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The Hardmans' House

Museum
The Hardmans' House
Photo: Rodhullandemu, Wikimedia Commons · Report the wrong picture

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Operator
The National Trust
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More pictures of this place

59 Rodney Street, Liverpool
59 Rodney Street, Liverpool · Photo: Man vyi · Public domain
Door of 59 Rodney Street, Liverpool.
Door of 59 Rodney Street, Liverpool. · Photo: Matěj Baťha · CC BY-SA 3.0
E. Chambré Hardman's studio at 59 Rodney Street, Liverpool, UK
E. Chambré Hardman's studio at 59 Rodney Street, Liverpool, UK · Photo: Boing! said Zebedee · Public domain

What is recorded here

The Hardmans' House preserves the home and photographic studio of Edward Chambré Hardman and Margaret Hardman. From 1949 its rooms supported portraits, darkroom work and a vast record of the changing city, while Margaret's business and household labour was essential to the studio's success.

Why it was built

The Hardmans adapted the house as portrait studio, darkroom, office and home, separating public rooms from crowded working spaces.

People and work

Edward made portraits and street studies; Margaret managed clients, accounts, printing and household, while assistants completed routine work.

How it changed

The business continued as equipment changed, but the couple retained huge numbers of negatives and objects rather than modernising extensively.

What survives

Studio, darkrooms, cameras, chemicals, furniture, clothes, papers and hundreds of thousands of images survive.

Why it mattered

The house mattered because one intact business reveals photography as shared skilled labour, while its city images preserve people and buildings later lost.

Sources for this account

Sources checked 16 August 2026.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) n5871728885

Places near here

Photo credits
  • Michael Garlick, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Shaun Ferguson, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Stephen Richards, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Richard Hoare, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Eirian Evans, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Peter Hodge, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • alan fairweather, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • Noisar, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
  • John Lord, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
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