Chambré Hardman

Chambré Hardman
Edward Chambré Hardman wearing his trademark trilby hat.
Born	Edward Fitzmaurice Chambré Hardman 25 November 1898 Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland
Died	2 April 1988(1988-04-02) (aged 89) Sefton, Liverpool, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	professional photographer
Known for	portraits and landscapes
Spouse(s)	Margaret Mills (1909–1969)
Parent(s)	Edward Townley William Hardman (1860-1917) Gertrude Elizabeth Davies (-1959)

Edward Fitzmaurice Chambré Hardman (25 November 1898 – 2 April 1988) was an Irish-born photographer, based for most of his career in Liverpool, England. He was a landscape photographer by vocation, although his business was largely dependent on portraiture.

Hardman was born in 1898 in Foxrock, Dublin, Ireland. He was the third child and only son of the keen amateur photographer Edward Hardman by his marriage to Gertrude Davies. Hardman described his father as "a land agent for various estate owners and landlords in County Dublin". There were also family connections with the "British Raj". Hardman later told a researcher, "Two ... kinsmen (one on my fathers side, and one on my mothers) have held the office of Viceroy of India."

Hardman took his first photographs aged nine and went on to win many photographic competitions during his time at St. Columba's College in County Dublin.

From the age of eighteen, he spent four years as a regular officer in the 8th Gurkha Rifles in India where he would eventually be promoted to lieutenant. While on active duty at the foothills of the Himalayas, he found time for photography using his Eastman Kodak No. 3 Special camera and processed rolls of film in his bathroom.

By his own account, Hardmann received important lessons from the young woman who later became his wife:

Whilst stationed at the Khyber Pass he met Captain Kenneth Burrell (1893-1953), a man who had not planned on an army career but rather hoped to set up a photographic studio back home in Liverpool, England. Hardman and Burrell decided to go into business together and in 1923, Burrell & Hardman took a lease on business premises at 51a Bold Street in Liverpool's fashionable commercial centre. Burrell was in most respects what one source describes as "a silent partner", but he brought to the partnership his excellent contacts in the Liverpool business community. Starting the business was difficult, and Hardman resorted to selling and repairing wirelesses to subsidise the studio. Eventually it gained a reputation for being the place for anyone with distinction in Merseyside to be photographed by Burrell & Hardman.