had closed by
1935.
Following his father Bertie and brother Vernon, Ramon Kitchin
attended New Road Council School (renamed Eastholm in 1941), from
1939 to 1941. What he did after that we do not know. As neither he
nor his brother and sister ever married, and all three died within
12-18 months of each other, there is no family remaining to help us
tell his story. Although we know that he lived for much of his life
at the address where he was born, 4 Crawthorne Road. Ramon Kitchin
died at Peterborough on 27, May 1999, three months after his 70th
birthday.
What did Kitchin photograph?
Mr Kitchin wrote to the local newspapers in May 1962,
saying:
"Peterborough is growing, a fact of which everyone is aware. In
the past fifteen years or so many changes have taken place.
Familiar landmarks have disappeared. Pleasant country walks on the
City's outskirts have given place to the gleaming red brick of
housing estates. Dogsthorpe, Newark, Paston etc, all have been
developed. What a sinister word that is people who, like myself,
regret the passing of old places they have known all their lives.
Often, when hearing of theses changes I have said to myself 'How I
wish I had a photograph of it as it was'. Recently I decided to
beat the builders to it....." (Peterborough Advertiser 8 May
1962).
In fact the oldest photographs in the collection were taken when
the City Centre was decorated for the Queen's Coronation
celebrations in June 1953. Ramon Kitchin then seems to have rested
but, as he said in his letter, Peterborough was "growing" , and so
he took up his camera again in 1960. Most of his City Centre and
suburban photographs and he had taken "600" by May 1962 - can be
roughly dated to the period 1960-1963. Those four years alone saw
demolitions and rebuilding in Bridge St, King St, Broadway,
Westgate, Church St, and Midgate, plus the building of St Mary's
Court and the re-location of the Market.
Mr Kitchin then turned his lens in the direction of the
surrounding villages and market towns, where he took photographs
during the Summers between 1963 and 1966. Then it was back to the
City centre where, from 1966 to 1970, he again recorded changes
such as the demolition of the south-east side of Bridge St and the
building of Bourges Boulevard from Albert Place to Crescent Bridge
and beyond. He seems to have taken no more photographs after 1971,
probably because of failing eyesight.
How did the collection come to the library?
Mr Kitchin's letter in the newspapers came to the notice of the
City Librarian, who had been trying to promote and encourage the
photographic recording of the City. They subsequently entered into
correspondence, which resulted in the Library Service purchasing
about 1000 photographs from Mr Kitchin at intervals between 1962
and 1966. Their impact was not immediate because Peterborough was
changing only slowly but, by the early 1980's, greater interest was
shown in them by the public. In 1991 we began negotiations to
purchase Kitchin's negatives with full rights of reproduction.
Between 1991 and his death in 1999 we bought about 2000 negatives,
and named it The Kitchin Collection, in honour of the photographer.
This Mr Kitchin greatly "appreciated", much as he had been "rather
honoured" - back in 1962 - when the City Librarian assured him that
his work would be forever available in the Central Library for
"future historians to use".
Just over 700 of the 2000 images that we hold have been
digitised to make up the Kitchin Collection Online.
How were the photographs digitised?
In 2003 we received a grant from the East of England Museum
Libraries and Archives Council to enable us to create digital
versions of the Kitchin photographs with an accompanying database
of descriptions. This project was completed by Victoria Guy
(Project Manager) and Audrey Griffiths (Project Assistant).
In February 2005 we launched the Kitchin Collection Online to
allow people to view the digital images and accompanying
descriptions over the internet.